The ongoing Syrian crisis first began in 2011 when peaceful protesters called for democratic reforms. Bashar Al-Assad, the current President of Syria, had a violent response by sending his secret police force to gun down several of the protestors. Subsequently,  the Free Syrian Army was formed, a group who aimed to overthrow the Syrian government.

Since the beginning of this conflict, Syria has split into four major groups: Assad (those supporting the President), ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), Kurdish, and the rebels.

As tensions escalated and violence broke out , extremists from other countries became involved in the conflict , and soon, other countries began supplying weapons to the different sides involved. Iran had taken the side of Assad as one of his biggest allies, sending vast amounts of weapons and troops. Gulf states, who have their own conflicts with Iran, take the side of the rebels.

Though other countries had taken sides and began offering aid  since the conflict’s violent beginnings, the United States did not have an active role in the conflict until 2013 during the Obama Administration.

The United States was horrified by the actions of Assad, and in turn,chose to support the rebels. A secret order was passed allowing  the CIA to train the Syrian rebels and equip them with weapons and supplies for their cause, but was soon put on pause.

In 2013, Assad began  to use chemical weapons against his citizens. The death of these civilians gained attention on a global scale, with  countries such as the United States calling for a military strike as a response, but such threats were never seen followed though or acted upon. .

After these chemical attacks, Russia began to back Assad, straining an already tense relationship with the United States. As a response, the United States sent  CIA trained troops to Syria, making the United States active members of this conflict.

As the conflict continued, a branch broke away from the rebels, known as ISIS, in 2014. ISIS not only opposes the Kurds and rebel groups, but the United States as well. The United States began to take action against ISIS, which grew to become  a bigger priority to the nation than Assad. However, many of the other countries who were allies to the United States thought differently. This caused the lines of our alliances to be blurred.

As Donald Trump takes office, he at first condones Assad’s role in power, focusing on the ISIS conflict instead. But, after Assad uses chemical weapons against his own civilians, Trump has a change of heart. The White House responds to Assad’s chemical attack on his own people by launching missiles that strike an airbase in Syria in 2017, marking the first time that the United States has attacked Syria directly.

About a year later, the United States strikes again, using more than double the missiles than the time before, according to the US Defense Secretary. The United States acted this time with the help of France and Britain.

The Pentagon claims that 105 missiles were fired;however, Syria claims as many as 110 were fired and out of these about 100 were shot down. As of right now, it is unclear how many missiles were fired at Syria, and how many of these missiles were shot down.

The target of these attacks were storage facilities that allegedly held chemical weapons, chosen specifically to avoid casualties on both Russian troops and Syrian civilians.

President Trump justifies the attack by stating that the purpose “is to establish a strong deterrent against  the production, spread and use of chemical weapons.”

However, Assad has publicly denied having involvement in these chemical attacks, these claims being backed by Russia.

Currently, Syria is in ruins. Families lack basic necessities and children are unable to attend school because the war is on the streets.  millions have been forced to leave their homes. Almost half a million Syrians have been killed since the beginning of the conflict in 2011.

Many disagree with the recent strike on Syria, arguing that it has not accomplished anything, and will not. However, only time will tell what will happen next in this ongoing conflict.

Sources

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