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Table of Contents

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Contents
Introduction
Syria: Key notes
Syria conflicts:
Background & Current situation
10 simple points to understand Syria conflict
Syria chemical weapon attack
Effects on Syrians
Timeline of Situations
International Isolation
Conclusion

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INTRODUCTION
Once the centre of the Islamic Empire, Syria covers an area that has seen
invasions and occupations over the ages, from Romans and Mongols to
Crusaders and Turks. A country of fertile plains, high mountains and deserts, it
is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including Kurds, Armenians,
Assyrians, Christians, Druze, Alawite Shia and Arab Sunnis, the last of who
make up a majority of the Muslim population.
Modern Syria gained its independence from France in 1946, but has lived
through periods of political instability driven by the conflicting interests of
these various groups. From 1958-61 it united with Nasser's Egypt, but an army
coup restored independence before the pan-Arab nationalist Baath
(Renaissance) party took control in 1963.
The Baath government has seen authoritarian rule at home and a strong
anti-Western policy abroad, particularly under President Hafez al-Assad from
1970 to 2000. In 1967 Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel after the Arab
defeat in the Six Day War. Civil war in neighbouring Lebanon in the 1970s
allowed it to extend its political and military influence in that country. Syria
pulled its forces out of Lebanon in 2005, having come under intense
international pressure to do so after the assassination of Lebanese former Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri. A UN report implicated Syrian and pro-Syria Lebanese
officials in the killing, although Damascus still denies any involvement.
The government deals harshly with domestic opposition. Tens of
thousands are estimated to have been killed in the suppression of the 1982
uprising of the Muslim Brotherhood in Hama. Following the death of Hafez alAssad in 2000 Syria underwent a brief period of relaxation. Hundreds of
political prisoners were released, but real political freedoms and a shake-up of
the state-dominated economy never materialised.
In 2011-12 security forces used tanks, gunfire and mass arrests to try to
crush anti-government street protests inspired by the Arab Spring in Tunisia,
Egypt and Libya. These protests rapidly took on a more formal nature when the
opposition began to organise political and military wings for a long uprising
against the Baath government. As 2012 wore on, the stand-off escalated into
civil war, with defections from the governing elite signalling the steady collapse
of central authority.

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Syria: Key notes


Population

22,457,336 (July 2013 estimate)

Religion

74% Sunni Muslim, 16% other


Muslim (includes Alawite and
Druze), 10% Christian

Age

22.7 median age. One-third of the


population is under 15, while 3.9%
is over 65.

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Syria conflict: The background and current situation

The conflict in Syria appears on the surface to be a battle between those


loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad and those who oppose him. However,
reducing the situation to a fight between the good masses struggling for
freedom against an evil government is both simplistic and inaccurate. AlAssad has been in power since 2000, when he succeeded his father, who had
ruled the country for 30 years. The uprising against him began in March 2011 in
Deraa, when several demonstrators were killed by security forces while
protesting against the arrest of some teenagers who had painted revolutionary
slogans on a school wall. This spread to nationwide protests in May, demanding
the Presidents resignation.
Fighting intensified and the government used military force to crush any
opposition. In February 2012 this approach saw tanks sent into Deraa and the
city of Homs hit with rockets and mortars, killing 700 people. Also in 2012 the
conflict reached the capital of Damascus and the second city of Aleppo. There
were numerous bombings, and while officials blame terrorists linked to alQaeda, the opposition claim security forces planted the bombs to discredit both
rebels and peaceful protesters.
According to the UN, 80,000 people have died so far in the conflict. 1.6
million Syrian refugees are receiving aid in the neighbouring countries of
Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey, but some 4.25 million people have been
displaced in total. The UN recently launched an emergency appeal for $5bn as it
warns half the population will require humanitarian aid by the end of the year.
There have been a number of massacres since the conflict began, including one
in Houla in May 2012 in which 49 children died. The UN has accused forces
loyal to the government of violating international law by targeting civilians.
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What's happening in Syria and will the violence end?


Date: 20th Sep 2013
The violence in Syria began in March 2011. The Middle Eastern country
has been crippled by a brutal civil war. Since then, the United Nations estimates
more than 100,000 people have died in the clashes between President Bashar alAssad's government and rebel forces who want him out. The UN also says more
than two million people have fled Syria to neighbouring countries, and over half
of those refugees are children. In July 2012, the International Red Cross said the
violence in Syria had become so widespread that it was in a state of civil war.
But what are the reasons behind the violence? And what is being done to
stop it getting any worse?
How did it all start?
The trouble began in 2011 in the Syrian city of Deraa. Locals took to the
streets to protest after 15 schoolchildren had been arrested - and reportedly
tortured - for writing anti-government graffiti on a wall. The protests were
peaceful to begin with, calling for the kids' release, democracy and greater
freedom for people in the country. The government responded angrily, and on
18 March 2011, the army opened fire on protesters, killing four people. The
following day, they shot at mourners at the victims' funerals, killing another
person. People were shocked and angry at what had happened and soon the
unrest had spread to other parts of the country.

What do the protesters want and what have they got?


At first the protesters just wanted democracy and greater freedom. But
once government forces opened fire on peaceful demonstrations, people
demanded that the President, Bashar al-Assad, resign. President Assad refused
to step down.
As the violence worsened he offered to change some things about the way
the country is run, but the protesters didn't believe him. President Assad also has
quite a lot of people in Syria that still support him and his government.

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Who are the rebel fighters?


There isn't a clear single group of rebels, united against President Assad.
The opposition, who all want the president to step down, is split between
groups of rebel fighters, political parties and people living in exile, who cannot
return to the country.
The Free Syrian Army is the largest group fighting military battles
against the government. It's far smaller than the government's army; it's poorly
equipped and most of its fighters have only had basic training.
There are many smaller military groups all fighting against the
government, but they are not under the control of the Free Syrian Army and
some of them hold extreme views against western countries.
Other opposition groups try to distance themselves from the violence.
Instead they claim to offer an alternative to the current government and propose
a peaceful political solution to the crisis.

Chemical Weapons
There has been increasing pressure on the international community to act
after it emerged that chemical weapons are being used in the war.
But in August 2013, a chemical attack just outside the Syrian capital,
Damascus, caused a strong reaction from the likes of America, Britain and
France.
Now, those countries are debating how best to react to the deepening crisis.
In September 2013, United Nations inspectors confirmed that chemical
weapons had been used in Syria, but the report did not say who was responsible.
Syria, however, denies using chemical weapons, which are banned under
international law because the effects of their use are so horrific.
The government said: "there is no country in the world that uses a
weapon of ultimate destruction against its own people." It blamed the rebel
forces for the chemical attack.

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What have other countries decided to do?


The chemical attack caused international outrage and many leaders
argued it demanded a strong response. But MPs in Westminster voted against
Britain being involved in military action in Syria. The American and French
governments discussed limited missile strikes against military targets in Syria.
But Russia has strong ties with President Assad's Syrian government and has
helped Syria in the past by supplying weapons.

The refugee crisis


Many ordinary Syrian people have been caught up in the violence of the
war and have been forced to leave their homes to escape to other countries.
Every day refugees stream across the borders of Syria into the neighbouring
nations of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq. In August 2013 the United
Nations said that the number of Syrian children who'd been forced to flee the
country had reached one million. Millions more have been displaced within
Syria and are in desperate need of help. But aid agencies say that getting aid to
people inside Syria is too difficult and dangerous.

What happens next?


It doesn't look like the fighting is going to end any time soon.
Neither the Free Syrian Army nor the government forces have been able
to defeat the other. It seems unlikely that Syrian government troops will ever be
able to regain full control of the country.
For now, discussions continue between powerful nations like the US,
Russia, Britain and France, to try to work out if there's a way to help Syria
achieve peace. Some countries like Britain and France have argued in favour of
sending weapons to the rebels, saying this would encourage the Syrian
government towards coming up with a solution to the conflict.
But there's a big debate about whether sending weapons is the right way
to end the war. There's no way of telling who might get hold of the weapons and
it could make things even worse.

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But why has the fighting continued for so long without


resolution?
One reason for the conflicts complexity is the fractured nature of the
opposition. The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition
Forces aimed to create a cohesive, organized movement, but it remains weak
because most of its leaders live in exile and it is contested by the Syrian
National Council and the National Coordination Committee. This division is
mirrored on the ground amongst the Free Syrian Army and other smaller rebel
groups loyal to local leaders.
The question of foreign powers is no clearer. Western authorities do not
know how to resolve the crisis, but the European Union has not renewed the
arms embargo originally imposed in May 2011. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have
stepped in to fill the vacuum by arming rebels, the former does so in order to
weaken the regimes ally, Shia Iran, and the latter to extend its own influence in
a post-Arab Spring Middle East.
Recent developments do not point to signs of resolution. In the past
month, tests carried out by British and French governments have uncovered the
use of sarin gas as a chemical weapon, although Russia has insisted there is no
real proof yet that chemical weapons have been used in the conflict. After two
weeks of clashes, government forces recaptured the town of Qusair in early
June, strategically important for its position near the Lebanese border and its
links to other key locations, such as Homs and the port of Tartous. However,
this is not indicative of overall gains and the conflict looks to have become
increasingly sectarian in nature.

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10 simple points to help you understand the Syria conflict


THIS is a complicated war. This is a messy, cruel war where neither side has
much regard for civilian casualties. This war is not black-and-white. You might
think it's the brave rebels versus the evil dictatorial regime, and that's part of the
story. But it's not all of it. Not by a long way.
Confused about Syria? Us too. But this quick 10-point explainer will help. To
help us navigate this tragic conflict, we spoke to two Australians with a unique
view on the troubled nation.
1. Syria
A country smaller than the state of Victoria with almost the exact same
population as Australia (22.5 million to our 23 million) which borders Turkey,
Iraq, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon. Syria has both deserts and fertile areas and is
steeped in history dating back to biblical times.
2. The Syrian regime

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. AFP PHOTO/SANA Source: AFP


The Syrian Civil war is a conflict between its long-serving government
and those seeking to boot it out of office. The Assad family has held power in
Syria since 1971. First it was Hafez al-Assad, then Bashar al-Assad.
Unlike many regime leaders in the Middle East middle, The Assad family
is not religiously extreme. They are Alawite - a relatively obscure branch of
Islam which is not particularly hard-line. So the people have not been protesting
against hard-line Islamists, as happened in other countries which participated in
the Arab Spring uprisings. But people are still angry at their government. What
they're angry about is the failure of long-promised economic and political
reforms.

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3. The Civil War begins


The catalyst was the jailing on March 6, 2011, of some children who
painted anti-regime graffiti. Some were killed in detention, and this led to public
protests which spread around the country - fuelled by the failure of the
government to punish the perpetrators.
Another theory says the war started with demonstrations which mirrored
those in neighbouring countries, and which soon led to a security crackdown. In
April 2011, the Syrian Army fired on demonstrators and the protests became a
full-scale armed rebellion.

Window on the world, Syria style. AFP PHOTO/STR Source: AFP


4. The rebellion grows
By July 2011, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) had formed. As Dr Shanahan
explains, the FSA never existed before that. "Local areas formed their own
militias with the aim of toppling the government without any co-ordination or
centralised command or control," he says.
"The militias were a combination of local area tribal groups, deserters
from the military [who had been conscripted despite holding anti-government
beliefs] and disaffected locals."
Then a combination of Jihadists, some from Syria and some from
elsewhere, joined the FSA. Some even came from the faraway Caucasus region
- where accused Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev originally hailed from.
So in other words, you had genuine Syrian freedom fighters joined by
people with their own Islamist agendas. But because the FSA was under armed
and undermanned, they had little choice but to form a loose coalition with these
volatile new kids on the revolutionary block.

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5. And pretty soon, bad guys on both sides are killing civilians

There are good and bad people on both sides. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network,
SNN) Source: AP
As Father Dave Smith says, "the way it's been depicted the last couple of
years, you get the impression the rebels are Robin Hood and his band of merry
men, and that all they want is freedom and justice for all. But that couldn't be
further from the truth."
"The situation is very bad now in Latakia province. 7 Alawite villages
were massacred. We know about the killing of 136 villagers all killed on
sectarian bases. A friend of mind lost 21 members of his relatives.
"All of my friends who were documenting the name and the events of
massacres in Latakia against Alawites are now being threatened to be killed by
FSA and Al Nusra terrorists On TV we are shown something different. It is
only propaganda. They're trying to say that Alawites are not being killed or
displaced. The truth is being hidden by mass media. .. This is sick My sister
now is very ill I guess a part of her illness is caused by sadness we are
afraid." Ghinwa, Resident of Syria
A quick recap. Alawites are the ethnicity of the ruling family. The fact
they were allegedly being killed by rebel groups suggests the rebels are not all
angels.

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6. Civilian casualties

Her bedroom was ruined, but this woman was one of the lucky ones. Source:
AP
"There are accusations of atrocities on both sides," Rodger Shanahan
confirms. We should believe some of them, absolutely. There's no accurate
confirmation, but it's a nasty horrible civil war with people on both sides getting
killed.
Dr Shanahan says there is evidence that opposition car bombs have killed
countless civilians in the name of taking out a government target. But there are
equally distressing reports that government soldiers executed civilians. Others,
shockingly, were executed for taking a moral stance and failing to follow orders
to execute civilians.
Like we said, it's a bloody mess. Literally. The death toll in the war is
now said to be well over 100,000.
7. The president's wife

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma al-Assad. AFP PHOTO /
Gerard Cerles Source: Supplied
Allow us to break up this tale with a story of the president's wife. Her
name is Asma al-Assad and she was raised in Britain by Syrian parents. She's
smart, glamorous and she worked as an investment banker before meeting her
future husband in Britain in 2000 - just months before he became president.

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In March 2011, the American version of Vogue magazine ran a long,


glowing profile of Asma al-Assad. Talk about bad timing. The story was soon
removed from Vogue's website and the journalist who wrote it tried to cover her
tracks by penning a separate story elsewhere entitled "First Lady of Hell".
Even as the Civil war rages, the Assad family remains popular with many
middle class Syrians, especially urbanised Sunni Muslims, says Dr Rodger
Shanahan. "They still prefer him to the opposition," he says.

8. Refugee hell

No queue-jumping here. AP Photo/Hadi Mizban Source: AP


The United Nations estimates that more than 1.5 million refugees have
now fled Syria. Father David Smith visited several camps across the border in
Lebanon - a country whose population of 4.3 million is bulging with the influx
of a total of nearly 2 million Palestinian and Syrian refugees.
"The camps I saw were deeply impressive," Father Dave says. "Every
Palestinian family took in two, maybe three Syrian families. These included
polygamous families which presented a whole new problem. The wives often
lived in separate houses in Syria but now they were not just under the same roof
but sleeping on the same floor. The domestic violence and rape problems are
enormous. I was deeply impressed with camp and people running it."

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9. Chemical weapons
Just who unleashed the chemical weapons attack which killed hundreds
of children and other civilians last week - and why? UN weapons inspectors
arrived yesterday with a mandate to find that out. And when they do, it will
affect what the world does next.
"They have a mandate to say whether a chemical attack occurred but not
to apportion blame," Dr Shanahan cautions. "First, they have to establish
whether an incident occurred [it is still disputed by some] and at what level the
action was authorised. It is plausible that Assad didn't authorise it but a local
commander did."
10. What happens next?
The world waits. "You would think the way diplomatic manoeuvrings are
going that if there is some kind of military strike it would be quite limited," Dr
Shanahan says. "It would be punitive, not designed to tip the military balance."
In other words, no Iraq-style invasion or prolonged Western intervention.
And Father Dave's opinion of what comes next? He doesn't know. But
he's praying. He speaks of a man he met in Syria who said he's gone "from
unemployment to slavery". That's his way of saying the revolution has so far
achieved a whole bunch of nothing except bloodshed and dislocation.

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The Syria Chemical Weapons Attack: Human Rights Watch is


manipulating the Facts
On 21 August 2013 a series of chemical attacks were perpetrated in the Ghouta
suburbs of eastern Damascus. Sources say that between 281 and 1,729 civilians
were killed, while Medecins Sans Frontiers reported around 3,600 were injured
in the attacks. On the same day UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon instructed
the UN Mission already in Syria to investigate allegations of chemical weapons
use in Khan al-Asal, Sheik Maqsoos and Saraqueb to focus their efforts on the
Ghouta allegations.

Before the UN Mission had reported its preliminary findings, Human


Rights Watch (HRW) jumped the gun on 10 September with its own report
written by Peter Bouckaert, the organisations Emergencies Director.
The report admits that HRW did not have physical access to the site and had
based its study on Skype interviews with More than 10 witnesses and
survivors made over a period of two weeks between 22 August and 6
September. These were supplemented by video and photo footage and other
data from an unnamed source or sources.
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It is unclear then, exactly how many exposed survivors were interviewed


by HRW or who the other witnesses were.
In compiling the report HRW had also drawn on the technical services of Keith
B. Ward Ph.D., an expert on the detection and effects of chemical warfare
agents. However the organisation did not disclose that Dr Ward is employed by
Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency of the United States
government. The HRW investigation was also assisted by arms experts
including Nic Jenzen-Jones as well as Eliot Higgins [] who collected and
analysed photos and videos from the attacks.
On 11 September, a day after the HRW report was published, the
International Support Team for Mussalaha in Syria published its unique and
important analysis of documentation nominated by US intelligence. Having
carefully and thoughtfully analysed the data, including a number of images also
published in the Bouckaert report, the study discovered not only widespread
manipulation of evidence, but in the tradition of BBC reporting in Syria, they
also discovered that photographs of victims in Cairo had been described as
victims of a chemical attack in Syria. This preliminary study concludes that
there has been gross media manipulation and calls for an independent and
unbiased International Commission to identify the children who were killed and
try to find the truth of the case. This writer has not seen any HRW document
which refers to the ISTEAMS study.
The UN Mission report was published six days after the Bouckaert report
on 16 September. This disclosed that the Mission had been allowed a total of
only seven-and-a-half hours on-site in the two suburbs which are both located in
opposition-controlled areas. During that period they had experienced repeated
threats of harm and one actual attack by an unidentified sniper on 26 August.
Nevertheless they had collected samples and a considerable amount of
information along with primary statements from more than fifty exposed
survivors including patients, health workers and first-responders. In fact the
statements had been taken in interviews with nine nurses, seven doctors and 36
survivors. The Mission concluded that there was definitive evidence of
exposure to Sarin by a large proportion of the survivors assessed and it stated
that it had been informed that victims began suffering effects following an
artillery barrage on 21 August 2013. All interviews, sampling and
documentation followed procedures developed by the Organisation for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the World Health Organisation.
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The report states that several surface to surface rockets capable of


delivering significant chemical payloads were identified and recorded at the
investigated sites but only five impact sites in total were investigated by the
Mission (presumably because of the time constraints imposed on them by those
who controlled the areas).
The UN report is not without its contradictions. In a summary in their
Letter of Transmittal the authors wrote In particular, the environmental,
chemical and medical samples, we have collected, provide clear and convincing
evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were
used in Ein Tarma, Moadamiyah and Zamalka.
And yet none of the 13 environmental samples taken from Moadamiyah were
found to have any traces of sarin, although one of the two laboratories
conducting the analyses found degradation products of sarin in four of the
thirteen samples while a further sample was found to contain degradation
products by the other lab. Although two of the samples were unspecified metal
fragments, none of the samples was specifically described as being part of a
rocket. Does the discovery of degradation products in 38 per cent of the samples
(and only 23 per cent of the tests) along with a complete absence of the
chemical agent itself constitute clear and convincing evidence that
Moadamiyah was attacked by surface-to-surface rockets containing sarin?

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Effects on Syrians
Human Toll in conflict
100,000+ have been killed
This is a United Nations estimate. The UN believes the actual toll may be much
higher as many deaths are not reported.
2 million have fled Syria
These are the 1.93 million refugees who have registered and another 174,000
who are waiting to register with the office of the UN High Commissioner on
Refugees. The actual number is feared to be much higher.
3/4 of refugees are women and children
Almost half of the refugees are girls and women, while another quarter are boys
under 18.
Another 4 million+ are displaced inside Syria:
Aid agencies continue to increase their estimates of internally displaced people
as the fighting rages through the country.

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Time line of Situations in Syria

February 22, 2011


Inspired by the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, 15 teenagers write antiregime graffiti on the walls of Dara, a small town in southern Syria. They are
arrested and thrown into prison.
March 25, 2011
Syrian troops fire into a reportedly peaceful demonstration over the teens'
February arrests. Several people are killed.
May 18, 2011
The United States imposes sanctions on Syria after a month of violent
crackdowns by the Assad regime against protesters. Activists say at least 700
people have been killed.

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July 31, 2011


Tanks roll into the central city of Hama, launching an attack before the
first day of Ramadan that activists say kills 80 people, bringing back memories
of the 1982 massacre of 20,000 people in the same city by Assad's father.
August 18, 2011
"For the sake of the Syrian people, the time has come for President Assad
to step aside," says President Barack Obama. The leaders of Britain, France, and
Germany join the United States in calling for Assad to resign.
November 12, 2011
The Arab League, which includes Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and 20 other
countries, votes to suspend Syria's membership and threatens to impose
economic and political sanctions if it doesn't stop the ongoing attacks against
protesters.

February 4, 2012
International officials condemn the "massacre" in the city of Homs after
an estimated 300 people are killed by a barrage of artillery fire from Syrian
government forces. Shortly thereafter, China and Russia veto a resolution by the
U.N. Security Council backing an Arab League peace plan for Syria.
August 21, 2012
President Barack Obama says Assad using chemical weapons would be a
"red line" that would "change his equation" on Syria. Opposition activists put
the death toll in the conflict at 20,000.
March 19, 2013
Rebels and the Assad regime accuse each other of using chemical
weapons to kill 25 people in the Khan al-Assal region north of Aleppo. The
White House announces there will be "consequences" if the Syrian government
is guilty of the attack. More than 6,000 people are killed in March alone,
activists say, making it the bloodiest month since the conflict began.

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April 25, 2013


The White House says, with "varying degrees of confidence," that it
believes the Assad regime "used chemical weapons on a small scale" on March
19.
April 29, 2013
Another chemical attack was reported, this time in Saraqib, in which 2
died and 13 were injured. On 5 May, Turkish doctors said initial test show no
traces of sarin had been found in the blood samples of victims.[114] French
intelligence acquired blood, urine, earth and munitions samples from victims or
sites of attacks on Saraqeb, on 29 April 2013, and Jobar, in mid April 2013. The
analysis carried out confirms the use of sarin.
June 13, 2013
The United States announced that there is definitive proof that the Assad
government has used limited amounts of chemical weapons on multiple
occasions on rebel forces, killing 100 to 150 people.
The Obama administration announces it will send small arms and
ammunition to Syrian rebels. The decision is later debated by Congress over
fears that the United States could be arming al Qaeda-linked opposition groups
like the Al-Nusra Front.
July 25, 2013
The United Nations announces that 100,000 people have been killed and
1.7 million people have been forced to become refugees as a result of the
violence.

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August 5, 2013
Another chemical attack by the Syrian army was reported by the
opposition, who documented the injured with video footage. The activists claim
up to 400 people were affected by the attack in Adra and Houma of the
Damascus suburbs. The content of the chemicals used has not been identified
yet.
On 21 August, Syrian activists reported that Assad regime forces struck
Jobar, Zamalka, 'Ain Tirma, and Hazzah in the Eastern Ghouta region with
chemical weapons. At least 635 people were killed in a nerve gas attack. The
Ghouta chemical attacks were confirmed after a three week investigation
conducted by the UN, who also confirmed the main agent used in the chemical
attacks was sarin gas. The Mission collected clear and convincing evidence
that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used in the
Ein Tarma, Moadamiyah and Zalmalka in the Ghouta area of Damascus. Third
party analysis of the evidence reported by the UN showed that the sarin gas was
military grade, and the rockets that delivered the sarin were likely launched
from Syrian army controlled territory.
August 21, 2013
Opposition forces claim that hundreds of people are killed in a chemical
weapons attack in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta, putting pressure on Obama
to act on his "red line" comment. The Syrian government denies using chemical
weapons.
August 26, 2013
Secretary of State John Kerry says there is enough evidence to "strongly
indicate" that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons in Ghouta,
calling the attack a "moral obscenity."
September 9, 2013
Russia urged Syria to put its' chemical weapons stockpile under
international control. The initiative was expressed in the wake of American
threat of attacking Syria after the chemical attack of August 21. On September
14, U.S. and Russia announced in Geneva that they reached a deal on how
Assad should give up his chemical weapons.

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International Isolation
On the world stage Syria became increasingly isolated in recent years,
coming under fire for its support for insurgents in Iraq and over its role in
Lebanon. That isolation showed brief signs of easing after efforts by France to
bring Syria back into the international fold in 2008, but Syria's violation of a
UN ban on arming the Lebanese Hezbollah militia led to the extension of US
sanctions in May 2010. Further international sanctions were imposed amid the
bloody repression of protests in the descent into civil war. By December 2012
the US, Turkey, Gulf states, France and Britain had recognised the main
opposition National Coalition of the Syrian Revolution as the "sole legitimate
representative of the Syrian people", signalling their belief that the Assad
government is beyond redemption.
The rise of the Al-Nusra front, a radical Islamist militia allied to alQaeda, in rebel ranks led to a marked cooling of international and regional
support for the opposition in mid-2013, and allowed the government and its
Hezbollah allies to launch a counter-offensive. The Assad governments have
been among the most intransigent opponents of peace with Israel, and have
supported several anti-Israel armed groups - most notably Hezbollah and the
Gaza-based Palestinian group Hamas. Hopes for reconciliation have repeatedly
foundered over Syria's support for these groups and the vexed question of the
Golan Heights.

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Conclusion
The Syrian conflict has drop the jaw of the U N & the world citizen is
finding hard to digest the news of a president attacking its own citizens.
Different nations of the world should upfrontly intervene the politics of
Syria & stop the massacre caused by the Syrian army. The prolonged crisis will
have adverse effects on the citizens of Syria & the refugees who fled to other
countries.
The world is experiencing the rage of world war III after such kind of
things hampering the world peace.

24
GLS-ICT MBA, 2013

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