The History of Current Events

Syrian Civil War V

July 27, 2021 Hayden Season 2 Episode 21
The History of Current Events
Syrian Civil War V
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

The Free Syrian Army, having been crushed by Russian airstrikes and abandoned by all its friends, struggles to defend its final stronghold, the very place where the war started all those years ago, Daraa Syria. With the war drawing to a close we learn who the victor or victors are, and what the future of post-war Syria will hold. The brutal 10 year civil war that has caused the deaths of over a half a million people and displaced over 10 million finally comes to an end. 

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SYRIAN CIVIL WAR V

 

Mouawiya Syasneh was no longer a 14 year old graffiti artist by mid 2018, he was a grown man now. He was in his mid-20s, a war-hardened soldier fighting for the FSA The Free Syrian Army. 7 years before, in 2011 after he spray painted the famous line on his school’s wall 'Ejak el door ya Doctor' – 'Next it’s Your turn, doctor'! He and 22 other children were arrested and after 45 days of being held and tortured, were released. To his surprise, his hometown of Daraa, and country were in open revolt over their arrests.

Mouawiya went back home and continued his schooling while his country burned around him after the revolution he inadvertently started. In 2013 as the war raged on, his father was killed by an Assad Mortar attack on his way to mosque. Unable to provide for his now poverty-stricken family, Mouawiya abandoned his dream to study business and economics in University and joined the FSA. He has been fighting ever since for the Free Syrian Army in his home of Daraa Syria. The very place where the revolution started all those years ago…

Many of his friends and classmates had been killed in the fighting or fled abroad, including his best friend Omar, who was killed in the mid-stages of the war. In mid-2018 Forces of Assad, the Syrian Arab Army launched Operation Basalt or the 2018 Southern Syria Offensive. Daraa, known as “the Cradle of the revolution” was the last major pocket of resistance for the FSA in the south. The target of operation Basalt was to take Daraa, after this, only the Turkish Puppet FSA or Jihadist factions in the north remained.

This would be a key symbolic victory for the Assad forces, The FSA after 3 years of Russian airstrikes barely clung on to a few scattered cities around the country.  This final offensive in the south would end all resistance and open a clear border to Jordan and Isreal.

The US and UK had for years supported the rebels in the south, but as ISIS became less and less of a threat and Russia was investing more into the Assad regime, Washington pulled back their support, by the end of 2017 the FSA only had support from a few countries around the world. Washington decided that the risk of confronting Russia outweighed any possible reward. 

 

 

The Last Interview from Mouawiya Syasneh was on 11 July 2018 while the attack was commencing.  without any friends to support them, all seemed hopeless for the FSA.

"We have no friends any more," Syasneh, despairingly retorted

The Assad forces began offering Amnesty for the southern rebels, either to be pardoned and rejoin Assad’s Syria or to be evacuated to the North where they could join either the T-FSA or the jihadist factions in Idlib. The commanders of the southern FSA factions took the agreement and made peace, Mouawiya understood that he would not be given amnesty. He was a special case as he one of the “boys who sparked the revolution” he was confident the Russian peace force that would supervise the rebel amnesty plan would turn him over to the Assad Regime.

“My fate is unknown now, I don’t know what to do. I need to leave Syria because they won’t leave me alive.”

Syasneh continued, "This is where it all ends."

its unknown if Mouawiya Syasneh survived the capture of Daraa or if he fled abroad.

 

With Assad’s successes in liberating both the Isreali and Jordanian borders A token force of Russian peacekeepers were left in the region to prevent ISreali-Syrian fighting as well as keep the FSA subdued. reports had emerged of pro-Assad Militias looting property and stealing from locals in reconciled towns - with Russian military police, set in place to prevent such a thing, ignoring and turning a blind eye to it.

Many of the FSA fighters who rejected the Amensty plans were given a bus ticket to be shipped to Idlib province, located south of Hatay and south west of the Kurdish mountains. 

Idlib for virtually all of the war had been a hotbed of Jihadist factions, including Al-Nusra front or Al Queda in Syria. Many of the rebels on their trip to idlib experienced forced disappearances, forced conscription and assassination on their bus journey to idlib province.

By allowing the rebels to go to Idlib Assad was able to separate the wheat from the chaff. Able to tell the difference between repatriated Syrian civilians and Terrorist rebels as he saw them. Soon Idlib would be under intensive fire as the last true independent rebel stronghold in Syria.


 With the conclusion of the Southern Syrian offensive more countries began acknowledging Assads victory in the war, on September 2nd The French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian announced on a radio channel that “Assad had won the war, we have to state this. But he hasn’t won the peace”

The USA formally finished its aid to the FSA the year prior, the only remaining European powers to support the FSA, were the Dutch, the British and the French. By the end of 2018 they lifted all support or aid to the FSA

Assad began cementing his power all over the country, late in the year Influential Syrian radio host and anti-Assad activist Raed Fares and his colleague Hammoud al-Juneid were both gunned down by unidentified gunmen in Kafr Nabl in rebel-held Idlib

Former adversaries and supporters of the FSA began restoring their relations with the Assad government, by the end of the year The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain both re-opened their embassies in Damascus in an effort to restore relations.

 

Russia and Assad turned their attention to the final Rebel position in Idlib district, They started an intensive bombardment campaign of the area. The position held about 100,000 rebels as well as 3,000,000 civilians. Turkey began warning the Russian government about a potential humanitarian disaster if they started the offensive saying it would create a new wave of refugees.

Erdogan was able to calm tensions as on September 13th it was announced Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would meet in Iran to discuss a possible peace solution

The two agreed on the establishment of a buffer Zone in the Jihadist Idlib region, under the following conditions

-         demilitarized zone (DMZ) would be set up entirely within rebel-held territory. It would be 15 to 25 km deep (9–15 miles) and come into effect by 15 October. All acts of aggression would be prohibited within the zone.

-        The Syrian Government would refrain from attacks on the rebel-held Idlib Governorate

-        Groups deemed radical such as Al Queda would have to leave the zone entirely

-        Groups Deemed moderate such as the T-FSA would be allowed to stay In the zone but would have to surrender all heavy weapons

-        Turkey and Russia would coordinate joint patrols along the DMZ, in order to ensure compliance.

-        Russia and Turkey would reiterate their "determination to combat terrorism in Syria in all forms and manifestations".

 

The significance of this buffer zone was it showed the world the future of Syria. A Syria that would be divided between Russia and Turkey. Assad not since 2015 was the true leader of Syria, he was a puppet of Putin. The Turkish T-FSA was the same, as more countries pulled back their support of the FSA rebels, thy became more dependent on Turkey. Starting with Operation Euphrates Shield back in 2016 more and more factions of the FSA unified under a Turkish puppet faction.

 

By the end of 2018 US president Donald Trump proclaimed ISIS’ defeat and staying true to his promise of ending US involvement overseas, He ran on an Isolationist policy and was making moves to make it a reality, declaring the withdrawal of all 2,500 troops from Syria within 60-100 days. The decision was made after a phone call between Trump and Erdogan. 

 

Rojava watched in horror as Trump made his declaration.

 Turkey would not allow this new age of Syria to include the Kurdish state. Without the USA to defend them Rojava had a decision to make, face their complete destruction as they had in Afrin, or submit to Assad and Russian rule.

 

 

On 12 December, the Turkish government announced it would begin operations against Rojava "in a few days" in an apparent rebuke of US efforts at ensuring Turkish border security in the area.[509] In response, the Pentagon said that any unilateral military action taken in northern Syria where US forces are operating would be "unacceptable."[510] However, after President Trumps declaration to withdrawl all troops Erdogan postponed the attack.

Rojava began retreating to more defendable positions while they still had American troops defending them, on Christmas day they handed over the town Arima west of Manbij to Assad’s forces.

If The Kurds could create a border around them of Assad’s forces it would make it more difficult for Turkish forces to flank them in the inevitable future attack. Turkey declared that the Kurds have no authority to make decisions on behalf of the regions people.

Assads forces began entering regions, its reported that around this time they were on the outskirts of the strategically important and the firecly fought over city of Manbij

With the announcement of the withdrawal of US troops, Iraq’s prime minister offered to have Iraqi troops potentially be deployed in Syria.

 

2019

 

As the year entered 2019, the US began their planned withdrawal from Syria, to the exultation of Turkey and Russia and the trepidation of the Kurds. John Bolton former National Security Adviser under Trump told on a trip to Isreal and Turkey that the US withdrawal depends on a number of certain conditions, including the assurance that the remnants of ISIS were defeated and the Kurds were safe from Turkish aggression. Erodgan outright rejected the call to protect Kurdish troops, calling them terrorists. Secretary of the state, Mike Pompeo said that the US would withdrawl its troops but warned there would be no US reconstruction aid for areas controlled by Assad until Iran and its proxies had left. 

ISIS although battered upped its terrorists attacks in an act of defiance 

A few days later on the same day that US vice president Mike Pence gave a speech claiming ISIS had been defeated, ISIS suicide bombed a us patrol killing 18 people and wounding 18 more.

Rojava on March 23rd liberated the last ISIS stronghold deep in the Syrian desert, and claimed “the 5 year Caliphate” was over. ISIS is now defeated in Syria.

The next month ISIS launched another attack.

 

 

 

In Idlib the remaining rebel factions never implemented the buffer zone agreement, much to the annoyance of the Turks, Syrians and Russians. Virtually all rules agreed upon were disobeyed. The Jihadist factions never vacated Idlib, The moderate factions never gave up their heavy arms, the highways were never opened (much to Assad’s annoyance), The rebels refused to allow the Russian peacekeepers into the region. 

They did allow Turkish peacekeepers into the region who repeatedly tried to convince them to follow the terms agreed upon or else they would be unable to protect them. The deadline of the deal’s conditions were extended multiple times.

On April 30th Syria backed with Russian air support launched operation Dawn of Idlib. The goal of this operation was to liberate the M5 and M4 highways leading into both Aleppo and Turkey. After an air force bombardment the Government troops made minor territorial gains but succeeded in dealing ablow to morale of the jihadist, rebel factions and civilians of the region.

Idlib before the war had 1.5 million people, the population doubled due to Assad’s rounding up of civilians he saw as potential terrorists and bussing them to the region. Now the population was 3 million, in densely populated Urban centers.

The war in Syria, an insurrection has largely been a war on civilians, taking from the brutal Russian tactics used in Grozny, with the idea of breaking the peoples will. The Turkish had already taken 3 and a half million Syrians and would not take any more, The border to Turkey is closed and there is no where left in Syria for the Civilians to go. 

By the end of August the Assad forces reached a ceasefire with Idlib to determine what move to make next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Insert Trump clip sand and death####

 

In September and early October 2019 the usa was attempting to create a buffer zone between the Kurdish state Rojava; of north eastern Syria, and Turkey. When Trump Abruptly declared a complete US withdrawal from the region, Rojava was left alone and without their strength. Many criticized his impulsive decision making.

The US withdrawal caused major policy debate amongst US officials. Some officials asserted that they had advised the Kurds for some time to reach some understanding with Turkey.[4] "We did not give a military guarantee to the Kurds against Turkey..." said James Jeffrey at a hearing on 22 October. "In fact, much of our conversations with the Kurds [was] that you had to find some kind of political accommodation with Turkey because you couldn't count on us to keep the Turks out militarily."

 

#### INSERT TRUMP 2

 

Noam Chomsky a well known American Intellectual, famous for his anti-US imperialist comments even commented saying

“The idea that they (The Kurds) should be subjected to an attack by their bitter enemies the Turks, or by the murderous Assad regime, I think is anything should be done to try to prevent that.

He made a reference back to the 1970s when the Americans left the kurds to face Saddam Hussein alone,

“Shortly after, a deal was made in which [the US] sacrificed the Kurds to Saddam Hussein,” “That led to Henry Kissinger’s famous comment that we shouldn’t confuse foreign policy with missionary activity.”

Moreover, he described the Clinton administration’s support for Turkey against the Kurds in the 1990s as “enormously destructive.”

“Clinton was pouring arms into Turkey for the purpose of carrying out massive, murderous, destructive attacks against the Kurdish population of Turkey in the Southeast,” Chomsky said.

“That does not change the fact that now the United States could, with a relatively small presence, deter attacks against the Kurds in Syria, which could destroy the one part of Syria that is actually functioning at a decent fashion,” he concluded.

“We don’t expect consistency in humanitarian terms from a great power because those are not the guiding principles.”

 

 

On 5 October, Erdogan warned about a full-scale Turkish invasion of northern Syria. The next day the Trump administration ordered a complete troop withdrawal from northeastern Syria. The USA declared that while the US forces would not support the Turkish operation, they would withdraw from the area and permit it to take place,

American military personell began leaving for Iraq, to screams and cries from the Kurdish and Rojavan civilians. They pelted the American fleet with rotten fruits, and vegetables. Feeling betrayed and thrown to the wolves by their former friends.

 

The conflict resulted in a mass exodus of people from the region, over 300,00 people were displaced and 90 civilians were killed. 

 

On 9 October, Erdogan announced that the offensive into north-eastern Syria had begun.

Mass condemnation was heard all over Europe and the next day In a speech, the Turkish president threatened to flood Europe with his 3.6 million refugee population if European nations continued to criticize the military operation, in particular if they labelled it an invasion. 

70,000 people fled from border towns in the SDF following a Turkish bombardment. 

 

On 10 October, a large majority of Dutch MPs backed the introduction of sanctions against Turkey.[405][406] France, Germany,[407] Sweden,[406] Finland,[408] and Norway[409] implemented export restrictions on arms exports to Turkey[407] and France[410] as well as Sweden[406] expressed their intention to back an EU-wide weapons embargo on the nation,[410] with discussions in the European Union on possible union-wide sanctions on Turkey beginning on the 13th.[410] Italy, formerly Turkey's largest arms supplier, later joined the arms embargo against Turkey.[411][412]

On 14 October, all EU countries agreed to stop selling arms to Turkey, but stopped short of an official union-wide arms embargo.[413] The EU also issued a press release condemning "...Turkeyʼs unilateral military action in North East Syria which causes unacceptable human suffering, undermines the fight against ISIS and threatens heavily European security.

 

The US also imposed economic sanctions on Turkey which Trump called “POWERFUL”

in a rare bipartisan vote of 354 to 60, The House "condemned" President Trump's withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, for, in the view of both parties, "abandoning U.S. allies, undermining the struggle against ISIS, and spurring a humanitarian catastrophe"

beyond the economic side the U.S. House of Representatives voted 405–11[423] to recognize the Armenian genocide, as a result of Turkey's invasion of Syria.[424] However, the motion was blocked in the Senate by South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, following a request from the White House.[425] On 12 December 2019, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide.

 

The United states managed to get a 5 day ceasfire deal for the Kurdish fighters to get away from the border areas before leaving

Under the conditions of this ceasfire the Turksh soldiers would be allowed to patrol the region,

 This was seen as another grave betrayal to the Kurdish

The Syrian Kurdish politician Salih Muslim stated that "Our people did not want this war. We welcome the ceasefire, but we will defend ourselves in the event of any attack … Ceasefire is one thing and surrender is another thing, and we are ready to defend ourselves. We will not accept the occupation of northern Syria.

 

 

A week later Russian troops entered the region to find the remains of American Military centers, obviously vacated in a hurry. Video footage showed Russian soldiers and journalists entering the formerly occupied places.

Erdogan threatened that all Kurdish soldiers must leave the region by Tuesday, or else.

On 15 October, Russian forces began patrolling along the contact line between Turkish and Syrian government forces in the western parts of northeast Syria,[2][5] filling the security vacuum created by the sudden U.S. withdrawal.

Alexander Lavrentiev, Russia's special envoy on Syria, warned that the Turkish offensive into Syria was unacceptable and stated that Russia was seeking to prevent conflict between Turkish and Syrian troops.

 

 

 

 

Assad and the Syrian Government criticized the SDF for the Turkish offensive accusing it of separatism and not reconciling with the government, while at the same time also condemning the Turkish invasion of Syrian territory. 

The Kurds were forced to turn to Assad to ask for help, Commander-in chief of the SDF Mazloum Abdi announced that they were ready to partner with Russia and Assad, stating that “if we have to choose between compromise and the genocide of our people we will surely choose life for our people.”

a few days later the SDF reached an agreement with the Syrian government

The agreement was Rojava would allow the Syrian Army to enter the SDF-held towns of Manbij and Kobanî in an attempt to defend the towns from the Turkish offensive.[87][88][89] Shortly thereafter, Syrian state broadcaster SANA announced that Syrian Army troops had started to deploy to the country's north.[90] Turkey and the SNA launched an offensive to capture Manbij on the same day.[91]

 

While this was going on Erdogan threatened that there would be conflict between the two armies if the Syiran government tried to enter northeastern Syria.

 

 

 

##### TRUMP OIL

 

 

Donald Trump favored leaving a 200-300 man contingent of troops in Southern Rojava countryside, far away from the Turkish border. Where the majority of the country’s oil fields are located. The SDF, however, stated that "The fields have stayed in our hands. We have an agreement with the [Syrian] regime to give them some of our positions along the Turkish border, but we have not negotiated with them on the oil fields yet. There will probably be a version of joint control and revenue sharing with the regime from these fields. I don’t know if Trump understands this."

 

 

On October 22nd Erdogan and Putin met at a diplomatic summit in the Russian resort town of Sochi. 6 and a half hours of negotiation took place where a 2nd northern Syria buffer zone was agreed upon. Upon the following terms

A 30 kilometer deep buffer zone would be established on the Turkish-Syrian border, stretching from the Euphrates river to Iraq, excluding the Kurdish capitol of Qamishli

The Buffer zone would be controlled by forces of Assad and the Russian military police

All YPG forces must withdraw from the border within 150 hours of the agreement Russian military police would oversee the operation

The YPG would completely withdraw from Manbij and Tell Rifaat (near Afrin)

Joint Russian-Turkish ground patrols would be held in the buffer zone

Turkey would retain control of the areas it had captured 

Efforts to launch a resettlement policy for Syrian refugees would be implemented in a safe and voluntary manner

All parties would agree to preserve the territorial integrity of Syria as well as protect the natonal security of Turkey

And finally, all parties would agree to reaffirm the Adana agreement made back in 1998, where the PKK was banned from Syria


 Assad, Putin, and Erdogan all happily agreed to the conditions. With the Partition and subjugation of Rojava. The war in Syria was over. Today Rojava is a De facto Independent zone, meaning it has self autonomy but is not recognized by any outside states nor Syria. 
 Legally the region makes its own laws and polices itself however they still answer to the centralized Syrian government

 

Erdogan announced his plan to repatriate 1-2 million Syrian refugees in the region. It has been criticized as a form of ethnic cleansing. Creating a border region to mix down the heavily Kurdish population centers, a tactic Erdogan undoubtedly took from the Turkification campaigns against the Kurds implemented by the generation before him.

 

 

Human rights violations have also been reported. Amnesty International stated that it had gathered evidence of war crimes and other violations committed by Turkey and Turkish-backed Syrian forces who are said to "have displayed a shameful disregard for civilian life, carrying out serious violations and war crimes, including summary killings and unlawful attacks that have killed and injured civilians".[67]

 

Likewise, Trump's sudden pullout of US forces in Syria was also criticized by many, including former US military personnel, as a "serious betrayal to the Kurds" as well as a "catastrophic blow to US credibility as an ally and Washington's standing on the world stage", with one journalist stating that "this is one of the worst US foreign policy disasters since the Iraq War".[81]

 

With the chaos created by the destabilization of Rojava many Jihadist and ISIS fighters that had been captured by the Kurdish state escaped.

 

Over in Idlib, while US forces withdrew from Rojava,

Abu Bakhar Al-baghdadi who had survived the destruction of ISIS was in hiding, He spent the remaining days of his life sleeping in a suicide vest, should he ever be captured. Hunted by numerous organizations including the USA, Turkey, Russia, Iraq, and Iran, among others, he often changed locations and only stayed with a small confederation of people he trusted, Baghdadi's brother-in-law described him as a "nervous wreck" during the last months of his life, suspecting everyone of potential betrayal.

 

US forces after cooperation with Russia, Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Syrian Kurdish forces. Found Baghdadi in Idlib. He ran away while being hunted by American military Canines until cornered in a tunnel. Al-Baghdadi died by self-detonating his suicide vest, taking 3 young children (reportedly his own) with him.

Trump commented on the matter 

 

INSERT TRUMP BAGHDADI DEATH##

 

 

The founder of ISIS was destroyed but the ideology of ISIS still remained. As of today ISIS is still active in Syria.

 

 

 

Russia and Turkey would seem to be the victors in Syria. Having carved up the country, however it might not be all that true. Both countries have entered difficult times with massive sanctions and economic restrictions crushing both their economies.

Putin’s approval rating remains high at above 60% one of the highest in the world in fact, however many outsiders see this as a farce. Its far more common to see negative comments on websites such as Quora and reddit about him these days. Although due to his iron grasp on Russia’s media it can be difficult to understand what is true and what is propaganda. The recent Alexei Navalny protests could shed some light onto the true feelings of resentment present in Russa.

The Russian economy is in shambles today 1$ = 72.5 Russian Roubles 

On The Syrian day of Rage, march 15th  2011 $1 USD = ₽28.8545

The tanking of the Russian Rouble is in large part from Putin’s aggressive foreign policy leading to sanctions from the West. His wars in Georgia, Ukraine and Syria have been immensely popular at home, however they might just lead to the downfall of the Russian economy

Russia Desperately tries to cling on to their position of global significance, with the largest country in the world by land size, roughly the size of the former planet Puto and an economy smaller than some US states such as California and Texas. The economy of Russia is the 11th largest today, behind that of Italy. They ship the 3rd largest amount of Arms behind The United States and China. 

IT will be interesting to see where the future of Russia and its dictator Putin holds.

 

 

President Erdogan of Turkey is in a similar position. He remains popular abroad, one of the most popular leaders according to Arab youths in fact, however his governments policies on Syria have been hotly contested by Turkish people. A study by Metropoll in September 2019 found that 68% of Turks disapprove of the current government policies on Syria.[134][135] The poll also found that 47.5% of Turks see the Free Syrian Army as an "enemy". Three out of four Turks said that Syrian refugees should return to Syria "even if the war continues".

 

Although not as Blatantly aggressive as Putin with foreign policy his rhetoric and actions in Syria have led to the USA and West imposing sanctions on the former candidate for EU entrance.

Erdogan has attempted to cement his power as an authoritarian leader, changing the Parliamentary republic of Turkey into an executive presidential one. 

His economic policies have been dubbed Erdonomics and have been questioned by many economists. His high levels of corruption, debt defaults and construction centric polciies have led to stagflation which has seen his party the AKP party perform terribly in the 2019 local elections, losing most of Turkeys biggest cities Istanbul and Ankara

His popularity is at an all time low.

On The Syrian day of Rage, March 15th 2011 The Turkish Lira closed at 1$= 1.50 Lira,

Today it is 1$=8.70, 

Almost 450% inflation.

 

Still both countries actively engage in proxy wars all over the region, including Armenia, Yemen, and Libya where FSA fighters have been participating on the Turkish side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many Blame the USA for the failure of Syria, In reality what could the USA do? Both Obama and Trump ran on platforms of ending regime change wars and pulling out of the middle east. Both kept their word although both still receive massive scrutiny from the opposing party for either “destabilizing the US military” or “not ending the wars”

Obama did what he said he would do, He left Iraq, after almost 8 years of US occupation he could not prop up the newly implemented Iraqi Regime any longer, a constant critique of the US is the accusation of imperialism. The USA has been in Afghanistan for about 20 years now and US withdrawal still remains a hotly contested topic.

Trump also did what he said he would do, He left Syria and faced massive scrutiny for abandoning his Kurdish allies. Potentially sparking a humanitarian Crisis. To Trumps credit he was honest about being there for the oil.

Blame can be placed on President George W Bush for having an inept foreign policy. He viewed the middle east like an optimistic American would, expecting Democracy to come swiftly and kindly. In reality even the Europeans who had centuries of Democratic principles at their foundation had centuries of bloodshed over democratization. 

The butterfly effect - a butterfly flapping its wings and causing a typhoon. 

Bush’s war on Terror and invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan began a domino like effect, pushing refugees into nearby countries creating more instability in an already volatile region. Spillovers into Syria and Lebanon massively disrupted these areas before the civil war began. The European migrant crisis has even led to mass instability in Europe leading to Right wing populist governments being elected in many areas of Europe.

 

 

 

 

 

10 years have passed, since the Syrian day of rage, long ago was Bashar Al-Assad A Geeky IT-kid studying to be a doctor in England, he like Mouawiya Syasneh has grown and changed. He didn’t bat away from eye contact anymore, he was a charismatic Machiavellian politician.

 

Assad recently finished his operation Dawn of Idlib 2, liberating a large amount of area, but the war isn’t over.

Assad’s grasp on power remains shaky, the Wagner group, a Russian paramilitary organization found that he only had a 31 percent approval rating and that 71 percent of respondents saw corruption as a serious issue, 60 percent blamed unacceptable living costs, and 54 percent of people polled said they would not vote for Assad in elections scheduled for 2021.

 

Assad After Democratically Inheriting his presidency, after his fathers death in 2000 has recently won his election in 2021, in a “shockingly” stunning landslide victory, he won 95.19% of the popular vote. Excluding Russia and Iran almost all outsiders claimed the election was not legitimate.


 

Assad currently controls around 65% of Syrian territory, Rojava with its de facto autonomy region has 25% and Turkey occupies most of the northern border with 10%.

Assad is 2nd to Putin, something which the Russian President has made clear to him in the past, for example during Putin’s visit to Hemeimeem airbase in December 2017, Assad was Physically held back and prevented from walking alongside the Russian President. Also in some trips to Moscow Syrian flags were missing from joint Photo Appearances between Assad and Putin

Assad cannot complain however, without Putin he would have surely fallen sometime after 2015. The Assad regime has been an uncooperative partner for Moscow, often enacting things without permission. 

ISIS has recently come back and the FSA rebels have begun rebelling again In Daraa.

 

 

 

 

 

Syria’s economy lies in shambles and has little hopes of recuperating. Fueled by Lebanons economical collapse. Syria’s condition is exacerbated by the regime’s deepening corruption, mismanagement, and insistence on prioritizing expensive military campaigns. Inflation has surged and a crippling wheat crisis is challenging ordinary Syrians’ ability to purchase the nation’s key staple, bread. State subsidies on other basic items are being removed and the small business sector is dwindling

 

The Caesar act was recently implemented against the Assad government, placing massive sanctions on the Syrian government for alleged war crimes against the Syrian population.

 

This legislation is named after an individual known as Caesar, who documented torture against civilians by Assad's government,

The sanctions have severely affected the Syrian economy, especially its construction, finance and energy sectors, and complicated the reconstruction efforts

 

 

After a decade of conflict, the extensive damage inflicted on Syria’s environment is emerging as another devastating, if less visible, tragedy of its civil war. Polluted soil and contaminated water are exacerbating the already severe suffering of Syrian civilians, undermining their ability to meet their basic needs and jeopardizing the country’s postwar future. While the war in Syria is far from over, the steep environmental toll will pose significant challenges to the country’s recovery when the fighting does eventually stop.

 

 

Syria was ranked last on the Global Peace Index from 2016 to 2018,[18] making it the most violent country in the world due to the war.

Despite waning international interest, the humanitarian crisis sparked by the Syrian civil war is far from over. The U.N. estimates that 13.1 million people are in need of assistance—a number that could continue to rise if the fighting in Idlib is not brought to an end. And the humanitarian crisis will persist if Syria does not find the resources to begin rebuilding.

Estimates total about half a million deaths in the Syrian civil war as of June 2021. Based on Syria’s pre-war population of 20.8 million from 2011 this represents approximately 2% of Syria’s pre-war population.

 

 

The Survivors of the Syrian Civil War are now trying to pick their lives up, the massive Syrian Diaspora created by the war accounts for 6.6 million people, many in neighboring countries but also about 1 million Syrians taking Asylum in Europe.

Many countries are now trying to repatriate the refugee population back to Syria, creating another problem. After so many years of suffering, after escaping from bloodshed and war many of these people have integrated into their new culture and lives. Sending them back to this bloodstained region can create more problems from a populace that has already suffered so much. 
 Its been over 4 decades since the murderous PolPot Regime in Cambodia. According to Journal of the American Medical Association, 2/3 Cambodians refugees in America report having PTSD with many experiencing outburst of anger and problems with drinking. It doesn’t end with the Survivors of Murderous regimes 14% of Cambodians aged 18 and older report signs of PTSD without having experienced the events of the Khmer Rouge. 

The studies of the effects of PTSD on the Syrian population are still in its infant stages but it has been reported that over 75% of Syrians had at least 7 of the 15 traits associated with PTSD.

 

Under a controversial new absentees law, many Syrians could see their land revoked if unable to show ownerships. This causes major problems for the refugees who want to return to Syria as well as those the Assad’s government sees as unroyal. Corruption is a major issue with the Assad regime a well known fact among the Syrians at home and abroad.

 

 

 

 

Morgan Freemon end of 7

"Ernest Hemingway once wrote, 'The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.' I agree with the second part."

 

 

Syrian SONG

Intro Song
The Boy That Sparked the Revolution
Secured Southern Syria
Idlib
The War is Over
Dividing Idlib
US Withdrawal
2019
Unrest in Idlib
Trump Keeps His Promise
Intermission