Final
Final
Final
Problems
within Syria
Need to Come
to an End
By: Alyssa Ekas
Ekas 2
Throughout the country, news channels have been describing events of horror and death
in Syria; cases of woman and children being killed and thousands of people fleeing their homes.
These horrible events in Syria need to stop and the American government, along with people
around the world, need to take a stand to help solve this problem once and for all. The Syrian
Civil War, also known as the Syrian Uprising, is an ongoing battle between forces loyal to the
Baath government and those who believe the government needs to change. (Best of History)
Thousands of innocent citizens have been killed and even more have been affected by the civil
war. Throughout the world, many countries have been attempting to alleviate and cease the
destruction occurring in Syria. Efforts to stop the civil war include: strategic missile attacks to
weaken both sides, sending manned troops in by foot to control the fighting, and some believe
the problem should just be ignored and allowing other countries to deal with it. (Current
Events) These ideas have been shared by several countries around the world. America,
however, has taken actions to manage the problem. One of these efforts has to ensue before more
innocent people are killed.
A civil war has spread throughout Syria. The Syrian government has been the blame for
this war. The Baath government has been abusing their power and violating the rights of each
one of their citizens. (Barrack Obama) Many rebel groups have taken a stand and begun to
protest, desiring the creation of a new government. They desire a government for the people and
rights for each of the citizens. Large scale riots have gained the attention of the government and
military forces. Military action, however unnecessary, has been used to forcibly control the riots
and the people involved. Chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the
parties in the Syrian Arab Republic, also against civilians, including children, on a relatively
large scale. (Best of History) Thousands of civilians have been murdered at the hands of the
Ekas 3
military and millions more have been displaced. (Malas) Women and children have been gassed,
shot at, burned, and even crushed in an attempt for the government to regain control of its
people. Moreover, a civil war has begun in Syria, a fight between the abusive Baath government
and the people who are acting out in hopes of ridding the country of a tyrannical leadership.
The struggle of quality leadership in Syria has impacted millions of innocent civilians.
Syria has been under emergency rule from 1963 until 2011, which gave military forces the power
to arrest and detain anyone they felt was a threat. (Malas) Human rights within the country have
been scrutinized and tampered with under this rule. The conflict initially began as a civil
uprising, evolved from initially minor protests, beginning as early as January 2011, as a response
to the regional Arab Spring, government, corruption, and human rights abuses. (Best of
History) By early March, the uprising had spread throughout the country and large-scale
protests began to ensue. The government responded to the protests with large arrests, torture of
prisoners, police brutality, censorship of events, and some concessions. (Syrian Official)
However, this did not deter the uprising. Frequent massive protests began to emerge all over
Syria. By late April, the government began to respond to the protests with strengthened military
operations. These operations included the use of tanks, infantry carriers, and artillery which
resulted in mass amounts of casualties and destruction of homes forcing those people to be
displaced. The Syrian conflict has been growing in intensity and scope for more than two years,
with the United Nations estimating more than 100,000 dead and millions displaced. (Middle
East CNN) The war in Syria has impacted thousands and will continue to affect the innocent
people as long as the riots continue.
Ekas 4
Rumors have been spread about a gassing of citizens within the Ghouta area. A much-
anticipated United Nations report has concluded that chemical weapons were used on a relatively
large scale in the Ghouta area of Damascus on August 21. (Syrian Official) The gassing is the
largest confirmed use of chemical weapons against civilians since 1988 when Saddam Hussein
used them in Halabja. In particular, the environmental, chemical, and medical samples, we have
collected provide clear and convincing evidence that surface- to- surface rockets containing the
nerve agent sarin were used in the suburbs of Damascus, Syrias capitol. (Syrian Official) It is
the United Nations and every countries duty to ensure that chemical weapons never reemerge as
primary weapons of welfare. The Baath government of Syria has been blamed for this gassing.
Many believe that they had the power and resources to create the sarin to use as a weapon.
Moreover, the use of sarin gas within Syria has been rumored to have been occurring, recent
results can prove that the gas is now linked to August 21
st
and the deaths of hundreds.
Throughout the world, many countries have proposed ideas to stop the civil war and
return Syria back to peace. One of the ideas is to missile attack the country in some fashion.
Some believe that randomly bombing the country would send out a sign to the government and
radical groups that the problem needs to stop before their whole country is annihilated. This
poses and issue, however, because the amount of civilian casualties will heighten and that is
opposite the goal of saving lives. Another idea based around a missile attack is strategically
placing missiles to focus on certain areas such as: leaders location, and military bases. The logic
behind this is effective; no leader, no organization, no fighting. There are also issues with this
proposal. One major issue is that each group could retaliate even more against one another or
even other countries. They could blame each other for the death of their leaders and fight back
worse than they are now. Another issue this idea could pose is that Syria and its allies could
Ekas 5
attack separate countries that are responsible for the attacks. (Airstrikes) The main goal is to
avoid another world war. A different proposal to the missile attack idea is to attack their
weaponry stocks and other areas of military importance. Without weapons, neither side would
have the strength to fight each other. However, destroying Syrias weapons wouldnt be the
conclusion to the war. They could rebuild their weapons and then it would resume the former
chaos. The concept of a missile attack on Syria has been largely popular around the world.
However, the idea of how to focus the attack is debatable.
Another thought on how to minimize the war within Syria is by sending manual troops
into the country and controlling the issue that way. This means placing solider boots on Syrian
soil. (Iran) Most countries want to avoid sending their own troops into the country because it
would mean direct involvement in the conflict. This idea, however, would allow a quieter way to
search for leaders and officials of both groups and form a resolution. Strategic plans could be
formed which would avoid civilian casualties. Manual troops could also be at aid to the civilians
to protect them and make sure they are not harmed by the war between the rebels and the Baath
government. (Iran) Sending troops into Syria may mean other countries becoming involved in
the civil war, but it may also be one of the only ways to safely settle the conflict.
One scheme that many of the people dealing with this case have considered is allowing
another country to deal with the issue. There is always that though in the back of their minds of
just ignoring the problem entirely and not making an attempt to save the innocent people being
murdered and kicked from their homes. Its not our country, why should we care? (The
History) Why should we spend all out money and resources? (The History) These questions
arise in everyones head as they think of this problem. Everyone is pointing a finger at someone
Ekas 6
else saying, your country is more financially stable, you do something about it. Nobody is taking
the problem into their own hands and dealing with it. The tough truth of this though is that what
about all of the innocent people being affected by this war? All the people who havent rebelled
against the government, the ones who have just found themselves being in the wrong place at the
wrong time. Who is going to help them? (President Obama) If everyone is turning their back to
the problem and refusing to open their eyes to what is really going on, then thousands more
innocent people will be affected or killed. Countries around the world keep making excuses on
why they dont want to help: they dont want a third world war, they dont want to spend their
money and resources, and they dont want to risk being attacked by one of Syrias allies.
(Middle East CNN) Most countries are relying on Americans to control the Syrian conflict.
America supposedly has the strongest military and the greatest amount of resources to do it.
Every other country wants America to be the one to get involved, but who is going to be there
to back us up after we take that first step? (President Obama) It is widely believed that
turning a cold shoulder on the issue is the solution, but how is t a solution when nobody is
attempting the help Syria?
As countries around the world throw around strategies, America is planning to make their
move in stopping the civil war. Americans have come up with a few different concepts that they
believe will work. They have juggled the idea of a strategic missile attack like many other
countries. Americans have allows began to understand that their involvement into the
controversy could result in a large scale war and they are beginning to prepare for that as a result.
One of the main focuses for America has been saving the lives of the innocent civilians and
drastically reducing the amount of casualties. They realize a missile attack could kill civilians but
Ekas 7
they are trying to focus their targets in and reduce these chances. Moreover, America is finally
being the one to step up to the plate and do something about the Syrian conflict.
A strategic missile attack has been the main focus of the American military. They
believed that this is the best way to control the issue and end it quickly. The military will
determine key targets such as weaponry centers; military headquarters, and barracks.
(Airstrikes) These will be targeted and attacked in an effort to weaken forces and end the war.
Safe plans are also being created for the civilians that are located are the target areas.
(Airstrikes) These plans include safe escapes that allow the people to get out of harms way.
They will be provided food and shelter while they are fleeing. American troops will provide
safe plans to the civilians in the surrounding areas of the missile attacks. (Barrack Obama)
The whole concept behind the missile attack is to destroy the most important elements within the
Baath government and the rebel groups. Weaken the forces, weaken the war and destruction.
(Barrack Obama) Furthermore, American forces believe that the most successful plan to
subdue the Syrian conflict is a strategic missile attack.
As the country plans to attack Syria, they are also planning for Syria and its allies to rebel
back and a large scale war to break out. We will prepare our people and army mentally and
physically for another war and warn them of the high risks involved with our bombing of Syria.
(Barrack Obama) Besides preparing for a war, there are also people in America that are trying
to create alternatives to war and compromises to make with other countries that plan to rebel
back against the U.S. If other countries are willing to make compromises and deals, then a new
war could become completely avoidable. Another big realization that America is starting to
understand is the Syrian is a major ally with Russia. If Syria is attacked, Russian forces could
possible attack back at the United States and a war could start on American soil. (Airstrikes)
Ekas 8
This is the last thing Americans want and the government is trying to come up ideas to avoid a
war within America. As you can see, there are consequences with attacking Syria and American
needs to prepare for the effects of their actions.
As if all of this did not seem like enough, Americans also have to plan to rescue as many
innocent civilians as possible. The first step is to stop the gassing of thousands of civilians.
(Barrack Obama) After the confirmed gassings Syria, a large focus has been stopping the
gassings. The next focus is to evacuate civilians from the targeted areas. The focus is to save
lives, not to destroy ones that did no harm. (Malas) A problem with evacuating these people,
however, is where to put them. They will need a place to go while they are away from their
homes. They will need food, water, and shelter, but who is going to provide this? Americans
need to come up with some plan as to how they will take care of these people. Even though
Americans have enough to plan and worry about, they also need to focus on the people in Syria
that need help as well.
As you can see, these horrible events in Syria need to stop and the American government,
along with people around the world, need to take a stand to help solve this problem once and for
all. There is a major problem within Syria and the Middle East and many different ideas to
control them, the American government just needs to take action. If someone does not take a
stand and do something about this, the Syrian conflict could possible begin to effect other
countries. Within the future, more and more innocent lives will have been lost. It is widely
agreeable throughout the world who doesnt want history to repeat itself and a huge genocide to
occur. The Syrian conflict has had many effects on many others than just the people within Syria
and it is time for someone to step up and stop the civil war.