The root of all evil is not money, it‘s power. Every war started and every battle won has had power as the main goal, cause, and effect. Currently in Syria, rebels and President Bashar al-Assad pull at opposing ends of a rope in their violent and tumultuous tug of war, waiting for a side to fall first.
The Syrian civil war commenced during the period of unrest which spread through the Arab world nearly two years ago. Under the forceful dictatorship of President Blashar al-Assad, students were publicly tortured for anti-government graffiti. In March of 2011, many protested against the continual injustice of the government in the southern city of Damascus. Although the demonstration was small, the government responded with heavily armed forces to stomp out the protesters in fear that the current chain of revolutions and uprisings taking place in the Arab world would soon hit Syria at full force. Throughout the summer of 2011, al-Assad continued to oppress his country’s people by enforcing major crack downs on protests and other anti-government actions; Syria was on the brink of a civil war. However, opposition factions (those who oppose the government) signed a peace agreement during the summer as a result of direct international pressure, because foreign aid finances some of the Syrian military.
This agreement produced the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, which excluded Islamist extremist groups and was approved by Britain, France, and Turkey. Unfortunately, it has not been upheld. In June of 2012, UN officials found a massacre of Syrian citizens in Mazraat al-Qubeir as a result of their opposition of the government. “The smell of burnt flesh hung in the air and body parts lay scattered around the deserted Syrian hamlet of Mazraat al-Qubeir on Friday, U.N. monitors said after visiting the site where 78 people were reported massacred two days ago.” (Reuters)
Nevertheless, President Obama announced the United States’ recognition of the coalition in December of 2012, saying in an interview with Barbara Walters that, “We’ve made a decision that the Syrian Opposition Coalition is now inclusive enough, it’s reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population that we consider them the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in opposition to the Assad Regime.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O59DIgpV-14&feature=youtu.be&t=8s
The President merely recognized the rebels and their stance against the Assad government, perhaps due to his resistance to pick a side in a foreign, civil war. Although Americans feel that President Obama has denied help to the Syrian people, some believe that American interference and aid to Syrian opposition will hold our country responsible for future Syrian governmental actions. Obama and many others are concerned about Assad’s government officials who have mercilessly demonstrated their no-tolerance policy for rebels; speculation arose they would use sarin gas, a chemical invented by Nazis in World War II, against the rebels. Who could forget the horrible sarin gas attack in 16 subway stations in Tokyo on March 20, 1995? On this day, Japanese terrorists killed 12 and injured thousands of civilians in a subway station with only drops of sarin. People went blind, vomited blood on the streets, collapsed to the ground, and, quite simply, could not breathe. This terrorist plot was undermined, in part, due to the limited dispersal of the sarin gas; you can only imagine the greater magnitude of damage the attack could have caused had it reached its full potential
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0UFY1zHO-g
The Assad government once stated that, “No chemical or biological weapons will ever be used, and I repeat, will never be used, during the crisis in Syria no matter what.” Fear, however, still lurks, especially when one notes Syria’s chemical stockpiles and U.S. officials’ belief that “the regime had begun mixing precursor chemicals that could be used for the lethal nerve agent sarin.”
Whether this accusation is correct or not, the international community is disturbed. If sarin gas were to be released, many more Syrian civilians could be killed, and the gas could also affect neighboring countries. No one knows just how far President al-Assad will go to keep his post; however, it appears he will continue to utilize his governmental power to keep all opposition against him silent. It’s evident that the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces hasn’t stopped the civil war; the primary battleground is in the nation’s capital, Damascus, where al-Assad resides. It is the rebels’ hope that reaching the power base of the president will bring them closer to change. The question remains, can people lose power when they turn against those who first gave it to them?