The war in Syria, explained: How Syria’s civil war became America’s problem
On the face of it, President Trump’s decision to attack Syria doesn’t make a lot of sense. Launching 59 missiles at a single airbase, as Trump did, is not going to seriously change the outcome of a years-long civil war. So what’s the point of doing it at all
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I am unsure whether intervention is the right thing to do here. The older _pers probably remember the genocides and other horrors of Iraq, Rwanda, former Yugoslavia, Sudan etc. It feels like "we" (as in humankind as a whole) dropped the ball on intervention a shameful amount in the 90s. It's easy for countries to absolve themselves of responsibility, pretending like it's a UN decision when we all know the US, China and Russia are too busy swinging their veto-penises around to make any useful resolutions. Meanwhile people are dying.
I am very comfortable saying that all of this is above my paygrade. I trust the professionals to make a much more educated decision on this clusterfuck than i could ever hope to based on gut feeling. But, of course, that's exactly why Trump is such an abysmal man to have as president. Because he is wilfully ignorant and - apparently - comfortable to drastically change US policy on a whim. He is completely unable to communicate a nuanced point of view, and can't even get his administration lined up with a single coherent strategy. Think what you will about interventionism vs non-interventionism, this sort of indecisiveness and emotional flip-floppery in the face of some of the most complex issues in the world do nothing to inspire confidence or increase the security of the billions of people who didn't get to vote in the US elections but whose lives are nevertheless affected by its policies. I hope Trump is prepared for all the shoes headed his way next time he leaves the country.
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They're older, but I had managed to find some good background articles in my posts on Syria:
-http://ontd-political.livejournal.com/11547880.html
-http://ontd-political.livejournal.com/11608233.html
-About the end of the campaign for Aleppo: http://ontd-political.livejournal.com/11670210.html
Also about Aleppo's recent tragedy: http://ontd-political.livejournal.com/11684812.html
-On the use of chemical weapons in Syria -this isn't exactly new, there is actually considerable evidence of this: http://ontd-political.livejournal.com/11574759.html
-On the origins of the Islamic State/IS: http://ontd-political.livejournal.com/11555053.html
Other articles:
-'Syria's civil war explained from the beginning' (at al Jazeera): http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/05/syria-civil-war-explained-160505084119966.html
-'Syria: The story of the conflict' (at the BBC, this is from last year so will not discuss the latest events of the war): http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26116868
-'The Confused Person’s Guide to the Syrian Civil War. A brief primer. (At 'The Atlantic', this is older but it is where I found a really useful summary figure for one of my posts.): https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/10/syrian-civil-war-guide-isis/410746/
'Straightforward Answers to Basic Questions About Syria’s War' (from the New York Times, from last year): https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/19/world/middleeast/syria-civil-war-bashar-al-assad-refugees-islamic-state.html?_r=0
-Another (more recent) background article on the war from the BBC is here, 'What's happening in Syria?':http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/16979186
-Civilian map makers have actually been charting the conflict (the article includes links to many other sources for up to date maps of the conflict): http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160408-online-mapmakers-chart-syrian-conflict/
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