Jared Wagner
POLS-Y348
Professor Bielasiak
International Intervention in Syria Imagine. The world around you is falling apart. Turmoil and chaos surround you as you are awoken by explosions, firefights, screaming, and crying every morning. You go to bed every night wondering if someone will break into your home and steal anything valuable that has not been taken by the civil war already. You think about the dead bodies you saw on the side of the road; how they got there, what they did to deserve such a punishment, how their loved ones are doing and if they have found out the horrendous news yet. You are left with the choice to either continue to take your chances in your war torn country or you can accept the unknown and attempt to run away from all the chaos that you have known for the past few years. The latter might sound like the obvious choice, but where will you go? Every country surrounding Syria has closed its borders, so where do you? How will you continue to feed yourself? Your children..? This is just the average day in the life of a citizen of Syria. The Middle East has seen turmoil for years, and this civil war is not going to make anything better. Therefore, I find it crucial to continue to maintain the same amount intervention with Syria as the world has been. Success in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) will depend on a clear, effective U.S. strategy in the region. It is in the best interests of the U.S. to ensure that ISIS is
I am writing to you today as a student at the College of William and Mary. I am in an International Security class and recently we studied the events occurring in Syria. As you are well aware, the situation in Syria has been dramatically deteriorating in recent months with the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the recent entrance of Russia into the conflict. Syria, meanwhile, has been in the midst of a ravaging civil war since the early spring of 2011. Currently, the government of Syria is led by President Bashar al-Assad, a member of the Syrian Ba’ath Party, a branch of the same Ba’ath Party that Saddam Hussein was also a member of. This similarity may lead some to think that Syria will end up like Iraq, with a
It 's actual that the kind of war being pursued in Iraq and Syria at this moment is distinctive, yet it 's not clear that the impacts will be. Both Iraq and Syria are crushed by war, common and something else, and if ISIS is steered from the region there are no solid governments to move in and restore request. The Iraqi government is a
The Syrian war is a multi-problematic situation that started within Syrian borders. The Syrian war began in 2010 with something called the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring is a chain of events where people caused aggressive and non-aggressive situations such as protests which created harm in the Middle East. In 2011 people started a non-aggressive protest because children were being abused after spattering graffiti that stated how they agreed with the Arab Spring. The president during this time was Bashar al- Assad. Assad would torment and imprison the people of Syria who protested. The Syrian People wanted to end Assad’s brutal actions so they created a Free Syrian Army which led to a civil war (i.e. the Syrian war). There are several countries
As years pass, Americans are becoming increasingly critical of the American invasion of Iraq following the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. As a result, many Americans are apprehensive in supporting another American intervention in a Middle Eastern country during the middle of an uprising. For years, politicians have echoed the same sentiment: “I will not create another ‘Iraq’ in the Middle East,” however, when faced with the opportunity to do exactly that, it seems the decision is not so simple. On one hand, a direct intervention would be extremely costly and very might well be unsuccessful entirely. On the other hand, taking a hands-off approach and instead opting to employ diplomacy and encourage American allies to
Arming rebels to fight an enemy of the United States has backfired in the past. Because of this, when it comes to attempting to convince the the surrounding countries around Syria to comply, the last resort is offering weapons. The initial hope is that these countries will simply want to do whatever they can to stop ISIS, because of the the threat that ISIS poses to their neighboring countries. ISIS does pose a threat to everyone, especially their neighbors. However, simply because of this threat, it is not for sure that they will join the fight and adhere to this solution without any rewards. The United States needs to convince these countries of their importance, make them understand that the United States cannot accomplish what needs to be done without their help. Making them fell important is the first step. Next when establishing military bases near Syria in these countries, the bases are not just to be created for military reason but as well as aide and harboring refugees, all while under the control of the United State Military. Step two
The problem in Syria is that millions of people are suffering. The suffering will not stop until the war is resolved. The struggles that the people of Syria face are a direct result of the war. Organizations will continue to lessen the suffering by providing aid, but they will have no effect when it comes to ending the war. The harsh truth is that end of the war is nowhere near an end. The problem is that no side is strong enough to win the war. Since the start, the Syrian Government Army has gotten weaker and no longer has the power to take over cities controlled by the Free Syrian Army (Dorell). The result of this is the mass destruction the country has faced. The Free Syrian Army continues to fight back in response to the airstrikes from the Syrian Government Army(Dorell). No side has been able to pull away and win the war. Foreign involvement has only made the situation worse. The Russians have taken the side of the Syrian Government while the United States have taken the side of the Syrian Rebel Army. Russia has attempted to help eliminate the terrorist groups supporting the Syrian Rebel Army, in reality, many civilians were hurt in the process (Dorell). The countries involved in the crisis have tried to organize peace treaties and cease fires multiple times, but they all failed (Dorell). Looking at these recent events, the war does not seem to be ending anytime soon. Therefore, the
On the other hand, a U.S. military intervention is unlikely to happen since the U.S. cannot afford, politically or economically, an unsecured contribution to the Syrian war for an unpredictable period of time, especially after Obama’s foreign policy has been focused on ending all military involvements in Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. army hasn’t seemed to rest from the wounds of the two major past war, and veteran families were promised that military interventions will end, which makes the issue of intervention in Syria even more complicated for the U.S.
Nearly 500,000 people have died in Syria due to the horrendous civil war occuring in the country. Something really needs to be done to help the innocent citizens of Syria survive and to start a new, war-free lifestyle. In my opinion, the United States should choose to continue to aid the citizens of Syria, and also try to stop the issue by using a combination of Option 1: Use the U.S. Military in Syria, and Option 2: Stop the Humanitarian Disaster. Together this plan would help the citizens of Syria, use force to stop the government, and use diplomacy to stop the government’s harm on Syria.
A combination of factors in Syria, including but not limited to Bashar al-Assad 's regime and its practices against the Sunni majority, the rapid spread of ISIS and its atrocities against the Syrians, and other groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra have led to a civil war that has killed 250,000 people, displaced half of the population,
It’s the middle of the night, and the moon is shining at full force, casting a soft glow upon the battle ground that lies beneath. The eerie calm of the midnight air is pierced with the rattle of a machine gun off in the distance. Minutes later, an MIG cannon rumbles the earth, sending a shaking building to tumble to its death. Screams can be heard amidst the chaos. No, this isn’t the setting of a bad dream, or even the plot of a scene depicting the throws of war. Terror, violence, and bloodshed, mark the reality of the civil war in Syria, which some claim is the biggest humanitarian crisis since World War II. It seems like everyone has an opinion regarding what strides should be taken to resolve the issue, but no one answer can solve the problem at hand. The conflict in Syria has spiraled completely out of control, and even the most prominent policy makers in America grapple with the issue of how to put an end to the violence.
Berger, a national security advisor for President Clinton, is quoted in the article as saying “it is going to be a long term-proposition” (qtd in Lander and Weisman). The U.S. does not have a powerful ally or any kind of ally that can help them in Syria, which is essential towards combating ISIS in an unstable region. The other problem is that no one in Syria considers ISIS to be a threat and focuses their energy on their civil war while the United States considers ISIS to be a threat (Marcus). By considering how this would be a long term proposition, Berger is taking the facts from the strikes in Iraq and the Syrian people and realizing if we get involved, it's going to be long and costly proposition with the chance of boots on the
Since september no territory has been taken back from ISIS. With that information all the attacks missiles and bombings seem useless. Close to 1,100 airstrikes have been carried out by the U.S. The U.S plans to launch a militia training campaign in Syria to help fight ISIS but they are holding it off till next year. Although you can argue that we don’t need to risk our troops lives in this battle but think the people who they will be training have families too and unlike our troops they won’t be paid. They won’t be able to help feed and protect their families and if they die they won’t get a huge honorable burial only what their family can
Within the ever-changing landscape of the Middle Eastern Region, Syria is consistently in the news due to its strategic location and the present set of local and global problems. Located in the northwest portion of the Middle East, Syria is bordered by Turkey to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest. Mostly composed of Sunni Arabs, Syria is also the home to a diverse ethnic group that includes Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds, and Turks. The capital of Syria is Damascus and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world (CIA Fact Book). Once a part of the Ottoman Empire, Syria was controlled by France following World War I until it gained its independence in 1946.
Throughout history, many countries and states have gone to war and fought each other. These conflicts could have a laundry-list of reasons as to why they are occurring, such as natural resources, attempts to gain land, and access and occupation of highly regarded religious sites. War and battling for resources and other materials has been no new topic to us all, but there is one conflict that has blown the lid off everything that world has ever seen. This war has two names, the Syrian Civil War, and the War in Syria. The atrocities that have been witness and or inflicted upon others is absolutely unacceptable, and must be stopped.
Despite the fact that direct intervention in Syria could put USA’s relationships with Russia and Iran on the line, inaction would lead to a Syrian genocide and increasing war complexities. Any US military intervention would have to take into account the impact it could have on the actions and desires of myriad other actors: jihadist fighters, Islamist political players such as the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, and most prominently Assad’s allies in Iran and Russia. (Lowy Institute). These two nations have been very important players in the Syrian civil war as the Syrian government’s war arsenal is backed up with checks from these two countries. Assad’s government has spent these checks on arms and chemical weapons. The chemical weapons, however more prominent, have been used against the rebels, killing thousands of people in addition to those killed by torture and systematic murder (Pearlman). Assad has been claiming that the main reason he has started this full-fledged war is to suppress ISIS, which blossomed with the increasing complexity of the civil war. However, multitudes of innocents have been killed on the sidelines, and Iran and Russia have been important benefactors of this movement. U.S. intervention for humanitarian reasons could indeed possibly provoke stronger involvement by Russia and Iran. However, the direct involvement of these two countries in Syria