叙利亚总统巴沙尔·阿萨德指责美国军队窃取该国石油，并与恐怖分子合作以维持他们在那里的地位，同时试图恢复他对这个饱受战争蹂躏的国家的独裁统治。
阿萨德——得到俄罗斯和伊朗的支持——告诉国家通讯社萨那，叙利亚人必须团结起来，使美国在该国的地位无法维持。
对美国驻叙利亚部队来说，2019年是动荡的一年。大约有2000名士兵驻扎在该国，直到10月份，唐纳德·特朗普总统突然命令美国军队撤离该国东北部的阵地，他们在那里与叙利亚民主力量同盟并肩部署。
这促成了土耳其对该地区的入侵，许多美国军队被命令撤退到伊拉克。特朗普政府此后表示，将在该国东部保留一支人数不多的美国部队，以保卫那里的油井，据信约有500名士兵由装甲车支持。
该计划背后的官方逻辑是拒绝伊斯兰国残余势力进入可能有利可图的油井。然而，特朗普本人他说他希望引进美国公司来从事这一领域的工作。
阿萨德——谁曾多次被批评和嘲笑美国不稳定的叙利亚战略——在萨那的采访中声称，美国正在从油田开采石油，并出售给土耳其。
据俄罗斯政府支持的阿萨德说，“现在是美国偷石油并卖给土耳其。”塔斯社。阿萨德指出，美国人正在追随基地组织分支胜利阵线和伊斯兰国的脚步，这两个组织都出售叙利亚东部油田的石油。
阿萨德补充说，“土耳其政权发挥了直接作用”，指责安卡拉也与努斯拉和伊斯兰国合作。阿萨德的俄罗斯支持者此前指责美国人从叙利亚走私石油，估计美国可能会出口一些价值三千万美元每个月都在田地里。
新闻周刊已通过电子邮件联系美国国务院和土耳其外交部，要求对阿萨德的指控做出回应。
独裁者——他在2011年对改革派抗议者的残酷镇压引发了毁灭性的内战——也再次敦促叙利亚人团结起来，迫使剩余的美国人离开这个国家。
该国的关键地区仍在阿萨德的控制之外，但在俄罗斯和伊朗的支持下，这个强人已经夺回了大部分国家。
10月份土耳其入侵给阿萨德带来了宝贵的收益，被美国盟友抛弃的自卫队被迫转向大马士革寻求帮助，对抗土耳其人和他们的伊斯兰代理民兵。这使得政府几乎不用开一枪就能控制关键城市和地区。
阿萨德在接受萨那采访时还表示，美国的继续存在依赖于激进组织的帮助。“美国人依赖恐怖分子，”他说。“恐怖分子必须受到攻击，这是我们叙利亚的当务之急。打击恐怖分子以这样或那样的方式削弱了美国的存在。”
阿萨德没有具体说明他指的是哪个团体，但美国和其他西方军队与自卫队和库尔德民兵组织密切合作，这些组织是阿萨德的骨干力量。这些部队一起与伊斯兰国作战，夺回了它控制的领土。
阿萨德补充说，叙利亚仍有一些“在美国指挥下行动”的团体，并表示，他们“必须被说服，无论如何，尤其是通过对话，接受祖国并加入叙利亚解放其所有领土的努力符合我们在叙利亚的所有利益。”
“在那种情况下，美国的存在毫无希望是很自然的，”他声称。
许多叙利亚社区在逃离专制政权或与专制政权战斗了八年多之后，将不再希望回到阿萨迪斯阵营。阿萨德政府在与持不同政见者的斗争中表现出了残忍、报复性和无怨无悔的态度，所有这些人都被总统视为恐怖分子。
SYRIA'S ASSAD SAYS THE U.S. IS WORKING WITH 'TERRORISTS' AND SELLING OIL STOLEN FROM THE COUNTRY
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has accused U.S. forces of stealing the country's oil and working with terrorists to maintain their positions there, as he tries to restore his authoritarian rule over the war-torn nation.
Assad—who is backed by Russia and Iran—told state news agency SANA that Syrians must unite to make America's position in the country untenable.
It has been a turbulent end to 2019 for U.S. forces in Syria. There were some 2,000 soldiers stationed in the country until October, when President Donald Trump abruptly ordered American troops out of position in the northeast of the country, where they were deployed alongside allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
This facilitated a Turkish invasion of the area, with many U.S. forces ordered to retreat into Iraq. The Trump administration has since said it will retain a small American force in the east of the country to guard the oil wells there, thought to be around 500 soldiers backed by armored vehicles.
The official logic behind the plan is to deny Islamic State remnants access to the potentially lucrative wells. However, Trump himself has said he would like to bring in U.S. companies to work the fields.
Assad—who has repeatedly criticized and mocked America's erratic Syria strategy—claimed in his SANA interview that the U.S. is extracting oil from the fields and selling it to Turkey.
"Now America is the one stealing oil and selling it to Turkey," Assad said, according to Russia's state-backed Tass news agency. Assad noted that the Americans are following in the footsteps of Al-Qaeda offshoot Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS, both of which sold oil from the fields of eastern Syria.
"The Turkish regime plays a direct part," Assad added, accusing Ankara of also working with al-Nusra and ISIS. Assad's Russian backers have previously accused the Americans of smuggling oil out of Syria, estimating the U.S. could export some $30 million worth from the fields each month.
Newsweek has contacted the U.S. State Department and the Turkish Foreign Ministry by email for a response to Assad's allegations.
The dictator—whose brutal crackdown on reformist protesters in 2011 sparked the ruinous civil war—also once again urged Syrians to unite and force remaining Americans out of the country.
Key areas of the country remain outside Assad's control, but with Russian and Iranian support the strongman has been able to take back much of the nation.
The Turkish invasion in October gave Assad valuable gains, with the SDF—abandoned by their American allies—forced to turn to Damascus for help against the Turks and their Islamist proxy militias. This handed control of key cities and areas to the regime with barely a shot fired.
In his SANA interview, Assad also suggested that continued U.S. presence relies on the help of militant groups. "The Americans rely on terrorists," he said. "The terrorists must be attacked, this is a priority for us in Syria. Striking the terrorists weakens the American presence one way or another."
Assad did not specify to which groups he was referring, but American and other Western troops have worked closely with the SDF and the Kurdish militias that form its backbone. Together, these forces fought ISIS and recaptured the territory it had controlled.
Assad added there remain groups "acting under American command" in Syria, and said they "must be persuaded, one way or another and particularly through dialogue, that it is in all our interests in Syria that they embrace the homeland and join the Syrian state's efforts to liberate all its territories."
"At that point, it's only natural that there will be no prospect for an American presence," he claimed.
Many Syrian communities will have no wish to return to the Assadist fold, having fled from or fought against the despotic regime for more than eight years. Assad's government has shown itself to be brutal, vindictive and unapologetic in fighting dissenters, all of whom the president has cast as terrorists.
