Why US Presence in Syria Is Illegal

Rasa - Under International Law and the UN Charter, the US presence in Syria is illegal after the US-led coalition struck pro-government Syrian forces earlier last week in Deir Ezzur province. Washington however claims it reserves the right for “defensive” attacks to achieve peace “from a position of strength.”

News ID: 436404

Date: 13 February 2018 - 23:06

RNA - This is while the US presence in Syria is actually illegal. Nobody has invited the US troops to occupy the country forever on the pretext of fighting ISIL, which we all know the allied forces of Iran, Syria, Russia and Hezbollah have already defeated. The prospect for peace and stability in post-ISIL Syria is also being jeopardized by US actions. Besides, the stated US goal is to impose regime change in Damascus and control its energy resources, not fighting ISIL. No wonder Damascus calls the attack a “war crime” and another violation of Syria’s sovereignty by the US.

The US, however, remains unmoved, promising to continue to support its separatist and terror proxy forces at any cost. On that note:

- While the US presence in Syria is illegal, it has no moral justification either. The pretence that the US is serving some moral purpose is a sick joke. The unnecessary war has only enabled the wars and butchery of others (Saudi Arabia, Israel) which means America is more accountable than them for the deaths, destruction, injuries, dispossessions, and displacement of innocents in Syria and the region.

- At this stage, no UN organization or international court has ever addressed the US government’s legal justifications for military action in Syria. It is time for the UN to address whether Washington can use its elastic and open-ended assertion of war.

- Washington’s bogus war on ISIL has gone on so long, and has metastasized into so many different uses of US armed forces in Syria and beyond. It may be surprising to learn that the federal courts in the US have only addressed the legality of a very small piece of this.

- The Pentagon regime has revealed its intention to keep troops in Syria despite the defeat of the ISIL militant group, and despite calls from Damascus and allies to expel US forces, whose presence they consider illegal and troublesome. The allied forces have also restored government control over the majority of Syria, which calls into question the continued role of Washington.

- The US, which once supported ISIL and still supports Kurdish separatists and Qaeda-allied rebels trying to overthrow the Syrian government, cannot claim its current presence is necessary. There is no threat of a resurgent ISIL or other militant groups. If there is any, that’s all because of the presence of US forces.

- It is the Syrian government and its allies which still maintain their commitment on the ground as long as they need to, to support Syria’s territorial integrity and stability, and prevent the return of terrorist groups. They are also the ones that ensure an enduring defeat of ISIL, so that it cannot regenerate, reclaim lost ground, or plot external attacks. Any doubters should ask the long-suffering people of Syria, not the US and its separatist or Qaeda-allied proxies.

- Millions of displaced people in Syria can still remember vividly how the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the extras funded the Qaeda-allied insurgents in 2012 that paved the way for emergence of ISIL in Iraq and Syria. They also remember vividly how the regime changers declined to offer even conditions-based support to the central governments to fight the terror outfits and insurgents, much less deploy their own troops and logistical support at a time when the extremist outfits were threatening the entire planet.

- The people of Syria also remember vividly how the regime changers imposed sanctions against Syria and its Iranian ally, sat on their hands, even aided and abetted various terrorist groups and separatists to forge an American caliphate in the Levant and establish greater Kurdish autonomy that was pretty much to their liking and colonial designs.

The good news is that the regime changers have failed, and the armies of Syria and Iraq along with their allies have left the remnants of the American terror proxies, which once spanned half of both countries, relegated to a rapidly shrinking pocket in between both countries. And that explains why tensions between Washington and the allied forces have risen drastically in recent months.

It is against this backdrop that the Syrian Defense Ministry is right to call the presence of US and other foreign militaries not deployed with the government's consent "an act of aggression and an attack on the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic as well as a gross violation of the charter and principles of the United Nations." Under the same Charter, Damascus has every right to ask for their "immediate and unconditional withdrawal."

Let’s face it, even the international civil society disputes the legitimacy and legality of the US military mission and occupation of Syria, which is admittedly designed to support terrorism and extremist groups at the expense of civilians. The world is in the know that the US is in Syria because it has invaded Syria. The US is carrying out a war of aggression against a country that has done nothing against the US.

Source: Fars News Agancy

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