Like Father, Like Son. Bashar al Assad refuses to negotiate with the thousands of protestors demanding an end to his totalitarian regime in Syria. The uprising began in March of this year as a peaceful, unarmed protest for better economic, social, and political liberties in response to Eygpt and Tunisia’s successful protests, but the Syrian protest quickly led to Bashar using violent tactics to crush civilian opposition. The death toll reported by the United Nations has reached close to 3,500 innocent protestors, including children.
However, no other sovereign nation has gotten militarily involved in Syria, unlike NATO forces in Lebanon’s uprising. Although, the UN globally recognizes Humanitarian Rights violations by Bashar and the Ba’ath Regime, they have ruled for 40 years, beginning with Bashar’s Father, Hafez al Assad. A similar protest in the 70’s was crushed by Hafez, when he virtually killed tons of his unarmed citizens using military force.
Moreover, Syria may be deemed a delicate situation due to alliances with Iran and Russia. The country’s military has a force of 400,000 troops, which is more than NATO. Also, Syria shares borders with Turkey, Iraq and Israel. Any foreign military involvement may have a domino effect across the entire middle east. Hilary Clinton made it clear, “No military involvement in Syria, only pressure in forms of sanctioning the energy sections to cut off revenue gains that support the Syrian Army.”
Accordingly, Nations have finally begun to sanction Syria after failure to comply with diplomatic resolutions. The Arab League has a 14-point sanctioning plan that will freeze Syria’s assets in Arab Countries. United States, European Union and Turkey sanctions will target banks and trade.
The people of Syria should be praised for their courage and strength to fight for their rights and freedoms,even with the fear of persecution, torture and death. The horrendous situation in Syria and other Nations should serve as a wake up call as to how blessed other parts of the world are in terms of freedom and protection by and from government. Check out Frontline’s “The Regime: Syria Undercover” to grasp the full effect of the conflict.
Watch Syria Undercover on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.
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