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Syria's war is mess.

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After 6 years The conflict is divided between
multiple sides, each side with foreign backers

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and those foreign backers dont even agree
with eachother on who they are fighting for

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and who they are fighting against.

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Now, Syria’s use of chemical weapons has
provoked President Donald Trump to directly

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attack Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

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This is a major shift because the US has for
years only focused on fighting ISIS.

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To understand the criss-crossing interventions
and battle lines in Syria today, and how it

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got this way, it helps to go back to the beginning
and watch how it unfolded.

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The first shots in the war are fired, in March
2011, by Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad against

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peaceful Arab Spring demonstrators.

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The protests grow, as do Assad's increasingly
violent crackdowns.In July the protesters

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start shooting back, and some Syrian troops
even join them.

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They call themselves the Free Syrian Army
and the uprising becomes a civil war.

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Extremists from around the region start traveling
to Syria to join the rebels.

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Assad actually encourages this by releasing
jihadist prisoners to tinge the rebellion

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with extremism make it harder for foreign
backers to supor them.

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In January 2012, al-Qaeda forms a new branch
in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra.

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Aso around then Syrian Kurdish groups, who
had long sought autonomy take up arms and

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informally secede from Assad's rule in the
north.

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That summer is when Syria becomes a proxy
war.

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Iran, Assad's most important ally, intervenes
on his behalf.

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By the end of 2012, Iran is sending daily
cargo flights and has hundreds of officers

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on the ground.

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At the same time, the oil-rich Arab states
on the Persian Gulf begin sending money and

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weapons to the rebels, mainly to counter Iran’s
influence.

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Iran steps up its influence in mid-2012 when
Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia backed by Iran,

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invades to fight alongside Assad.

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The Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia,
respond with sending more money and weapons

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to the rebels, this time through Jordan who
also opposes Assad.

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By 2013, the middle east is divided between
sunni powers generally supporting the rebels

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andSshias generally supporting Assad

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That April, the Obama administration, horrified
by Assad's atrocities and the mounting death

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toll, signs a secret order authorizing the
CIA to train and equip Syrian rebels.

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But the program stalls.

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At the same time, The US quietly urges Arab
Gulf states to stop funding extremists, but

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the requests go unheeded.

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In August the Assad regime uses chemical weapons, provoking condemnation around the world

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Obama: "Men, women, and children lying in

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rows – killed by poison gas..."

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It is in the national security interests of
the United States to respond to the Assad

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regime's use of chemical weapons
through a targeted military strike.

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Russia proposed on Monday that Syria surrender
control over its chemical weapons to the International

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Community
for its eventual dismantling, to avoid a US

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military strike.

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The US backs down under a Russia-brokered
deal, but the incident establishes Syria as

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a great-powers dispute between America and
Russia.

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Just weeks later, the first American training
and arms reach Syrian rebels through the earlier-authorized

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CIA program.

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The US is now a participant.

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In February 2014, something happens that transforms
the war: an al-Qaeda affiliate, based mostly

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in Iraq, breaks away from the group over internal
disagreements.

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The group calls itself the Islamic State of
Iraq and Syria, and it becomes al-Qaeda's enemy.

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ISIS mostly fights not Assad, but the other
rebels and the Kurds, carving out a mini-state

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it calls its Caliphate.

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That summer, it marches across Iraq seizing
territory, galvanizing the world against it.

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The opposition in Syria divides between anti-Assad
rebels and ISIS, who fight one another as well.

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In September, one year after the US almost
bombed Assad, it begins bombing ISIS.

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It's joined by a coalition of Western and
MidEast states, who all also oppose Assad.

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Obama: “We're moving ahead with our campaign
of airstrikes against these terrorists,

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and we're prepared to take action against
ISIL in Syria as well.”

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That summer, in July, the Pentagon launches
its own program to train Syrian rebels — but

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only those who'll fight ISIS, not Assad.

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The program fizzles, showing that America
now opposes ISIS more than Assad, but that

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no like-minded Syrian proxy force exists.

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In August, Turkey bombs Kurdish groups in
Iraq and in Turkey, even as the Kurds fight

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ISIS in Syria, but doesn't bomb ISIS.

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This got to a core problem: the US sees ISIS
as its main enemy, but the US’s allies like

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Turkey and a lot of other MidEast states have
other priorities.

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The next month, in September, Russia intervenes
on behalf of Assad, sending a few dozen military

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aircraft to a long-held Russian base in the
country.

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Russia says it's there to bomb ISIS, but in
fact bombs anti-Assad rebels, including some

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backed by the US.

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The next year, Donald Trump wins the White
House, vowing to stay out of Syria, and signaling

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that Assad should be able to stay in power.

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At the end of 2016, Assad, helped by Russian
airpower and Iranian sponsored militias, retakes

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the Syrian city of Aleppo, knocking the rebels
from their last remaining urban stronghold.

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Then, in Spring of 2017, Assad once again
uses chemical weapons against his people,

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killing 85, including 20 children.

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Back in the US, Trump says his attitude toward
Syria and Assad has “changed very much”

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due to the attacks.

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He vows to respond.

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And within days the white house launches dozens
of tomahawk missiles on an airbase in Syria,

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attacking the Assad Regime for the first time.

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This adds yet another criss crossing complication
to an already multidimensional civil war.

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Syria is in ruins.

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Millions have fled the country and any attempt
at a ceasefire has failed.

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Even as Assad recaptures land, the rebellion
perseveres.

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And with outside countries fueling each of
the groups, it’s clear that there is still

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no end in sight.