Since March of 2011, Syria has been the battleground for a brutal civil war. The two parties involved are the rebel group, wanting to end the reign of President Bashar al-Assad, and the Syrian army. This conflict took an especially deadly turn this year on August 21st. On that day, the army launched an assault on two villages outside Damascus, Syria. The most gruesome detail was confirmed Monday by U.N. inspectors, that it was a large scale chemical attack.
The United States says that around 1400 people, mostly women and children, were killed. A recently released U.N. report says "the environmental, chemical and medical samples we have collected provide clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used … in the Ghouta area of Damascus." The main issue now facing the United States, U.N., and the rest of the world is how to handle the situation, whether through force or diplomatic action.
A recent deal made between the U.S., Russia, and Syria stopped the talks of force, for the time being at least. According to Andrew Tabler, "The deal calls on Assad to declare the locations of his chemical weapons and allow U.N. inspectors to inspect, tally and transport them out of the country for destruction." Whether the Syrian government, and al-Assad in particular, follow through with the deal as intended is yet to be seen. So the issue persists, is the only way to completely solve this situation a military strike? Tabler agrees, saying "I just don't see how this diplomatic deal solves the Syrian crisis." There is speculation that Syria will try to deceive the UN inspectors. According to USA Today, “The Lebanese daily al-Mustaqbal said about 200 Syrian trucks were loaded with chemical-warfare-related equipment and sent to Iraq.”
One of the main reasons this deal got proposed by Russia was because of the seemingly impending military strike by the US on Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin, a strong supporter of al-Assad, wanted to prevent the US from using what President Obama called limited military force on Syria. Even though the US is out of range of any chemical strikes by Syria, Israel and other allies of the US are not. Therefore a preventive military strike could possibly deter future strikes by Syria on Israel, as the two nations have never been all too friendly in the first place. If the US were to strike, however, Syria’s allies Russia and Iran would be quick to back them and possibly make a counter strike. This could throw the entire Middle East into yet another war. Obama’s decision to ask for congressional approval for limited military action on September 10th only intensified the controversy consuming America’s foreign politics.
