War re Ukraine: Thread

[grarpamp]

>From Putin to Biden to Xi, Mass Invaders and Authoritarians
never change, they only get overthrown...


China Blasts America's "Illegal" Occupation Of Syria In Wake Of Failed
House Vote

China has weighed in on the Pentagon's continued occupation of Syria
in the wake of Wednesday's Republican-sponsored War Powers Resolution
in the House, which according to Congressman Matt Gaetz was aimed
specifically at forcing President Biden to withdraw all American
troops from Syria.

In a Friday press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao
Ning was asked for a response to the vote. She demanded that the US
"immediately end the troops’ illegal occupation and plundering" and to
halt the sanctions regimen which is crushing the Syrian economy and
thus increasing the misery of common people.

"Since the US began its illegal interference in the Syrian crisis, its
military operations in Syria have taken away a large number of
innocent civilian lives and caused grave humanitarian disasters," she
said.

Mao also sought to underscore that Washington is increasingly isolated
on the issue, noting the US has been "criticized multiple times" by
the United Nations. She further said US forces have conducted
"indiscriminate attacks that may amount to a war crime."

She called on Washington to "respect other countries’ sovereignty,
independence and territorial integrity," and that it must stop
"aggravating humanitarian disasters" in Syria - in reference to
widespread reports that US sanctions hindered rescue efforts in the
wake of last month's earthquake.

As for the bipartisan push to get troops out of Syria led by Matt
Gaetz, The Intercept has revealed a possible last-minute effort by
hawks to sabotage the bill and paint its supporters into a corner:

    Before the Rules Committee approved the War Powers Resolution for
a vote, Republican leaders added a clause to its consideration that
would have blocked Congress from voting again on a motion "introduced
during the first session of the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress
pursuant to section 5 of the War Powers Resolution with respect to
Syria." The language slipped past the resolution’s supporters,
including the three Freedom Caucus members who won new seats on the
Rules Committee, Reps. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., Chip Roy, R-Texas, and
Thomas Massie, R-Ky.

    Now it all makes sense:@HouseGOP & @DeptofDefense aimed to crush
the Syria vote, then block any more action by Congress, giving Admin
free rein in Syria.

    This explains why they flew @thejointstaff Milley to Syria for 1st
time & @HouseForeign put huge effort into floor debate.
https://t.co/Y6nt5IjgnG
    — Erik Sperling 🌍 (@ErikSperling) March 10, 2023

The update in The Intercept continues:

    According to sources familiar with the fallout, Massie, Roy, and
Gaetz discovered the language and pressed Republican leadership to
strip it out, with some members threatening to vote down the rule if
the language wasn’t removed. Ultimately, the lobbying worked, and
Massie went to the floor to ask that the language be removed by
unanimous consent, which requires the full chamber to agree, or at
least not to contest the move. Democrats went along with the motion.
One Republican member of Congress involved in the negotiations said
that his initial assumption that party leadership was trying something
nefarious – grant a vote on the resolution but then crush it and bar
any future votes – evolved into a belief that the move had been driven
by "muscle memory," as both Democratic and Republican party leaders
had consistently confronted efforts to use the War Powers Act with
counter efforts to limit its use.

And yet, it still remains entirely unclear what the real "mission" is
in Syria. The Trump administration had said it was to "secure the oil"
- while Biden has pushed a 'counter-ISIS' focus.

But many analysts have pointed to the real underlying reason of the US
wanting to keep squeezing Damascus by controlling the country's
natural resources (US troops are occupying the country's oil and gas
fields in the northeast) at a moment crippling sanctions have been
ratcheted up. Or in other words, despite President Assad having
emerged victorious in the decade long war, this is all a remnant part
of Washington's regime change playbook.