The Is A Humanitarian Catastrophe

Syria is a Middle Eastern country located on the Mediterranean Sea, bordered by Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon. To people in the West, Syria is most likely known for violence, terrorism, and conflict because that is what the media portrays. However, it is one of the oldest inhabited regions in the world and is rich with culture and history. From Bible references noting, “The road to Damascus” to Ottoman control in 1516 to Bashar al-Assad taking control in 2000, Syria has seen periods of peace but has been plagued with many years of instability throughout its history and especially in recent years. This essay will discuss the events leading to the uprisings, the current situation, and possible peaceful resolutions.

Syria’s civil war is the worst humanitarian crisis of modern time. The “Syrian Civil war Began in March of 2011, between rebel brigades and government force; economy and infrastructure is destroyed” (Library, 2016). “Divisions between secular and religious fighters, and between ethnic groups, continue to complicate the politics of the conflict” (Corps, 2016). Additionally, the Syrian civil war has taken a significant

I am writing to you today as a student at the College of William and Mary. I am in an International Security class and recently we studied the events occurring in Syria. As you are well aware, the situation in Syria has been dramatically deteriorating in recent months with the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the recent entrance of Russia into the conflict. Syria, meanwhile, has been in the midst of a ravaging civil war since the early spring of 2011. Currently, the government of Syria is led by President Bashar al-Assad, a member of the Syrian Ba’ath Party, a branch of the same Ba’ath Party that Saddam Hussein was also a member of. This similarity may lead some to think that Syria will end up like Iraq, with a

President to warrant military action; as were the many thousands of civilians killed over the past years in the Syrian civil war between government forces, ISIS, and various other sectarian groups vying for power in that country, including some backed heavily by the Iranian regime, and others enjoying support from

Syrian Sunni rebels have been trained by the U.S. military to attack northern Syria, and turned to U.S airstrikes. This is a semi alliance, and it is loose, so they do not actually work together; they just have a common goal. In this semi alliance, the US provides support, and trains Syrian rebels, to fight the war against northern Syria. This is a different kind of war than WWII. WWII was fought between countries and ended with a clear winner. In this scenario, Part of a country rebels against another part, but with another country aiding the rebels. Nadim Hassan, who is the leader of the 30th division, which is a not as extreme group of rebels, has been captured along with others. Syria became independent in 1946, and very shortly became and unstable nation with a lot of cases of rebellion and other things. In 2011, Syrians became inspired to rebel because of the Arab spring activists in Egypt and Tunisia. The Arab spring is a giant collection of protests, wars, and revolutions around the Middle East that started in December 17, 2010 in Tunisia. The consequences of the Syrian war also differ from the consequences of the nuclear bombs that were dropped and Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The consequences resulting from the war in Syria include the deaths of over 10,000 people, and Syria is currently a nation in crisis. The Islamic religion is split into two branches, which are called Sunni and Shiite. Syria is considered an Islamic country, and the government in Syria is dominated with Shiites. This Sunni versus Shiite conflict is another reason along with the Arab spring for the war in Syria. The Sunnis are rebelling against the Shiite government, and this is similar to a civil war. Civil war is similar to another topic, revolution. Revolution is defined as: “A fundamental change in political organization; especially the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed.” The main

The problem in Syria is that millions of people are suffering. The suffering will not stop until the war is resolved. The struggles that the people of Syria face are a direct result of the war. Organizations will continue to lessen the suffering by providing aid, but they will have no effect when it comes to ending the war. The harsh truth is that end of the war is nowhere near an end. The problem is that no side is strong enough to win the war. Since the start, the Syrian Government Army has gotten weaker and no longer has the power to take over cities controlled by the Free Syrian Army (Dorell). The result of this is the mass destruction the country has faced. The Free Syrian Army continues to fight back in response to the airstrikes from the Syrian Government Army(Dorell). No side has been able to pull away and win the war. Foreign involvement has only made the situation worse. The Russians have taken the side of the Syrian Government while the United States have taken the side of the Syrian Rebel Army. Russia has attempted to help eliminate the terrorist groups supporting the Syrian Rebel Army, in reality, many civilians were hurt in the process (Dorell). The countries involved in the crisis have tried to organize peace treaties and cease fires multiple times, but they all failed (Dorell). Looking at these recent events, the war does not seem to be ending anytime soon. Therefore, the

"I shall try my very best to lead our country towards a future that fulfills the hopes and legitimate ambitions of our people," (Bashar al-Assad). By doing so, the Syrian president has evoked more violence than good. In Aleppo, (a major city of Syria) the terrain has quite literally been reduced to rubble as result from the civil war. Taking over this city was the last major hope for the rebels, but overtime the regime has taken over. Barrel bombs have been dropped throughout Syria resulting in great devastation. It has been estimated that over 6,000 barrel bombs have been dropped throughout the war, with their use escalating. Aleppo is just one out of the many cities that Bashar has been waging a war in. Even through Assad has been promising geographic reform, it has been shown that he has brought his people the opposite with the collapse

In eyes of the world, as well as a large part of the Arab world, Bashar al-Assad is portrayed as a ruthless dictator. Almost nobody seems to consider the motives of the Syrian president. What few know is that Assad enjoys significant support from both his Alawite people and other minority groups. The Alawites and other minorities have little choice; Syrian rebels and Islamist terror groups could win the war or sign their death warrant. It would be launched large-scale ethnic cleansing and even genocide.

Aleppo is in a horrible time right now. Everyone is dying and some kids are being left without a family because their family gets blow up or dies under all the rubble. For example, “One case that moved him deeply was that of a 9-year-old boy,

My thoughts on Aleppo consists of how tremendously broken down Syria has become. Syria was a populous country, meaning that it was viewed highly upon. The forces of the Syrian President, Bashar Assad, and the rebels destroyed the country that was once beautiful. I personally think that the U.S. should intervene, but until we are the last option. The United States needs to deal with the conflict happening inside of the country before we help anyone outside. The U.S. should help defend Syria, but at the right time.

Since the mid 1960’s, Syria, the nation nestled within the cradle of civilization, has been ruled by the Al-Assad regime, who govern with an iron fist. The quasi-dictatorship within Syria had not been challenged until the Arab Spring began in 2011, where many totalitarian regimes were toppled through protest and revolution. The Arab Spring has resulted in the ousting of rulers from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen, with uprisings and civil wars taking place in countries like Algeria, Iraq, and of course Syria. Due to the fact that the Al-Assad regime would not step down from power peacefully, were facing scrutiny, and a possible revolution, the regime launched military forces around the country to control the people. Bashar Al-Assad the current Syrian president is accused of committing war crimes, mass executions and even using chemical weapons on his own people.

Syrian civil war started in 2011 was the outcome of the opposition against the President Bashar al-Assad regime. The uprising emerged as a response to the Arab spring movement that lead to regime change in Tunisia and subsequently turned into mass unrest rooted into the discontent with long-term dictatorship and poor economic situation in the country (Manfreda, n.d.). The number of Syrian citizens killed in the civil war reached 140000 since March 2011 (SBS 2014). The European Commission (2014, 2) reports approximately 9.3 million civilians “in need for humanitarian assistance”. The scale of armed rebellion between government and opposition that lead to an increasing number of casualties among civilians did not remain unnoticed by the

The Syrian Civil War is a war fought to bring an end to the Authoritarian practices performed from the Assad family (Sharwood, pg. 1). From 1971 to 2000 Hafez al-Assad was President of Syria. Following the reign of Hafez al-Assad his son Bashar al-Assad became President of Syria. Throughout the reign of his father violence was used to suppress protests. This included the excessive use of police, military and paramilitary forces. Therefore, these practices have served as a guide to solving problems. It is stated, “The malign but tactically brilliant Hafez al-Assad blighted the Middle East with disproportionate Syrian influence for decades. His son, the feckless Bashar, has continued this pattern since 2000 by sending terrorists to Iraq, murdering Lebanon 's Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri, overthrowing his son Saad, aiding the

There is currently a war going on in Syria, and has been going on for a couple of years now, beginning in March 2011. As a result to this, millions of Syrians are stuck in the warzone, becoming malnourished, abused, ill, and oppressed. Their economy, healthcare, education systems and other organizations are being destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians are being killed, and millions are in need of humanitarian assistance. The biggest dilemma is that roughly half of those who are suffering are children.

What it started as a protest against of Basher al-Assad dictatorship regime in Syria would end five years later in one of the biggest civil war in the world history. Military forces have committed different war crimes, including assassination, torture, rape, force disappearances and deliberate arrests against the opponent forces, also so the called “rebels”. Opposition supporters eventually began to take up arms, first, to defend themselves, and later, to expel security forces from their local areas. Basically, the conflict was developed between civilians and governmental forces. Rebel brigades were formed to battle governmental forces for control of cities and towns. However, meanwhile rebel forces were developed, extremists groups as the Islamic State were developed as a demonstration of sectionalism in Syria. The international community has tried to intervene on Syria crisis, specifically on the fight against terrorism. Representing the intervention and attacks of countries as Russia and the United States on Syrian territories, the United Nations Security Council has demanded parties to stop the indiscriminate use of weapons in populated areas. Nowadays, the Syrian crisis has represented one of the worst humanitarian crises. More than 250.000 Syrians have lost their lives in the first four and a half years of conflict; 4.5 million people have fled Syria since the start of the conflict, most of them are women and children. 6.5 million People were internally