Reece Blake-Editorial

Syrian Civil War, and the UN

In the past 2 years there has been a violent, brutal and bloody civil war in Syria.

The conict is between the current political party in power and the Syrian people. The Syrian Baath party has held power since 1971. President Bashir al-Assad and his father before him have ruled the country with an iron st for the past ve decades. In the past two years the military has been dispatched to quell the recent rebellion. The citizens of Syria are ghting the regime in an attempt to force the current party out of power and as a result, over sixty-thousand civilians have been slaughtered. Syria is closely allied with the Islamic government of Iran, and is considered to be Syrias closest ally. The Iranian government nancially assist the Baath party and helps to further the Syrian governments efforts. Russia is also a very close ally to the Syrian Baath party. They provide the Syrian Army with money, small arms, and heavy weapons. The Syrian army is ranked number thirty-nine in the world with over seven hundred thousand available troops.

Many people have been asking the question; why hasn't the UN sent troops to

intervene militarily in Syria? Thousands upon thousands of civilians have been killed, and there is every reason to believe thousands more will also be killed. The UN has attempted to place sanctions on Syria but has failed because Russia and China, members of the UN Security Council have vetoed the attempt. This geographical region of the world is extremely volatile, and is like a powder keg with a short fuse. The wrong

Reece Blake-Editorial

move in Syria could set off a chain reaction. A chain reaction that could result in a regional conict, or a global conict. If the UN deploys military intervention in Syria it could result in exponentially increasing the conict, not only within the country, but within the region as Syrias various allies, and opponents take sides. The UNs mission statement is to work for the protection of human rights of all people. A military response in this situation runs contrary to this mandate. ! Syria is not only allied with Iran and Russia, it also has close relations with many

other countries; China, North Korea, Cuba, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Venezuela, Cyprus, Greece, and Bolivia. If, for example, a military intervention were to be sent into Syria by the UN and was supported by the United States and Israel it might spark a global conict which could result in nuclear war. China, Russia, and North Korea, not only have a very strained relationship with the United States, they also posses nuclear weapons as does Israel. Just days ago North Korea threatened America with a nuclear strike, claiming that their warheads are aimed at Washington, DC. A military intervention in Syria could provide an excuse for a country like North Korea to declare war on the United States potentially escalating at an enormous pace pulling other countries into the conict. This would further destabilize the region and could result in the deaths of thousand, and possibly millions.

Also, if the UN commenced a military operation in Syria, hoping to end the reign

of terror of the Baath party, it would be adding fuel to the re, thus increasing tensions, ghting, and more people would die. One could argue that adding a third party might

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make the playing eld a little more even for the rebels. However the Baath party, is supported by a well armed, and disciplined military. There is no guarantee this will be effective and they may dig in even harder, and potentially commit more crimes against humanity. In all probability the ghting would drastically increase, and consequently the death toll would also increase for both sides. ! ! Syria is like a bomb, unless defused very carefully it will result in a terrible

explosion of war, and conict that could drag other numerous well armed countries into the fray. It would raise the death toll dramatically, and could potentially result in global thermonuclear conagration. Consequently, the UN is currently correct with its course of action. The UN is making the right decision not to intervene militarily. Syrians will ght it out and a victor will be decided internally. The UN must continue to provide aid and support to the refugees of this conict, and work towards a cease re and a diplomatic solution if possible.