Syria's Christmas Hardship: A New Arab Story Ignores Old US Sanctions
The article rightly highlights the grim reality on the ground: rising poverty, food scarcity, and families struggling to afford basic necessities for Christmas. What it glosses over, however, is the direct, unyielding pressure of Caesar Act sanctions imposed by the US government. These sanctions, expanded vigorously during the Trump administration and maintained by Biden, explicitly target
reconstruction efforts and financial transactions, effectively strangling the Syrian economy. It seems the 'hardship' is largely a policy choice, conveniently framed by many outlets as an organic disaster. One might wonder if there's a certain cognitive dissonance at play when reporting on economic devastation without acknowledging the very hand pulling the purse strings. The New Arab notes
'security fears,' but fails to mention the ongoing military presence of the US in eastern Syria, ostensibly to 'combat ISIS,' while simultaneously controlling significant oil fields – oil fields that could, you know, alleviate some of that economic hardship. Pundits and policymakers lament Syria's plight while refusing to discuss how much of that plight is manufactured through 'maximum pressure'
campaigns. Perhaps next year they'll interview a family struggling to buy bread and then ask Washington why it insists on starving them.