And who set those? > > https://www.mintpressnews.com/wildfires-rage-across-syria-in-wake-of-increased-us-led-economic-warfare/271189/ > > *Wildfires Rage Across Syria in Wake of Increased US-Led Economic Warfare > <https://www.mintpressnews.com/wildfires-rage-across-syria-in-wake-of-increased-us-led-economic-warfare/271189/>* > > The combination of a ten year military war, maximum pressure economic > sanctions, the deliberate destruction of essential civilian infrastructure > and the blatant scorched earth policies of the American neocolonialist > foreign policy-managers are designed to reduce Syria to another failed > state following NATO’s Libya blueprint. > *by ** Vanessa Beeley > <https://www.mintpressnews.com/author/vanessa-beeley/>* > > September 15th, 2020 > > For nearly two weeks, Syria has been battling a new wave of fires that > have engulfed much of the agricultural and forest-rich mountainous areas of > western Syria. Thanks to a corporate media blackout, very few in the West > are aware of the devastation that is affecting the Syrian people already > crippled by U.S.-led economic sanctions, recently magnified by the criminal > “Caesar > Law” > <https://www.mintpressnews.com/caesar-act-latest-western-attack-syria-didnt-drop-from-plane/268697/> > which > is inhibiting reconstruction aid for Syria. > > Any allies who would offer help to Syria will be economically punished for > doing so by the US Global police state. The following video footage shows > many of the fires: > > Western Syria is burning or as a young Syrian in Lattakia, one of the > areas affected, told me “please ask people to save green Syria. We are > tired of hearing we are burning or we are dying. Please help us to live, > please help Syria to renew itself”. Syria has been experiencing > temperatures as high as 51 degrees celsius with strong winds and the fire > has taken hold with an unprecedented ferocity. It is estimated that even in > the first few days several thousand hectares of land have been incinerated > across forests near Latakia and Hama governorates. The north western areas > of Homs City have also been badly affected. > > Previous fires deliberately started > <https://www.mintpressnews.com/as-syria-struggles-under-covid-19-lockdown-americas-scorched-earth-policy-ensures-food-insecurity/269376/> > by > the US occupying forces and their allies had decimated wheat and barley > crops pushing Syria further into food insecurity in addition to the > US-induced freefalling economy. > > I was in Al Sqeilbiyyeh > <https://www.mintpressnews.com/as-suqaylabiyah-syria-christian-town-idlib/259046/>, > a Syrian Christian town in northern Hama on the night of the 5th September. > We could see the fires snaking down the mountainside around 20km to the > north. The sound of sirens filled the night air but the fire was spreading > at an alarming rate, almost impossible to extinguish from the ground alone. > > Over the next two days, the local volunteer National Defence Forces joined > the Syrian Arab Army, REAL Syrian Civil Defence > <https://21stcenturywire.com/tag/real-syria-civil-defence/> teams and > local fire brigades to battle the fires and to provide assistance for > displaced civilians driven from their homes by the advancing inferno. > Russian fire-fighting teams from the military base in Hmeimim, Tartous, > also came to their aid. > > The REAL Syrian Civil Defence > <https://21stcenturywire.com/2017/04/02/the-real-syria-civil-defence-saving-real-syrians-not-oscar-winning-white-helmets-saving-al-qaeda/> > are > not the terrorist-linked, US Coalition-funded White Helmets – they are the > genuine fire-fighters and civil defence units established inside Syria in > 1953 and the only civil defence recognised by the Geneva-based > International Civil Defence Organisation (ICDO). While the White Helmets > receive accolades and praise from western media, UN agencies and > interventionist governments, the Syrian Civil Defence and fire brigades > <https://21stcenturywire.com/2016/10/08/syria-message-from-the-real-syria-civil-defence-about-the-white-helmet-frauds/> > are working under crushing sanctions that ensure their equipment is > outdated and literally falling apart. Many of the vehicles are European and > parts are impossible to secure under sanctions. > > Equipment is maintained by local engineers who do their best to repair and > restore machinery which is old and tired. Much of their equipment was stolen > by the > <https://21stcenturywire.com/2016/11/03/journey-to-aleppo-part-ii-the-real-syria-civil-defense-aleppo-medical-association-are-real-syrians-helping-real-syrians/> > terrorist > > <https://21stcenturywire.com/2016/11/03/journey-to-aleppo-part-ii-the-real-syria-civil-defense-aleppo-medical-association-are-real-syrians-helping-real-syrians/> > groups > <https://21stcenturywire.com/2016/11/03/journey-to-aleppo-part-ii-the-real-syria-civil-defense-aleppo-medical-association-are-real-syrians-helping-real-syrians/> > and > the White Helmets when they invaded and occupied areas of Syria from 2011 > onwards. These invading groups included Al Qaeda, Ahrar Al Sham, Jaish Al > Islam, ISIS and various other offshoots of these dominant extremist > factions. Groups which were proven to be financed and armed by the US > alliance following the publication of a 2012 declassified Intelligence > Department report > <http://www.judicialwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Pg.-291-Pgs.-287-293-JW-v-DOD-and-State-14-812-DOD-Release-2015-04-10-final-version11.pdf> > which > identified these hardline terrorist groups as the vanguard of the > insurgency > <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/03/us-isis-syria-iraq> in > Syria endorsed and supported by the West and their allies, including the > Gulf States. > > Under the sanction regime imposed by the US Coalition, it has been > impossible for the authentic Syria Civil Defence to replace the stolen > equipment. Meanwhile the western-backed White Helmets receive a regular > supply of state-of-the-art equipment via the Turkish border, much of it > coming from Europe and the UK. > > Entire forests and outstanding-natural-beauty conservation areas have been > consumed by the flames in Slunfeh, the Masyaf mountains, Lattakia and Al > Ghab, Hama <https://sana.sy/en/?p=202692> even extending as far as > north-west Homs. The fires have raged across agricultural land, destroying > many of the prized and ancient Olive trees only a few weeks before harvest. > [image: Vanessa-fires-map] > > Map of fires affecting wheat and barley crops in July 2020. Credit | > Ibrahim Mohammad > > Previously, deliberately started fires > <https://www.mintpressnews.com/as-syria-struggles-under-covid-19-lockdown-americas-scorched-earth-policy-ensures-food-insecurity/269376/> > had > destroyed vast swathes of Syrian wheat and barley crops just prior to > harvest. An estimated 130,000 hectares of wheat and 180,000 hectares of > barley were destroyed by those fires. The US Coalition, Israel and their > proxy forces > <https://www.mintpressnews.com/as-syria-struggles-under-covid-19-lockdown-americas-scorched-earth-policy-ensures-food-insecurity/269376/>, > occupying the areas that were torched, were responsible for this deliberate > scorched earth policy designed to ensure food insecurity for the besieged > Syrian people. The fact that the most recent fires have targeted the Olive > plantations must lead to speculation that these latest fires are another > element of the US-led hybrid war strategy in Syria. Particularly as many of > the areas burning are close to areas controlled and occupied by the > extremist armed groups. > > Currently, half the productive areas for olives > <https://www.mintpressnews.com/as-syria-struggles-under-covid-19-lockdown-americas-scorched-earth-policy-ensures-food-insecurity/269376/> > and > olive oil are under control of the Turkish-controlled Al Qaeda-led groups. > Turkish traders are making huge profits from buying olive oil at low prices > from their client militia, blending with lower quality Turkish oil and > exporting to Europe for high prices. A local doctor in Masyaf > <https://sana.sy/en/?p=202470> informed me that on the 6th September, 3 > fires started in the mountains behind his home, each one ignited about an > hour apart. He said “this is deliberate, it is not accidental”. With half > the Syrian olive production under the control of terrorist groups, > providing a lucrative market for NATO-member Turkey, the burning of > sections of the remaining olive groves would have a devastating impact upon > the Syrian economy and food security for the coming winter. > > The aftermath of one of the fires in western Syria. The smouldering > remains. Photo | Ibra Joudeh. > > Syria is already suffocating under sanctions. One week ago we were > informed that fuel would only be available in Damascus and the surrounding > countryside. Since then fuel supplies have almost dried up in Damascus. The > quality of fuel is so poor it is destroying the car engines over time. The > queues for fuel are up to two kilometers long, most stations are now > closed. Electricity is constantly rationed, in my area of Damascus we have > electricity for three hours, cut for three hours. Many in the surrounding > village are lucky to have supply for more than a few hours per day. Syrian > people generally make food during the summer to freeze for the winter > months. Much of this precious food supply has been destroyed in the soaring > heat of the last few months, with freezers not able to function. > > On the 23rd August, a huge explosion tore into a gas pipeline between the > towns of Al-Dhumayr and Adra. Syrian Oil Minister, Ali Ghanem, told local > media that it had been caused by “a terrorist act”. The 1,200 kilometre > Arab Gas Pipeline which transports natural gas from Egypt into Jordan, > Lebanon and Syria supplies three electrical power stations in Syria’s > south, including Damascus. This led to increased outages for the days > leading up to the repair of the damage caused. This was the latest in a > long history > <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/24/arab-gas-pipeline-explosion-leads-to-total-blackout-in-syria-state-media> > of > sabotage of Syrian infrastructure, electrical power grids > <https://sana.sy/en/?p=202494>, power stations, oil pipelines, supply > pipelines which combined with the occupation of Syrian oil fields by US > Coalition proxy forces, the Kurdish separatist groups (SDF), has maximised > the pressure brought to bear upon the Syrian people making life for many > unbearable. > Who is helping Syria during a humanitarian crisis? > > Few in the west are registering their government’s role in the US > Coalition military and economic rapacious campaign to destroy Syria. They > are distracted by the draconian measures being introduced globally on the > back of Covid-19 narratives produced by the Big Pharma corporatocracy and > aligned governmental or UN agencies. While aid is facilitated, by US > officials and the UN > <https://unlimitedhangout.com/2020/08/investigative-series/meet-the-violet-successors-to-the-white-helmets-syria-propaganda-throne/>, > into the terrorist held areas of Idlib via two Turkish border crossing > points > <https://unlimitedhangout.com/2020/08/investigative-series/meet-the-violet-successors-to-the-white-helmets-syria-propaganda-throne/> > that > double up as Al Qaeda trading hubs, no international assistance from the > imperialist axis has been forthcoming for Syria during this humanitarian > crisis. > > An Iranian fire-fighting plane assists Syrian Air-force helicopters in > battling fires. Photo: SANA. > > Iran has come to the aid of the Syrian air-force helicopters from Hama > airport that were transporting water from Sourani Dam in Tartous to limit > the expansion of the fires burning in the inaccessible mountain ranges, > impossible to reach with fire brigade vehicles. The risk for Iran to assist > Syria in this campaign is huge. The terrorist groups are equipped with the > US-manufactured > ground to air missile launchers > <https://www.globalresearch.ca/u-s-supplying-anti-aircraft-missiles-to-syrian-rebels/5309684> > which > have been used in the past to bring down Syrian aircraft. Fire-fighting > planes must necessarily fly low and slow to be most effective which makes > them a relatively easy target for the Al Qaeda-linked armed groups armed by > the US Coalition members. > > > *Are these fires a deliberate policy orchestrated by the US Coalition? * > > Local media have been reporting the arrest of people suspected of starting > some of the fires that have raged across western Syria. However, many I > have spoken to, including officials and local farmers, have confirmed my > suspicions that the fires were deliberately started by groups or > individuals hostile to the Syrian government and state. It is too early to > say whether members of the US Coalition have issued instructions to their > proxies to carry out these criminal acts but preceding involvement in > similar acts of savagery can lead to the conclusion that their influence > may well be behind this latest ruination of Syrian territory and > livelihoods. > > The US-led consortium which includes the UK, EU, Israel, Turkey, Gulf > States and Australia has effectively been increasing maximum pressure on > Syria incrementally since the war against this non-aligned nation began, in > earnest, in 2011. The Syrian people have endured untold misery, poverty, > insecurity, starvation and displacement ever since the criminal campaign to > impose regime change began. > > A recent Watson Institute report > <https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2020/Displacement_Vine%20et%20al_Costs%20of%20War%202020%2009%2008.pdf> > – > “Creating refugees: Displacement caused by the United States post 9/11 > wars” has estimated conservatively that at least 37 million people have > been displaced globally since 2001 as a result of the endless American > “wars on terror”. Renowned journalist, John Pilger, described them more > accurately as “wars *of* terror”. > > The combination of a ten year military war, maximum pressure economic > sanctions, the deliberate destruction of essential civilian infrastructure > and the blatant scorched earth policies of the American neocolonialist > foreign policy-managers are designed to reduce Syria to another failed > state following NATO’s Libya blueprint. The Syrian people will not > capitulate to any amount of pressure to enable their colonisation by > predatory and hostile rogue states but they are suffering and they are > being slowly suffocated by these sadistic measures. > > Modern day “shock and awe” is the slow trickle of death under the > US-manufactured economic jack-boot exacerbated by the accompanying > multi-spectrum war tactics which are intended to decimate the State’s > ability to provide for its people. Washington’s vision is that this will > foment chaos and dissent among a beleaguered population and pressure them > to rise up against a government that has withstood 10 years of such schemes. > > The fires are a symbol of this insatiable globalism and military-complex > supremacist policies engulfing non-aligned prey-nations. A ban on economic > sanctions must be campaigned for to bring an end to these barbaric measures > and to allow the Syrian people to breathe and Syria to recover its > equilibrium, stability and security. > > Feature photo | People fled their homes as the fires advanced towards > mountain villages and farmhouses. Photo: | Ibra Joudeh > > *Vanessa Beeley is an independent journalist and photographer who has > worked extensively in the Middle East – on the ground in Syria, Egypt, Iraq > and Palestine, while also covering the conflict in Yemen since 2015.* > > The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not > necessarily reflect MintPress News editorial policy. > *Republish our stories! * MintPress News is licensed under a Creative > Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License. > > - Sanctions <https://www.mintpressnews.com/tag/sanctions/> > - Syria <https://www.mintpressnews.com/tag/syria/> > - United States <https://www.mintpressnews.com/tag/united-states/> > - wildfires <https://www.mintpressnews.com/tag/wildfires/> > > > ---
Support News from Underground: http://bit.ly/NFUSupport You received this email because you are subscribed to News from Underground. To unsubscribe from this email list, please go to: http://www.simplelists.com/confirm.php?u=pIdjNUgiG2h8yxbhC54SSy4SEskAoEMs For archives, please go to: http://archives.simplelists.com/nfu
