During the first week of April, Syria turned a northern,
rebel-held area into a toxic kill zone by using poison that possibly contained
a nerve agent or other banned chemicals on their own people. Numerous graphic videos posted online showed
children and adults gasping, struggling to breathe, or lying motionless as
rescue workers attempted to hose them off.
It is still unclear how many people perished in the attack, but some
humanitarian groups estimate it was as high as 100.
The conflict in Syria is one of the most complicated in the
Middle East. One on side, you have the Syrian
President, Bashar al-Assad, who is some cases is backed by Iran and
Russia. On the other side, you have the
Syrian Rebels, somewhat backed by the United States. Check out this short video that breaks down
the history of the conflict in an easy-to-understand way, complete with color-coded
graphics: https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t-s&p=history+of+syrian+conflict+video#id=1&vid=d228cf01f7e9c497e45a41f092ba7b18&action=click
Following the attack, the United States launched dozens of
cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield, believed to have been used to carry out
the chemical attack. As the video above
shows, the United States involvement in Syria has much greater implications for
the United States’ security and relationships with the rest of the world.
Last week in class, we discussed how involved the United
States should be with the rest of the world.
Many of you thought we should focus instead on the problems we have here
at home, although most of us agreed that we can’t just let countries murder
innocent people, if we’re able to stop it. So after viewing the video, my
question to you this week is, “How involved should the United States become in
Syria?” Answers are due no later than
Wednesday, April 19th, 2017. For
all of you who celebrate – Have a happy and blessed Easter!
I believe that we should be 100% completely involve because us just sitting around while people are being suffered from this horrible bomb is not okay. We all have to stick together and to help one another because us trying to make friends with other countries and to stop war and to make peace is to help each other. I really think it's good to save lives, especially the children. I know that there's a lot of issues that America has to face but it's not about us, it's about helping others to make sure we can be okay in the end and know that in the future that if this happens to us, we can get something in return.
ReplyDeleteI remember watching this video in Marshal Durr's Critical Thinking class. It is definitely more complex than a yes or no answer. We can't say no and let innocent people thousands of miles away suffer and possibly let a group take over who wants to cause more harm, but focusing all our military might into the situation is just as poor of an idea. On top of that, there are complexities that come with focusing our military (especially considering who's running it). We could get wrong information or we could get biased information, end up attacking the wrong people or innocent people. Honestly, I don't think I could say just how involved we should be, I don't think anyone is well educated enough to have a battle plan that solves all the problems. The only thing I know for certain is that this isn't a US issue, it's a human issue that the whole world needs to focus on solving. If I were to put any involvement in, it would be towards getting help to solve the problem in a less violent manner.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't figure out which video was intended for me to watch.
ReplyDeleteAs for involvement, I know that the use of chemical weapons is barred by the U.N. As such, it should be on the authority of the U.N. to decide what action should be taken against Syria, not the U.S. alone. There is this stereotype of America being the "lone cowboy," jumping into situations gung-ho without fully thinking through the consequences or understanding the threat. I fear that with Trump as commander-in-chief, that danger of shooting blindly has increased tremendously. Though I do believe that helping those in need is always the right thing to do, it is not the place of the United States to go it alone without the support of the world at large.
There are many avenues of opinion that I can take on this..meaning I have to look at this on many sides.
ReplyDeleteAs a service member, I can tell you that I support my leaders in making the right decisions that support not only Americans, but the interests of our allies.
As a student at the Art Institute of Indianapolis...well. Should we be involved? Maybe...maybe not. I don't know.
Part of me says that we should kick ass and take names. America! F*@! Yeah!
Part of me says that if Assad is that horrible as a leader that he has to resort to using chemical weapons to control his own people, he needs to be removed from power.
Let's say we didn't send cruise missiles to Syria. I feel that Syria would have done the same thing to U.S. and allied interests in the region, thus creating chaos and disorder throughout the area.
Part of me says that we should have left it alone and let the Syrians deal with it. It pains me to say that, but as I said before, I have to look at this on many sides.
I guess we will see what transpires with the aftermath of the MOAB dropped in Afghanistan that killed 36 ISIS soldiers and the situation with Kim Jong Un in North Korea.
I can't really say yes or no to this, while on one hand I want to say that our nation should become heavily involved as our military force could aid in ending it sooner, on the other hand that could provoke further incidents. By putting our country into the situation we massively change the weight of the situation. In the end I suppose I would say yes we should be involved if I was forced between a yes and no binary, but there will still be a great deal of doubt in the back of my mind.
ReplyDeleteYes, I believe that we should definitely be involved in the situation in Syria. If the government was targeting us, I would hope that some other country would step in to help us too. People are losing their lives in Syria and we should not just sit here and do nothing to help them. I'm glad Trump actually did something to help them. They do not deserve to be targeted like that and have to wake up every day fearing that they may not live through the day.
ReplyDeleteI am not one for bombing and bringing upon more conflict but part of me feels like it might be necessary to be involved. We are one of the greatest countries in the world and for us to stand by and watch helpless Syrians die is wrong, and for that I think we should be involved. What I also believe is the number of bombs that were sent out were a little uncalled for.. because we already have a significant amount of debt and financial struggle here in America.. defunding of this and that, but we can drop like 60 bombs on 1 location?
ReplyDeleteIt depends on the situation really. Although I do believe that we need to stand up and protect the little guy. I also believe that we need to stop choosing sides in conflicts and instead focus on staying neutral in conflicts and most importantly providing aid to victims.In my mind it would be ideal for us to be a sort of scary parental figure to these countries.Instead of beating the tar out of troublemakers, we force both parties to negotiate with the goal of achieving peace or else face our intervention and have both parties punished by taking away there piggy banks or placing them in time out corner.
ReplyDeleteI think that if we are backing Syria then we should have their backs fully and affectively. But, I believe the problem is, we are unsure of who is against us and who is amongst us when we are over there. We have been attending to Syria for some time now; a decade or two, and the problem is getting worse. We should attack the problem before it is one we have to take as apart of as one U.S.
ReplyDeleteI feel the United States should be involved with any situation outside of America. We will never know if something from outside of the states might attack us or one day we might need their help in a situation. Syria doesn't deserve to be involved in this just like any other human being does, so why should be just turn them down? Everyone needs a chance
ReplyDeleteI believe that we shouldn't get involved in this because it is not our problem. I feel like we have a lot of issues going on at home that we need to resolve first and butting in to other countries and their problems isn't solving anything. Peace, love, not war.
ReplyDeleteI feel like we should be at least helping the people that are trying to flee Syria. We can't just sit back and say that we have our own problems to deal with. Even though we are different countries we are all still apart of the same world and we have to help each other. I don't think we need to be 100% involved with Syria, but I definitely think we need to be helping these innocent people that are trying stay alive, especially the children.
ReplyDeleteAs a person of Syrian descent, I feel as though my answer will be a little biased. Still having family in Syria, I feel as though the United States should still help all of the "little people". We as a nation are supposed to be the strongest on the planet, or so we say. I feel as though it is our duty to actively participate in world affairs, to keep the world at peace.
ReplyDeleteI think that the United States has no business being involved in the politics of other countries, EXCEPT when human rights are being violated. Then, it is the responsibility of other nations to step in and put a stop to whatever is happening. That includes taking in people who have to flee their countries.
ReplyDeleteLate comment:
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Caitlin is saying. I also believe that we shouldn't be involving ourselves in other countries business, unless if the human rights are in jeopardy.
I agree with caitlin also, because we should involve ourselves and not just stand around and watch it happen. Nothing gets done that way. You can either be a bystander or you can get involved and make a change.
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