Russia Is Fighting More Than One War. I Went to Check on the ‘Other’ One.

Source:Politico Date:04Dec2023

A rare article updating the unending war in Syria. The world has forgotten Syria, where the human tragedy is very much comparable to Ukraine and Gazza. Also, the refugee flow threatens social stabilty in Turkey, and possibly even in Europe, if peace can’t be secured.

 

The Russian military has continued to fight and commit atrocities in Syria for eight years, with no sign of slowing. It’s a signal to Ukraine of just how long Russia is willing to conduct indiscriminate attacks, and a warning that Russia is able to drag out conflicts over long periods of time.

The war in Syria is also a sad reminder that public attention in the West fades, and that the Syrian civil war — once a central point in the U.S. foreign policy discussions — continues even after the vast majority of attention has shifted to other conflicts.

Here’s what’s being ignored in Syria: An average of 84 civilians have been killed per day over the past decade, according to a U.N. estimate. This totals more than 306,000 deaths since 2011, when the Assad regime brutally cracked down on pro-democratic demonstrations and triggered the civil war.

The United States is just one arena where the fate of Syria and Syrians is being debated. Turkey, once so hospitable toward Syrian refugees, has over the years begun to spurn them….
Read on…