The New World

The Syrian civil war is possibly the worst case of armed conflict of the 21^st century. It is appalling how the world claims to have ‘united’ under the UN and is working towards world peace when hundreds of lives are lost in this war-torn country every day. In a conflict spanning 4 and a half years, over 250000 Syrians have lost their lives while over 11 million people have been displaced as forces loyal to the tyrannical president Bashar al-Assad as well as those against him battle brutally and with little regard for human life.

It all started in 2011 with some teenagers scrawling revolutionary slogans on a school wall. In a matter of time, lots took to the streets to protest the Government. Matters turned ugly when security forces opened fire on demonstrators who demanded Assad’s resignation. The unrest had acquired sectarian overtones as the president’s religious majority was being undermined and overshadowed. War crimes ran rampant. The UN reported atrocities such as rape, torture, and murder. The presence of the horrific IS group added a new dimension of terror. A mother says, ‘We’re living on the edge of life here. We’re always nervous, always afraid.’

It’s saddening how little a political head like the president can care about his people. In 2013, a nerve gas agent was reportedly released in the streets of Damascus. Everyone knew it was the Government who propagated such a vicious attack, but they blamed it on rebel forces (note how no help was offered).

There is also, of course, the case of the humanitarian crisis. More than 4.5 million Syrians have fled their hollow crater of a homeland, most of them women and children. The UN estimates it will need around $32 billion to provide aid to these refugees in the form of drinking water, funds, education for children, etc. It’s ridiculous how countries like France are being persecuted and attacked by the IS because they take in the refugees, most of whom follow the same faith as the IS. This terror group is losing its marbles, even by the standards of insane terror psychology.

Several air strikes were conducted by Russia in a campaign to curtail the bases of the IS and rebel forces. Needless to say, it was the civilians who paid in large part.

To lay insult to acute injury, a proxy war began that drew in regional world powers like Russia and Tehran, which started attacking Assad’s opponents, in effect supporting the Government. There were many peace attempts made by international organisations, but to no avail.

The situation in Syria and more specifically, in Aleppo, is like world poverty. It’s going to take the concerted efforts of all the major nations of the world (the nations with the resources) to overthrow the Government and stop the madness. We cannot sit in silence as the world blows itself to pieces. There’s nothing remotely ‘civil’ about this destruction. Not for a minute am I saying that terror attacks in places like Paris should be disregarded. However, attacks in these places generally end up making headlines, when something like this is experienced by citizens of places like Syria and Baghdad daily and barely make the last few pages of newspapers.