Steven Chovanec

Steven Chovanec is an independent journalist and analyst based in Chicago, Illinois. He has a bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Sociology from Roosevelt University, and has written for numerous outlets such as The Hill, TeleSur, MintPress News, Consortium News, and others. His writings can be found at undergroundreports.blogspot.com, follow him on Twitter @stevechovanec.

To Capture and Subdue: America’s Theft of Syrian Oil Has Very Little To Do With Money

Years of US support to Al-Qaeda and ISIS and efforts to effect regime change in the country have culminated in the theft of Syria’s oil, but is that really America’s coup de gras in Syria?

Steven Chovanec
By Steven Chovanec

Near the end of July, one of the most important recent developments in U.S. foreign policy was quietly disclosed during a U.S. Senate hearing. Not surprisingly, hardly anybody talked about it and most are still completely unaware that it happened. Answering questions from Senator Lindsey Graham, Secretary of State Pompeo confirmed that the State

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Venezuela’s Elections Were Not Free or Fair – They Were Undermined by the US

Steven Chovanec explains some of the US meddling in the recent Venezuelan elections, which, he argues, shows a clear disdain for democracy and an intention to pressure and coerce the Venezuelan people.

Steven Chovanec
By Steven Chovanec
Supporters of President Nicolas Maduro attend a campaign rally in the parish of Catia in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, May 4, 2018. Venezuelans will vote for a new president in the upcoming presidential elections on May 20. (AP/Ariana Cubillos)

The Western press did its utmost to portray the recent elections in Venezuela as fraudulent. There were legitimate allegations raised, such as how Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro offered recipients of state benefits a “prize” if they came out to vote. Therefore, an increasingly reluctant public would be compelled to vote for him to receive

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US Embassy Move Tears Last Fig Leaf Off of Long-Standing US-Israeli Designs for Palestine

The Embassy move made by “a strong America” was also a “recognition of the truth” of a longstanding Israeli policy, now fully endorsed and legitimized by U.S. unilateralism, of taking over and colonizing East Jerusalem, which began immediately following its seizure by Israel in 1967.

Steven Chovanec
By Steven Chovanec
A relative of a Palestinian killed during a protest on the border with Israel mourns over his body in a morgue in Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip, Monday, May 14, 2018. Israeli soldiers shot and killed dozens of Palestinians during mass protests along the Gaza border on Monday. It was the deadliest day there since a devastating 2014 cross-border war and cast a pall over Israel's festive inauguration of the new U.S. Embassy in contested Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic)

It is our right to transfer the Arabs … The Arabs should go!” – Yosef Weitz, leading Zionist figure, director of the Land and Afforestation Department of the Jewish National Fund (JNF), 1940 The Arabs will have to go, but one needs an opportune moment for making it happen, such as a war.” – David Ben-Gurion, 1937 The main thing is, first

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Without Changing a Stripe, ISIS Morphs from US’s Deadly Enemy to Useful Weapon to Perfect Target

By refusing to eliminate the ISIS contingent, while also not impeding the fighters fleeing westward, the anti-ISIS coalition, who profess their dedication to preventing ISIS from exporting their terror around the world, have not only not been helping to mitigate this outcome but have actually helped to enable it.

Steven Chovanec
By Steven Chovanec
A U.S.-backed anti-government fighter mans a heavy automatic machine gun, left, next to an American soldier as they take their positions at Tanf, a border crossing between Syria and Iraq (Hammurabi’s Justice News/AP)

While President Trump has recently hailed the defeat of ISIS, the group has been able to stave off a complete defeat by retreating to a few, small remaining pockets in Syria. One of these pockets, located east of the Euphrates along Syria’s border with Iraq, is surrounded by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a grouping of Kurdish militias that

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As The CIA Resumes Arming Rebels, Trump Escalates Proxy War In Syria

At the start of the Trump presidency, it looked like the U.S. covert “regime change” war in Syria might be ending, but it has returned, zombie-like, in a slightly different form.

Steven Chovanec
By Steven Chovanec
Saudi Arabia's King Salman meets with U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, in Riyadh, April 19, 2017. (Jonathan Ernst/AP)

Back in February, it was quietly reported that the CIA had discontinued its support program to rebels in Syria. A month later, a knowledgeable source from the region disclosed to me that the Trump administration and the Saudi defense minister, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had agreed during their meetings in mid-March for the Gulf states to re-open

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