In light of the security chaos ravaging areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militias, which are supported by the U.S. occupation, media sources have confirmed that everyone within these militias is motivated only by money. The sources revealed that the U.S. occupation prevented the delivery of heavy weapons to militia fighters and traders due to a lack of trust in them.
N.A., a young man from the town of al-Shuhail, outlined the lived reality of people in his region — be they affiliated with the SDF or ordinary people — especially property owners, traders, and others.
“The common thread between those who join the SDF ranks is money,” he said. He stressed that these people are not concerned with SDF’s “federal project” or other stated objectives. Instead, they are more worried about their livelihoods, with the inherent feeling that everything happening right now is nothing more than a temporary situation.
“The young people attracted to the SDF are mostly remnants of the Free Syrian Army militia groups, ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra, and others,” he said. “Others prefer civilian work in SDF’s institutions or with international organizations active in the region, where salaries vary between civilians and militants, who receive the highest wages of up to 700,000 Syrian pounds per month.
In this context, Ahmed Al-Khabil (aka Abu Khawla), an auxiliary forces commander in the Syrian Arab Army, related what happened when preparations began to liberate Deir-ez-Zor governorate in September 2017. Khabil was not in his current position as the leader of the so-called Deir Ezzor Military Council of the SDF and was contacted to join the auxiliary forces. “The American hand out US dollars in sacks, you fool?”
For his part, one of the residents of the town of Al-Hawayij stressed the lack of confidence of the US occupation forces in their military partners. “At the Omar oil field base, you will find three main cordons. In one, only the Americans and the ‘coalition’ forces can enter. There is a second cordon for the Kurds, most of whom are Kurds of Turkey. In the third cordon, you find Arabs from the region. They benefit from privileges to transport and smuggle oil, being mostly leaders of former armed groups or people who enjoy strong tribal influence. The US occupying forces rely on these Arabs as mediators and oil money operations to make the relationship appear like a network of legitimate beneficiaries in the region.”
The sources said that heavy arms are delivered only to the coalition forces, where they retain their illegal bases and oil and gas fields (al-Omar, Conoco, Jufra). By contrast, SDF militants receive only light weapons.
The sources explained that this situation stems from the US occupation’s lack of confidence in these militia partners.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
