US Accused of Systematic Looting of Syria's Energy, Food Resources

According to these sources, a convoy of 45 tankers filled with Syrian crude oil was transported out of the country to Iraq through the Mahmoudiya border crossing over the weekend. Additionally, a second convoy of 50 vehicles carrying feed grain and military equipment crossed from Syria to Iraq via the al-Walid checkpoint.

Both border crossings are under the control of US occupation forces and their regional allies, the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces, which Damascus considers illegal since they operate outside the central government's authority.

Eyewitnesses also said that the US sent approximately 30 vehicles' worth of weapons, ammunition, and logistical equipment to bases in Syria's northeast Hasakah countryside over the weekend. The route reportedly went through the city of Al-Shadadi, around 60 km south of Hasakah, and then to Hasakah proper. The convoy included advanced medium weapons, anti-armored weapons, modern communication and jamming systems, and significant ammunition meant to support the SDF militia.

The region east of the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria holds up to 90 percent of the nation's oil and gas resources, as well as crucial agricultural areas. Syria, which was once energy and food self-sufficient with modest export earnings, became a net importer of both due to conflicts involving US, Arab, and Turkish-backed militias, and later, directly by the US and its SDF allies.

Syrian authorities estimate that the country's energy sector has incurred over $100 billion in damage and losses since 2011, resulting from smuggling, theft, looting, US-led coalition bombings, and improper field exploitation.

The occupation and exploitation of these fields by foreign militaries and terrorists have left Damascus without sufficient funds for post-war reconstruction. The decade-long CIA-backed war is estimated to have caused up to $1 trillion in damage, led to hundreds of thousands of casualties, and turned millions of Syrians into refugees.

The US military presence in northeastern Syria has also hindered reconciliation between the Damascus government and majority-Kurdish areas in the region.

Syrian forces have avoided direct confrontations with US forces to prevent an overwhelming response. However, recent weeks have seen increased incidents between Syria's allies and American occupation forces, including close calls between US drones and Russian warplanes characterized as "extremely provocative" by the Russian military.

While the Biden administration claims the continued occupation of Syria is due to fears of Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) resurgence, former US president Donald Trump previously acknowledged that US forces were in Syria "only for the oil".