By Natalie Armbruster
Last week, the US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced that the United States would send more than $800 million in new humanitarian assistance to Syria. Regarding the 11-year conflict, Thomas-Greenfield acknowledged the suffering of Syrians and said, “People are starving. … This is a core value for the United States to support people in need. … The United States maintains our unshakable commitment to the Syrian people.” Unfortunately, outside of its deep pockets, the United States does not practice what it preaches.
Injecting more money into Syria may treat a symptom but fails to address the sources of Syrian suffering. The more humanitarian option for the United States would be to recognize that the US campaign in Syria was unsuccessful in changing the tide of the civil war and to do the following: pull US troops out of Syria, abandon maximum pressure sanctions, and allow Syria to rebuild. However, all of these options are complicated and require the United States to look inward.
This piece was originally published in Ink Stick on May 20, 2022. Read more HERE.