The conflict in Syria often prompts a slow burn of headlines, with death tolls in that nation frequently taking a backseat to national issues - which, for many, may be a product of their relative lack of knowledge on the subject and consequent disconnection to those affected by the conflict as well as general confusion about the origins and impacts of the conflict.
While underlying causes likely stretched further into the past, the current conflict was prompted when President Bashar Al-Assad's government presented an excessively violent response to schoolchildrens' anti-government graffiti and, eventually, to further protests that sprung up as a result of the original event. Continued violence from the army was met with continued peaceful demonstrations as well as demands for Al-Assad's resignation. The war became significantly more complicated as the opposition to Al-Assad saw significantly more vocal arguments from different groups that split along cultural lines within Syria. Notably, ISIS has emerged as a powerful nonnative opposition group, expanding into Syria in order to gain more land for their caliphate. Russian involvement has turned the conflict, which has involved often downplayed American involvement supporting opposition groups, into a rerun of the Cold War with an added level of complexity; though Americans oppose ISIS, their opposition to al-Assad, backed by the Russians, creates continual moral questions about where their involvement should stand.
Sources
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/16979186
Interesting post! It is interesting to see how the issues of Syrian are so massive but many Americans don't know much about it. It is important to know about these current events in order to combat them. Here is more information about it. https://www.worldvision.org/refugees-news-stories/syria-refugee-crisis-war-facts
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