In 2010, the Arab Spring, a peaceful protest in the Arab world with goals of economic freedom, democracy, regime change, and human rights motivated the population of Syria to bring change to their country. The Syrian government responded with violence towards anyone who opposed them, leading to the Syrian Civil War that is still going on today.
The regime has lowered themselves to using chemical warfare in a desperate attack against the protesters and other Syrian civilians. United States officials acquired blood and urine samples from victims of one of the most recent chemical attacks, that killed several people in Douma. The results fo these samples tested positive for nerve gas and chlorine and implicating Russia’s involvement in these illegal attacks.
Since the Civil War began start of use of chemical weapons 500,000 people have died, and more than 10 million have been displaced. The use of chemicals as a form of warfare was made illegal internationally by The Chemical Weapons Convention (a multilateral treaty that bans the use of chemical weapons use). Chemical weapons create horrible effects; civilians have no form of protection, it is illegal on a global scale, and it is simply inhumane, by not prosecuting the Syrian regime for warcrimes we are at risk of desensitizing the future of warfare with weapons of destruction that are more and more extreme.
I think that the United States, along with our allies, needs to come together and bring change to the current Syrian government in order to protect it’s citizens and work to create a democratic government, and finally put an end to the long and drawn out Syrian Civil War. While the war is still in motion though, I strongly believe we should be doing more to prevent Russia from aiding the Syrian government in these attacks as well. Russia is aiding a government that is going against its own people, killing innocent children, women, and men with no hesitation on these attacks. The use of chemical weapons is absolutely disgusting and inhumane and although it is already illegal I feel as though the worlds leaders need to do more to put a stop to this horrid treatment of humans. If we continue to allow chemical warfare then soon people/countries will feel like they need to one up everybody else and take to an even more extreme an inhumane form of warfare.