...! ! ! ! ! Assignment#3! MB!8600! ! WILL!SYRIA!BE!THE!NEXT!IRAQ?! > A!look!at!what!USA’s!move!in!Syria!should!be! by! Deep!Bhatia! Student!ID:!500128395! September!24th,!2013! ! ! 1! ! Table&of&Contents& 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 ! Introduction...................................................................................................................................1!! Methodology.................................................................................................................................1!! Summary!of!the!empirical!findings................................................................................................2! References.....................................................................................................................................5! Appendix........................................................................................................................................8!! ! 2! ! WILL&SYRIA&BE&THE&NEXT&IRAQ?& Introduction& What!began!as!a!relatively!minor!civil!uprising!in!Damascus,!Syria!in!March!2011!as!an!influence!of!Arab& Spring!(wave!of!demonstrations!and!protests!in!the!Arab!world)!has!now!escalated!to!a!full>blown!civil! war,!with!an!alarming!number!of!deaths,!and!the!news!of!chemical!weapons.!The!war!initially!began!as!a! protest!from!the!masses!against!the!allegedly>corrupt!regime,!led!by!Bashar!Al>Assad,!whose!main! demand!was!that!he!step!down!from!his!post;!however,!recent!tolls!have!estimated...
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...Bashar Assad warned against Western intervention in his country's 7-month-old uprising, saying such action would trigger an "earthquake" that "would burn the whole region." Assad comments were made against a backdrop of growing calls from anti-regime protesters for a no-fly zone over Syria and increasingly frequent clashes between government troops and army deserters, the most recent of which left at least 30 troops dead Saturday. I still think Western intervention will be appropriate if civilians continue to be hurt in the region. Syria has gone through drastic changes recently. The Arab League foreign ministers meeting approved sanctions against Syria on Nov. 27, the US Navy has dispatched an aircraft carrier for Syrian coastal waters, and the United States, Turkey and other countries have started evacuating nationals from Syria. These concerns have become the focus of world attention. Western intervention in the Syrian situation is a strategic consideration that has to do with reshaping the regional order, while the intensity of intervention mainly depends on the development and evolution of the state of affairs. The Western countries, represented by the United States, have increasingly intensified regional intervention to avoid becoming the biggest loser in the wave of the Middle East, and taken different treatments and multiple standards among the Middle Eastern countries according to their needs. The situations inside and outside Syria have undergone great changes, and...
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...Syria’s Civil War The civil war going on in Syria has been a topic of much discussion. What began as peaceful protests has turned into brutal civil war with over 100,000 deaths and counting. The images of men, women, and children being gassed or shot to death are just horrible to watch and hard to bear. With all these casualties and the U.S government expects to make a series of targeted military strikes against the Syrian government? Syria is a country in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Syria is very diverse, ethnically and religiously. The country’s population is divided among Sunni Arabs (a little less than 60 percent of the population); Christians (about 10 – 12 percent); Alawites, a Shiite offshoot also about 10 – 12 percent); Druze (about 6 percent); and various, mostly Sunni, ethnic minorities, primarily Kurds and Armenians (Carpenter 1-2). The President of Syria is called Bashar al-Assad, who succeeded his father Hafez al-Assad after the latter's death in 2000. Hafez al-Assad had ruled Syria ruthlessly for 30 years. Throughout his rule, Hafez was forced to devote his time and energy to matters of defense and foreign affairs. As a result, the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is, as the Middle East commentator David Lesch has pointed out, “a child of the Cold War and the Arab- Israeli conflict” (qtd. in McHugo). Neither was caused by Syria, but the country suffered terribly as a result of both. The massacre started in April 2011, when...
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...Conflict Evaluate the ethics of any legal or ethical issue in the news. Analyze the dilemma or issue. Thoroughly evaluate the appropriateness of applying at least two ethical frameworks reviewed in the course, and suggest an approach that might help to avoiding such dilemmas/issues in the future. What started off as an uprising and eventually led to a civil war, has destroyed much of Syria and resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands. And no matter what angle you look at it from, the existing regime under the command of Bashar Al Assad and his so-called "war against terrorists" has broken all barriers of ethics, morals and rules of war. Many sources have claimed foreign interference to have ignited the situation, but at the same time, the regime has spared no efforts to suppress the voice of those who stood up against the oppressive rule. But the dilemma does not end with how the situation was dealt with by the existing rulers. Nations all around the world are waiting on how the United States of America responds to the happening and whether the US can justify its reason for intervention, which it believes to be its moral duty under the principle of its 'Just War Theory'. Utilitarianism One of the ethical frameworks that would apply to the Syrian situation would be the act and rule of Utilitarianism that dictates that the actions of a party be justified so as long as it has better consequences that other available actions. "Utilitarian ethics, most notably associated...
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...Should the U.S. take Military Action in Syria? Syria, a country in the Middle East bordering Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon has experienced growing civil unrest since 2011. The current government, led by Bashar al-Assad, has responded with violence and human rights abuses. In September 2013 the United Nations (UN) (United Nations, 2013) confirmed chemical weapons were used against civilians in Damascus on August 21st. These actions have generated an outcry for intervention. Arguments Some believe taking action is the only way to stop the killing of civilians and end human rights abuses perpetrated by the military. These pro-interventionists conclude Assad continues his oppressive actions because he doesn’t believe anyone will take action to stop him. Assaults on Syrian civilians are documented by many sources. Since January 2011 it is estimated over 100,000 citizens protesting against the Assad regime have been killed by military forces (Table, 2013). A report commissioned by the UN in June 2013 estimated 5,000 were killed each month since July 2012. This number exceeds reported deaths in Iraq at the height of war in 2007. In a September 2011 report many atrocities against children were documented. Over a hundred children were killed in connection with protests, many others reported injured. A group of children in the town of Dara’a, as young as 8, were taken into custody in connection with anti-government graffiti on a schoolhouse wall. These children...
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...R2P: Doomed from the Start? According to law that dates back to 1648, nations have the right to govern within their borders in whatever manner determined fitting. Some states, although granted this right that is inherent to the foundation of the international system, fail to protect their citizens from harm. Too often in recent history have governments neglected to protect their people during conflicts or crises, and with a world with increasing visibility and communication, states have responded with a basic plan to prevent mass crimes such as Bosnia and Rwanda. Thus, Responsibility to Protect (R2P) was developed as a caveat for the international community to intervene when a government fails to protect its own citizens from mass atrocities. Genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing are the four conditions under which the international community is authorized to intervene, should a state fail to protect its citizens (Rudolph 2014). In the past 20 years, R2P has been under construction and constantly under evolution from theory to practice. While parameter definition and norm building continue to cycle from lessons learned, the three foundational pillars upon which the R2P model dangles from remains the same: “Pillar 1: Every state has the responsibility to protect its populations from the four mass atrocity crimes Pillar 2: The wider international community has the responsibility to encourage and assist individual states in meeting that responsibility ...
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...Battle for Syria Bryan Smith COMM/215 July 17, 2008 Will Powers On March 15, 2011 citizens of Syria began demonstrating against the Ba’ath Party, demanding the resignation of President Bashar al-Asad and release of political prisoners. These demonstrations quickly developed into a country wide uprising when the Syrian government deployed troops of the Syrian Army who opened fire on many civilians. Several cities became engulfed with military members who were ordered to open fire on civilians and were executed if they refused to do so. During this time, many civilians and Syrian Army defectors began forming small militias and eventually unified under the name Free Syrian Army (FSA). “On September 23, the Free Officers Movement officially merged into the Free Syria Army, led by Colonel Riad al-Assad.” In October 2011 and February 2012, Russia and China vetoed the United Nations Security Council’s backed resolution condemning Syria. As the fighting continued and the killing of innocent civilians increased, “France, the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada and Australia expel senior Syrian diplomats in protest (Syria Profile, 2012).” As of today, the fighting between the Syrian Army and the FSA continues as the rest of the world watches and wonders, when it will come to an end. I believe that President al-Asad should step down and face criminal charges in an International court for the order to kill civilians. If he does not step down, he should be taken by force comprised of...
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...As for Syria, the United States should have armed the Syrian uprising in 2011, it made sense from Mearsheimer’s realist perspective and from a humanitarian perspective but alas action wasn’t taken until the Obama administration felt U.S. security was directly in threat. These foreign policy missteps not only make U.S. security vulnerable they also create anti-American sentiment abroad which enhances America’s vulnerability. According to the prevailing realist perspective, the U.S. should have used force after 9/11 to sustain American hegemony and to eliminate any weapons of mass destruction (WMD) threat against America (Lieberfeld, 2005). However, the Iraq War had detrimental effects and ill human, military, and financial costs. Even though realism...
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...Syria? To Do, or Not To Do The violence in Syrian began in March 2012, but what led up to it began back in 2011; fifteen school children were arrested and tortured for writing anti-government graffiti on a wall, which led to a small protest that took place on the streets of Deraa, Syria. In response the Syrian government opened fire on the crowd of protest which left four innocent Syrian civilians dead. The following morning fire was opened during the victim’s funeral leaving another innocent civilian dead. Civilians were left devastated and angry for the innocent people that had been killed during the peaceful demonstrations; which then led to Syrian population demanding the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad. Up to this point in time the violence has worsened and escalated which has left the country crippled by civil war. US involvement in Syria will be tough, but Syria needs our help. Stop the bloodshed! With the death toll rising how can we as humans stand by and allow innocent civilians to be murdered and slaughtered in a war that has nothing to do with them. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the toll since the beginning of the 29-month uprising now stands at 110,371 people, with at least 40,146 civilians killed including nearly 4,000 women and more than 5,800 children. Craggs, Ryan. "Syria Death Toll: More than 110,000 Dead In Conflict, NGO Says." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 01 Sept. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. How many Syrian civilians...
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...Modern Studies Assignment Topic- Syria Question- Should we intervene in the Syrian civil war? Hypothesis- Intervening in Syria would only cause more harm than good. Aims- Find out the pro’s and cons of the UK involving itself in Syrian matters. * Find out the negative effects involving ourselves would cause. http://www.savetheroyalnavy.org/10-good-reasons-uk-should-not-take-military-action-in-syria/ * We have no common cause with either side in the conflict. We do obviously not want to support Assad’s murderous regime backed by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah but more importantly we do not want to assist rebels some of which have with links to Al-Qaeda who want to create a militant Islamist state. This is not a simple case of ‘goodies’ and ‘baddies’ and there are also sectarian issues we don’t even fully understand. We cannot even be sure the chemical attack was carried out by the regime – it could be a desperate ploy by rebels to produce exactly this response. * Whatever level of action we take, whether it’s firing off a few Tomahawk missiles or sending in troops it will result in further civilian deaths. Although we may aim at ‘military’ targets there is always ‘collateral damage’ in fact the regime may even force civilians into military installations as ‘human shields’. Will the long-suffering people of Syria welcome yet more ordnance raining down on their country, however carefully targeted? * The most obvious lessons from the tragedies in Iraq and Afghanistan is...
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...government and the people of Syria (rebels) who want a new government in place. Syria have become vulnerable because of the civil war and terrorist groups have used this in their favour. The most known terrorist group who are operating worldwide has been ISIS (Islamic State Of Iraq and Syria) they have been able to take parts of Syria under their control, they have been able to indoctrinate people worldwide who are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goal, which is to “conquer the world” and kill any “non-believers”. Another situation caused by the Syrian war is the migration crisis, as the war between Bashar Al-Assad and rebel groups intensifies the death toll for three years has risen to more than 191,000. Many people flee the country in order for a better life in neighbouring countries such as Turkey and Iraq and some migrate to Europe to countries such as Greece or Hungary. However, as more than 3 million people are looking for asylum, countries just don’t have the capacity to let in all the migrants, which has created a massive overload at borders. Some countries have shut their borders, putting up wire fences and having armed police at the borders, and some have opened their borders to more migrants. But are countries doing enough? To date there has been little agreement on whether countries have done enough so far to solve the issues in Syria, some can argue that countries are doing as much as they can by: Military Intervention, Aid and opening up international...
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...chemical weapons attack,"(Fox News, 2013). Also according to intelligence analysis, conducted by several countries and the Human Rights Watch group (BBC News 2013), the evidence collected does point to the Syrian government using chemical weapons in the attacks near Damascus. The supposed use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government may not completely justify US intervention but it may help to deter further use of chemical weapons in future conflicts. Another benefit of US intervention in the Syrian Civil War would be increased credibility for the US and the Obama administration. Last year President Obama declared the use of chemical weapons a “red line” that would force him to rethink his “calculus” about that country’s conflict. (Crowley, 2013). If the US conducted limited strikes against Syria, in response to the chemical weapons attack, it would send a message to Syrian President Bashar Assad that what the United States President will act when necessary. This may seem like an extreme measure but it could help to deter current and future acts of aggression in the region. The events unfolding in Syria are also creating a very unstable Middle...
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...government and the people of Syria (rebels) who want a new government in place. Syria have become vulnerable because of the civil war and terrorist groups have used this in their favour. The most known terrorist group who are operating worldwide has been ISIS (Islamic State Of Iraq and Syria) they have been able to take parts of Syria under their control, they have been able to indoctrinate people worldwide who are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goal, which is to “conquer the world” and kill any “non-believers”. Another situation caused by the Syrian war is the migration crisis, as the war between Bashar Al-Assad and rebel groups intensifies the death toll for three years has risen to more than 191,000. Many people flee the country in order for a better life in neighbouring countries such as Turkey and Iraq and some migrate to Europe to countries such as Greece or Hungary. However, as more than 3 million people are looking for asylum, countries just don’t have the capacity to let in all the migrants, which has created a massive overload at borders. Some countries have shut their borders, putting up wire fences and having armed police at the borders, and some have opened their borders to more migrants. But are countries doing enough? To date there has been little agreement on whether countries have done enough so far to solve the issues in Syria, some can argue that countries are doing as much as they can by: Military Intervention, Aid and opening up international...
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...Memorandum To: Mr. Prime Minister, David Cameron Subject: Intervention or Non-intervention in Syria Date: 20.09.2013 The Syrian Civil War, Syrian Uprising or Syrian Crisis- all of these are names for the abyss in which Syria lies right now. It is an ongoing armed conflict which started on the 15th of March 2011 between the Belligerents of the Government and a coalition of civilians, former Syrian army troops and other factions who seek to overthrow it. Protesters all over the country want the resignation of the President Bashar Al-Assad calling for political freedom and rights. Bashar reacted violently to the protests and launched large-scale operations against the rebels. Those operations meant using tanks, artillery and infantry which lead to a high number of deaths. But the most culpable act was the use of chemical weapons against the people. United Kingdom cannot stay oblivious to these abominable actions, especially at what happened in the latest instance. It is in regard to the issue, that the Government needs a strong and firm decision and call for arms in order to restore peace in a state where it is forgotten. Chemical weapons are damnable in any circumstance The recent reports of the UN special Rapporteurs on the use of chemical weapons denote the lack of fear of the Syrians and the indefinite damnation of the act. Though the Syrian parties blame one another, the empirical evidence can’t be disputed. A civil war though not sustained can be...
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... complete understanding of what constitutes civil war and provides a framework 76 Introduction the Middle East, authoritarian regimes thought invulnerable to protest and impossible to oust began to cede to massive protest. Attacks on governmental institutions and elite leaders ensconced from public opinion developed divergently in each nation, employing tailored strategies to mobilize the public and reap key support. This paper focuses on the nature and development of these Arab Spring further use these distinctions to illuminate the conceptual, instrumental, and semantic nature of civil war in general. - exacerbated the grievances felt by rebel forces and smoothed over ethnic, religious, and tribal ten- trastingly, in Syria, instances of mild reform under Bashar al-Assad, popular concerns for security, kept civil war at bay. Conceptual Isolation of Civil War presence or absence of civil war. However, the scholarly distinction between civil war and other insurgency and counter-insurgency, uprisings, genocide or genocidal actions, and general loss of internal monopoly over the legitimate use of force.1 confuses the framework of responses and semantically politicizes actions by regional and international players. Thus, in order to explore the causal factors in reaching civil war, the instrumental and The constitutive dimensions of civil war are conceptually under debate. The majority of However, 1...
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