Protesters in Syria gathered on March 15, 2011, motivated by popular “Arab Spring” uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, to demand a basic reform to their own regime.
Syria’s President Bashar Assad was not about to go peacefully, unlike previous regimes that had largely collapsed in the face of mass uprisings and armed insurgencies. Days after the protests began, Syrian soldiers were deployed to the regions involved with unrests in what would become the start of a long-lasting civil conflict that has echoed well beyond the boundaries of the region.
The dispute has pulled the United States, Iran, Russia, and Turkey into a dynamic proxy war pitting Assad against a band of rebels. It has exacerbated ethnic and sectarian tensions, aided the resurgence of the militant ISIS militia, displaced millions of people, and killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Although Syria “has fallen off the front page,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres recently said that the country “remains a living nightmare.”
“It is impossible to fully fathom the extent of the devastation in Syria, but its people have endured some of the greatest crimes the world has witnessed this century.”
The US recent strikes in Syria followed a rocket attack on an airfield in Erbil, Iraq, that killed a Filipino contractor and injured six others. Awliya al Dam, or the Guardians of the Blood Brigades, a Shiite group, claimed responsibility for the attack while Washington blamed Tehran for it.
The practice has been recurrently observed in Syrian territories. The United States, Israel and some other western countries utilized the crisis in Syria as a pretext to intensify presence in the region. With the reasons to remain in the Middle East after Iraq and Afghanistan futile wars, Syria proved a fertile soil for a new project.
For Syria, it’s been a decade-long fight for existence. The 2011 “Arab Spring” uprising that ignited the revolt against the Syrian regime had already brought down leaders elsewhere. Many in Washington, London, and Tel Aviv expected that Assad will be the next to fall.
Turkey turned its attention to battling Kurdish militants, whom it considers terrorists, as it gained greater control of northern Syria and these militias. Both the opposition and the government have employed tens of thousands of Syrians in previous years as mercenaries to fight in other conflicts in which these countries are involved, such as Libya and Azerbaijan.
The US role in Syrian civil war is a complex intrigue in process of resolution. The US role in generation and revival of ISIS in Syria has been proved by multiple evidences including then candidate Donald Trump remarks during 2016 presidential campaigns. Mr. Trump obviously noted the role of Hillary Clinton, US secretary of State between from 2009 to 2013, in supporting, training and equipping ISIS militia.
ISIS then turned into a snake in Washington’s bosom. Thus, Washington’s priorities have been mixed, appearing to be at odds with one another; opposing Assad and trying to stabilize the region but also wanting to eliminate the ISIS, which was a main force opposing the regime.
ISIS, an early US plan for regime toppling in Syria, started terrorist action across the world including the United States. Though the controlling ISIS seemingly became the US first priority in Syrian battlefield since the second half of the previous decade, Washington used it as a chance to remain in the region, provide assistance for regional allies like Israel and Saudi Arabia and put control on ISIS while assuring that the group remains far from annihilation.
Multiple reports and investigation in previous years suggested that US provides indirect support for ISIS militia in areas where the group is under shattering pressure of Syrian, Iranian, and Russian raids.
The decent aspirations that were formed in the mind of Syrian youngsters for reform turned into ashes embodied in the ruins of Syrian cities by the misconduct of the local authorities and abuse of foreign interferers.
