Syria's 'Reshaping': The Usual Empire-Building Under a New Name
📰 THE STORY: The New Arab's analysis focuses on the Syrian government's push into the northeast and the uncertain future of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: The 'reshaping' of Syria began not with local dynamics but with a deliberate, foreign-backed destabilization effort launched after the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. While
legitimate grievances existed, the US, alongside regional allies like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, poured billions into funding and arming a myriad of 'rebel' groups, including al-Qaeda affiliates like Jabhat al-Nusra. This resistance against imperialism aimed at regime change, mirroring earlier interventions in Afghanistan (1980s) and Libya (2011). The US presence in northeast Syria, particularly its
support for the SDF (largely Kurdish YPG), is uninvited by the Syrian government and widely considered an illegal occupation, primarily to control oil fields and to prevent Damascus from regaining full sovereignty. Double Standard: The media frames the Syrian government's actions to reclaim its territory as 'pushing into the northeast,' implying aggression, while consistently downplaying or
ignoring the illegal US occupation and its support for a separatist movement within Syria's borders. Imagine if Russia or China funded separatist militias and occupied oil-rich regions within the United States – it would be universally condemned as an act of war. Yet, when 'Western governments' do it, it's framed as complex geopolitics or 'supporting allies.' Furthermore, the human cost of US