China Blasts America’s “Illegal” Occupation Of Syria In Wake Of Failed House Vote

China has weighed in on the Pentagon’s continued occupation of Syria in the wake of Wednesday’s Republican-sponsored War Powers Resolution in the House, which according to Congressman Matt Gaetz was aimed specifically at forcing President Biden to withdraw all American troops from Syria.

In a Friday press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was asked for a response to the vote. She demanded that the US “immediately end the troops’ illegal occupation and plundering” and to halt the sanctions regimen which is crushing the Syrian economy and thus increasing the misery of common people.

“Since the US began its illegal interference in the Syrian crisis, its military operations in Syria have taken away a large number of innocent civilian lives and caused grave humanitarian disasters,” she said.

Mao also sought to underscore that Washington is increasingly isolated on the issue, noting the US has been “criticized multiple times” by the United Nations. She further said US forces have conducted “indiscriminate attacks that may amount to a war crime.”

She called on Washington to “respect other countries’ sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,” and that it must stop “aggravating humanitarian disasters” in Syria – in reference to widespread reports that US sanctions hindered rescue efforts in the wake of last month’s earthquake.

As for the bipartisan push to get troops out of Syria led by Matt Gaetz, The Intercept has revealed a possible last-minute effort by hawks to sabotage the bill and paint its supporters into a corner:

Before the Rules Committee approved the War Powers Resolution for a vote, Republican leaders added a clause to its consideration that would have blocked Congress from voting again on a motion “introduced during the first session of the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress pursuant to section 5 of the War Powers Resolution with respect to Syria.” The language slipped past the resolution’s supporters, including the three Freedom Caucus members who won new seats on the Rules Committee, Reps. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Thomas Massie, R-Ky.

Now it all makes sense:@HouseGOP & @DeptofDefense aimed to crush the Syria vote, then block any more action by Congress, giving Admin free rein in Syria.

This explains why they flew @thejointstaff Milley to Syria for 1st time & @HouseForeign put huge effort into floor debate. https://t.co/Y6nt5IjgnG

— Erik Sperling 🌍 (@ErikSperling) March 10, 2023

The update in The Intercept continues:

According to sources familiar with the fallout, Massie, Roy, and Gaetz discovered the language and pressed Republican leadership to strip it out, with some members threatening to vote down the rule if the language wasn’t removed. Ultimately, the lobbying worked, and Massie went to the floor to ask that the language be removed by unanimous consent, which requires the full chamber to agree, or at least not to contest the move. Democrats went along with the motion. One Republican member of Congress involved in the negotiations said that his initial assumption that party leadership was trying something nefarious – grant a vote on the resolution but then crush it and bar any future votes – evolved into a belief that the move had been driven by “muscle memory,” as both Democratic and Republican party leaders had consistently confronted efforts to use the War Powers Act with counter efforts to limit its use.

And yet, it still remains entirely unclear what the real “mission” is in Syria. The Trump administration had said it was to “secure the oil” – while Biden has pushed a ‘counter-ISIS’ focus.

But many analysts have pointed to the real underlying reason of the US wanting to keep squeezing Damascus by controlling the country’s natural resources (US troops are occupying the country’s oil and gas fields in the northeast) at a moment crippling sanctions have been ratcheted up. Or in other words, despite President Assad having emerged victorious in the decade long war, this is all a remnant part of Washington’s regime change playbook.