By Matthew Hall
Since March 15, 2011, Syria has become a genocidal country, driven by self-seeking power and civil war. This all started as protests—protests demanding the resignation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Assad’s family has held the presidency of Syria since 1971.
In April 2011, the Syrian Army was sent to clear up this uprising. After many attempts to stop these protests, the Syrian military and the protestors started to take matters into their own hands, leading to an armed rebellion between Assad with his military and the protestors now called the “Free Syrian Army.”
Now, this was just a Syrian conflict, but this all changed when there were reports of more massive killings that lead to thousands of deaths. So far, the death toll has reached more than 100,000 people.
As this information reached America, there were also reports of chemical weapons that caused of a lot of deaths.
The United States did not like this—especially considering humanitarian laws and ethics—and demanded that Syria stop using any chemical warfare and turn over its chemical-weapons supplies. Though America was pretty certain that this chemical warfare was the cause of many thousands of deaths, Assad has denied any usage of such chemical warfare.
Again, the United States had warned Syria to stop, and warned Syria that the United States would take military action in order to stop Assad—including bombing Assad-controlled regions of Syria.
So, what do Eastern New Mexico students think about the situation in Syria?
Micah Massey, sophomore, said, “I do not think it is our place as a single country to go in and enforce the laws.”
“I think that our soldiers shouldn’t have to be fighting for another country,” she continued, “and I think that the United Nations as a whole needs to come together and figure out a way to enforce it without risking our men and women on the front lines.”
Manuel Trevizo, junior, said, “We have two options here. [One] is to attack and bomb Assad and his forces in Syria. The argument for that is human rights. Another option we have is to withhold and not attack and bomb.”
“My opinion,” he continued, “is, this Syrian leader, Assad, has a power-hungry mindset, and he’s just looking to be in total control. The question is: Should the U.S. Army or should the U.S. military get involved? I don’t think so. If it comes to the point where there is no other option, I think we should, but if we can do anything to enable the rebels or any sort of resistance against Assad, I think we should do that.”