US, Turkey Continue Depredations in Syria

Over the past twenty-four hours the Syrian press is replete with accounts of ongoing American, Turkish and associated attacks on the country both military and economic.

One news story is of a meeting between the ministers of water resources of Syria and Iraq, Tammam Ra’ad and Mehdi Rashid al-Hamdani, respectively, discussing Turkey’s diverting or outright pilfering water from the Euphrates ad Tigris Rivers. For several weeks the Syrian hydroelectric and agricultural sectors have suffered substantial damage from the theft.

In their video conversation the Iraqi minister lamented the effect the Turkish actions has had on the citizens of his country. His Syrian counterpart spoke of measures taken by his nation to work with friendly governments and international organizations to address and redress their concerns.

Syrian Arab News Agency reported yet further incidents of what were identified as U.S. occupation forces looting Syrian grain and oil and transporting both to northern Iraq. One convoy of 27 vehicles, including Hummers and armored vehicles – that is, a military escort – was spotted, including trucks loaded with wheat and tankers with oil.

Also, sources in Tal Hamis in northeastern Syria reported seeing a U.S. or U.S.-led convoy of nine vehicles arriving in the al-Hol area which included four missile-launchers and several armored vehicles of different types.

Another report from the al-Jazeera region details a U.S. convoy of 45 vehicles, including covered trucks, oil tankers, refrigerator trucks and four-wheel-drive vehicles leaving northeastern Syria for the Iraqi border. Yet another suspected American convoy, this one with 43 vehicles containing grain stolen from Tal Alou silos, was seen leaving the village of al-Swaidiyeh for the Iraqi border also.

A young Syrian girl near Idlib was run over and killed by a Turkish vehicle that was part of a military convoy passing through the valley of Nairab in the east of the country.

It was also reported that Turkish occupation forces and their mercenaries and proxies shelled Syrian sites from the city of Afrin in the north of the country near Aleppo, with several shells landing in the village of Ayn Daqnieh and causing damage to property and public infrastructure. Shells landed in several adjoining villages as well.

Also in Afrin, two Turkish-supported mercenaries were killed in an exchange of rifle fire and grenades in continued infighting that has recently left several dead.

The U.S. and Turkey are arming, training and directing different armed groups in northern Syria, but they are pursuing a common agenda of wreaking death and destruction in the already tragically scarred and suffering country.

Rick Rozoff is a contributing editor at Antiwar.com. He has been involved in anti-war and anti-interventionist work in various capacities for forty years. He lives in Chicago, Illinois. He is the manager of Stop NATO. This originally appeared at Anti-Bellum.