At some point or another, we have all heard the debated topic of Syria. Syria - today - is a loaded term, essentially. There are so many different things going on with many different involvements. For those who don't necessarily have an up-to-date knowledge on the current situation, I will include a link to a brief, but very inclusive timeline on events done by BBC.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26116868
Presently, there seems to be no end in sight regarding the Assad regime and the bombing of civilians. Gas attacks are still being investigated and Russia's involvement becomes ever more shady. Russia-Syria relations go way back though; all the way back to the Soviet Union days where the Soviet Union and Syria decided to back each other sometime in 1944. So Russia's presence isn't completely crazy. There is reason to worry about Putin's agenda and most importantly why he is backing such a leader as Assad. Military support is being provided therefore Russian planes are in the sky and most certainly are not leaving anytime soon. They claim to be bombing ISIS targets and claiming back land that was lost. This had been a consistent claim, but one that really can't be backed by fact.
With that, we come to ISIS. They seem to still have sustained territory to the north on the border with Turkey, but are for a lack of a better term, losing. This is a combination of rebel forces, Kurdish forces, Russian planes and U.S. special forces hitting them hard.
Lastly, I want to end the article with a simple statement: In order for Syria to become a Syria again, the Assad regime has to go. I am not advertising U.S. involvement, but in order to back out a Russia-backed regime that has killed hundreds of thousands, we have to look at the options. This is a much more complicated situation than my article reveals, but to achieve anything, a cease fire and a no fly zone are looking to be prime goals. Cooperation with Russia has to be there along with careful handling by representatives. If nothing is done by the U.S., will hundreds of thousands more lose their lives? We can't know, but we can watch and look for further information.
