The Syrian Civil War is, in essence, a large scale dispute between forces that allie with the current governmental sect known as the ‘Ba'ath’, and those who wish to destroy it. The war was made official on the March 15th. This war is a byproduct of what has come to be known as ‘The Arab Spring’. In Syria (as was reflected in other Middle Eastern nations), the ‘common people’ began to demanded that President Bashar al-Assad step out of office, and that the Ba’ath Party dismember, however neither Al-Assad, nor the Ba’ath party desire to do so, and thus a civil war was born.
Ever since the country of Syria was founded in September of 1961, the nations many ethnic sects have fought continuously amongst themselves. However, in 2000, when Bashar Al-Assad declared himself President, violence quickly began to escalate. Al-Assad belonged to a religious minority known as the Alawites. The Alawites make up about 12% of the Syrian population, and they are reputed for having clashes with the nation’s largest religious group, the Sunni Muslims. At the beginning of his ‘democratic reign’, Al-Assad seemed to be slowly guiding his country down the path of peace. However, in August of 2001, Al-Assad ordered the arrest of ten of Syria’s leading activists calling for democratic elections, which had been denied to the people for many years. In the years to follow, Al-Assad and the Ba’ath party attempted to crush all rebellions and groups calling for reformation. For nearly ten years, the Syrian people faced inhumane oppression that rarely ever surfaced to the top of international media. However, in December 2010, the world watched in horror the country of Tunisia rioted against it’s government. This exhibition of intolerance ignited a fire in the Middle East, and began to echo in several other countries, most notably, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Bahrain. Finally, on March 15th, 2011, news of a Syrian civil war made headlines in every news agency in the country.
The Syrian Civil War started in the region known as Daraa, but quickly spread throughout the country. As citizens marched up and down streets in protest to the government’s unjustified treatment of it’s people, the government then responded with arrests, torture and cruelty. Outrageous burst of violence continued to be initiated, however global intervention remained severely limited. Four months after the Civil War began, Al-Assad sent in large numbers of military personals into the region of Hama, after a large protest had brought many of the regions residence into the streets. The army killed hundreds of civilians, and men, women and children fell in the streets. In July of 2012, 200 people were massacred in the village of Tresmeh by the governmental army. In an attempt at retaliation, rebel armies bombed the National Security building in Damascus, and killed several of Al-Assad’s government party. Mass murders of innocent civilians continued to haunt Syria, and in January of 2013, 65 Syrians were found dead the city of Aleppo. The bodies of these people had been beaten, bound and ‘shot execution-style’. It is hard to imagine a government so brutally massacring its own people, and even harder to imagine how the situation in Syria could escalate even more. However, on March 19, 2013 the world was struck with abhorrence at the news that the Syrians had chemically attacked several of their own cities. Pictures of rows of dead children lingered in every news article in many countries. Many more chemical attacks were made, and both sides (government and rebels) accused the other of being responsible for them. The worst of these attacks, however, came on August 21st. The government ordered several rockets containing the deadly chemical sarin, (sarin is “A poisonous liquid, C4H10FO2P, that inhibits the activity of cholinesterase and is used as a nerve gas in chemical warfare.1”, it extremely lethal and extremely toxic) to be launched on the city of Ghouta. It is unknown the exact amount of deaths that were caused by these explosions, but many estimate the death count is currently at about 1,300 people.
Due to the inordinate amount of sects that cluster in different areas around the Middle East, it is impossible to tell how many rebel forces are currently fighting in Syria. However, there are several large scale groups that have joined together to fight their common enemy-- Al-Assad. This is unusual to see in the Middle East, as violence and disputes between nearly every political and religious sect are frequent, but many have chosen to take up arms with one another, in hopes of demolishing Al-Assad's government. Notable rebel forces include: The Syrian National Council (the SNC was established in August of 2011, in direct response to the Syrian Civil War, with their sole focus being to overthrow Al-Assad), The Syrian National Coalition (established in November of 2012, the focus of this group are... “replacing the Bashar al-Assad government and "its symbols and pillars of support", "dismantling the security services", unifying and supporting the Free Syrian Army, refusing dialogue and negotiation with the al-Assad government, and "holding accountable those responsible for killing Syrians, destroying [Syria], and displacing [Syrians]"2”), The Free Syrian Army (the FSA was established in July of 2011. They are the most prevalent and active rebel group in Syria, with its main focus being destroying Al-Assad), Mujahideen (established in September of 2013, Mujahideen is a Jihad force. Jihad is the ‘war’ that Muslims in the name of Allah against non-believers.), the Al-Nusra Front (the ANF was an established Jihad force before the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, and has been labeled as a terrorist organization in both Syria and the United States.), and the Kurdish Forces (and accumulation of Kurds who desire to see President Al-Assad be overthrown).
The war in Syria has not produced astronomical internal problems, but has also given rise to escalating external problems. With violence and murder rates continuing to rise, many desperate people have attempted to flee the country. In August of 2012, the UN estimated that more than 1 million people had become internally displaced. Thirteen months later, the number of individuals internally displaced had risen to 6.5 million, and that 2 million had already left the country. Almost 1/3 of these desperate refugees sought safety in the neighboring country of Lebanon, while many others have gone to Jordan, Iraq and Turkey. These huge amounts of people fleeing to these countries at once has cause unbelievable economic and demographic issues. The Syrian refugees, having nothing, attempt to seek work in these countries, which has created job crisis in this region. Many Syrians are now being refused work, as employers would rather hire official citizens than refugees. Food and water shortages are often present in Syrian refugee camps, because of their inability to work and provide food for themselves and their families. Finally, many countries that neighbor Syria are now frustrated at how much space the refugees take up. The Middle East is known for its crowded streets and dense populations, and the number of refugees that have now tried to settle in other areas has made living space even more tight and uncomfortable. While many of the Middle Eastern countries desire to help Syria, the burdening load of refugees is beginning to prove impossible for these nations to bear.
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