#Assad's regime, its supporters & a plethora of uninformed commentators are driving a call for punitive sanctions on the regime to be removed to facilitate aid delivery to #Syria.
This is absolute nonsense.
It has no basis in facts.
It's nothing but a regime talking point.
Let’s start with some facts:
- 90% of the multi-billion dollar aid effort that goes through #Damascus comes from the U.S, U.K, E.U. & #Canada -- who also happen to be the x4 sanctioning entities.
In all cases, humanitarian waivers are in place to ensure the free flow of aid.
The West has consistently funded & backed the free-flow of aid across all of #Syria & its *our* money that's paid for it.
It’s #Assad's regime that has systematically weaponized aid since 2011 -- diverting it away from opposition communities as part of its siege & starve agenda.
Dozens upon dozens of communities have been besieged over the years, with the #Assad regime blocking aid, on occasion bombing @UN aid convoys, and even when the little was permitted to go, it was spoiled -- feces in flour, glass shards in wheat & baby formula & medicines removed.
@UN From 2014, the @UN had a mandate to provide aid to opposition areas across borders -- but in recent years, all but one have been cut off thanks to #Russia's veto power at the UNSC.
Using the @UN to besiege millions of civilians is unspeakably evil.
@UN#Assad & #Russia argue that cross-border aid violates #Syria's sovereignty (under international law, that's BS) -- and instead, aid to opposition areas should come "cross-line" via #Damascus.
@UN If there's complaints to be made about restrictions or limits on aid delivery to #Syria, it's about the northwest -- *not* #Assad areas.
The 4.5 million civilians in NW #Syria are the most vulnerable -- their region already represented the world's most acute humanitarian crisis.
@UN To make matters worse, as rescue workers in Marea, N. #Aleppo were frantically digging people out of rubble with their bare hands on Monday night, amid heavy rain & sleet, pro-#Assad forces fired artillery shells into the town.
Do we really need any more evidence of good/bad?
@UN Speaking of evidence, international prosecutors have more evidence of #Assad's direction of war crimes/crimes against humanity than the world took to #Nuremberg to prosecute #Hitler's #Nazi Party.
Needlessly removing sanctions would be a crime - do not feed the regime's agenda.
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@UN Leadership at @UN HQ has consistently kowtowed to #Assad regime demands; allowed the systematic weaponization of aid & failed to crackdown on regime-fueled corruption within the aid system.
Investigations into all these issues -- & CWs too -- are often squashed or kept private.
@UN In the wake of the earthquake, #Assad's regime said *at the @UN* that disaster relief should *only* come via #Damascus.
Then the @UN claimed that road damage was why relief to the NW wasn't coming via the #Turkey border.
As time passes, that reasoning just isn't adding up.
The admin of Bab al-Hawa crossing -- the sole route open for UN aid to NW #Syria -- confirms that 3 days in, zero aid has arrived from the international community.
Punitive sanctions on #Assad's regime have zero effect on the influx of aid into regime-held areas of #Syria.
Moreover, the x3 sanctioning entities (U.S., E.U. & #Canada) provide 90% of the ~$5bn aid program directed through #Damascus.
That UN aid program in #Damascus is an enormous effort -- & without Western funding, it'd vanish almost instantly.
Our governments continue to fund it to help those in need, in regime areas, *despite* the #Assad regime's systematic manipulation & diversion of the aid for 12yrs.
We continue to fund the UN's aid program in #Damascus, even despite the #Assad regime's policy of enforcing manipulated exchange rates upon its in-flows -- meaning that 51 cents of every single $1 sent in, is stolen by the regime.
Northwestern #Syria — #Idlib & #Aleppo in particular — have suffered 12yrs of brutal conflict. More than 65% of the basic infrastructure of the area is destroyed or heavily damaged.
Tonight’s earthquake couldn’t have hit a more vulnerable region.
Utterly horrific reports coming from all across NW #Syria - every town I’ve heard from has dozens of buildings flattened. People stuck under the rubble.
Any many, many casualties — including children.
@SyriaCivilDefe will be heroes tonight, working amid heavy rain & sleet.
I’ve heard from x3 hospitals in #Idlib & N. #Aleppo — all are full, every bed taken by emergency cases following tonight’s earthquake.
As rescuers & civilians seek to extract people & belongings from rubble, there’s mass panic about aftershocks.
According to recent leaks, #ISIS's evolved administrative structure is ruffling some internal feathers in the #MiddleEast.
The crux of internal tensions lies in the increasingly blurry lines of authority over operations, leadership succession & resource use in #Iraq & #Syria.
Leaks claim #ISIS's "Ardh al-Mubarakah" office manages operations in #Syria, #Lebanon & #Turkey, while the Bilad al-Rafidayn office runs #Iraq.
The latter was also running ops in #Iran -- until recently at least, when #Iran was folded into the #Afghanistan "Al-Siddique" office.
These recent leaks - from normally reliable sources - claim Abu al-Hassan's succession in March 2022 was decided by the Ardh al-Mubarakah office, without any consultation with the Bilad al-Rafidayn office in #Iraq.
He then risked locating to #Daraa, also without any consolation.
الأزمة #السورية ستدخل عامها الـ 13 في مارس/آذار القادم، ورغم أن مستوى العنف في جميع أنحاء البلاد منخفض الآن نسبيا مقارنة بالسنوات الماضية، فإن الأزمة ما زالت بعيدة جدا عن نهايتها، وفقا للأكاديمي تشارلز ليستر:
نشرت مجلة "فورين بوليسي" مقالا لمدير برامج #سوريا ومكافحة الإرهاب والتطرف في معهد الشرق الأوسط ،(@MiddleEastInst) تشارلز ليستر، قال فيه إن الوضع الراهن في البلاد غير مستدام على الإطلاق وسيتغير لا محالة.