The U.S. policies in Syria during the more than 10-year-long civil war have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis and violated human rights of the Syrian people, Osama Danura, a Syrian political expert, has said.
Danura, Ph.D. in political science and a former member of the Syrian government delegation to the Syria peace talks in Geneva, recently told Xinhua that during the Syrian crisis, the U.S. policies had deepened the suffering and plight of the Syrian people.
In the early years of the war, U.S. intelligence had facilitated the flow of foreign fighters into Syria to fight alongside rebel groups against the Syrian government and army and destabilize the country, he said.
"It's no secret that the U.S. had helped foreign radicals to come to Syria through the Turkish territories ... and later the U.S. and its allies supported the groups that were formed from such radicals," he said.
What the United States had done encroached on Syria's national security and dragged the situation into an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, Danura said.
The U.S. military intervention in Syria in 2014, on the pretext of combating the Islamic State (IS), had caused severe damage and life loss in the country, he said, adding that the U.S. strikes in the northern province of Raqqa resulted in massive destruction to infrastructure and caused countless civilian casualties.
The United States' attempts to steal Syrian oil and burn wheat fields have badly impacted local people's revenue and livelihood, he said, adding, "I think these acts amount to war crimes."
The worst thing Washington has done is imposing sanctions on Syria, as such moves have largely worsened the situation facing the Syrians, he said. "The sanctions caused the economic crisis, which affected many aspects including the medicine and the bank transactions in a bid to besiege the Syrian people."
The sanctions, aimed at pressuring the Syrian people, have hindered the reconstruction progress of Syria, he said.
"The U.S. has clearly said it will impose sanctions on any entity that does business in Syria in terms of the reconstruction process, which means that people cannot have their normal lives back anytime soon," he added.
