Syria Overview: Current Crisis

By Candela Dias

After a devastating attack by their current president, Bashar al-Assad, Syria is still recovering from the annihilation that chemical warfare has caused. The war has caused thousands of innocent children and women to die. But the question is: should the United States get involved in this dilemma?

President Obama’s speech on Sept. 10, 2013, captured millions of American’s attention. As he commented, the usage of chemical weapons is “a crime against humanity, and a violation of the laws of war.” Many people are aware of the central problem that occurred in Syria, but countless do not know what is happening at this moment involving America. Centuries of work and dedication have gone by trying to ban chemical weapons. In 1977, the United States Senate approved an international agreement prohibiting the usage of these weapons; it was supported by 198 countries, making up 98% of the world’s population. It all dates back to the treaty between the United States, Russia and Syria on chemical weapons and their use. As an agreement to drop the weapons, Syria requested these nations stop U.S air strikes, but it seems like al-Assad forgot about this treaty and never really came to an agreement. On Aug, 21st, 2013, thousands of people crowded the Syrian hospitals, poisoned by gas. But after three weeks of continuous fighting over the chemical weapons, Russia and the United States finally came to an agreement. Syria was “legally obligated” to surrender their weapons, as said by the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power. This agreement was aiming for the destruction of the chemical weapons, as long as the United States and Russia stopped military attack on the country. President Obama was seeking for support from Americans, believing the only way to assure that al-Assad will stop is by getting involved in this. “If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons...other tyrants will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gas, and using them….it could be easier for terrorist organizations to obtain these weapons, and to use them to attack civilians.” stated Obama.

There is always two sides to an argument. In one hand, people are saying we should not get involved in another country’s business. All the money being spent in overseas wars is needed for purposes like education, and to pay off the debt. As said by dailypress.net, “... put more focus on fixing things in this country instead of using our resources in other parts of the world.” Then there are those that believe in Obama and engage in this never ending war. Whether you believe the Unites States should get involved, or you think that we should just keep to ourselves and worry about personal problems instead; we all can agree that we want this war to be over. It’s not something that can be forgotten overnight, but also we can’t let be resolved by itself. Getting involved or not, using chemical weapons on your own people is not something that a president should be proud about.