Problem Statement

The complexity of the Syrian Civil war began from a series of peaceful protests and successful uprising as a result of lack of freedom and economic challenges the the government was facing, which drove resentment towards the Syrian government. Action was taken, however on behalf of Assad the punishment was violent and cruel on the protesters, causing the public to become inflamed. From that the formation of the Free Syrian Army formed in plans to overthrow the government, and that was when Syrian began to fall into the depths of civil war.

There were factors that played a role in the complexity of the war such as foreign involvement, the tension between the two sects of Islam, the extremist group and even global warming is even said to play a role in pushing out 1.5 million refugees out of the countryside, amplifying poverty and social unrest due to drought. The question now is, what would be the justification of U.S intervention? And how might have the complexity of this war increased or decreased due to this intervention?

Problem Statement

The continuous and growing crisis of the the Syrian civil war has only grown larger over the years because of constant foreign involvement. It started off as a series of peaceful protests, pro-democracy against certain laws. The peaceful protests had erupted and 15 boys were detained and tortured for anti-Assad graffiti in the March of 2011. Among those boys, one of them a 13-year old was killed after being brutally tortured. The Syrian government led by Bashar al-Assad responded to the protests by killing hundreds of demonstrators and imprisoning many more. Around July of 2011, the animosity and violence had intensified, and outside forces such as Russia started to get involved sending forces and weapons to help President Bashar Al-Assad regain control of land and power.

It however didn’t stop there, as more countries and outside forces became more involved the bigger the conflict had become. Syria is a fundamentalist country against Jihadists and Islamic terrorist groups. It was mainly a huge concern of neighboring Syrian countries and the sides that the countries took in helping aid the hierarchy and Presidency of Bashar Al-Assad or the Free Syrian Army, by 2013 the Middle East was divided in the the two different sects of Islam. Mostly Sunni powers, generally supporting the rebels and the Shias . It wasn’t until the United States had gotten involved where things became an uglier issue. Syria believes that the US wants to demonize them and as a result the conflicts and terror that happened and continues to happen in Syria is a result of US involvement.

Literature Review

In the article Syrian Civil War, Purdy Elizabeth Rholetter talks about the starting issues of the Syrian Civil War and how terror and brutality stemmed from a traditionally homogenous society and how the tension started to build up around 2011 in the midst of a group of rural and small-town Syrians banded together in a peaceful protest against the denial of rights and the spread of political corruption.The protestors were demanding food, democratic reforms, and the repeal of Syria’s emergency law. Things had changed, protests becoming violent when an armed Syrian rebel group known as the Free Syrian army had came and took over the movement, causing death and destruction. The violence had intensified when foreign elements such as different countries starting to get involved. Russia intervened sending forces, planes and weapons to assist Bashar Al-Assad in regaining his authority of the land that was taken by the rebel groups. Teens and children among the protestors were arrested for defacing property with anti-Assad graffiti.

In the article, the author explains in the detail the events that took place leading up to the war and foreign involvement, and how a peaceful protest in a quite homogenous society blew up because of President Bashar al-Assad’s physical and violent involvement in what started as peaceful protest against unfair laws. Because the violence intensified, that was the beginning of different countries intervening such as Russia sending forces, planes and weapons to assist President Bashar Al-Assad re asserting his authority. Along with that, Arab militants from surrounding countries flocking Syria in order to gain land and at the same time fighting against other inner forces as mentioned in the article such as the notorious Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS or ISIL. Her article starts off with a brief history of How Syria was before difficulties arose, and then a general overview of after the Syrian Civil war began to gain momentum.

In a video, This Is What Life Is Like In Assad’s Syria a vice documentary on HBO, Was an inside look of how life was, and what the those who are being majorly impacted by the horror of the war, particularly in Homs. A reporter went around asking the residents of Homs there opinions on Bashar Al- Assad’s rule, responses which were surprisingly shocking fell nothing short of deep respect and devout regime. “Even amongst the apocalyptic scenes of devastation, Homs have an eerie sense of echo chamber. Whatever way we asked, we got nothing short of devout regime and loyalty.”

A common theme or message that the video portrayed was that, Syria did not face the issues that they face today from when the war first erupted. And since then it has only become more complex and and expansive due to involvement, which the citizens of Syria agree that the US wants to demonize them and as a result the conflicts and terror that happened and continues to happen in Syria is a result of US involvement. In addition to that, citizens seem to continuously be blind to the bigger picture and instead be caught up in an eco chamber and blindly following what is being told to them.

In the next video, Syria’s War: Who is fighting and why goes more into depth of who is involved in the Syrian Civil War and why? After six years the conflict is divided into four sides, and each side having foreign backers who are also each dealing with their own complicated conflicts. In particular, U.S involvement whose main focus began with fighting ISIS, has shifted because of Syria’s use of chemical weapons, it was the April of of 2013 where the Obama administration was horrified at Assad’s atrocities and mounting death toll.

It was that the pushed them to sign a secret order that authorized the CIA to train Syrian Rebel groups and equip them. However, the program stalls and in the meantime they quietly urge the Arab Gulfs to stop funding extremists, but they were ignored. In August the Assad regime had began the use of chemical weapons which provoked President Donald Trump to directly attack Bashar Al-Assad. The year Trump had got elected, had promised to stay out of Assad’s order and had actually agreed that Assad should stay in power, but it was in that August where Assad’s use of chemical weapons once again against his people made Trump change his attitude against the Assad regime. Within a few days the White House launches dozens of tomahawk missiles that strike an airbase in Syria. This was the first time the US attacked and officially involving themselves into the “criss-cross complications” and already multi-dimensional monster of a civil war.

Did you like this example?

1111

46