Syria: A Nation Of Turmoil

The once populated nation of Syria is currently in turmoil after a four-year civil war. Syria is currently under the strict control of Bashar al-Assad and has been governed by the Assad name since 1970.

Protests against the dictatorial leadership by Assad resulted in a full scale rebellion. These protests quickly turned violent due to the Government regime responding to these once peaceful gatherings with gunfire and chemical weapons. In the midst of atrocities, the Free-Syrian Army was created. It was made to withstand the overpowering governance of Al-Assad and the government.

The media and mass public knows the FSA (Free-Syrian Army) as the rebels opposing their government leaders. The civil war is much more than that. Along with the almost daily warfare between the FSA and the regime, there is also involvement by the terrorist group known as ISIL, or ISIS.

There is currently a bloody fight for territory in Syria, and most of it is over the Capital, Damascus. What was once a populated urban center is now frequently barrel bombed by Al-Assad and an utterly destroyed reflection of what it once looked like.
“It’s awful that citizens of Syria are now living in an open battlefield,” senior Dan Shomper said.

As of September 2015, Al-Assad and the FSA each only control about 25% of territory in Syria while ISIS controls the other 50%. What was once a civil war resulting from corrupt politics is now a bloodbath between three equally violent and politically outspoken groups of individuals.

The involvement by other countries, particularly the United States, is quite precarious due to the chance of giving weapons and supplies to future enemies, such as ISIS, who are not only attacking in Syria but have threatened the well-being of Americans in our own country.

Along with the predicament of supplying ISIS, various groups within the FSA are splinter cells of the notorious terrorist group, AL-Qaeda. The last thing the U.S. government would want to get publicity for is to be giving weapons to those who had previously terrorized its own cities.