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TODAY MARKS THE three year anniversary of the Syrian conflict.
The bloody civil war that has raged for the past three years began on Saturday 15 March 2011, when pro-democracy protests were staged in the capital Damascus.
Crowds demanded the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, denouncing repressive measures implemented by the regime in the wake of the Arab Spring protest movement, which had already seen the crumbling of power structures in Tunisia and Egypt.
Protesters gathered in hope, calling for governmental and economic reform.
By April, the army had been deployed to crush dissent. Soldiers opened fired on demonstrators, foreign journalists were banned from the country and internet services were shut down.
Permanent scars
According the United Nations, the death toll today has surpassed 130,000, with a further 130,000 people unaccounted for – missing or detained. Between 4.5 – 5.1 million people have been internally displaced and 3 million have fled to neighbouring countries. Horrifyingly, chemical weapons have been used on at least five occasions against ordinary men, women and children.
Life was not always this way for the Syrian people. Just three short years ago, the country was viewed as one of the more progressive, stable, and beautiful of the region – a melting pot of religions and ethnicities with a rich cultural history.
Now it is a country permanently battle-scarred, both physically and psychologically, and much of Syria’s infrastructure and heritage is gone forever.
Syria before and since the outbreak war …
Uploaded OfficielFirat
Over the past three years, appalling images have poured out of Syria. And they’re still coming.
Source: AP/Press Association Images" title="">
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Source: Gregorio Borgia" title="">
Source: Hussein Malla" title="">
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Why the West wanted to be Al-Queda’s air support I’ll never know.
I wonder will there by a Syrian Christian left alive in Syria when it is all done.
You’re on the right path Jeremy, you can see further than your eyes can look, that is a good question, the answer is not on duhjournal.ie
Jeremy. When this all began. The Jihadists were not involved. They came only after the West refused to help.
This whole story is a lie, what has happened in Syria is attempted regime change by the US UK France and its global partners, and when that didn’t work they brought in their proxy ghost army Al-Qaeda to destroy the country. Turn of your Cartoon News Networks and do some research about it, don’t believe the tripe that duhjournal.ie and the rest of them are pushing on you.
Well said. Wondering if censorship of comments will be applied here like a few articles on Ukraine/Crimea if you don’t support the western media propaganda.
There is a virtual treasure trove of information on Syria available on the internet, but why go all the way across town to a Michelin Star restaurant when there’s a McDonalds around the corner. Fast food news should be banned it’s just as destructive to your own mind as a McSandwich is to your body, CAN’T THINK FREELY.
Cue the Journals Western war crimes against humanity apologist Mick Jordan in 3, 2, 1…
No it’s not Joe. It is a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. But as usual, people manage to fit the US into everything. As if the real crap the US does isn’t bad enough you have to go making things up and totally discrediting yourself and in the process all the rest if us that take issue with the genuine crimes America commits.
@ Joe Corleone : Dont be too hard on Mick. He must supplement his meager wage.
Joe, some of us have to work and we don’t have the time to troll the internet for BS.
Ultimately this is about people going to war with each other and innocents getting caught in the middle.
Yes we all work Declan, but some of us don’t come and turn on the TeeVee to watch Glee….
Joe, Syria is a serious issue and you bring up tv shows?’
“Syria is a serious issue” but “we don’t have the time to troll the internet for BS”, ?????????? You’ve plenty of time to troll the journal commentators it seems.
Devastating.
It’s likely to continue for another 3 decades. Syria is a complete write off of a country now
Yeah how about some critical thinking on the subject Conor and don’t be content to be fed bullshit for your brain.
Joe do you ever think that maybe politicians and governments might be simply incompetent rather than being able to orchestrate massive conspiracies that result in the deaths of thousands?
There’s no shadowy cabal secretly running the worlds affairs, the reality is a lot more frightening. There’s really just some people out of their depth blindly making decisions totally unaware of the consequences they may or may not have.
Anyway wouldn’t orchestrating a massively secret conspiracy to destabilise Syria be incredibly expensive, time consuming and totally against the west strategic and economic interests in the region?
The answer lies out there Conor, it’s not for me to tell you yes or no, hint: It’s not that much of a secret.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCdaExnIpGs
Questions answered in the video:
Given that the pretext for attacking Syria is falling apart before the public’s eyes, why is the US preparing to wage war on that country? Who benefits from the ongoing destabilization of Assad’s government? What will the Middle East look like if the Sunnis take over Syria? What is Israel’s role in this? What do Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have to gain from a war in Syria? And what does Bandar Bush have to do with all of this? Join us today on The Corbett Report as we discuss these and other pressing issues as the world stands on the brink of yet another US-led Middle Eastern military adventure.
Former NATO General Wesley Clark will answer the last question for you, the reason no boots on the ground is after Iraq the public just don’t buy direct invasion on false pretenses as good as it was to rid the world of Hussein, it cost too many lives, up to the plate steps Al-Qaeda, funded by Saudi Arabia on the behalf of their pals in Washington.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DJ–Z3lvaQ
General Wesley Clarke…
Journalists were not banned, where is the evidence of journalists being banned? Journalists required visas to enter Syria and were not allowed to visit certain areas unless security was provided for them by State forces.
There is no civil war in Syria. Another error in the article. NATO polls have put popular support for President Assad at well over 70%. Many other polls put this at a much higher figure.
The dog on the street knows the majority of ‘rebel’ fighters in Syria are foreign Islamic jihadists.
We know this ‘uprising’ started when people where fired upon by snipers. Sounds familiar doesn’t it.
We know this proxy invasion, the real term one should use, began four days after a new pipe deal was signed by Syria as William Engdahl has researched. We know a former French minister stated that the UK was cooking up something for Syria and asked France to participate. This was all before the ‘uprising’ began. We know that as far back as the bush government the US were training Syrians in firearms.
Could we have some respectable objective journalism please.
Syria ranks 177th out of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index. The story you’re being fed by Assad isn’t necessarily the reality on the ground – I think any objective observer would have to acknowledge that.
Whatever about the politics, the situation is tragic for civilians. The photo of the mother and her starving baby is heartbreaking. I don’t think I’ll ever get over seeing the photos of the children succumbing to the effects of being gassed…
Be careful Eimear how you interpret photos and other media segments
that are carefully selected for you. AFP and Reuters are owned by certain people who want regime change and will mould your opinion showing terrible photos ALWAYS of supposed Government atrocities.
Where are the Jihadist slaughtering photos? Not one in the main stream media. I can assure you what the Jihadists have done is horrific beyond imagination.
@ Joe and Horgay. H : Good to see that there are still a few people around who can think for themselves.
Syrian authorities rejected an Arab League proposal for a U.N. peacekeepers which would have entailed that Assad step aside as a prerequisite . He did not step down of course because he had the duty to protect his country from a foreign invasion of fanatical jihadists. This would have meant regime change, and who would have taken his place ?? We must remember that at this time the Al Qaeda related groups were in a prominent position, armed to the teeth by USA,GB through Saudi Arabia and Qatar . I think, under similar circumstances the Regimes of USA or GB would also not have stepped aside.
Interesting clips : http://planet.infowars.com/economics/syrian-conflict-all-about-gas-pipeline
http://explosivereports.com/2013/07/07/former-french-foreign-minister-anglo-french-operations-against-assad-prepared-preconceived-and-planned/
Also worth watching. The Geopolitics of the Syrian war: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_dykdp7c1N0#t=51
Are you seriously quoting infowars.com ?
Couldn’t it just be that the Syrians finally tired of 50 years of dictatorship but as is ususal with most dictators he refused to resign ?
Instead of quoting the most insane condpiracy websites from Texas perhaps you would do better by speaking with actual Syrians on the ground. How good is your Arabic anyway ?
Reallistically & logically, just Who could solve Syria’s Apocalyptic problems, even IF the international will existed to do so? Which it does’nt, coz what country is’nt creaking under the weight of it’s own problems? Plus, Syria seems to have been kicked to the kerb because the total hopelessness depicted by news reports serms to just inspire absolute indifference to it’s plight. I think the term “Compassion Fatique”applies to Syria, sadly.
@ Joe and Horgay. H : Good to see that there are still a few people around who can think for themselves.
Syrian authorities rejected an Arab League proposal for a U.N. peacekeepers which would have entailed that Assad step aside as a prerequisite . He did not step down of course because he had the duty to protect his country from a foreign invasion of fanatical jihadists. This would have meant regime change, and who would have taken his place ?? We must remember that at this time the Al Qaeda related groups were in a prominent position, armed to the teeth by USA,GB through Saudi Arabia and Qatar . I think, under similar circumstances the Regimes of USA or GB would also not have stepped aside.
Interesting clips : https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_dykdp7c1N0#t=51
http://planet.infowars.com/economics/syrian-conflict-all-about-gas-pipeline
And: A little truth about the so called revolution http://explosivereports.com/2013/07/07/former-french-foreign-minister-anglo-french-operations-against-assad-prepared-preconceived-and-planned/
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