Trump's Plan to Take Syrian Oil Slammed as 'Clear Violation of International Law' and 'Imperial Loo

[babylonsister]

Trump’s Plan to Take Syrian Oil Slammed as ‘Clear Violation of International Law’ and ‘Imperial Looting’
by Colin Kalmbacher | 1:13 pm, October 27th, 2019


President Donald Trump announced plans to violate several longstanding tenets of international law on Sunday morning during a controversial press conference celebrating the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, legal experts say.

“We are leaving soldiers to secure the oil,” Trump said. “And we may have to fight for the oil. Maybe somebody else wants the oil, in which case they have a hell of a fight.”

“The oil is so valuable,” Trump added later during the press conference. “For many reasons. It fueled ISIS: number one. Number two: it helps the Kurds. Because it’s basically been taken away from the Kurds. They were able to live with that oil. And number three: it can help us because we should be able to take some also. And what I intend to do, perhaps, is make a deal with an Exxon Mobil, or one of our great companies, to go in there and do it properly. Right now it’s not big–it’s big oil

underground. But it’s not big oil up-top. Much of the machinery’s been shot and dead. It’s been through wars.”

snip//

Experts previously dismissed Trump’s desire to expropriate the oil reserves of other countries as blatant violations of international law.

“In international law, you can’t take civilian goods or seize them. That would amount to a war crime,” Anthony Cordesman, the Arleigh Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the Guardian during the 2016 presidential campaign. “Oil exports were almost the only Iraqi source of money. So you would have to pay for government salaries, maintain the army, and you have triggered a level of national animosity far worse than we did. It would be the worst kind of neo-colonialism. Not even Britain did that.”

more...

https://lawandcrime.com/crazy/trumps-plan-to-take-syrian-oil-slammed-as-clear-violation-of-international-law-and-imperial-looting/?fbclid=IwAR1fWzFPrajnLWXwDzTtYf98jgnd3k3s4LJnNR7Dq4IhlQQNImdRr8ufIlw

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. He IS an "imperial loo."

[mucifer]

2. The USA has a long history of doing things like that. It's effed up. But, it's our history

[triron]

3. Please cite examples. And please don't legitimize Trump.

[mucifer]

6. The United Fruit Company and other events:

https://hbr.org/podcast/2019/07/the-controversial-history-of-united-fruit

https://www.thenation.com/article/banana-kings/

Iranian arms for hostages under reagan:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/03/05/reagan-acknowledges-arms-for-hostages-swap/7a5cd7cc-a112-4283-94bd-7f730ad81901/

george w bush starting a war in Iraq for no legitimate reason.

[at140]

4. Sorry but I prefer US gets the oil instead of ISIS

The oil will pay the enormous cost of fighting wars in middle-east.

[unc70]

8. It is not your preference, nor mine

It is not our oil. Period. To take it by force is a war crime. Keeping ISIS from controlling the oil is a different matter.

[at140]

9. Whose laws make it a war crime?

Who prosecuted Al Baghdadi for raping women and beheading men, a crime far far far far worse than taking oil to defray cost of maintaining order in the war crazy middle-east.

[unc70]

10. Geneva Conventions, Hague Regulations, ...

Lots of different clauses, treaties, and implementing laws and regulations. Most with the force of law in the USA and most other countries.

[at140]

11. Laws are powerless without enforcement power

Who has the military power and money to enforce Geneva convention?
Does Osama Bin Laden follow Geneva conventions?
Did Al Baghdadi follow Geneva conventions?
Why should we follow Geneva conventions when the enemy does not?

[Lock him up.]

16. Laws are the laws. You don't like them, you change them.

But until they are changed according to due process, nobody is above them.

Otherwise you have total anarchy.

Bin Laden is dead.

The enemy not following Geneva conventions is not an excuse to break it (you can *risk* to be charged at The Hague).

[FormerOstrich]

18. Of course they did not

but we do otherwise what would make us different than the terrorists?

[at140]

19. You can not be nice to terrorists!

Turning the other cheek has never worked with religiously brainwashed fanatics who are willing to do suicide bombing.
The ONLY language they understand is brute force.

[FormerOstrich]

20. I did not advocate niceness.

Once again, what would differentiate us from the terrorists if we stop following Geneva conventions and International Law?

[at140]

21. There is no gain in acting Geneva Legal when it comes

to terrorists. They don't give a rat's behind if we followed Geneva conventions in fighting them.
They are brain washed to kill any one who does not believe in their prophet. Period.
Only method to stop them is kill them before they kill us, by whatever means which work.

[NightWatcher]

5. Sweet. Tell him Den Haag wants to give him a Lifetime Achievement award and he'll be there Tuesday.

The Hague can keep him for a few hundred years.

[world wide wally]

7. I'll bet anything that he will try to cut the Kurds out if we do steal the oil.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

12. He started to say "I'd love their..." and he stopped himself. Someone must have told him it

Was against the law.

[Hekate]

14. Welcome to DU, arsomartinera

Enjoy your stay.

[Captain Zero]

15. I don't think Syria really has a lot of oil, does it. (??)

Unless they have some they have annexed from Iraq.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought they were important mostly as being a ROUTE for Iraqi and Iranian oil to come up to Russia and Europe.

[Lock him up.]

17. Link to an up-to-date map:

http://www.energy-cg.com/3D/General/Syria/Syria_3D_OilGas_Power_Kurds.html

Syria Oil and Gas Overview
http://energy-cg.com/MiddleEast/Syria/Syria%20Oil%20and%20Gas%20Overview.html