Syria's Background

Syria’s Background—the Short Version

Syria gained independence from France in the mid-Forties and struggled through many coups in the coming decades. The Ba’ath Party, formed in the Fifties, believed in socialism, nationalism, populism, which is like socialism but not necessarily advocating that the producers of goods should have the political power to enforce their distribution. A revolutionary group, the interior disagreements on how to wield power caused instability.

The ascendance of Hafez al-Assad to power in the Seventies brought some stability to the government. His son, Bashar al-Assad, who ran unopposed, was elected in 2,000 after his father’s death. The privileged ruling sect is mostly Shiite Muslims while Sunni Muslims make up most of the civilian population and feel disenfranchised.

The country has been under Emergency Law for most of the last half century, which suspended many of the constitutional protections of its citizens. Syria has also supported wars against Israel and terrorist organizations such as the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Relations with their bordering neighbors have been up and down as a result.

Civil War

The Arab Spring affected Syria and its divided populace deeply and the country has been in a civil war since 2011. Organizations such as the Human Rights Watch have declared Syria’s human rights to be among the worst in the world—censoring websites, detaining bloggers, imposing travel bans, and arresting democracy and human-rights activists, sometimes torturing and/or killing them.

Because of the war, human-rights abuses, and the killing of civilians, especially by chemical warfare, many countries have severed diplomatic relations with Syria, including: Britain, Canada, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and the United States. The country continues to share good relations with Iran and Russia.

The Refugee Crisis

The Syrian Opposition is formed from many factions in opposition to the government. Civilians of course are caught in the middle of the war. Disease brought on by poor sanitation in war-torn areas and deteriorating living conditions kill many, the majority, children. Crime has become rampant, police forces in many smaller towns, disbanded. Atrocities—murders, rapes—also perpetrated on children have become commonplace, many inflicted by authorities.

Refugees fled by the thousands to Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Turkey where they often live in tent communities with worse or no better conditions than those left behind. After seeing the tiny victims of the last chemical assault, I can understand people supporting President Trump bombing Syria. It is a concise, definitive action, which feels good but is unlikely to solve or change anything for the children still in harm’s way.

Our current political climate has changed, now advocating the removal of al-Assad. The question still remains—who would fill the void and how would we ensure the new government isn’t as or more corrupt and violent than the one being replaced? Trump said we should have taken control of Iraq’s oil fields when we went in there. I wonder if that would be the goal for involvement in Syria.