{"id":238315,"date":"2021-07-10T05:57:27","date_gmt":"2021-07-10T05:57:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=238315"},"modified":"2021-07-11T13:34:22","modified_gmt":"2021-07-11T13:34:22","slug":"what-is-wrong-with-the-humanitarian-crossing-into-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=238315","title":{"rendered":"What Is Wrong with the \u201cHumanitarian Crossing\u201d into Syria?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Bab al Hawa<\/em> Syrian-Turkish border crossing<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Rick Sterling \u2013 Subscribestar July 9, 2021<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p><em>A friend sent me a link to a Foreign Policy <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/2021\/07\/06\/syria-russia-aid-un-security-council\/\"><em>news story<\/em><\/a><em> about the Turkey \/ Syria border crossing at Bab al Hawa.\u00a0 He asked, \u201cIs this accurate?\u201d\u00a0 What could be wrong with humanitarian aid?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>There have been many such stories, both short and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.csis.org\/analysis\/implications-un-cross-border-vote-syria\">long<\/a>. The essence of them all in western media is that Bab al Hawa must be kept open for humanitarian reasons.\u00a0 Many of the articles castigate Russia or any other country such as China which might vote to block a renewal of United Nations authorization of the border crossing.<\/p>\n<p>There are important facts which western media stories typically leave out or distort. Here are some reasons why the Bab al Hawa border crossing should NOT be renewed.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The aid is supporting Syria\u2019s version of Al Qaeda, Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS).\u00a0 They control the region on the Syrian side of the crossing. They are the foreigners and hard-core extremists who invaded Idlib from Turkey in 2015 plus those who left Aleppo and other cities when the militants were defeated by the Syrian army. \u00a0 Even if the United Nations inspects all the trucks going into Idlib province in northern Syria, the truck deliveries are ultimately controlled by HTS (formerly called Jabhat al Nusra).<\/li>\n<li>The aid is effectively supporting the partition of Syria. Idlib province, and the militants which govern there, seek to separate permanently from Syria. They are attempting to <a href=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/55334\/\">Turkify the region<\/a> through sectarian education, promoting the Turkish language and even using Turkish currency.<\/li>\n<li>The aid violates the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/about-us\/un-charter\/full-text\">United Nations Charter<\/a> which says all member countries shall refrain from threatening the territorial integrity of another member state. Turkey and the USA are the major violators, since they have military troops illegally occupying Syrian lands. But it is a shame for the United Nations to be complicit through the authorization of aid to the breakaway Al Qaeda dominated region.<\/li>\n<li>The aid to northwest Syria is prolonging the conflict instead of helping end it.\u00a0 It is evident that after failing to militarily overthrow the Syrian government, western powers are now using other means to attack Damascus. They continue to interfere in Syria\u2019s domestic affairs. Led by the USA, they have economically attacked Syria while pouring support into the breakaway northwest region.<\/li>\n<li>Western aid to the Al Qaeda dominated region distracts from the pain, damage, and destruction which US and European sanctions have wreaked on most Syrians.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/original.antiwar.com\/rick_sterling\/2020\/06\/19\/caesar-tries-to-suffocate-17-million-syrians\/\">The Caesar sanctions<\/a>, imposed by the USA amid the Covid19 pandemic, have had a horrendous impact.\u00a0 By outlawing the Syrian Central Bank and making it nearly impossible to trade with Syria, US sanctions have undermined the Syrian currency.\u00a0 Many goods have increased in price by 4 and 5 and even 10 times. Like a modern-day gangster, the US has been openly stealing the oil and wheat from eastern Syria.\u00a0 The US has attacked the electrical grid by prohibiting parts, engineering, or construction to repair or rebuild power plants. \u201cCaesar\u201d sanctions prohibit support for anything government related including schools and hospitals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>According to a December 2020 United Nations General Assembly <a href=\"https:\/\/undocs.org\/en\/A\/RES\/75\/181\">resolution<\/a>, Unilateral Coercive Measures such as the \u201cCaesar\u201d law are illegal and a violation of the UN Charter, international law, and international human rights law.\u00a0 Yet because of US global economic dominance, it is still in force and the US claims the right to prohibit any country, company, or individual from supporting or trading with Syria.\u00a0 This is what makes US claims to humanitarian concern so ironic and cynical.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The western aid to Syrians through Bab al Hawa is discriminatory and serves to divide the country. Before the conflict Idlib province had a total population of 1.5 million persons and the number is LESS today.\u00a0 Much of the population left when the province was over-run by extremists.\u00a0 Some fled into Turkey; others fled to Latakia province to the west.\u00a0 Some opposition militants and their supporters chose to go to Idlib rather than reconcile with the government. For example, when East Aleppo was taken back by government soldiers, there were about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2016\/12\/16\/world\/middleeast\/aleppo-evacuations-video.html\">thousands of militants and their families transferred<\/a> \u2013 but not hundreds of thousands as was incorrectly predicted in the wave of propaganda before East Aleppo was recaptured. So, in contrast with some estimates, there are one million or fewer persons in Idlib.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The civilians in north west Syria are being effectively bribed to live there through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usaid.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/06.28.2021_-_USG_Syria_Fact_Sheet_8.pdf\">cash payments<\/a> and vastly greater relief.\u00a0 One thousand trucks per month are taking aid into northwest Syria.\u00a0 As noted in in <a href=\"https:\/\/reliefweb.int\/sites\/reliefweb.int\/files\/resources\/nw_syria_and_rataa_situation_report_20210618_0.pdf\">OCHA document<\/a>, people are \u201cincentivized by access to services and livelihoods.\u201d\u00a0 This is understandable but the divisive effect is also clear.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast, there are between 14 and 17 million Syrians living elsewhere in Syria. They are receiving little if any of the aid.\u00a0 Instead, they are bearing the brunt of vicious US unilateral coercive measures.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Aid to civilians in Syria should be distributed fairly and proportionally. This can be done with monitoring or supervision by a respected international agency such as the Red Crescent \/ Red Cross.\u00a0 In keeping with the UN Charter, western countries should respect the political independence of the Syrian government and stop their continuing interference and efforts at \u201cregime change\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Weaponizing \u201cHumanitarian Aid\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_61365\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/david_miliband.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-61365\" class=\"wp-image-61365 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/david_miliband-300x216.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"216\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/david_miliband-300x216.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/david_miliband.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-61365\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">David Miliband, former aide to Tony Blair and Washington Beltway insider David Miliband, now CEO of the International Rescue Committee. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n<p>There are many western NGOs crying out about Bab al Hawa. For example, the International Rescue Committee has raised many millions of dollars which should have gone to help all Syrians but has not. Their literature should be carefully considered however because \u2013 according to their 2019 tax returns \u2013\u00a0 western governments are their main funders at $440M in 2019.\u00a0 The CEO, David Miliband, is well compensated at over $1 million per year. We can be sure they keep on message with the US State Department.<\/p>\n<p>Humanitarian aid is big business and has been politically weaponized. While there are many well-meaning people working hard, there political agendas at work.<\/p>\n<p>If Russia and other nations in the UN Security Council veto the extension of the Bab al Hawa crossing, there are good reasons why.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.subscribestar.com\/posts\/375248\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rick Sterling argues that humanitarian aid is big business and it has been politically weaponized. This is particularly so Syria, where the CEO of one of the main &#8220;aid groups\u201d is former aide to Tony Blair, David Miliband, who is now handsomely rewarded for his services with over $1 million per year..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":238317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-238315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-syria"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=238315"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":238318,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238315\/revisions\/238318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/238317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=238315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=238315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=238315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}