Why doesn’t EU demand withdraw of US Army stealing the Syrian oil, or “this is different you don’t understand”?
I think you already know the answer to your question.
it was largely rhetorical
Sounds to me like that would be a very expensive choice that would severely affect the quality of life of EU voters. Since those in a position to impose sanctions are those who play the game of getting elected, I don’t think that it is in their best interest to tank the economy.
European leaders don’t seem to have any qualms about tanking the economy by putting sanctions on Russia though, so why the double standard?
Because the US is a closer ally and the EU was forced to pick a side. The EU did not move spontaneously and alone, it moved as part of coordinated action. Furthermore, Russia launched a direct attack into European territory, making it a much more direct military threat.
What you are proposing here is different. You are asking the EU to spontaneously and unilaterally decide to go after its most powerful ally because of the human rights violations that they are committing somewhere else.
What I’m saying here is that EU is very selective about whose rights it cares about. Objectively speaking, US has been engaged in massacring millions of people around the globe since WW2. A few recent atrocities include Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. These alone have killed and displaced countless millions.
Given that EU has never put any sanctions on US or taken any other meaningful action, the only logical conclusion here is that the only reason EU put sanctions on Russia is cynical self interest.
Furthermore, there was no reason for EU and Russia to be in a confrontation or for Russia to present a military threat to EU. The whole reason for this situation is the fact that NATO has been steadily expanding east towards Russia. EU is entirely complicit in creating the situation it finds itself in today.
It’s more accurate to describe the relationship between US and EU as one between an empire and a vassal than one between allies. The war in Ukraine and the economic fallout have directly harmed EU while bolstering US. If EU had sovereignty then EU leaders would have been prioritizing the interests of people living in EU as opposed to the interests of the empire.
Yes, I agree with your assessment. I think that from the point of view of geo-politics, countries tend to make self-serving choices. Human rights are usually not a priority. There are human rights abuses all over the world, but if addressing them does not serve a political purpose, they tend not to appear in the spotlight. As soon as an excuse is needed one can of course summon these abuses and blast them through the media.
I am not saying that I agree with this approach or that this is the way I think thinks should be. But I think that this is the answer to why the EU does not impose sanctions to the US. Similarly, the US lets the Saudis get away with a lot of human rights abuses to avoid souring relations. And the Israel <-> Palestine conflict, why is the world so chill about that?
yeah that’s basically where I’m at as well on the whole thing
Also, the sanctions did impact the EU economy and the leaders have had to pay a price. They have gone as far as they have in large part because the US has pressured them - the EU possibly would not have several of the more drastic measures if it was up to them, to protect their economy.
@yogthos Probably because this doesn’t happen?
Edit: don’t forget to reply to this comment as well after you downvote all my stuff here. Thanks in advance!
Are you seriously suggesting that US isn’t currently occupying Syria?
@yogthos What I am saying is that the US does not control the oil facilities in Syria, not directly at least. It is either the Kurds, the Syrian rebel groups+ISIS and Turkey (basically whoever is controlling the land the said oil infrastructure lies on) - and they are using these facilities for their own benefit.
You also need to take in mind the complexity of the Syrian conflict. There’s not only US that has an interest in there, but also Turkey, Israel, Iran, Russia, there are various factions fighting there etc. Many of the parties (e.g. Turkey and US) even have aspects where they do not agree in regard to the conflict - for example, US is more supportive of the Kurdish forces, while Turkey does quite the opposite.
Then there is ISIS, who is also having a large chunk of that production and who uses the oil money to finance their terrorist activities. Do you want US to pull back and let the fields go under extremist Islamist control? Have them finance terrorist attacks in Europe or wherever around the globe? The US certainly doesn’t.
The EU is also depending on Turkey to restrict the flow of migrants from the area. So I do not get the part of demanding the withdrawal of “US Army stealing the Syrian oil” and I do not see what you think this will achieve, but until you will see some stability and have the conflict winding down, nothing in EU’s position will change. Hope this makes it clearer 😀
There is a literal US base in Syria occupying Syrian food and oil producing regions. These aren’t just US proxies, US has boots on the ground. US is shipping Syrian oil back to US. This isn’t done for the benefit of Kurds as you’re insinuating.
Meanwhile, the conflict has been planned and shaped by the US from the very start https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/07/07/preparing-the-battlefield
Now that US lost it’s proxy war in Syria, the conflict is being resolved with the leaders of Syria, Turkey, and Iran meeting to put an end of hostilities.
The extremists you talk about are a direct product of US policy, and would not exist once US pulls out. So, yes, obviously any sane and rational individual would want US to pull out from occupying and pillaging Syria.
If EU didn’t want migrants coming from the area then EU shouldn’t have been participating in the atrocities in the Middle East along with their imperial masters. Hope this makes it clearer 😀
@yogthos I see. How do you think the whole Syrian Civil War will end? Will the US win it or not?
US has already lost the war in Syria. The only reason it was still festering was because Turkey was continuing to have a dispute with Syria. This dispute is being resolved as we speak. US has no serious allies left in the region aside from Israel. Iran, Iraq, Syria, Trukey, and SA are all aligning against the US right now.
