Violence in Syria reaches Boiling Point

Violence in Syria reaches Boiling Point

By Aakash Kurse

The Syrian government is still in disarray after 14 months of protesting, and the UN presence accomplishes nothing. Islamic extremists believed to have infiltrated Syria.

After months of fighting and protests, Syria’s government is still in complete disarray. The Syrian chief of opposition resigned from his office due to increased violence; and Syrian tourism suffers a major drop. Islamic extremists are believed to be part of the rebel forces, and the UN ceasefire is now broken daily.

The President of Syria recently declared that any nation discovered supplying so called terrorists, will suffer from retribution. He made this remark to a Russian TV network after a massacre in Idlib which involved the deaths of 21 people. The protests have grown to a point that Syria is now forced to get essential supplies from their allies such as Russia. Russia speculates that if any Western action takes place in Syria, such as troops being placed, Iran may start a regional nuclear war. The Syrian chief of opposition has resigned from office amid conflict in the city of Rastan. He believes that the Syrian President, Bashar al Assad’s attempt to remove rebels from the city. An anti-government stronghold will cause him to lose credibility, and popularity with the people. Even in the US, he is an unpopular figure, in a class wide poll of 13 people, 12 wanted Assad out of power and one person wanted to keep Assad in power. Russia, from its own collected evidence believes that many members of the anti-government rebels are from Islamic extremists, and some members are part of Al-qaeda. They also believe that if the UN tries to take any armed action, the extremists will start a massive civil war, akin to the situation in Afghanistan. Canada has set a trade embargo on Syria in an attempt to prevent any supplies from reaching hostile hands, either rebel or government. All of the violence, protests and the recent trade embargo has caused Syria’s economy to stagnate.

The Syrian government has complained about the drop in tourism because of the conflict. In most urban areas, tourism has come to a complete halt, while in most other areas tourism businesses are cutting workers and work hours. Since the conflict began last year 9,000 protesters have been killed. Since the UN ceasefire in early April 800 additional protesters have been killed according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The ceasefire is being broken on a daily basis by both the government and anti-government rebels. The government has also suffered losses of 2,600 police and soldiers since the start of the conflict. The Syrian President claims that most of the reported dead are armed rebels founded by foreign countries. Few people believe this claim because of Bashar al-Assad’s track record, in a couple interviews most people believe his claim to be propaganda, according to Ms. Clements, she is “not surprised of Assad’s claims” and believes that “Al- Assad claims of fighting anti-government terrorists are false.”. In another interview with an anonymous source, the interviewee believes that these claims are “pro-government propaganda”.

The conflict is also threatening to boil over into Lebanon. A spillover almost occurred this Monday when a gun battle in the city of Beirut (a city close to the Lebanese border). During this shootout two sheiks (religious members of Islam) were killed by government soldiers. Tens of thousands of protesters are rallying in nationwide protests as hype of Al-qaeda infiltration in Syria reaches a climax. Just the protests reach a climax, the UN’s program in Syria is also reaching a climax, because more observers are being placed in Syria. The UN hopes that their presences will decrease the mortality rate in Syria, but they admit that this act won’t completely halt the killing.

A Political MAp of Syria

Bashar al-Assad, Syria's current president.

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