Should Syria Be Attacked?

Should Syria Be Attacked? 1. Syrian Civil War: The Syrian civil war, also known as Syrian uprising[57] or Syrian crisis (Arabic: الأزمة السورية‎),[58][59][60] is an ongoing armed conflict inSyria between forces loyal to the Ba'ath government and those seeking to oust it. The conflict began on 15 March 2011, with popular demonstrations that grew nationwide by April 2011. These demonstrations were part of the wider Middle Eastern protest movement known as the Arab Spring. Protesters demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, whose family has held the presidency in Syria since 1971, as well as the end of Ba'ath Party rule, which began in 1963. In April 2011, the Syrian Army was deployed to quell the uprising, and soldiers fired on demonstrators across the country.[61][62] After months of military sieges,[63] the protests evolved into an armed rebellion. Opposition forces, mainly composed of defected soldiers and civilian volunteers, remain without central leadership.[64] The conflict is asymmetrical, with clashes taking place in many towns and cities across the country.[65] Late 2011 marked growing influence of the Islamist group Jabhat al-Nusra within the opposition forces, and in 2013 Hezbollah entered the war in support of the Syrian army.[66][67] The Syrian government is further upheld by military support from Russia and Iran, while Qatar and Saudi Arabia transfer weapons to the rebels ( because both are Wahabi-States comprising Sunni-Muslims ).[68] By July 2013, the Syrian government controls approximately 30–40 percent of the country's territory and 60 percent of the Syrian population.[69] The conflict gradualy took a more sectarian nature between Sunnis and Shia Alawites when the Syrian government began establishing Alawite militias to substitute defected soldiers.[70][71] The Arab League, United States, European Union, and other countries condemned the use of violence against the protesters. The Arab League suspended Syria's membership because of the government's response to the crisis, but granted the Syrian National Coalition, a coalition of Syrian political opposition groups, Syria's seat on 6 March 2013.[72] In June 2013, the death toll surpassed 100,000 according to the United Nations.[43] According to various opposition activist groups, between 83,260 and 110,370 people have been killed,[30][40][44] [73] of which about half were civilians,[74] but also including 67,700 armed combatants consisting of both the Syrian Army and rebel forces,[30] up to 1,000 opposition protesters[39] and 1,000 government officials.[31] By October 2012, up to 28,000 people had been reported missing, including civilians forcibly abducted by government troops or government security forces.[75] According to the UN, about 4 million Syrians have been displaced within the country and 2 million have fled to other countries.[76][77] In addition, tens of thousands of protesters have been imprisoned and there are reports of widespreadtorture and terror in state prisons.[78] International organizations have accused both government and opposition forces of severe human rights violations.[79] UN investigations have concluded that the government's abuses are the greatest in gravity, frequency and scale.[80] SUPPORT FOR SYRIAN GOVERNMENT: On 30 April 2013 Hasan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, declared in a broadcast speech that the Shiite military group would help Assad's government "with its full organizational might" and will not allow Syria "to fall into hands" of America, Israel and Islamic extremists. He warned that any damage made to Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque, an important Shiite shrine near Damascus, could unleash uncontrollable sectarian conflict, similar to one that had happened in Iraq.[505] Russia, whose Tartus naval base, electronic surveillance facility in Latakia[483] and airbase facilities at Tadmur (Palmyra)[484] are its only military outposts outside the former Soviet Union, has supplied the Syrian government with arms as part of a business contract signed before the uprising began. Most Syrian military equipment, including tanks, missiles, and artillery, was acquired from Russia, which continues sales and technical support.[485] Russian-built air defense systems and anti-aircraft missile batteries purchased by Syria have been upgraded through the installation of new equipment and modification of existing systems by Russian suppliers during the civil war; sometimes these installations are manned by Russian military advisers.[483] According to Russian Ground Forces Air Defense commander Major General Alexander Leonov, Syria's Russian-supplied air defenses are sophisticated and effective.[486] Overcoming them, as would be required in the event of the threatened military intervention should Syria use chemical weapons, would be a major challenge for US and NATO forces.[483] Causes of Syrian Uprising/Crisis:- On 11 June President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that a lack of reforms from the Syrian government may have led to the current strife. He stated on Russian state media that: "Syria as a country was rife for some kind of change. And the government of Syria should have felt that in due time and should have undertaken some reform. Had they done that, what we're seeing in Syria today would have never happened."[506] 2. Make Love Not War: 1970 Syrian Corrective Revolution- Wikipedia: 1970 Syrian Corrective RevolutionFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia It has been suggested that this article be merged into Hafez al-Assad. (Discuss) Proposed since September 2013. Syrian Corrective Revolution Date 13 November 1970 Location Syria Result Overthrow of Salah Jadid Anti-leftist purge inside the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party of Syria Hafez Al-Assad becomes President of Syria Belligerents Syrian Government Make Love Not War !! Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party of Syria Syrian Armed Forces Syrian Army Syrian Navy Syrian Air Force Syrian Air Defense Force Air Force Intelligence Directorate Military Intelligence Directorate Commanders and leaders Salah Jadid Nureddin al-Atassi Hafez Al-Assad Ahmad al-Khatib Mustafa Tlass Part of a series on Ba'athism Organisations[show] People[show] Literature[show] History[show] Regional organisations[show] Related topics[show] Politics portal v t e The 1970 Syrian Corrective Revolution, referred to as the Syrian Corrective Movement, was the takeover by a military-pragmatist faction within the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party regime of Syria on 13 November 1970, bringing Hafez Al-Assad to power.[1] Contents [hide] 1 Background 2 1970 Revolution 3 See also 4 References Background General Hafez Al-Assad in 1970, during the Corrective RevolutionPolitics were Al-Assad's lifelong interest. As a schoolboy, he joined the pan-Arab nationalist socialist Ba'ath Party, and rose to be a student leader. He joined the air force and became a conspirator, plotting with a small group of officers tooverthrow the government, a task accomplished in 1963.[1] In 1966, another military coup resulted in an internal power change within the Ba'ath party. Regardless of the 1966 dismissal of the "old guard", personal ambition and sectarian factionalism as well as ideology differences led to continuous infighting.[2] Many of the Baath Military Committee members left or were ousted, leaving two main factions—one of Salah Jadid and another by Hafez Al-Assad.[2] As a young and inexperienced defense minister in the 1967 war, Hafez Al-Assad presided over the loss of the Golan Heights.[1] In 1970, he sent the 5th Infantry Division, reinforced by other units, into Jordan to help the Palestinians against King Hussein, but had to beat a humiliating retreat when the Jordanian Air Force intervened .[1] 1970 RevolutionThe 1970 Corrective Revolution was directed against a dominant left-wing faction of the party and, to some extent, provoked by what Al-Assad and his supporters saw as adventurous and irresponsible foreign policies (notably the Syrian intervention in the Black September conflict in Jordan, after which the Black September Palestinian faction was named). As a result of the coup, de facto leader Salah Jadid was ousted and the party was purged. This revolution turned Syria's social and political structures upside down. TheAlawites, Al-Assad's tribe, although no more than 12% of the population, came to occupy plum positions in every sector of life in Syria.[1] See alsoBa'athism Corrective Revolution