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News & Analysis

Rogue Regimes, US and Israel, Steal Oil and Gas

Waseem Shehzad

Theft and murder are embedded in the genes of the elites of the two settler-colonial entities: the United States of America and zionist Israel. Neither population is indigenous to the lands they occupy.

True, the European settlers landed in North America at the end of the fifteenth century but they were not invited; they stole the land of indigenous peoples. The European settlers were highly ‘successful’ in wiping out the indigenous population through genocide.

The Zionist settlers, also predominantly European with some additions from Russia, are a more recent phenomenon in Palestine. They have indulged in massive ethnic cleansing but have not been entirely successful in wiping out the indigenous Palestinian population. It is not for lack of trying. At least 530 Palestinian villages were wiped off the face of the earth in 1948. Thousands of Palestinians were murdered in cold blood and at least 750,000 ethnically cleansed from their lands.

In the past, land theft was their main pre-occupation to make room for illegal settlers from Europe and North America. This could only be achieved by the slaughter of indigenous populations. With time, other needs have arisen.

In the case of the US, its rapacious greed has driven it into other peoples’ lands. Oil is a much sought-after commodity. “They have our oil under their soil,” in the infamous words of Dick Cheney, one of the most-evil politicians to emerge in the US. He was referring to Iraq’s oil before it was invaded in March 2003. For more than a decade, the Americans stole Iraq’s oil.

Since 2011, US troops have occupied parts of Syria to steal its oil. The Washington warlords have peddled the lie that their troops are there to fight Daesh terrorists and to prevent them from selling Syria’s oil. But Syria has not asked or given permission for US troops to set foot on its soil. The American presence in Syria is illegal.

Besides, the Daesh terrorists are a creation of the US. They are financed, armed and transported around to achieve America’s nefarious agenda. The US air force also acts as Daesh’s unofficial air force. Take the case of US war planes carrying out airstrikes against Syrian forces in the province of Dayr al-Zawr. Syria is trying to cleanse its territory of the US-backed Daesh terrorists.

While no casualties were reported, US airstrikes evoked strong condemnation from Iran which called them a violation of Syria’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kan‘ani denounced the latest American aggression in Dayr al-Zawr as a “terrorist act” against the people of Syria.

Only days before the airstrikes, the US military had used dozens of tanker trucks to smuggle crude oil from the neighboring Syrian province of Hasakah to bases in Iraq.

The US military’s central command said in a statement that the airstrikes were aimed at what it called ‘protecting US forces from attacks’, and targeting military infrastructure facilities run by Syrian government forces and their allies. American forces are in Syria illegally; the Syrian government has not authorized them to enter its territory.

On August 15, armed drones had struck the vicinity of al-Tanf base in southeastern Syria near the borders with Jordan and Iraq. This is an area infested with US-led allied occupation forces. They are deployed in large numbers, again, illegally it must be pointed out.

The other thief, zionist Israel, a close ally of American robbers, has also been involved in a project to steal oil and gas that belongs to Lebanon. While the Lebanese government has been unable to protect the rights of its citizens, the Islamic resistance movement Hizbullah sent a stern warning to the zionist regime. In it, Seyyed Hasan Nasrallah, the movement’s chief, warned the zionists that if Lebanon’s rights are not acknowledged, nobody would be allowed to drill for oil and gas in the area of the Mediterranean Sea. He gave a deadline of September 15 for the zionist entity to confirm this.

The area in question is referred to as Line 23 and the Qana prospect field. Israel has pledged to acknowledge, by sending a message through diplomatic channels to Hizbullah that these are in Lebanese territory. This was reported by the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar on August 19. It also said that the zionist regime had pleaded with Hizbullah to set aside potential plans to attack Israeli gas fields in case of a delay. The Israeli media reported that the Tel Aviv regime had sent an official to Washington to plead with them to persuade Hizbullah to give them some more time.

Some firms have warned the zionist regime that they would withdraw their employees and facilities from the area of drilling if their safety cannot be guaranteed. This was reported by Al-Akhbar. In late July, Hizbullah flew a drone over the area in a show of force to warn the zionists that it has the capability to carry out strikes against drilling operations if Lebanon’s rights are not acknowledged. This sent the zionists into panic mode. Even western media outlets were forced to show Hizbullah’s drone footage.

Addressing an event in Beirut on July 19, Hizbullah Secretary General Seyyed Nasrallah announced: “Lebanon is facing a historic and golden opportunity to get out of its financial crisis,” referring to the gas and oil explorations in the Mediterranean. “If we fail to take advantage of it, we would not be able to extract oil within the next 100 years. We are not looking for moral gains out of extraction in the Karish natural gas field. We rather want to tap into our oil reserves,” he said.

“There would, therefore, be no room for oil or gas extraction in the entire region if Lebanon does not get its right,” the Hizbullah chief announced in Beirut on July 19. Four-and-a-half years ago (February 2018), Lebanon had signed its first contract for drilling in two blocks in the Mediterranean with a consortium of western oil companies comprising energy giants Total, Eni, and Novatek.

True to their thieving nature, the zionists manipulated the UN to limit Lebanon’s maritime boundary which Hizbullah immediately objected to. Under pressure, the zionists have been forced to acknowledge Lebanon’s rights.

These thieves only understand the language of force. They should not be deprived of its ‘benefit’.


Article from

Crescent International Vol. 51, No. 7

Safar 05, 14442022-09-01


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