Struggles in Syria Continue – Worsening Situation at a Crossroads

Angel Benjamin, J1 Staff Writer

Once again, it seems that the Syrian government has launched another chemical attack against innocent Syrian civilians.

According to multiple sources, including the BBC, on Saturday, April 7th, Syrian government forces bombed Douma, a rebel-held town on the outskirts of the nation’s capital, with toxic gas. BBC reporters Sheena McKenzie, Tamara Qlblawl, and Saskya Vandoorne stated that reportedly more than 1,700 men, women, and children dead were killed.

This attack was not the first in Syria. It was around this time last year, on April 4th, when the Syrian Air Force conducted an airstrike in Khan Shaykhun, which left 89 people dead and about 541 others injured.

According to BBC Staff, following the most recent attack, local medical centers reported rescue workers bringing in large streams of hurt people coughing and having extreme breathing difficulties. The patients showed signs of “respiratory distress, central cyanosis (blue skin or lips), excessive oral foaming, corneal burns, and the emission of chlorine-like odour”.

Syria has been in a civil war since 2011 and this conflict has taken the lives of more than 400,000 civilians. It all started when protests for democracy began to appear and security forces opened fire on protesters. These attacks on demonstrators prompted more people to speak out all over the country. Unfortunately, once violence began to increase and rebels started to fight for control of cities, towns, and countrysides, the government took extreme action. Today, the battle is not just between the people and the government, but other groups including world and regional powers.

This most recent attack has left many on edge because it puts the world on the brink of possible war as the United States and its allies, including France and Great Britain, respond to Syria and its allies, Russia and Iran. Many nations had threatened intervention if these alleged attacks continue to come and harm innocents.

United States President Donald Trump, following the most recent chemical weapons attack, tweeted threats and insults toward the Syrian president and the nation’s allies. Trump’s tweets were real. In fact, according to the staff of BBC, the United Kingdom, United States, and France conducted missile strikes on “three sites that were specifically associated with the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons program.”

President Trump commented following the missile strike that he wanted to stress a point against “the production, spread, and use of chemical weapons.” However, The Syrian foreign ministry have denounced these military actions. Syria’s allies have yet to comment.

Despite all this, it doesn’t change the reality that numerous innocent children, men, and women died in their own home and many more are hiding in terrible conditions.