The conflict that began as a peaceful uprising against Assad's regime escalated into a full-scale civil war that is now one of this century's deadliest. Along the way, the Syrian conflict allowed Islamic State extremists to flourish, created the world's worst refugee crisis since World War II. The troops of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are fighting insurgent troops known as rebels who are trying to overthrow Assad’s government. Why hasn’t the government been able to defeat the. The United States has most-concretely backed the Kurds in Syria’s North, who face enmity from the Assad regime and from Sunni jihadists (and Turkey has just launched an offensive against the U.S.
Why Are We Fighting Syria War
Image copyright AFPEven before the conflict began, many Syrians were complaining about high unemployment, corruption and a lack of political freedom under President Bashar al-Assad, who succeeded his father, Hafez, after he died in 2000.In March 2011, pro-democracy demonstrations erupted in the southern city of Deraa, inspired by the 'Arab Spring' in neighbouring countries.When the government used deadly force to crush the dissent, protests demanding the president's resignation erupted nationwide.The unrest spread and the crackdown intensified. Opposition supporters took up arms, first to defend themselves and later to rid their areas of security forces.
Mr Assad vowed to crush what he called 'foreign-backed terrorism'. Image copyright ReutersThe government has regained control of Syria's biggest cities. But large parts of the country are still held by opposition armed groups and the Kurdish-led SDF.The last remaining opposition stronghold is in the north-western province of Idlib and adjoining parts of northern Hama and western Aleppo provinces. It is home to an estimated 2.9 million people, including a million children, many of them displaced and living in dire conditions in camps.In September 2018, Russia and Turkey brokered a truce to avert an offensive by pro-government forces that the UN had warned would cause a 'bloodbath'. Image copyright AFPIt does not look like it will anytime soon, but everyone agrees a political solution is required.But nine rounds of UN-mediated peace talks - known as the Geneva II process - since 2014 have shown little progress.President Assad appears unwilling to negotiate with the opposition. The rebels still insist he must step down as part of any settlement.Russia, Iran and Turkey have set up parallel political talks known as the Astana process.
But they have also struggled to make headway.In December 2018, the three countries failed to meet a deadline to form a committee to draft a new constitution after the UN said a list of participants they submitted was neither credible nor inclusive.
Just when you thought our Syria policy could not get any worse, last week it did. The US military twice attacked Syrian government forces from a military base it illegally occupies inside Syria. According to the Pentagon, the attacks on Syrian government-backed forces were “defensive” because the Syrian fighters were approaching a US self-declared “de-confliction” zone inside Syria. The Syrian forces were pursuing ISIS in the area, but the US attacked anyway.The US is training yet another rebel group fighting from that base, located near the border of Iraq at al-Tanf, and it claims that Syrian government forces pose a threat to the US military presence there.
But the Pentagon has forgotten one thing: it has no authority to be in Syria in the first place! Neither the US Congress nor the UN Security Council has authorized a US military presence inside Syria.So what gives the Trump Administration the right to set up military bases on foreign soil without the permission of that government? Why are we violating the sovereignty of Syria and attacking its military as they are fighting ISIS? Why does Washington claim that its primary mission in Syria is to defeat ISIS while taking military actions that benefit ISIS? The Pentagon issued a statement saying its presence in Syria is necessary because the Syrian government is not strong enough to defeat ISIS on its own.
Why Are We Fighting Afghanistan
But the “de-escalation zones” agreed upon by the Syrians, Russians, Iranians, and Turks have led to a reduction in fighting and a possible end to the six-year war. Even if true that the Syrian military is weakened, its weakness is due to six years of US-sponsored rebels fighting to overthrow it!What is this really all about? Why does the US military occupy this base inside Syria?
It’s partly about preventing the Syrians and Iraqis from working together to fight ISIS, but I think it’s mostly about Iran. If the Syrians and Iraqis join up to fight ISIS with the help of Iranian-allied Shia militia, the US believes it will strengthen Iran’s hand in the region. President Trump has recently returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia where he swore he would not allow that to happen.But is this policy really in our interest, or are we just doing the bidding of our Middle East “allies,” who seem desperate for war with Iran? Saudi Arabia exports its radical form of Islam worldwide, including recently into moderate Asian Muslim countries like Indonesia. Iran does not.
That is not to say that Iran is perfect, but does it make any sense to jump into the Sunni/Shia conflict on either side? The Syrians, along with their Russian and Iranian allies, are defeating ISIS and al-Qaeda. As candidate Trump said, what’s so bad about that?We were told that if the Syrian government was allowed to liberate Aleppo from al-Qaeda, Assad would kill thousands who were trapped there. But the opposite has happened: life is returning to normal in Aleppo. The Christian minority there celebrated Easter for the first time in several years.
They are rebuilding. Can’t we finally just leave the Syrians alone?When you get to the point where your actions are actually helping ISIS, whether intended or not, perhaps it’s time to stop. It’s past time for the US to abandon its dangerous and counterproductive Syria policy and just bring the troops home.Ron Paul is a former U.S.
Congressman from Texas. This article originally appeared at the and is reprinted here with permission.
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