Syrian Revolution or Civil War began in 2011 – the protests in Damascus and Deraa ended up with a bloodshed, when Bashar al-Assad’s security forces shot several people dead. This accident caused nationwide spread of revolutionary movement, headed by Syrian opposition. Assad’s attempts to crash the opposition and use tank again peaceful demonstrators led to sanctions imposed on Syrian by the U.S. and European Union. The opposition regrouped in Istanbul and formed a unified semi-military body to resist Assad’s regular forces (BBC News).
The war in Syria in 2012 and the war in Syria in 2013 differ in scale of military action, but there population remains the main target of planned attacks. This was reported by the world's human rights organizations that have documented such attacks and called them war crimes. In addition, experts also criticized rebels themselves, since they placed their military bases in close proximity to densely populated areas (Abdulrahim). Therefore air strikes often affect civilians. The events of January 2013 were the proof of this and brought new victims.
Although Syrian government is severely criticized for its refusal to establish peace in the country, I cannot say that its positions are weak right now. The Syrian government has two powerful allies that do not let the U.S. and EU invade Syria and help the opposition. Russia and China currently block the UN resolution condemning the Syrian government policy (Wintour). Since October 2011, the Russian and the Chinese side has blocked together three such documents.
In 2014 the situation starts moving from the deadlock. Geneva peace talks held this week were an attempt of a world community to moderate the dialogue between Assad and the opposition; however discussions did not advance too much (Black). I think that Assad’s government committed too many crimes against its people and will fight for political power till its very end, since everyone remembers Gaddafi’s end.
Works Cited
Abdulrahim, Raja. "Syrian activists say government attacked civilians fleeing town - Los Angeles Times." Los Angeles Times Articles. N.p., 16 Oct. 2013. Web. 1 Feb. 2014. <http://articles.latimes.com/2013/oct/16/world/la-fg-wn-syria-government-civilians-flee-20131016>.
BBC News. "Syria profile - Timeline." N.p., 12 Dec. 2013. Web. 1 Feb. 2014. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14703995>.
Black, Ian. "Syria peace talks get nowhere slowly | World news | theguardian.com." the Guardian. N.p., 31 Jan. 2014. Web. 1 Feb. 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/31/syria-peace-talks-low-expectations-have-not-been-disappointed>.
Wintour, Partick. "Syria crisis: China joins Russia in opposing military strikes | World news | theguardian.com." the Guardian. N.p., 5 Sept. 2013. Web. 1 Feb. 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/05/syria-china-russia-opposing-military-strikes>.
