Syrian Civil War and Refugee Crisis

The Syrian Civil War is definitely not worth it for all the parties involved. All of the negatives outweigh the positives by a long shot because they are hardly any good outcomes because of this Civil War. The Syrian Civil War has drawn in many sides and alliances that have enlarged the war to a bigger scale. Not only has the death toll risen and continues to rise, but there are many innocent people in that country that have been wronged. This whole conflict has also devastated the country of Syria. The once beautiful country has turned into rubble with all the bombings and aerial strikes. Most of the buildings in Syria are not stable or safe to be in and are on the verge of being demolished by more warfare. A humanitarian crisis was also announced to be happening in Syria causing civilians to be flushed out of their homes for better safety. Some have now have fled their home country to get away from war and unfortunately some now live in hard to reach areas where it is nearly impossible to get aid. Mr. Assad's heinous actions has and continues to cause the country of Syria to be completely demolished by the different sides and alliances that joined in the civil war. This civil war was not worth it at all.

There has been a multitude of underlying causes that led up to the war dating way back to 2006. It all started with an economic crisis in 2006 when there was a massive drought that shook all of Syria. The drought lasted for four years up until 2010, which is one year before the actual civil war was engaged by Mr. Assad and his opposition. This drought sent the whole countries economy into the trash as it impacted many of the farmers who were now not able to make enough money to support their families. The agriculture industry was vanishing in front of farmers eyes who saw their hard work and income just shrivel up and dry. Farmers weren't able to water their plants, therefore, sent them to look for new jobs. Farmers started moving from rural areas to more urban areas such as shantytowns to look for new opportunities at life more importantly change. It was considered one of the most modern time droughts. This helped influence the war. The president of Syria Bashar al-Assad abusing his power as president also contributed to the civil war in a great way. Mr. Assad used violence toward the civilians and used the military for his own needs and the people did not like that as Assad also put up freedom restrictions on them. The whole Syrian government was corrupt. Civilians were getting upset at the lack of freedom and wanted change. They wanted to be freer. Arab Springs was another crucial part of the civil war. Civilians were inspired by Arab Springs that happened in neighboring countries such as Egypt and Tunisia. The neighboring countries had rebelled and got what they wanted such as the democratic government. The civilians wanted a democratic country. Which leads us to the anti-government vandalisms that started taking place just before the war started. All over Syria, there were anti-government slogans or anti-government remarks written. In March 2011 there were 15 kids that were caught by the local Syrian police for writing anti-government graffiti. They were arrested and tortured for their actions. The civilians came together and started doing peaceful protests to rebel against the government but Mr. Assad did not like that at all. Protesters mostly belonged to Syria’s Sunni majority whereas Mr. Assad and his family belong to Alawite minority. Alawite dominated security forces and the not known militia’s who was known for doing the worst of the worst crimes against protesters. Alawites did not benefit from Mr. Assad being one of their members but they may have shared some of the protesters socio economic grievances. In the protests, the civilians said they wanted more freedom and they wanted the children exonerated. Instead of complying and negotiating Mr. Assad's security fired their weapons on the protesters and arrested many to quiet the protesters but it backfired on the government since at this point they triggered the Syrian Civil War. This caused an uproar. The protests started to get bigger and bigger and the regime also known as Mr. Assad's forces sometimes had to surround cities who were protesting with big power such as tanks, artillery, attack helicopters and cutting off utilities and communications to those people who lived in those cities. To protest against the Regime the protesters gathered guns and opposed the security forces to get them to leave. Now people were wanting Mr. Assad to resign from the presidency. Tension between civilian which were mostly Sunni Muslims with Syria’s government which were mostly of the Shia Alawites. The opposition got their hands on weapons in which they first defended themselves than to rid their area of security forces. US president at the time Barack Obama’s take on the situation in 2011 “The Syrian government must stop shooting demonstrators and allow peaceful protests; release political prisoners and stop unjust arrests;... and start a serious dialogue to advance a democratic transition.” Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah took Mr. Assad's side and helped them fight the rebels who consisted of protesters and military defectors which made the civil war complex. Russia believed that the alliance would help strengthen the economic region. To further complex the civil war, the rebels were supported by the US to a certain degree, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and a handful of other western nations. During the conflict, the Jihadists joined because they saw it as an opportunity to take power and rule the middle east. However, the US only engaged when chemical weapons were being used and that is not right all over the war. Violation Documentation Center has seen violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law. These underlying causes greatly contributed to the starting of the Syrian Civil War.

All of the consequences and outcomes of the civil war were negative. There was not one positive outcome for either side of the involved parties. For instance, the Syrian Civil War caused and humanitarian crisis where many people were in need of help let alone the over 400,000 people killed due to the war till now. Also, there are at least one million people who are injured. The most common cause of death during the bloodiest part of the war in 2012 were guns. All the parties used arms and weapons to get their point through. The next common cause of death was mortaring. The mortars were used to destroy infrastructure and while doing so it killed many innocent people. Another major cause of death was regime led by aerial strikes. Aerial strikes destroyed much of Syria. The pre-war population of Syria was roughly 22 million and over the years the war has displaced half of that population. As of February 2019, 13 million people are in need of aid but 1.1 million people are in hard to reach areas. To add on to that, 5.6 million people have fled the country of Syria in hopes to get away from the war. Most of the people are taking refuge in neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. Next, this civil war has ruined the country of Syria. Most of the roads and infrastructures have been destroyed in Syria. Many schools had to shut down due to the lack of students attending as well as the number of students who have fled from Syria with their families. Not only did the students flee but many teachers fled as well. Without teachers, there is no school, many children didn't go to school during this period. Also, during the peaceful protest time the government had also cut off communication and electricity to some parts of Syria to try and get the protesters to stop but they haven't and bits of Syria are left with no means of communication and or electricity. In Syria, there are six world famous heritage sites known as the Unesco World Heritage sites. In the past nine years of the civil war, all six of these nation treasures have been greatly damaged. Moreover, there has been not much gained by the three main parties. Mr. Assad's forces have not been able to eliminate the threat of the rebels as he calls them the “Foreign-backed terrorists” and the rebels have not succeeded in making Mr. Assad resign. Also, ISIS hasn't made any headway either. ISIS had taken over most of Syria at one point but that land was recaptured by Mr. Assad’s forces a small while later. However, the Civil War has allowed the ISIS militant group to flourish in Syria due to Syria acting like a safe haven for them and the easy access to arms and ammunition. The peace talks as well have not been successful in creating an amendment between the parties and their still in the works today even though they have failed twice before in the past. Syria’s population has dropped tremendously and would take years to build it up again. Over the course of the past nine years, there has been no apparent positive gain for any of the parties which makes me believe the war was not worth it.

Syria was changed ground up by the war, however, they are a handful of things that stayed the same. To start off, many innocent people are being killed before and during the war. Before the Syrian Civil War started Mr. Assad used his powers to torment the people of Syria. He would use the military and police force for his own needs to satisfy himself. He would carry out horrible crimes and detail to support this claim is he is cold hearted and that he used chemical weapons to kill thousands of people and chemical weapons are prohibited all over the world which caused an entire nation such as the US to intervene. Mr. Assad also allegedly murdered all of his political enemies or sent them to jail under false accusations. Now the trend of killings is also continuing. Mr. Assad has killed so many innocent people during the duration of the civil war. Mr. Assad had used chemical attacks as well during the war which killed thousands. Till this day, they are still innocent civilians being killed all over Syria. Syria has turned into a battleground which is not safe for anyone to be walking around clueless. In addition, the war is still raging. All the parties involved are not giving a sign of giving up anytime. They are determined to accomplish their goal at all cost. The UN council has tried to do several peace talks but the countries involved but they haven't agreed. One unsuccessful peace talk was the Geneva II. The Geneva II was introduced in 2015 and its single purpose was the calm the waters in Syria. The Syrian Civil War is still going strong with Mr. Assad’s forces along with the rebels and jihadists who are the terrorist organizations are becoming more advanced and technical each month. Furthermore, the civilians protested for more rights and freedom since before the war and they still haven't received anything. There hasn't been any talk on the civilian's rights and freedom before and during the war. Since before the war their freedom has been lacking under Mr. Assad’s ruling and now during the war, they are suppressed in their homes and some are forced to flee to other nations to start a new life away from war life with their families. The government is still corrupt and many people are unemployed because of the civil war destroying everything in Syria. Although Syria went through a lot of construction throughout the war they were many things that stayed the same.

Over the past nine years, the country of Syria has changed from the ground up. There has been nothing that hasn’t been untouched by the war. Practically every one of Syria has been directly affected one way or another. The Syrian Civil War has changed many lives of civilians and other forces. To recap, half of the population of Syria is displaced which is roughly 12 million people. Those 12 million people had to leave their homes and start from scratch in a foreign area. There have been 5.6 million refugees that have fled their home country to other more secure places such as Canada, Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan. All those refugees are working harder than ever to get their lives back on track. Apart from this the infrastructure in, Syria has totally been destroyed. Although the civil war is not ending anytime soon, It will take years to rebuild Syria from all the destroyed building, roads, and homes. Many people have been forced to leave their homes to evade the conflict and the conflict has destroyed many buildings such as the six heritage sites in Syria. Schools have been bombed and whole cities have been destroyed. For example, 93% of infrastructures have been destroyed on one district in the Eastern Ghouta and the governments six-week ground offensive caused further destruction. Also, the US withdrew 2000 troops from the Syrian Civil War because Donald Trump claimed they won the war against ISIS and cleared them from the Syrian border. Trump's decisions startled his allies such as Israel because they helped fight ISIS off as well. Now there is more chance of ISIS returning and firing back up to accomplish their goal of taking over the Middle East. There is also little protection now to the civilians of Syria and Syria itself from ISIS and Al-Qaeda. The Syrian Civil War has also risen many more grudges. With all the side taking and alliances that are made they are definitely grudges such as between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Iran versus Saudi Arabia is a religious war and when Iran joined the war Saudi Arabia got mad and sent their troops and weapons to the opposing side to help the opposing side beat Iran. Syria has been greatly changed and will never be the same. The whole country has been turned upside down and for many civilians, their world has turned upside.

There were many different groups involved in this conflict from the Syrian parties to foreign parties such as the Islamic state and the US. Let's start off on how the rebels saw the war through their eyes. The rebels consisted of protesters and military defectors. They also created a Free Syrian Army which civilians also joined to protect their own cities/towns. Although they are many rebel groups in Syria the Free Syrian Army is the frontline and takes up the majority of the percentage of the opposition who wants to take down Mr. Assad's regime. After the peace protesting incident, the rebel wanted Assad gone and away from the next possible government. The rebels wanted a democratic Syria where Mr. Assad would have no part of and would have no part of the government either. Mr. Assad was a dictator who wanted to stay in power. Once again, Mr. Assad abused his power as president and used the resources of the country for his own wellbeing while giving little to no freedom toward the people of Syria. He also called the own people of his country “foreign backed terrorists” Syrians wanted to choose their leader who was not corrupt and actually cared for the wellbeing of the people of the country. They wanted a leader that they can rely on that keeps his words and benefits the country of Syria. They wanted a government who could help with the economic crisis going on. To add on, civilians also wanted more freedom underneath the new government. They didn't want anything like Mr. Assad or anything relating to him. Rebels wanted Mr. Assad directly out of connection with the Syrian government. The rebels are one of the three main parties involved and are the direct opposition to Mr. Assad. It looked as if the rebels weren't going to give up but neither is Mr. Assad and his force.

On the complete opposite side of the spectrum is Mr. Assad and his alliance which are Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah. These alliances were the first to be made and were an early indication of more nations joining in. Russia has given full support to Mr. Assad as they have even said that Mr. Assad did not use chemical weapons at all during the civil war and it was the other opposition or ISIS. Iran has given Mr. Assad over 15 billion dollars to help fight the war and beat the opposition. Hezbollah is sending in troops and weapons to back up Mr. Assad's forces. Mr. Assad has a completely different view from the rebels. Mr. Assad did not like the rebel at all and was fighting against the Jihadists too, to make sure that the terrorist organizations don't take over Syria and then the middle east. Mr. Asaad doesn't want to negotiate with the opposition. In fact, he refers to the rebels by the terms “Foreign-backed Terrorists” because he thinks the civilians turned on their own country and are destroying it. Mr. Assad doesn't want to give up his spot in the presidency. His father was made president in 1971 and wanted to keep it in the family therefore, used his full force to try and stop the rebels from overthrowing him as well as the Syrian government. The United States and the European Union were increasingly critical of Assad at the time. US President Barack Obama at the time and other European heads of state told Mr. Assad to step down in August 2011. US launched military attacks on Chemical weapon sited in 2017 and 2018 and Mr. Assad responded by saying “What America did is nothing but foolish and irresponsible behavior, which only reveals its short-sightedness and political and military blindness to reality.¨ Those attacks were the biggest attacks by the western powers on Mr. Assad. US president Donald Trump told the media 'The purpose of our actions tonight is to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread and use of chemical weapons. Establishing this deterrent is a vital national security interest of the United States. The combined American, British and French response to these atrocities will integrate all instruments of our national power—military, economic, and diplomatic.” The Jihadists are also involved in the war. Although they are not the main forces they still take over a lot of opposition to both the other sides which are Mr. Assad and the rebels. The Jihadists consist of ISIS members and Al- Qaeda members, they are not against the other parties but they want to take over much of the middle east as possible and then expand to the entire world and control it. The Jihadists main opposition is the US. Even Though, Mr, Assad and the rebels are fighting back as well but the US’s main objective is to get rid of the Jihadists from taking over any more land and eliminating them from the war. The Jihadists took advantage of the Civil War crisis in Syria to take over them. They saw it as an opportunity to easily gain more land and power in the process because the government had its hands full with the rebels and vice versa. Jihadists also recognized the fact that weapons were easily accessible in Syria and much of the country was in lock down so it would be easy to take over Syria.

The Jihadists are also involved in the war. Although they are not the main forces they still take over a lot of opposition to both the other sides which are Mr. Assad and the rebels. The Jihadists consist of ISIS members and Al- Qaeda members, they are not against the other parties but they want to take over much of the middle east as possible and then expand to the entire world and control it. BY 2016 they were practically unstoppable. The Jihadists main opposition is the US. Even Though, Mr, Assad and the rebels are fighting back as well but the US’s main objective is to get rid of the Jihadists from taking over any more land and eliminating them from the war. The US and some Arab states targeted the JIhadists via aerial strikes at first but its now moved to aerial and land attacks.The Jihadists took advantage of the Civil War crisis in Syria to take over them. They saw it as an opportunity to easily gain more land and power in the process because the government had its hands full with the rebels and vice versa. Jihadists also recognized the fact that weapons were easily accessible in Syria and much of the country was in lock down so it would be easy to take over Syria. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, declared that he would combine his forces in Iraq and Syria under the name Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

The once beautiful country of Syria was destroyed and demolished by the different sides and alliances that joined the war because of Mr. Assad’s inexcusable actions. This war was not worth it by a long shot. The Syrian Civil War has created a massive humanitarian crisis in which over 400,000 people have been killed and over 12 million displaced which is half of the pre-war population. Along with that they are 3 million people who need aid but live in hard to reach places. Other nations who are supporting with aid cannot reach the 3 million people since they fled to remote areas. In addition to that beautiful Syria has been demolished by all the warfare. The mortars, bombing and aerial strikes have destroyed many homes and other buildings. There is no safe way of travel in the country since either of parties control that particular area and do not allow it. The parties have also obliterated the six Unesco World Heritage sites around Syria. These sites all over Syria were important to them and now they are destroyed. The Syrian Civil War is not worth it. There are multiple logical pieces of evidence that display that the Syrian Civil War is not worth it. Although, it was somewhat worth it for the civilians. They needed to take the big risk of rebelling to stop Mr. Assad from his actions and acquire more freedom. Unfortunately, it did not turn out well for the civilians. The peaceful protests turned into a full-fledged war which backfired on the civilians and killed many innocent people and children. In the end, there were almost half a million people killed and half the population of Syria was displaced. Now imagine almost 12 million people from your nation flushed out of their own country and it is not even their fault. This is the largest refugee moment in recent history. Along with that, the gorgeous city of Syria was completely demolished to the ground. It has got to the point where it will take years and years to reconstruct all of the infrastructures all because of one stubborn man not giving up his power. This were 3 dominate parties which made it a three way civil war and were the regime, the rebels, and the Jihadists. I believe if Syrians knew about the consequences before the war they would not have continued with it and the different sides and alliances would not have been formed which would result in a still beautiful intact country with no one dead. If there is not a solution fast there is more bloodshed to come.