State of the Syrian Civil War (Current Events 2)

Have did the civil war in Syria start? Well, I'll tell you. This will be a quick summary of a loooong article on Vox.com. The conflict has its origins in French colonialism. The French gained control of what is now Syria and Lebanon in 1920. When they left in 1963, the Alawite Shia Muslims whom they had placed in power stayed in power. In 1976, many Syrian Sunni Muslims started a civil war. Concerned about maintaining his power, the Alawite leader Hafez al-Assad resorted to brutally massacring thousands of people in the city of Hama. But this did not solve any of the problems that had caused this civil war, and the tensions caused by authoritarian minority rule and threats between demographic groups continued to foment a rebellion.

In March of 2011, non-violent protests began in the city of Deraa, and police responded by firing on the protestors. This triggered a wave of protests throughout the country and led to the foundation of the Free Syrian Army, mainly composed of defectors from Bashar's army. They seized control of military bases and began to engage in conventional warfare against the state.

But support for different rebel groups from the Arab league led to conflict among the rebels. Al-Qaeda was involved, but their group fractured and formed ISIS (the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria). Iran, Bashar's ally, also entered the fight. The fact that many rebel groups were extremists deterred other international interference for a while, which was what Bashar wanted.

In 2014, President Obama began a largely unsuccessful effort to help more moderate rebels. Meanwhile, Kurdish fighters were having success in taking away territory from both Assad and ISIS. But all the fighting has been hellish for Syrians - a quarter million have been killed, four million are refugees, and about half the Syrian population has been displaced from their homes.

The political situation in Syria is very complicated, but refugees fleeing the country need asylum and aid. The US response has been poor; only 1500 Syrians have been allowed to come here. We ought to be doing more to help them. Check out this petition to resettle more Syrian refugees in America and this watchdog list of charities.