SYRIA - The Middle East - CIVIL WAR - Support
Syria (
i/ˈsɪ.rɪə/; Arabic: سوريا or سورية, Sūriyā or Sūrīyah),
officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia. De jure Syrian
territory borders Lebanon and the Mediterranean
Sea to the west, Turkey to
the north, Iraq to
the east, Jordan to
the south, and Israel to the southwest, but the government's control now
extends to approximately 30–40% of the de jure state area and
less than 60% of the population.
i/ˈsɪ.rɪə/; Arabic: سوريا or سورية, Sūriyā or Sūrīyah),
officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia. De jure Syrian
territory borders Lebanon and the Mediterranean
Sea to the west, Turkey to
the north, Iraq to
the east, Jordan to
the south, and Israel to the southwest, but the government's control now
extends to approximately 30–40% of the de jure state area and
less than 60% of the population.
A country of fertile plains, high
mountains, and deserts, Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including Syrian Arabs, Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds, Circassians, Mandeans and Turks.
Religious group include Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans, Shiites, Salafis,
and Yazidis.
Sunni Arabs make up the
largest population group in Syria.
In English, the name "Syria" was
formerly synonymous with the Levant (known in Arabic as al-Sham),
while the modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and
empires, including the Eblan civilization
of the 3rd millennium BC. Its capital Damascus is among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the
world.] In
the Islamic era, Damascus was
the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital
of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt.
The modern Syrian state was established after the end of centuries of Ottoman control
in World War I as
a French mandate, and
represented the largest Arab state to emerge from the formerly Ottoman-ruled
Arab Levant. It gained independence as a parliamentary republic on 24 October 1945
when Syria became a founding member of the United Nations, an act which legally
ended the former French Mandate – although French troops did not leave the
country until April 1946. The post-independence period was tumultuous, and a
large number ofmilitary coups and coup attempts shook the
country in the period 1949–71. In 1958, Syria entered a brief union with Egypt
called the United Arab Republic, which was terminated by
the 1961 Syrian coup d'état. The Arab Republic
of Syria came into being in late 1961 after December 1 constitutional referendum,
and was increasingly unstable until the Ba'athist coup d'état, since which the
Ba'ath Party has maintained its power. Syria was under Emergency Law from 1963
to 2011, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens,
and its system of government is considered to be non-democratic by American NGO Freedom House. Bashar al-Assad has been president since
2000 and was preceded by his father Hafez al-Assad, who was in office from 1970 to
2000.
Syria is a member of one international
organization other than the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement; it is currently suspended
from the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation,] and
self-suspended from the Union for the Mediterranean.] Since March 2011, Syria has been
embroiled in an uprising
against Assad and the Ba'athist government
as part of the Arab Spring, a crackdown that contributed to the Syrian Civil War and
to Syria's becoming one of the most violent countries in the world. The Syrian Interim Government was formed
by the opposition umbrella group, the Syrian National Coalition, in March 2013.
Representatives of this alternative government were subsequently
invited to take up Syria's seat at the Arab League.
Syrian civil war
The Syrian Civil War (Arabic: الحرب الأهلية السورية) is an ongoing multi-sided armed
conflict with international interventions] taking
place in Syria.
The unrest grew out of
the 2011Arab Spring protests, and
escalated to armed conflict after President Bashar al-Assad's
government violently repressed protests calling for his removal. The war
is being fought by the Syrian Government, a loose alliance of Syrian Arab rebel
groups, the Syrian Democratic Forces, Salafi jihadist groups (including al-Nusra Front) and
the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL). All sides receive substantial support from foreign actors, leading
many to label the conflict a proxy war waged
by the regional and world major powers.
Under the Assad regime, Syria went through
significant neoliberal economic reform. This reform exacerbated disparities in
wealth, which combined with a recession and several years of drought led to the
spread of the Arab Spring to Syria. Protests quickly spread to the
predominantly Kurdish areas of northern Syria.
Syrian opposition groups
formed the Free Syrian Army and seized control
of the area surrounding Aleppo and parts of Southern Syria. Over time, factions
of the Syrian opposition split from the original
moderate politics to pursue an Islamist vision for Syria, as al-Nusra Front and
the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).] In
the north, Syrian government forces largely withdrew to fight the FSA, allowing
the Kurdish YPG to move in and claim de facto autonomy. In
2015 the YPG joined forces with Arab, Assyrian, Armenian and Turkmen groups
forming the Syrian Democratic Forces.
As of February 2016 the government held 40%
of Syria, ISIL held around 20-40%, Arab rebel groups (including al-Nusra Front)
20%, and 15-20% is held by the Syrian Democratic Forces. Both the Syrian
Democratic Forces and the Syrian Army have made recent gains against ISIL.
International organizations have accused
the Syrian government, ISIL and
other opposition forces of severe human rights violations, with multiple massacres occurring. The
conflict caused a considerable displacement of population. On 1 February
2016,] a
formal start of the UN-mediated Geneva Syria peace talks was
announced by the UN, with the fighting continuing unabated.
Syria crisis: Where
key countries stand
Russia is one of Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad's most important international backers and the survival of the regime is critical to
maintaining Russian interests in the
country.
It has blocked
resolutions critical of President Assad at the UN Security Council and has
continued to supply weapons to the Syrian military despite international
criticism.
Moscow wants to
protect a key naval facility which
it leases at the Syrian port of Tartous, which serves as Russia's sole Mediterranean base for its Black Sea fleet, and has
forces at an air base in Latakia, President Assad's Shia Alawite heartland.
In September 2015 Russia began launching air strikes against rebels, saying the
so-called Islamic State (IS) and "all terrorists" were targets.
However, Western-backed groups were reported to have been hit.
President Vladimir
Putin has though said that only a political solution can end the conflict.
The US has accused President
Assad of responsibility for widespread atrocities and says he must go. But it agrees on the need for a negotiated
settlement to end the war and the formation of a transitional administration.
The US supports Syria's main opposition
alliance, the National Coalition,
and provides limited military assistance to "moderate" rebels.
Since September 2014,
the US has been conducting air strikes on IS and other jihadist groups in Syria
as part of an international coalition against the jihadist group. But it has
avoided attacks that might benefit Mr Assad's forces or intervening in battles
between them and the rebels.
A programme to train
and arm 5,000 Syrian rebels to take the fight to IS on the ground has suffered
embarrassing setbacks, with few having even reached the frontline.
The
Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdom Saudi says
Saudi President Assad cannot be part of a solution to the
conflict and must hand over power to a transitional administration or be
removed by force.
Riyadh is a major
provider of military and financial assistance to several rebel groups,
including those with Islamist ideologies, and has called for a no-fly zone to
be imposed to protect civilians from bombardment by Syrian government forces.
Saudi leaders were angered by the Obama administration's decision not to
intervene militarily in Syria after a 2013 chemical attack blamed on Mr Assad's
forces.
They later agreed to
take part in the US-led coalition air campaign against IS, concerned by the
group's advances and its popularity among a minority of Saudis.
The Turkish government has been a staunch
critic of Mr Assad since the start of the uprising in Syria.
President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan has said it was impossible for Syrians to "accept a dictator who
has led to the deaths of up to 350,000 people".
Turkey is a key supporter of the Syrian
opposition and has faced the
burden of hosting almost two million refugees. But its policy of allowing rebel
fighters, arms shipments and refugees to pass through its territory has been
exploited by foreign jihadists wanting to join IS.
Turkey agreed to let
the US-led coalition against IS to use its air bases for strikes on Syria after
an IS bomb attack in July 2015.
They have though been
critical of coalition support for the Syrian Kurdish Popular Protection Units
(YPG) - an affiliate of the banned Turkish Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
deemed a terrorist group by Turkey, the EU and the US.
Regional Shia power Iran is believed to be spending billions of
dollars a year to prop up President Assad and his Alawite-dominated government,
providing military advisers and subsidized weapons, as well as lines of credit
and oil transfers.
Mr Assad is Iran's closest Arab ally and Syria
is the main transit point for Iranian weapons shipments to the Lebanese Shia
Islamist movement, Hezbollah.
Iran is also believed
to have been influential in Hezbollah's
decision to send fighters to western Syria to assist pro-Assad forces.
Militiamen from Iran
and Iraq who say they are protecting Shia holy sites are also fighting
alongside Syrian troops.
Iran has proposed a
peaceful transition in Syria that would culminate in free, multi-party
elections. It was involved in peace talks over Syria's future for the first
time when world powers met in Vienna.
Regards
Mark R. Rienzie
Co D 75 Infantry LRRP
Co D 75 Infantry LRRP
The Most Elite Fighting Force In The United States Army
5th
Special Forces Recondo** - CERTIFIED
Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP)
VIETNAM 1969-1970
VIETNAM 1969-1970
Airborne / Ranger Team Leader
Staff Sargent (E6 11B4P)
38 Combat Missions and Never Lost a Man!!
Air Medal, National Defense, Vietnam Campaign,
Combat Infantry Badge, etc.....
Combat Infantry Badge, etc.....
Discharge: Honorable
Cancer, Neuropathy from Agent Orange plus
liver compromised, kidney questionable, spleen enlarged, low platelets etc....
PTSD confirmed!
PTSD confirmed!
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