New US sanctions on Syria are set to take effect Wednesday as the Arab nation is already struggling to rebuild from the nine-year war that shattered the country. US sanctions are already impeding the reconstruction effort, and some fear the new measures will only make a bad situation worse for Syrian civilians.
US and EU sanctions on Syria have already frozen the assets of the state and hundreds of companies and individuals. The sanctions also prohibit Americans from exporting anything to Syria and bar US citizens from investing in the country. The new sanctions will give the US the power to freeze the assets of any individual, regardless of nationality, for doing business in Syria.
The new sanctions will also target people dealing with Russian and Iranian entities in Syria. The looming sanctions have already caused many to pull out of investments in Syria, which is mostly to blame for the recent collapse of Syria’s currency. Lebanon, Jordan, and other regional neighbors are discouraged from joining the reconstruction effort since it can cause targeting by the US.
US lawmakers are expected to announce who the new sanctions will be targeting on Wednesday. The sanctions are permitted under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, which was incorporated into the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.
Even Washington’s Kurdish allies in northeast Syria are worried about the new sanctions. An official from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spoke with Voice of America about the Caesar Act and warned it could impede their ability to fight ISIS. “As Caesar sanctions are about to go into effect, the status of northeastern Syria must be taken into consideration especially when these sanctions might affect the battle to fight IS,” the SDF official said.
A group of Syrian-Americans demonstrated against the new sanctions in Allentown, Pennsylvania on Sunday. “When you try to destroy the economy of a country, it affects the people,” said Bashar Hajal, of Allentown. “It’s a contradiction if the main purpose of the Caesar Act is to protect civilians. It’s our homeland. And seeing it collapse like this is just devastating. We cannot stand by.”
Brutality is who we are, the odor of arrogance reeks from the White House and violence trickles down and spreads like a virus through out the nation and the world. If other world leaders were as crazy as we are that would be the end of everything.
America is mentally and emotionally unbalanced, and it’s been that way since the good folk landed at Plymouth Rock–genocide of the native peoples, slavery, the wild, wild west, Hiroshima/Nagasaki, and continuous violence overseas.A barbarian nation.
Yet, you decided to immigrate here, no where else?
How does that work?
That doesn’t change anything he said. You talk as if those things aren’t an accurate description of what we have done as a nation. Refute what he said instead of comparison shopping.
He could have gone to any other better nation, but he didn’t.
His actions contradict his rant. That’s all.
You explain the logic there.
What your saying is that since he lives here he can’t criticize anything we do. You explain THAT logic. I’ve read your posts where you criticize our foreign policy also. Where do you live?
Not at all.
He is free to criticize,
but systematic condemnation is another issue.
Ignoring the fact, oddly, that— he CHOSE —to move here?
He wasn’t forced to come here.
Why would someone CHOOSE to move to a reprehensible nation with a horrendous history (his view)?
His condemnations are ubiquitous, comprehensive and universal.
They border on categorical hatred.
Logically then,
he must believe every other option (nation) is actually worse or
secretly,
he believes the US is the best place, for him,
but the worst for everybody else,
and just enjoys beeaching, about everything.
Which, ironically, he would have trouble doing in any adopted nation.
I’m going with the latter,
because self-hating guilt is a virus.
In a perverse way, it’s quite comical.
Again, refute what he said. You just repeated yourself. He consistently bitches about our foreign policy because it is something that should be bitched about. Maybe he thinks the US is the best place for him to live despite its foreign policy. Why is it that you think his bitching precludes that?
It’s a contradiction, hate it, but choose it, lol.
Deal with it.
It’s entirely possible to think that the best choice available is still a bad choice.
I agree, just better than the other choices.
Sure. So if someone bitches about our foreign policy less than you do, and you do bitch, do they have the right to tell you to ‘love it or leave it’? I just don’t get your line of thinking. We want something better.
You get my line of thinking,
you just can’t stand it,
because you are addicted to anger.
Have a great day.
Right. Right. Wrong. You too.
No I’m not and you know it.
His comments are light-years past simple “criticism”.
Plus I was born here,
I didn’t make a conscious decision (against all other options) to move here.
He did. Analogous to purposely shooting yourself in the foot, lol.
Your attempt to defend this stupidity is typical, and tedious.
And you decide how much criticism one can dole out? It doesn’t matter what degree his criticism is nor if he decided to move here on his own volition. If he says dropping the A-bomb on Japan was a bad thing, refute him. You’d made a good redneck back in the 60’s. Or maybe you were one.
The US & EU should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity.
The ICC is trying!
Still expecting trump to bring on Albright to tell us how all the sanctions are “worth it”…”it” meaning dead foreigners.
With a knee on their neck Syrians are gasping “we can’t breath !!”
Don’t get the MIC’s up; Syria isn’t dying yet.
Hmmm
Inspite of the best efforts of the zionists who control US foreign policy for israel…..
Doesn’t matter; by now it should be obvious to those habitually using the U.S. at their ‘dumb giant’ enforcer, including Israel, that a hot war would break the U.S. into unusable openly warring bits.
Then poof, no global enforcer, no suitcases of U.S. dollars, no second heartland supporting their drive to dominate the World Heartland. The U.S. would be impotent on the world stage for maybe a decade.
The fight is over who owns the brain of the giant; American patriots, or Western European globalists, in an extreme game of colour revolution chicken.
One more time. No new shooting wars.
They don’t need shooting wars. The can kill more people and cause more suffering with sanctions. And Americans wonder why so much of the world hates them.
I was being sarcastic Lily.
this is what you get when you align with those two evil countries russia and iran. we will tighten up the sanctions and impose new ones until they see the light.
And why are you so personally invested, with such apparent enjoyment of mayhem and cruelty?
If you have a modicum of love for your country, you would be deeply worried by such lust for barbaric ethos. All the “frozen” funds are plain theft. Those companies that opened accounts here was for the purpose of paying American businesses for trade. The money has been just legally stolen. What about individuals just helping their families? Are they suspected that the money sent to their family is for the purposes of expanding their vegetable stand
business, and can be thus stolen legally by state?
But your first love may be Israel, where destroying homes of undesirables, destroying their crops, uprooting hundred year old olive trees, slashing tires, and killing on whim — is normalized. That truly barbarian society has i
become ideal for our leaders to follow.
But the world has not yet succumbed to your paganism inspired barbarian ethos. Not yet. You are seething with hate against those not bending to your will. There are no riches of this world big enough, no power mighty enough to satiate your cravings. You will never be happy.
But this country still has hope, humanity and wisdom may yet emerge. But for now, it keeps destroying its very soul to impose its evil.
Do not tell me about geopolitics and the wisdom of containing the world by showing your teeth and digging your claws into weak flesh. History has shown over and over that such creatures in the end destroy themselves.
when nikita kruschev says we will bury you and iran chants death to america and israel i immediately resort to finding ways to strike back at them. sanctions must work or they wouldn’t be whining about them. when the arab squatters throw rocks at israeli soldiers then they deserve to all be marched to the sea.
Well, thank you for honesty. Your loyalty to Israel and your morals are consistent with their ethics-free barbarian ethos.
Are sanctions working? Sure, for those that were surprised at US stooping down to Israeli barbarism. But those expecting it, or strong enough to withstand and profit — sanctions have proven to be their historic lesson.
Sanctions aiming to starve people and deprive them of modern infrastructure — are having unintended consequences. No amount of sweet talking that comes from the US and West in general, will be believed for generations to come. But they will recover, as no political power will emerge to impose US hegemony.
Humiliations, murders, starvations — will haunt perpetrators. Human spirit always rises above the stench of oppression.
As for Nikita — the Ukrainian fellow that was the best buddy of Western push to give Ukraine a special status internationally.
To that end — he cleverly rehabilitated Trotsky by decrying Stalinism without ever mentioning the real causes of the political rift of that time. Neat!
A did I say that as Ukrainian he loved his native land so much as to take Crimea, part of Russia — and gift it to Ukraine!
His bombastic language was to convince Russians that he is a good, patriotic fellow. Something Trump is good at — convincing many Americans that his belligerence is for our benefit.
they can get their funds unfrozen and our justified sanctions lifted if they decide to toe the mark and adhere to our demands. they can grow their own food. it is time for them to be self sufficient. the gaza occupiers are another story. they had 70 years to find a new place to go but for some deluded reason they think the land they occupied a few years actually belonged to them. it was british land and israel fought for it and won the land in 1948. everyone seems to think that doesn’t count. the arabs didn’t own it. they were just squatting there.
Why should any other country adhere to the demands of the US? I can never tell whether your posts are sarcasm or whether you really believe the stuff you spout off.
Another day in the malign world of the Globo bully
The US is the world’s biggest bully. I look forward to the day when that country gets its well-deserved comeuppance.
nine-year civil war??
That seems a little off, the war was started by insurgents in the employ of foreign governments.
These insurgents still exist and many are holed up in Idlib where they are still protected by their benefactors.
The world really has to mobilize against the US and Israel. Their antics are just not acceptable. After enduring nine years of imposed civil war, failed US and Israeli sponsored insurgency the US is now starving and slowly killing Syrian civilians. Why should countries be destroyed whose biggest fault is they border Israel.
All US foreign policy is one dimensional. Whoever puts up the benjamins for the “elected” will have their irrational wishes fulfilled. Its just crazy. Even more crazy we allow them to get away with it
… At this rate the U.S. will have to lift sanctions just to have any sanctions at all too impose.