Conflict of Interest: Understanding War.

War is known as the armed conflict between countries, states, governments, and informal groups which is solely created by varying focuses of interest of political, social, and economic visions. It started with the wars based on the differences in religions in, the mid-17th century, and then wars were fought for the interests of individual sovereigns such as the French Revolution, World War l, and World War ll, which opened the gate to weapons of mass destruction.

War is seen as a solution by a certain group of cynical people who are trying to prove who has the upper hand, show dominance, and try to compel the opponent at their will at any cost.

The cost involves war crimes, attacks on innocent populations, and destruction of cities and the environment altogether.

According to Chomsky’s article, The Outlaw States, the term outlaw state was given to seven countries that Washington considered to support terrorism and therefore unilaterally subjected to sanctions. The countries were North Korea, Cuba, Libya, Iran, Sudan, Syria, and Iran.

A recent U.S led intervention is the Syrian war. The term U.S-led intervention refers to the U.S support of Syrian opposition and the Federation of Northern Syria during the Syrian Civil War, and the active involvement of the US military against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and against the al-Nusra Front in 2014.

The U.S was hesitant to get involved in the conflict in Syria but as it has strong views of democracy, it lent a helping hand to the Syrian protestors condemning Assad’s actions.

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Initially, the U.S only provided the Free Syrian Army with nonlethal support but then as the war continued, the U.S provided selected Syrian rebel commanders with training, monetary help, and the latest technological intelligence.

The Syrian war began seven years ago with protests against the President of Syria, Bashar-al Assad for the reason that his presidency was inherited and was not elected by the Syrians. The people were concerned about the high unemployment rates, corruption in the government, and the lack of political freedom in the country because of the lengthy ruling of Assad and the Ba’ath party. The government disagreed and responded with a wave of deadly forces with the idea to eliminate the protests, which inflamed the situation that led to more intense protests demanding the President resign immediately. President Bashar-al Assad’s supporters engaged in these protests with weaponry, initially to defend themselves but then later onwards to clear the territory of protestors against the President.

The war escalated to more of a battle between people for and against Bashar-al Assad. The religious community was divided into two groups which were the Sunni Muslim majority against the president’s Shia Alawite sect. This tore up the country and peace was not to be seen to come anytime soon. The start of the Syrian war allowed other jihadist groups to flourish which presently the most famous jihadist group is known as ISIS. The government’s main supporters are Russia and Iran whereas the U.S, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.

Another reason for the start of the Syrian War is the Arab Spring Movement. This was a chain of protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions against governments carried out by the people in the hope of improvements in living standards and positive change in the country which inspired the Syrian citizens to execute their uprising against Bashar.

The Syrian War’s death toll has been recorded to be close to 500,000 people, including both dead and presumed dead. It is considered an immense violation of international humanitarian law and human rights law. The increase in several deaths started from shootings, which escalated to shell bombings and air strikes. The effects of the war were not limited to just the number of deaths. The remaining Syrian people have lost all faith in the country and have fled to the neighboring countries for protection but some countries have refused to let them in as they are worried about the other jihadist group members entering their countries and spreading violence and terrorism. Therefore, the Syrian refugees are isolated and abandoned with no shelter, food, or hope for a future.

The war has not only affected regionally but if the conditions do not improve, it will take a toll on the global markets which depend on Middle Eastern resources, like the oil market, because of the instability that is surrounded by this war as the neighboring countries are impacted as well.

The U.S has indeed intervened in the Syrian War but it does not mean that war crimes are not involved in the process. One of the recent attacks that were considered a violation of the international humanitarian law was the attack on ISIS in Raqqa, Syria, which killed many civilians along with it. I think in Chomsky’s Outlaw States, he starts with the Nuremberg Trials and Geneva Conventions because of the war crimes that are carried out easily by the military along with the attacks. He is conveying the message to the U.S officials, such as the President who is a part in these crimes as he is the one who executes the attacks knowingly that civilians will be killed in the attack. Chomsky states that Article Ⅲ in the Nuremberg principle states “the fact that a person has committed an act which constitutes a crime under international law acted as Head of State or responsible government official does not relieve him from responsibility under international law”. This means that even though the war crimes were done internationally, does not mean that the government official is not held to it as a war crime.

In conclusion, war is nothing but a senseless act of decision-making that leads to the destruction of countries, lives, and futures. If President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian people have compromised without starting a war, the situation would have been more peaceful and no innocent lives would have been lost. But, now that it is in too deep with this bloody war, it would not stop till one side has gained a total advantage over the situation, that is either the President Bashar al-Assad is killed or captured or the Syrian opposition gives or gains control of the country and till then, more lives will be at stake every day.