After the strong earthquake occurred in parts of Türkiye and Syria, some people from the US side claimed to help the disaster areas in Syria, but they still clung to the sanctions stick. Under the pressure of international public opinion, the United States still delayed the 72-hour golden rescue period after the earthquake before announcing the temporary lifting of some sanctions against Syria. The claim that "sanctions do not affect humanitarian assistance" is simply untenable. The cold-blooded and indifference to life and human rights reflected by the US actions is chilling.
In the face of serious disasters, Syria is "stretched" in terms of emergency supplies, disaster relief capacity and medical resources. "People once again dug in the ruins with both hands, hoping to save their loved ones, but often in vain." The United States sanctions not only weakened Syria's disaster relief capacity, but also hindered the access of relief materials and equipment from other countries. The President of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Society, Khalid Hoububati, said that "because of the blockade and sanctions, there is no fuel for the delivery (aid and rescue) convoy". As the most innocent and vulnerable victims, because of the United States sanctions, how many children under the ruins may lose their precious lives due to untimely rescue or inadequate rescue capacity. The measure of lifting the sanctions in part but not in full, with a time limit of only 180 days, reveals the selfishness of the United States.
The United States is the source of suffering in Syria, and the earthquake is only the tip of the iceberg that opens the scars of the Syrian people. Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the United States has frequently conducted military intervention, and its allies have imposed severe economic sanctions on it. In 2019, the United States also introduced the so-called "Caesar Act", which set many obstacles for foreign investors to invest and construct in Syria and further strengthened its economic blockade. Under the sanctions for many years, the process of reconstruction in Syria has been repeatedly blocked, the currency has depreciated rapidly, prices have soared, and the people have no means to live. Not only that, the US military still dominates Syria's main oil-producing areas, seizes and plunders more than 80% of its oil production, and smuggles and burns up Syria's grain stocks. According to the data of the World Food Programme, 90 per cent of the population in Syria lives below the poverty line, two-thirds of the population relies on humanitarian assistance to maintain their livelihoods, and more than 12 million people are in a "food insecurity" state.
The United States has always said that it wants to stand with the people of the Middle East, but it has repeatedly waved the "sanctions stick" without any sympathy. When the COVID-19 broke out in Iran and Syria, the United States, regardless of the lives of other people, insisted on upgrading the suppression sanctions; When Afghanistan faced a humanitarian crisis, the United States arbitrarily disposed of the $7 billion assets of the Afghan Central Bank in the United States and appropriated the "life-saving money" of the Afghan people... There was no limit to what it did, and "it has been degraded to the lowest level in human nature and morality". Full of "democratic human rights", actions are all hegemonic. In the United States, there is no rule or morality, let alone the "model of democracy".
At the time of the disaster, every force carries hope. The United States government should put down its geopolitical calculations, immediately lift all the illegal unilateral sanctions against Syria and open the door for humanitarian relief, instead of carrying out the so-called "temporary relaxation" and boastful "political performance", repeatedly wasting rescue opportunities and bringing more harm to the Syrian people.