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If you’re anything like me, you’ve seen and heard news reports across social media, television, and possibly in some of your college classes all involving Syria. If you’re anything else like me, you probably know that something bad is happening there, but if someone were to ask you for your opinion or how the U.S. is involved you would probably talk in circles, using big words in an attempt to cover up the fact that you may not be as informed as you’d like to come off. (Don’t be embarrassed. That’s where I was up until forty-eight hours before writing this article.) This is my attempt at breaking down what has become a complex, multi-sided civil war in a way that will allow you and me to form make educated and informed decisions when we step up to the ballot in November.
What's happening?
Right now, in Syria, a civil war is being fought between multiple ethnic groups and world governments. This war has been going on since March of 2011 and is only getting more complicated and more violent as time goes on.
So, how did it start?
The Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad took office in 2000 following his father’s death. President Al-Assad runs a tightly controlled authoritarian state in which any government opposition is met with harsh punishment. In March of 2011, a group of teenage boys were arrested, jailed, and tortured for spray-painting anti-Assad graffiti on their school building. In response to the imprisonment of these boys, a peaceful protest was held in Daraa, Syria. The rally was met with a violent response from the government resulting in the killing of four protesters. The brutal government crackdown only brought more protests and sit-ins calling for President Assad’s resignation. In June of 2011, tanks and helicopters were being used to control protesters throughout Syria. In August of the same year, President Obama called for Assad’s resignation. Obama resisted U.S. intervention in Syria until it was reported by the United Nations that President Assad broke international law by poisoning rebels as well as civilians with sarin gas. (Note: Sarin gas is illegal to use in war against an opposing army, let alone on protesters and civilians.) In his address to the nation on September 10, 2013 Obama stated, “If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons. As the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gasses, and using them.”
Who is fighting in this war?
It’s hard to simplify the different sides of this war due to the many nations and groups that are fighting in it, almost all for different reasons. For starters, the United States entered the conflict because of Assad’s use of illegal chemical weapons on his citizens. U.S. intervention in the region continued when American air-strikes were launched on known ISIS hubs in 2014. The rise of ISIS and other extremist organizations has added to the chaos as the terrorist group has been launching attacks throughout Syria and the rest of the world in an effort to establish a caliphate or Islamic state. Aligned with the U.S., Turkey and Saudi Arabia have aided and equipped the anti-Assad rebels as well as joining to the war against ISIS. In the middle of all this, the Kurdish group called the P.K.K. is at war with ISIS, Assad, and Turkey. The P.K.K. or Kurdistan Worker’s Party is made from an ethnic group called the Kurds who live throughout Syria and Turkey. The objective of the P.K.K. is to secede from Syria and Turkey to establish an autonomous Kurdish state. Turkey fears a Kurdish takeover and is at war to stop this. President Assad and the Syrian army are being supported by Iran and Russia due to a history of alliances among the three nations. This system of alliances puts the United States into a proxy war with both Russia and Iran. With so many sides fighting with different objectives, an end to this war in the near future seems unlikely.
Why is it still going on?
In the New York Times article Syria’s Paradox: Why the War Only Ever Seems to Get Worse, Stanford professor James D. Fearon places the blame for the prolonging of the war on the intervention of outside forces. In the article he states, “if you have outside intervention on both sides, duration is significantly greater.” It’s hard to see an end to this war because of the stalemate complex that’s been created. When the rebel forces begin to weaken they are aided by the United States and its allies. When the Syrian government is weakened they are propped back up by Russia and Iran. The outside involvement is making it nearly impossible for one side to gain an advantage over the other.
Who is being affected and why should you care?
The greatest effect that this war has had is not on those fighting, but those who are innocent bystanders in a nightmare that seems to have no end. Since the war began, 500,000 people have been killed, fighters and civilians alike. As of 2016, 4.5 million refugees have fled their homes in Syria to escape air-strikes, bombings, gunfire and chemical warfare. Most refugees have escaped to refugee camps throughout the Middle East and in Europe. The United States has admitted 10,000 refugees at this point. Following the Paris terror attacks in November of 2015, many American lawmakers promised to block refugees from entering their respective states. While some see admitting refugees as a security risk, others see it as America’s responsibility to give refuge to people who are trying to escape the horrors of war. Future U.S. involvement in the refugee crisis is unclear at the moment. It is an important issue to think about when making a decision in the coming election. The next president’s stance on foreign policy will have an effect on decisions made regarding American involvement in Syria and acceptance of more refugees. In a situation such as this it is important to be informed about decisions being made by our world leaders as well as forming opinions about those decisions. I encourage you to pay close attention to answers from both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton when asked about where they stand on foreign policy issues such as this.
What is the current state of Syria?
On September 9, 2016 the United States and Russia signed a ceasefire agreement that would call for a pause to all fighting both in the air and on land. The ceasefire not only affects the U.S. and Russia, but their allies as well. This agreement was written in hopes that a pause from fighting would allow humanitarian aid to come into areas that have been heavily affected by the violence. According to the Washington Post, if everyone holds up their end of the deal for at least seven days a “Joint Implementation Center” will be established. This effort would shift the military focus of all governments involved toward fighting terrorist groups such as ISIS and Al Qaeda. However, only hours after the peace deal was announced, Russian and Syrian government airstrikes killed 90 people in northwestern Syria. Some have grown skeptical that Russia will honor its end of the deal, but only time will tell as the ceasefire does not officially start until September 12 at sundown.