What's going on in Syria

[LONDONER]

This is one group's opinion:

[URL="http://www.upworthy.com/trying-to-follow-what-is-going-on-in-syria-and-why-this-comic-will-get-you-there-in-5-minutes?c=ufb2"]http://www.upworthy.com/trying-to-follow-what-is-going-on-in-syria-and-why-this-comic-will-get-you-there-in-5-minutes?c=ufb2[/URL]

[TigerLover]

It's just a huge complicated mess and it seems impossible to imagine that there will ever be a solution.

And how terrifying is it that just the opening salvo of global warming is already doing this kind of damage.

[jimcrackcorn]

It hard to imagine,, but the civil war in Syria was started when a group of children and teenagers (a total of 17 kids) were arrested for writing political graffiti on walls in the town of Dara'a. This angered several young men from the town of Dara'a who got upset about the kids being put in jail, and these angry young men started tearing up signs and symbols of President Assad and burning government buildings. This led to a government crackdown on the protesters,, and violence ensued. With each government crackdown & killing of protesters, the number of people protesting would increase. The escalation continued this way until a civil war broke out.

The civil war destabilized the country which gave foreign terrorist groups an opportunity to send their special blend of war tactics into Syria,,,, creating even more havoc, death & destabilization.

And now,,, half of Syria's population (12 million) have been displaced from their homes and three quarters of the population is in poverty. Their economy is decimated and 210.000 people are dead. The exodus from Syria for those who are still healthy enough to walk has commenced.

This country has been destroyed.

[LONDONER]

It hard to imagine,, but the civil war in Syria was started when a group of children and teenagers (a total of 17 kids) were arrested for writing political graffiti on walls in the town of Dara'a. This angered several young men from the town of Dara'a who got upset about the kids being put in jail, and these angry young men started tearing up signs and symbols of President Assad and burning government buildings. This led to a government crackdown on the protesters,, and violence ensued. With each government crackdown & killing of protesters, the number of people protesting would increase. The escalation continued this way until a civil war broke out.

The civil war destabilized the country which gave foreign terrorist groups an opportunity to send their special blend of war tactics into Syria,,,, creating even more havoc, death & destabilization.

And now,,, half of Syria's population (12 million) have been displaced from their homes and three quarters of the population is in poverty. Their economy is decimated and 210.000 people are dead. The exodus from Syria for those who are still healthy enough to walk has commenced.

This country has been destroyed.

Thank you Jim for your contribution. What has gone and is going on in Syria pains me deeply. I visited the country in 2002 and the people I met and the friends I made were the nicest and hospitable that I have met in all the countries I have visited. From what I saw it had huge tourist potential but that has now been destroyed either by Assad and his thugs or by IS. The resulting exodus from the country will have a seismic effect on Europe society for many years to come.

[jimcrackcorn]

Thank you Jim for your contribution. What has gone and is going on in Syria pains me deeply. I visited the country in 2002 and the people I met and the friends I made were the nicest and hospitable that I have met in all the countries I have visited. From what I saw it had huge tourist potential but that has now been destroyed either by Assad and his thugs or by IS. The resulting exodus from the country will have a seismic effect on Europe society for many years to come.

It's all needless loss & suffering.. There was a brief window where Assad may have been able to turn it around before it got out of hand. Instead of listening to his people and trying to improve their lives, he chose to use his military to squash any dissension.

Perhaps it was already to late, and the people had had enough of his leadership. It's hard to tell in the aftermath of all this destruction

[Emiliano]

Thanks for posting this. Not only informative, but also beautifully illustrated... Ive been reading a lot of the refugee crisis... it really is troubling and heartbreaking. I wish I had something more positive / productive to offer.