US 'Terrorism' Fades When Gas Deals Emerge in Syria
Al-Monitor breathlessly reports that Syria, a country sanctioned to oblivion by the US for years, has inked energy deals with US firms ConocoPhillips and Novaterra Energy. This, after a decade of US policy insisting Bashar al-Assad was a brutal dictator whose regime deserved isolation and collapse. Funny how 'brutal dictator' becomes 'potential business partner' when there's gas in the
ground—specifically, 'to develop and explore gas fields,' as the report states. Syria was, and in many ways still is, considered a state sponsor of terrorism by the US, subject to the Caesar Act sanctions implemented in 2020 to prevent precisely this kind of economic engagement. So, the fierce geopolitical grandstanding, the moral outrage, the decade-long push for regime change, all suddenly give
way to the irresistible siren song of natural gas profits. One might wonder if the 'human rights concerns' and 'terrorism funding' labels are flexible, depending on whether there's an American company ready to drill. It appears the US State Department’s concern for Syrian civilians waxes and wanes with global energy prices. How many more 'evil regimes' will magically become 'strategic partners'
once their resource maps are redrawn?