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Background of the Syrian Civil War
The Syrian civil war which is considered a part of the Arab spring started initially as a chain of peaceful protests against the longtime Baathist dictator, Bashar Al Assad but the use of brute force from his regime sparked an all-out rebellion. The opposition parties formed a legion of armed militias called Free Syrian Army to oust Bashar Al-Assad but resulted in more oppressive measures from the dictator. This provided a window of opportunity to the foreign powers and non-state actors to intervene in the Syrian civil war on the part of opposition groups.
Involvement of foreign forces in the Syrian Civil War
Gulf States, Turkey, Western powers and most prominently the United States of America started to support moderate rebels in the armed opposition to their fierce rival, Bashar Al Assad. America along with its regional allies provided rebels with latest weapons and financial, moral and political support to help weaken the regime of Bashar Al-Assad and ultimately to oust him from his post. In the initial stages, this foreign backing helped turn the tide in the Syrian civil war, but later these efforts fell flat when other major powers like Russia and Iran started acting in support of the Syrian regime.
America sensing the possibility of a direct collision with Russian air and ground forces changed the tactics by supporting the opposition in a more covert ways than being on the frontlines as was the case in earlier years. The Russian, Iran and Hezbollah’s alliance with Syrian regime changed the rules of the game. The government which had been restricted only to the capital began asserting itself under the firepower of Russian Air Force along with Iranian and Hezbollah’s ground support. Under this volatile scenario, many extremist non-state actors like Al-Nusra Front ( Branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria) and the newly formed ISIS jumped into the Syrian Civil War and soon become formidable forces. Both of them and especially ISIS unleashed some of the worst atrocities that have ever been recorded in the human history. A significant chunk of the so-called moderate rebels trained by the America special forces deserted and joined the extremist ranks. America under the looming threat from ISIS began to focus more on the support to the opposition groups to counter the rising power of the radical group rather than to combat the Assad regime.
Change of American allies in the Syrian Civil War
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| American Soldier in the war zone |
The above-mentioned facts transformed the Syrian civil war for Bashar Al Assad. Being bolstered by the Russian Airpower and by the ground forces of the Shi’ite crescent in the region and with America focus on the ISIS, Assad regime achieved some massive successes in the civil war. A recent example of regime re-establishment of authority is the victory for the government forces over the rebels troops in the Aleppo province. The divided and weakened opposition forced American to look for other formidable allies on the ground and Kurd forces filled that gap but with serious differences emerging out of this alliance between America and Turkey. Turkey which was already a major player in this power game launched a surprise operation on the Syrian soil to counter ISIS and Kurds’ ambitions to carve out an independent state for themselves. Turkey though is a NATO member, and an American ally but went on to pursue its own agenda in the Syrian conflict.
Trump response to the Syrian Civil War
Trump response to the Syrian Civil War
Donald Trump’s rise to the America presidency and his recent launch of 59 Tomahawk missiles on the Syrian regime’s airfield as revenge for the killings of Syrian citizens due to the use of chemical weapons may signal a policy shift from what the world experienced under the more passive Obama administration. The American foreign secretary, Rex Tillerson’ s visit to Moscow was indeed focused on the Syrian civil war and in particular on the escalation of tensions between America and Russia due to the launch of missile attacks on the Syrian base. The details in the coming days will further clarify the situation. Let’s hope for the best!
About Muhammad Asim
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