Understanding the Syrian Civil War

Skye Fitzgerald

Before the Syrian Civil War began Aleppowas the country’s largest and most populouscity. Today, however, much of the city has beentransformed into a nightmare. Many of the city’s ancient buildings havebeen severely damaged or reduced to rubble.As of April 2016, 151,888 people have died inthe war—31,257 in Aleppo alone. (Thisnumber doesn’t include the deaths of pro-government forces). To understand the current situation inAleppo, it’s necessary to look at how theSyrian Civil War started.

Syrian Civil War

In 2011 a number of Arab countriesexperienced waves of protest. Inspired by the success of protests in Egyptand Tunisia, Syrians took to the streets toprotest President Bashar al-Assad’sauthoritarian government which has been inpower since 1971. During demonstrations in the city of Darʿā,protesters were killed by Assad’s forces. In response to the protests, Assad claimed thatthe government would gradually introducereform; however, as protests continued tointensify, security forces responded withmore violence.

Arab Spring

Fighting between the government andopposition forces continued throughout 2012,and the civilian death toll continued to rise. Neither side seemed to be gaining muchground in the conflict. In 2013 the international community learnedthat pro-Assad forces may have usedchemical weapons. Assad denied the accusation and blamed therebels for the chemical weapons. In September Time reported that—not onlydid Assad employ chemical weapons in 2013—he was still using them as recently as thisyear.

Civil War

The Battle of Aleppo has been one of the mostbloodiest battles in recent memory. Pro-government forces, with the help ofRussia, have routinely targeted schools andhospitals in rebel areas with barrel bombs. In return, rebel forces have used hell cannonsin areas that the government holds. The aim of both barrel bombs and hellcannons is extremely inaccurate, so their useis almost guaranteed to kill civilians who livein the targeted areas. On December 16th of this year the UnitedNations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon,stated: “Aleppo is now a synonym for hell”(UN).

Aleppo

At the moment it appears that civilians arebeing evacuated from what remains of thecity. However, the evacuation was delayed attimes when both sides resumed fighting.Assad has shown that he will stop at nothingin order to remain in power—even if it meanskilling thousands of his own citizens andleveling 4,000 years of history. Many analysts believe that the civil war willcontinue due to the involvement of theIslamic State and what remains of the rebelforces. What is certain, though, is that history willremember the international community’sfailure to act as one of the most shameful actsof the century.

Failure to Act