{"id":358088,"date":"2018-04-23T22:13:06","date_gmt":"2018-04-23T21:13:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?p=358088"},"modified":"2018-04-23T22:13:06","modified_gmt":"2018-04-23T21:13:06","slug":"might-trump-ask-israel-fund-americas-invasion-occupation-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/editorials\/might-trump-ask-israel-fund-americas-invasion-occupation-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Might Trump Ask Israel to Fund America’s Invasion-Occupation of Syria?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eric Zuesse, originally posted at strategic-culture.org<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

On 16 April 2018, the internationally respected analyst of Middle-Eastern affairs, Abdel Bari Atwan, headlined about Trump\u2019s increasingly overt plan to break Syria up and to establish permanent U.S. control over the parts it wants, \u201cAttempting the Unachievable\u201d<\/span><\/a>. He stated that \u201cThe coming few months are likely to prove very difficult for the Americans, and very costly, not just in Syria but also in Iraq.\u201d He closed: \u201cWho will cover the costs of this American move? There are no prizes for guessing the answer: it has already been spelled out.\u201d The only country that his article mentioned was Israel: \u201cIt would not be surprising if Israel and the various lobbies that support were behind this American strategic volte-face. For Israel is in a state of panic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The U.S. already donates $3.8 billion per year to Israel\u2019s military<\/span><\/a>, in order for Israel to purchase U.S.-made weapons. However, Atwan argues that the costs of this invasion-occupation of Syria are likely to run into the trillions of dollars. The Gross Domestic Product of Israel is only $318.7 billion as of 2016<\/span><\/a>. So, America now already donates a bit more than 1% to that amount, and Atwan\u2019s thesis is that Israel will now become instead a net donor to America\u2019s international corporations (funding some of the Pentagon, which then will pay that money to America\u2019s weapons-firms), in order to avoid adding the enormous costs of this increasing invasion-occupation of Syria<\/span><\/a>, onto America\u2019s taxpayers, fighting forces, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

I do not consider this enormous reversal of Israel \u2014 from recipient to donor \u2014 to be likely. Far likelier, in my view, is Saudi Arabia, to finance the invasion.<\/span><\/p>\n

The GDP of Saudi Arabia is $646.4 billion as of 2016<\/span><\/a>, more than twice Israel\u2019s \u2014 and the Saud family, who own that country, are accustomed to paying for the services they buy, not having them donated (unless by their fellow fundamentalist Sunnis, to spread the faith). Furthermore, the royal family, the Sauds, are extremely close to America\u2019s leading oil families, who also donate heavily to Republican politicians. Ever since at least 2012, the Sauds have been the U.S. Government\u2019s main partner<\/span><\/a> in the long campaign to overthrow and replace Syria\u2019s President Bashar al-Assad, by a Sharia-law, fundamentalist-Sunni, regime, which will do what the Sauds want.<\/span><\/p>\n

America\u2019s oil companies and pipeline companies, and military contractors such as Lockheed Martin, profit from America\u2019s invasion-occupation of Syria, but U.S. President Donald Trump isn\u2019t doing it only with their welfare in mind; he has an international campaign to press America\u2019s allies to foot a larger percentage of the cost to U.S. taxpayers for America\u2019s military. He wants America\u2019s allies to pay much more, in order for them to be able to enjoy the privileges of staying in America\u2019s alliance against Russia, China, and other countries whose economies threaten to continue growing faster than America\u2019s. U.S. aristocrats fear that such challengers could replace them as the global hegemon or Empire, the \u00fcber-aristocracy. Empire is expensive, and the general public pay for it, but Trump wants foreign taxpayers to pay a bigger share of these costs in order to relieve part of the burden on U.S. taxpayers. His famous comment about the invasion-occupation of Iraq, \u201cWe should have taken the oil\u201d<\/span><\/a>, is now being put into practice by him in Syria. However, that money goes only to corporations, not to the U.S. Treasury.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which allies could finance escalated war against Syria?<\/span><\/p>\n

On 24 September 2017, the Wall Street Journal<\/i> bannered, “U.S.-Backed Forces Seize Syrian Gas Plant From Islamic State\u201d<\/span><\/a>, and reported: \u201cU.S.-backed forces said Sunday they were advancing through eastern Syria after seizing a gas plant there from Islamic State, striking a blow to the terror group\u2019s dwindling finances, which rely heavily on its control of Syria\u2019s oil and gas fields. The plant, one of the most important in the country, is capable of producing nearly 450 tons of gas a day.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Trump wants the profits from that to go to American companies, not to Syrian ones. That\u2019s the type of arrangement Trump has been favoring when he says \u201cWe should have taken the oil.\u201d Syria is allied with Russia, and with Iran. The U.S. is allied with Saudi Arabia and Israel, which are the two countries that call Iran an \u201cexistential threat\u201d \u2014 and which have been urging a U.S. invasion to overthrow Assad.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sauds and their allied fundamentalist Sunni Arab royal families are considering to finance an American-led invasion of Syria. Turkey\u2019s newspaper Yeni Safak<\/i> headlined on 15 June 2017, “Partitioning 2.5M barrels of Syria\u2019s oil\u201d<\/span><\/a>, and reported:<\/span><\/p>\n

A meeting was held on June 10 for the future of Syrian oil on the premise of the intelligence of Saudi Arabia and the US in Syria\u2019s northeastern city of Qamishli, which borders with Turkey. One of the US officers who visited terrorist organizations in the Sinjar-Karachok region after Turkey\u2019s anti-terror operation in northern Syria and spokesman for the Global Coalition to Counter Daesh, Colonel John Dorrian, attended the meeting. Representatives from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, as well as some tribal leaders from Syria and senior Democratic Union Party (PYD) members attended the meeting. The delegation gathered for the purpose of determining a common strategy for the future of Syrian oil, and decided to act jointly after Daesh. Former President of the National Coalition of the Syrian Opposition and Revolutionary Forces, Ahmed Carba, determined the tribal and group representatives from Syria, and Mohammed Dahlan determined which foreign representatives would attend the meeting. Representatives agreed on a pipeline route. Radical decisions were made regarding the extraction, processing and marketing of the underground wealth of the Haseke, Raqqah and Deir ez Zor regions, which hold 95 percent of Syrian oil and natural gas\u2019 potential.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s \u201ctaking the oil.\u201d There could be lots of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

This article also reported that, \u201cSyria produced 34,828,000 barrels of crude oil in the first quarter of 2011 and reached 387,000 barrels per day during the same period\u201d and that, \u201cthere are 2.5 billion barrels of oil reserves in Syria.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On 16 April 2018, Whitney Webb at Mint Press bannered “How the US Occupied the 30% of Syria Containing Most of its Oil, Water and Gas\u201d<\/span><\/a>, and reported that, \u201cThough the U.S. currently has between 2,000 to 4,000 troops stationed in Syria, it announced the training of a 30,000-person-strong \u2018border force\u2019 composed of U.S.-allied Kurds and Arabs in the area, which would be used to prevent northeastern Syria from coming under the control of Syria\u2019s legitimate government.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She noted, regarding the area in Syria\u2019s northeast, where U.S.-armed, Saudi-funded, Syrian Kurds are in control: \u201cthose resources \u2013 particularly water and the flow of the Euphrates \u2013 gives the U.S. a key advantage it could use to destabilize Syria. For example, the U.S. could easily cut off water and electricity to government-held parts of Syria by shutting down or diverting power and water from dams in order to place pressure on the Syrian government and Syrian civilians. Though such actions target civilians and constitute a war crime, the U.S. has used such tactics in Syria before.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She says: \u201cGiven the alliance between Syria and Iran, as well as their mutual defense accord, the occupation is necessary in order to weaken both nations and a key precursor to Trump administration plans<\/span><\/a> to isolate and wage war against Iran.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That type of plan could be worth a lot to Israel, but Yeni Safak<\/i> headlined on 18 April 2018, \u201cUS to build Arab force in NE Syria as part of new ploy:<\/span><\/a> The US is seeking to amass an Arab force in northeastern Syria comprised of funding and troops from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.\u201d This report said:<\/span><\/p>\n

The Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said that the kingdom is willing to send troops to Syria in a press conference on Tuesday. The minister noted that discussions on sending troops to Syria were underway. \u201cWith regards to what is going on now, there are discussions regarding what kind of force needs to remain in eastern Syria and where that force would come from. And those discussions are ongoing,\u201d said al-Jubeir. He stressed that troop deployment in Syria will be done within the framework of the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition and also suggested Saudi Arabia would provide financial support to the U.S.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

How likely is it that Israel would be funding this huge escalation in The West\u2019s invasion-occupation of Syria \u2014 an escalation in which fundamentalist-Sunni armies would then be serving Israeli masters? Though Arab royals might find it acceptable, their soldiers would not.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sauds are the world\u2019s wealthiest family<\/span><\/a>, and they can and do use the state that they own, Saudi Arabia, as their investment asset, which they aim to maximize. This war will be a great investment for them, and for their allies, in U.S., UK, Israel, and elsewhere. Israel can\u2019t take the lead in such a matter. But the Sauds and their friends could.<\/span><\/p>\n

Funding by the Sauds would be the likeliest way. <\/span>On 21 May 2017, I headlined “U.S. $350 Billion Arms-Sale to Sauds Cements U.S.-Jihadist Alliance\u201d<\/span><\/a> and reported that the day before, \u201c<\/span>U.S. President Donald Trump and the Saud family inked an all-time record-high $350 billion ten-year arms-deal<\/span><\/a> that not only will cement-in the Saud family\u2019s position as the world\u2019s largest foreign purchasers of U.S.-produced weaponry, but will make the Saud family, and America\u2019s ruling families, become, in effect, one aristocracy over both nations, because neither side will be able to violate the will of the other. As the years roll on, their mutual dependency will deepen, each and every year.\u201d That turned out to be true \u2014 and not only regarding America\u2019s carrying the Sauds\u2019 water (doing their bidding) in both Yemen<\/span><\/a> and Syria<\/span><\/a>, but in other ways as well. Now the Sauds will pitch in to pay tens of thousands of troops in order to dominate over Iran and Shiites, whom the Sauds hate<\/span><\/a> (and have hated since 1744<\/span><\/a>).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On 21 March 2018, CNBC bannered \u201cTrump wants Saudi Arabia to buy more American-made weapons. Here are the ones the Saudis want\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/span>, and reported what Trump had just negotiated with Saudi Arabia\u2019s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud, which was a step-up in that $350 billion sale, to $400 billion. So: Trump is working on the Sauds in order to get them to take over some of the leadership here \u2014 with American weapons. It\u2019s a business-partnership.<\/span><\/p>\n

On 16 April 2018, which was the same day that Atwan suggested Israel would take the lead here, the Wall Street Journal<\/i> bannered \u201cU.S. Seeks Arab Force and Funding for Syria:<\/span><\/a><\/span> Under plan, troops would replace American military contingent after ISIS defeat and help secure country\u2019s north; proposal faces challenges,\u201d and reported that:<\/span><\/p>\n

The Trump administration is seeking to assemble an Arab force to replace the U.S. military contingent in Syria and help stabilize the northeastern part of the country after the defeat of Islamic State, U.S. officials said. John Bolton, President Donald Trump\u2019s new national security adviser, recently called Abbas Kamel, Egypt\u2019s acting intelligence chief, to see if Cairo would contribute to the effort, officials said. The initiative comes as the administration has asked Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to contribute billions of dollars to help restore northern Syria. It wants Arab nations to send troops as well, officials said.<\/i> <\/span><\/p>\n

If the U.S. will invade, Israel will participate in this invasion-occupation, but the Sauds will lead it \u2014 with U.S.-made weapons. And taxpayers everywhere will lose from it, because invasions just get added to the federal debt. The invading nation goes into debt, which that nation\u2019s public will pay. The invaded nation gets its wealth extracted and sold by the invading aristocracy. It\u2019s happened for thousands of years.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n

Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of\u00a0 They\u2019re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010<\/i><\/span><\/a>,<\/i> and of<\/span> \u00a0<\/i>CHRIST\u2019S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity<\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eric Zuesse, originally posted at strategic-culture.org On 16 April 2018, the internationally respected analyst of Middle-Eastern affairs, Abdel Bari Atwan, headlined about Trump\u2019s increasingly overt plan to break Syria up and to establish permanent U.S. control over the parts it wants, \u201cAttempting the Unachievable\u201d. He stated that \u201cThe coming few months are likely to prove […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1254,"featured_media":358089,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[461,519],"tags":[3604,535,524,754,49,40,1024],"class_list":{"0":"post-358088","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-editorials","8":"category-newswire","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-global-news","11":"tag-russia","12":"tag-syria","13":"tag-usa-news","14":"tag-white-house","15":"tag-ww3"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1254"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}