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“US’s mad plan to steal Syria’s oil: will it save or blow out the Kurdish experiment for good?” by Hedwig Kuijpers https://link.medium.com/thxLdGYhE8 
The US has had a mad plan to steal, or "save Syria's oil", since the day it told #SDF to get ready to liberate the non-Kurdish region #DeirEzzor. The SDF, that has set their hopes on US political support since the start of their quest for autonomy in Syria, eagerly took the bait.
Paradoxically, #SDF took over the former #ISIS smuggling network & started to sell Syria's oil to the Syrian gov, which US had put under "maximum pressure" sanctions & protected the very same oil that was flowing to gov territory at the time. A trade the US turned a blind eye to.
An American-Israeli tycoon tried to 'fix' the paradoxical situation. He had a scheme that involved neither the Syrian gov. as buyer, nor an American company at risk of being sanctioned. Mordechai Kahana tried to sell the #SDF's oil to Israel in return for humanitarian supplies.
Kahana jumped into action around Christmas 2018, when Trump announced it was "time to get US troops home"& Turkey invaded parts of SDF-held territory. He managed to meet with Ilham Ahmed, travelled to the region & even filed an OFAC application by name of SDF Mazloum Abdi after.
By March, SDF got back on earlier promises & told him to stop attracting buyers using documents, signed by Ilham Ahmed, probably after harsh criticism by the Syrian gover, Russia & Iranian media. They were afraid that an Israeli-Kurdish deal would not help secure their position.
When the US gov decided to keep several hundreds of troops in North-East Syria 'to guard the oil' after the Turkish invasion of Ras al-Ayn & Ayn Issa, Trump appeared in front of the White House, saying: "We kept the oil. I like oil." He clearly wanted to take matters in own hands
On the 30th of July, articles started to appear on a US-SDF oil deal signed & acknowledged by the White House. Delta Crescent has apparently signed an agreement to market oil in territory controlled by the US-backed entity and to develop and modernize existing oil fields.
Mike Pompeo told Graham he was “OK” with the deal. “The deal took a little longer, senator, than we had hoped, and now we’re in implementation," he said.
A reaction to this deal was published by the Syrian state news agency SANA, slamming the deal as "integrated and aggravated theft and can only be described as a deal between thieves who are stealing and thieves who are buying, constituting an assault against Syria's sovereignty"
The deal caused controversy among pro-gov Syrians, leftist activists, pro-Turkey, pro-Russia, anti-US lobbies on social media. Even many SDF-followers seem shocked by the deal struck by the group they knew as "anti-capitalist". All condemn it as a conspiracy to steal Syria's oil.
If a military response to this deal will follow after its implementation is yet unclear. #Damascus has been reluctant to fight the Kurds and does not see them as a direct enemy, even stepped in to save them, though siding and trading with the US this closely might change this.
Last year, Damascus gave Russia exclusive rights to extract oil and gas. Damascus hoped that with Russian companies and technology, the country's resources would provide the revenue needed to rebuild the country.
Turkish President Erdogan stated that he invited Putin to jointly manage the oil fields in Deir ez-Zor instead of SDF in March 2020. Russia did not accept.
One of the greatest concerns might be Turkey’s reaction to the US - SDF oil deal. One of the key disagreements between Turkey and the US on Syria has been about the latter’s local cooperation with the SDF.
Though intel on the exact agreement of the oil deal has not been published yet, it is hard to say what the US company will actually do in Syria & how it will transport the oil out of Syria. What it does clarify is the US's intention to stay, making Deir ez-Zor a permanent base.
This is something that is likely to anger the Syrian government - which views Washington as unrightly occupying Syrian soil - and its allies Russia and Iran. Iranian militias currently control the Albukamal region of Deir Ez-Zor, not at all that far from the Deiri oil fields.
Turkey has been clear that it does not tolerate any PKK-affiliated parties controlling territories at its border, it has already invaded and captured SDF territory multiple times, and has shown interest in Syria's oil before. Turkey itself is a vast importer of oil.
The US siding more closely with Turkey's foe, might also disrupt US-Turkish relations. This will bring Turkey even closer to its #Astana-colleagues Russia and Iran to provide for a sustainable solution in Syria, which excludes the US.
However, deals like these can go both ways. It will either help NE Syria to flourish economically, or -more probably- it will mark it as a target even more, and become its end. Selling Syria's oil to the enemy, may also close the door to reconciliation with the gov. for good.
You can follow @Hedwigkuijpers2.
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