[Newsweek]
“Syrian permanent representative to the United Nations Bashar al-Jaafari derided U.S. actions in his country during a Wednesday virtual session of the U.N. Security Council. As Biden was sworn in in Washington, Jaafari called for an immediate change in Washington’s foreign policy in Syria, where a multi-sided civil war with U.S. involvement neared its 10th anniversary.”
“”The American occupation forces continue to plunder Syria’s wealth of oil, gas and agricultural crops, burning and destroying what it cannot steal,” Jaafari said, according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency.”
“Syria’s unrest began amid mass protests across the Arab World that erupted a decade ago, devolving into conflict between security forces and rebels. Biden, then serving as vice president under President Barack Obama, backed calls for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down at the time, as the U.S. and regional partners offered support for the opposition, accusing the Syrian leader of human rights abuses.”
“Attention later focused on battling jihadi groups such as the Islamic State (ISIS), a campaign launched by Obama and inherited by President Donald Trump. Today, with the militants largely defeated, the U.S. maintains several hundred troops, typically estimated between 600 and 900, in northeastern Syria, a stretch of territory controlled by the majority-Kurd Syrian Democratic Forces militia.”
“The troops have been tasked with maintaining control over oil and gas sites, where the Trump administration sought to bring U.S. energy companies. But U.S. and partnered militia forces operate without permission from the Syrian government, which is backed by Russia and Iran in their own ongoing struggle against insurgents and jihadis.”
Read more: Syria Sends First Message to President Biden: Withdraw Troops, Stop Stealing Oil
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