Syrian Suffering Must Come to an End

posted on: Dec 14, 2016

BY: Nisreen Eadeh/Staff Writer

Aleppo was the sight of more bloodshed on Monday when the Syrian Army and an Iranian-backed militia swept the city, recapturing nearly all of the opposition-held areas. Since the beginning of the Syrian revolution in 2011, Eastern Aleppo has been a rebel-held territory, making it the sight of brutal fighting between forces.

On Tuesday, a ceasefire was brokered between Turkey and Russia, but ended less than 24 hours later. Some 50,000 civilians believed to be remaining in Eastern Aleppo under rebel control were supposed to be evacuated during the ceasefire, but the shelling has continued. The death toll is unclear, but Twitter reports from Eastern Aleppo claim that many are lying dead or injured in the streets with no one willing to leave their homes to help them.

Fear of death, injury, and sexual assault has prompted many in Aleppo to leave “final messages” on Twitter. Others posted goodbye messages with the hopes of safely evacuating the city.

The ceasefire was aimed at evacuating civilians and rebels, and a handful of neighborhoods began the process only to be let down by false hope. Now, everyone is afraid to leave their homes for fear that one airstrike could literally take out an entire village or people.

For two weeks, the Syrian government, with its Iranian and Russian allies, has been on the verge of retaking the entire city of Aleppo from Turkey and U.S.-backed rebels. The world is watching as this five-year long conflict could possibly come to an end.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the Syrian government of breaking the ceasefire, according to Turkey’s state-run news agency. On the other side, Russian media has been reporting celebrations of the successful broker of the ceasefire. With the many conflicting reports, it is difficult to gain a full understanding of the situation.

At an emergency United Nation Security Council meeting yesterday, U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power targeted her Syrian, Russian, and Iranian colleagues, asking them “Are you truly incapable of shame?”

“When one day there is a full accounting of the horrors committed in this assault of Aleppo – and that day will come, sooner or later – you will not be able to say you did not know what was happening,” said Power.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin shot back at Power, accusing her of speaking “as if she is Mother Teresa herself.” The Russian Ambassador also used the time to blame the U.S. and the U.K. interventions in the Syrian Civil War for the rise of the Islamic State.

Undoubtedly, the Syrian conflict has evolved into a proxy war, wherein the allies of the Syrian government and the rebellion began fighting each other. Since 2011, the world has been watching the once beautiful Syrian civilization crumble under the many intervening forces. If Aleppo is fully captured by the Syrian government, it marks a significant turning point in the war.

“Aleppo should represent the end of the quest for military victory, not the start of a broader military campaign in a country already ravaged beyond all recognition by five years of war,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the emergency meeting.

“We have collectively failed the people of Syria,” the Secretary-General stated. In the last three months, the UN Security Council failed to pass three resolutions that could have enabled a humanitarian truce, evacuated civilians, and allowed entry for aid.

The world will continue to watch Aleppo and hope for an ending to this long conflict. The suffering of the Syrian people must be stopped and it is up to the international community to make that happen now.