It’s October 7th, 2001. War has officially been declared on Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks on September 11th. Two and a half years later, on March 19th, 2003, Bush declares war on Iraq. The wars supposedly began as a hunt for Osama Bin Laden and “weapons of mass destruction” respectively. However, when people began questioning our invasion of Iraq, President Bush claimed our mission was to not only remove the threat of weapons and the dictator Saddam Hussein, but to also bring peace and democracy to a place of war. He repeatedly declared that the Middle East was ready for democracy and tried to force it. Though we were attempting to bring democracy and what we believe is the ultimate governing system for the free, it created a religious civil war in Iraq. Nearly four million were killed while the U.S. had 150,000 troops stationed there.
Al-Qaeda already had a large presence, however, the invasion of U.S. troops allowed them to gain even more manpower. After seven years of war, the previously Shi’ite led government lost authority over the Sunni and Kurdish parts of the country. ISIS begins to gain supporters; however, it has not been fully organized into ISIS yet. It is proclaimed to be the extremists from al-Qaeda and they begin to move into the Sunni territories of Iraq.
Skipping ahead to March 2011 in Syria, the first shots were fired at peaceful protesters and months later, the protesters began firing back. Later that year, the Free Syrian Army decided to rebel against President Assad’s regime. The uprising becomes a civil war. Jihadists, extremists from Syria and surrounding areas, join the rebel forces to fight against Assad. This creates a split within the entire Middle East as some countries financially back President Assad and others the rebels. In August 2013, President Assad uses chemical weapons against civilians.
At this point, the U.S. can no longer ignore the need for help in Syria. President Obama declared we would send a targeted missile strike to show crimes against humanity will not go unpunished. However, three days later, Russia announced a plan urging Syria to dismantle its chemical weapons to avoid a U.S. military strike and it works. The U.S. backs down. This creates a further separation of powers with Russia backing Assad while the U.S. backs the rebels. The U.S. sends over the American training in arms unit of the CIA to help train and equip the rebels so they can better fight against Assad.
ISIS is fully formed to be the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham after a dispute with al-Qaeda on the war in Syria. ISIS then moves into Syria to fight the rebels and the Kurds, never aiming fire at Assad. The Pentagon then launches another mission to train Syrian rebels, but only rebels that are fighting against ISIS. Seeing as ISIS came from the extremists of al-Qaeda, it already had a large number of followers and quickly gains power as they march through Syria and into Iraq.
Now it becomes an even bigger mess. Russia claims to send bombs to kill ISIS members but only kills rebels, some that had been trained by the U.S. The U.S. is still aiming at ISIS, however, it also knows Assad is still a huge threat. On top of that, the U.S. doesn’t necessarily support the rebels and what they are fighting for; though they support them more than Assad and ISIS.
It is my personal opinion that it is our country’s duty to help the refugees in a country that cannot help itself. It not only has a destructive, murderous president but also has one of the largest terrorist groups this world has ever seen; one that was initially started because of the U.S.’s attacks on Iraq. To leave them stranded in a war zone that was once their home should be considered a crime against humanity.
