Effects of the Syrian Civil War

The Syrian Civil War is an ongoing armed conflict between the Ba’ath Government and those who wants to overthrow it. It started as a reaction to the Arab Spring, a series of anti-government protests across the Arab world inspired by the fall of the Tunisian regime in early 2011. But at the root of the conflict was anger over unemployment, decades of dictatorship, corruption and state violence under of the Middle East’s most repressive regimes. Bashar al-Assad's father, Hafez al-Assad who came from a poor family, took over the control of government in the early 1970's. He became a dictator and ruled very strictly. He even jailed or killed his enemies. Bashar Assad presented himself as a kinder ruler and promised changes for the better when he succeeded his father in 2000. But critics said nothing changed. Everything was a show. Syria's turmoil or chaos began with protests against President Bashar al-Assad's regime in March 2011. A year and a half later, when the international Red Cross formally declared it a civil war. There were rallies and protests until in 2011, Assad forbid rallies, captured the rally leaders, and the police beat up the protesters. That sparked the start of a civil war in Syria. More than a year later, the situation has worsened and the enemies of Assad used military weapons against him and his government. They seemed to be winning, forcing Assad to use chemical weapons sometime in August. This has become an international concern because there is an international law against the use of chemical weapons and that is why Barack Obama, the president of US and his allies like France are threatening to use force or to invade Syria. The situation has become more complicated because Vladimir Putin, the Russian president has said that they will help Syria if US attacks. Russia has been Syria's main supplier of military weapons and they had an agreement to help each other in times of war. The number of dead and injured Syrians are increasing. Hundreds of