Chances are, you have heard something on the news talking about Syria. There is also a substantial possibility that you have not heard about the tragedy going on in this country.
Ever heard of genocide? If not, it is the killings of innocent people. Genocide is that tragedy currently going on in Syria. The death toll has exceeded 5,000 over the past year. The saddest part of the matter is that there is not much that we can do to help the Syrians.
When I ask most other college students if they know where Syria is, they have no idea. It is located next to Lebanon and Israel in the Middle East. These neighboring countries are trying to stay out of the mess themselves, so Syrians are left to fend for themselves.
The New York Times estimated that more than 200 people were killed during an attack by the government on insurgents last weekend alone.
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has been leading a group of over 300,000 men, made of top generals and elite forces. They are all members of his minority Alawite clan. They have been blasting civilians with rockets and heavy artillery. They are backed by Iran, and armed by Russia.
The only current force against them is the Free Syrian Army made up of the defectors of Assad’s retiming. Without the help from other countries, there is no way that this small army can defeat them.
The United Nations is designed to help countries in circumstances such as these. The predicament is whether other countries are willing to risk the lives of their own citizens to help those in Syria.
It seems like it would be an easy solution. Just get all of the largest economical nations together and defeat Assad’s regimen. Morally, this would be the right thing to do. When it comes down to it, the risks that are involved are so great that it makes the question still remaining unanswered.
If we intervene in Syria, then there is a chance that we will lose American lives in a civil war of another country. Another risk is what happens to the country when the US leaves? We would be taking away their dictator and leaving them to stand on their own two feet without direction. Who is to say that this will not happen again? This dictatorship could be a neverending circle for Syria.
On the other hand, how do we let hundreds of innocent people be slaughtered everyday without any repercussions? If you have any conscience at all, you sympathize with these people. They are living a first hand nightmare that they cannot get out of.
The answer to all of this is that there really is no right answer. The US government and the UN have been pondering what to do for a long time and there has yet to be a final answer.
Although there is not much that we can personally do about the situation, there are some things that you can do to help these people before the situation gets even worse.
You can participate, advocate, and donate though the Syrian Humanitarian Relief site. They helped improve conditions for both the refugees streaming into Akkar and for the residents already living there. Here are some ways that they have helped: distributed food rations to alleviate hunger, supplied hygiene kits to help prevent the spread of illness, and provided clothing to refugees who fled leaving their personal belongs behind.
Most college students are not aware of major events occurring in the world because we don’t have time to watch the news, and the only free paper on campus is the Central Florida Future. So instead of catching up on Gossip Girl or 90210 when you have a free moment, turn on the news so you can be aware.