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23 Apr, 7 tweets, 3 min read
A Saudi-Syr-Dutch firm has partnered with a French firm to build in Syria.

This is much needed to alleviate Syria's crisis. Building on two major electric plants in Syria has come to a stand-still because of US's latest sanctions.

Will US Treasury stop this effort?
Here is the news on how sanctions are keeping Syrians in the dark - many with only 1 or 2 hours of electricity a day.

If one believes that sanctions will force Assad to step aside, the suffering & privation caused by sanctions may be worth it.
If sanctions are simply an effort to turn Syria into a quagmire for Russia & Iran or to keep the government weak with no plan for change or improvement, they are an inhuman exercise in geostrategic one upmanship. Image
If decreasing Iran's influence in Syria is the objective, encouraging Saudi & European investment in reconstruction is the answer. Western & Arab influence in Syria will grow with investment.

Sanctions only create a protected zone for RU, China & Iran which get the contracts. Image
foreignaffairs.com/articles/middl…
"The governments of Russia, Iran and China have already secured huge contracts in the hydrocarbons, minerals, telecommunications, construction and electricity sectors among others."
globalriskinsights.com/2018/02/syria-…
Via @Solomon_Chris
Syria’s Electrical Sector Losses since 2010 are estimated at $2.4 Billion by Electricity Ministry

Syria's electric capacity has deteriorated by 50%, indicating that most of the generating stations have been destroyed or damaged.

syrianobserver.com/news/65405/ele… via @observesyria

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More from @joshua_landis

Joshua Landis Profile picture
13 Apr
How US Sanctions Halt Electric Power Production in Syria

Syria's electric power output is running at less than 30% of the capacity of its plants. Why?

1. Gas and oil wells are controlled by the SDF which is backed by US troops.

Thread =>
2. The lack of spare parts for the maintenance of the existing power plants. This is due to US-backed sanctions. The electric power is rationed to homes and factories and provides power at a rate of one hour on and four hours off.
3. The construction of 2 new power plants that would bring an increased capacity of 1150 megawatts has been halted due to the sanctions:

The contractor of the Tishreen extension project that is to provide 400 megawatts is Baharat Heavy Electrical Limited, owned by the Indian gov
Read 5 tweets
Joshua Landis Profile picture
4 Apr
"In 10/2014, Assad decreed that Syria’s Education Min. must provide Shia studies as part of the curriculum in schools nationwide," writes @OulaAlrifai

Does anyone have a link to this decree?

Before the uprising, Syrian textbooks didn't mention of Shiism
washingtoninstitute.org/experts/oula-a…
There is no trace of this education in the Islamic Religion textbooks taught in Syrian schools. This makes me wonder about the decree. Was it simply ignored? Perhaps it was not enacted? If it was something Iran wanted, perhaps Damascus never got the memo?
@OulaAlrifai writes:

"Assad decreed that Syria’s Education Ministry must provide Shia studies as part of the curriculum in schools, colleges, & universities nationwide... Iran already ran many Syrian schools, but the number increased significantly in the years to follow."
Read 4 tweets
Joshua Landis Profile picture
3 Apr
. @BurhanGhalioun's perspective on the Opposition on the Syrian Uprising's 10-Year Anniversary

"It is an exaggeration to talk about opposition in Assad’s Syria. There were opposition figures, but there were no opposition institutions."

syrianobserver.com/interviews/650… via @observesyria
Everyone who stands against an existing regime and seeks to change it or its policy, in any direction, is called opposition. There is an Islamic, secular, and extremist opposition, and perhaps sectarian, tribal, nationalist, and racist opposition.
In my book titled Criticism of Politics: The State and Religion, I had called on the Muslim Brothers to shift to an Islamic democracy along the lines of Christian democracy that was known in most European countries after World War II.
Read 5 tweets
Joshua Landis Profile picture
7 Jan
Good news.

Biden to choose Brett McGurk for top job in the US National Security Council (NSC), managing the Middle East and North Africa.

McGurk led the Global Coalition to Defeat the Islamic State. He urged Obama to bomb ISIS before it cld take Mosul.

npasyria.com/en/52513/
@brett_mcgurk urged Obama to stop ISIS's advance in vain. The Obama WH insisted on using the ISIS advance on Baghdad as leverage to get PM Maliki out of office & al-Abadi in. This political objective was bought at the price of the destruction of Mosul & many Iraqi Sunni cities.
The US pursued the same bad policy in Syria. It calculated that the Islamic State’s expansion in the region would force the Syrian president to negotiating with Washington, according to private comments made by Kerry.
washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/…
Read 5 tweets
Joshua Landis Profile picture
30 Dec 20
Former Iraqi PM Al-Maliki: We Would Have Sent The Iraqi Army To Fight In Syria If It Were Needed To Prevent The Fall Of The Al-Assad Regime

If Assad were to fall, an invasion by Al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda & others into Iraq, Lebanon, & Jordan would have ensued ow.ly/EFLg30rqoM9
The interesting part of Maliki's assertion is not whether Iraq had the capability to send forces to Syria in 2014, but that ISIS's success changed the region. The collapse of the US-assembled, Iraqi army underlined the importance of religion in mobilizing military force.
The collapse of national solidarity sparked sectarian & ethnic mobilization across the region. Shi'a forces mobilized in face of Sunni successes. Sistani called for the Hasd. Hizb doubled down. US sided w Hasd & pivoted to the Kurds in Syria, dropping the Sunni Arab militias.
Read 4 tweets
Joshua Landis Profile picture
18 Sep 20
Sanctions on Syria must be "restructured to mitigate their impact on the population & make them more effective against the regime"

By Zaki Mehchy of Chattam House

Many good suggestions included.

Thread =>
arab-reform.net/publication/pu… @ArabReform_ARI
"Indicators show sanctions are hitting ordinary Syrians the hardest"

What can be done?

"Western countries should agree on a set of detailed objectives within the agreed framework of 2254 to resolve the conflict and tie sanctions to measurable and attainable goals. [such as =>
To tie sanctions to specific improvements on human rights, such as releasing detainees, setting up independent visits to detention facilities, and stopping arbitrary detentions by security agencies to give civil society initiatives an appropriate and safe working environment.
Read 5 tweets

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