Syria Tells the Story
Syria tells the story
Of lost freedoms
Of gruesome perilous life
Outplays the Gaza pain
Men bred for lethal confusion
Descend the land
Put a prize on the head of Assad
Adamant to rebellion in concert
And the guns multiply
And the deaths swell
And men cue in dire desire
To fire and be fired by a shot
As the guns grew louder
Syrian Civil War -- Chris Lockhart
When Hafez al-Assad, the president of Syria, died in 2000, he was followed by his son Bashar. Since 1963 (when the Ba'ath Syrian Regional branch party seized control) the country was under emergency rule, and public gatherings of more than 5 people were banned. In March 2011, after a boy was arrested, tortured, and killed for writing anti-government graffiti, protesters in Damascus who demanded democratic reforms and the release of political prisoners were fired on by security forces. Over the next month and a half 150 soldiers and police officers and 1,000 protesters were killed and 1000s more detained. At the end of July the Free Syrian Army was formed by dissident military officers. Quickly, the conflict escalated with many factions fighting against each and the government: Sunni Arabs (including the Free Syrian Army), the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, Salafi jihadist groups (including al-Nusra Front), and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/ISIS), with a number of countries in the region and beyond being either directly involved or providing support to one or more of them. turkey has supported the rebels and seized control of areas in the northwest; the US has concentrated on waging war against ISIS; Iran, Russia, and Hezbollah (the ruling party in Lebanon). Over 1/2 million people have been killed and over 2 million wounded, and 1/2 the population displaced, with over 5 million refugees.
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