argumentative essay1

8/3/2019 Argumentative Essay1

1/6

NATO Intervention in Syria 1

Argumentative Essay

Should NATO intervene or not in Syria? This is a very critical and debatable question

and like all such issues, there are two groups, one with arguments in favor of sending NATO

forces in Syria and taking military action against Syrias regime ( like they did in Iraq,

Afghanistan, and most recently in Libya) and the other group that is totally against it. Now the

question arises that if NATO can take military action against Libya, then why should they not

take the same decision in case of Syria? Taking military action against Syria would not be a

good decision because the previous outcomes of the NATO interventions have not been very

successful, there would be high risk of casualties, and it is not supported by the Syrian public,

neighboring countries, and also, it is not in the best interest of the US, NATO, and Israel.

The current wave of unrest in the Middle East started from Tunisia in the end of 2010

where people in Tunisia started protests against their authoritarian ruler, President Zine El Abidine

and finally succeeded in getting rid of him. After this, a 30 year long period of rule by Hosni

Mubarak of Egypt came to an end, and then the echoes of unrest were also heard from Algeria,

Jordon, Libya, Morocco and Syria. The main reasons of these unrests and protests were the

same, namely, unemployment, corruption, unavailability of basic human rights, and hopelessness


2/6


from their current social, political, economic conditions, and authoritarian style of government

by their rulers. At present Libya and Syria is facing a similar unrest and handling it with brutality

by killing and arresting thousands of protestors. If this wave of unrest continues to go on, other

Middle Eastern countries would not be able to protect themselves from it. The US and NATO

forces have already taken military action against Quaddafi Regime and now the debate is going

on regarding whether they should take similar action in Syria.

First of all, we should keep in mind the outcome of previous military actions taken by the

US and NATO forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Critical and unbiased analysis of the outcome of

their actions reveals that they have miserably failed in establishing peace and restoring normal

routine life in these countries. Instead, they left the former one in a state of civil war, chaos and

without restoring any infrastructure.Army historians, in a 696-page account, blamed the US and

allied military and political leaders for focusing too much on overthrowing Saddam Hussein in

2003 without any future planning for a broader transition towards a stable society in post war

period. "The transition to a new campaign was not well thought out, planned for, and prepared

for before it began," says the history. According to an internal army think-tank, called the

contemporary operations study team report, "The assumptions about the nature of the post-

Saddam Iraq on which the transition was planned proved to be largely incorrect" This study also

states that the Chiefs in Washington were uncertain about the campaign to restore stability, "In

retrospect, however, the overall effort appears to have been disjointed and, at times, poorly

coordinated, perhaps reflecting the department's ambivalence towards nation-building"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/iraq.usforeignpolicy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/iraq.usforeignpolicyhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/iraq.usforeignpolicyhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/iraq.usforeignpolicy


3/6


In addition, they are finding ways to get out of Afghanistan in a similar way and for this purpose

they are even doing negotiations with Taliban, the same Taliban against which they started war a

decade ago. In the case of Iraq, Bush finally confessed, after taking so many innocent lives, that

the very reason on the basis of which they started military action against Iraq was not valid and

no production facilities of chemical and biological weapons had been found in Iraq. In his book,

Decision points, Bush admits that he was shocked when no weapons of mass destruction were

found in Iraq. He writes in his book, Decision Points, "No one was more shocked and angry than

I was when we didn't find the weapons He also writes, "I had a sickening feeling every time I

thought about it. I still do"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11680239

The only success they achieved in Iraq, which is now considered to be the real reason

behind the attack on Iraq, was the easy access of their multinational companies to the oil

resources of Iraq.

Second, in Syria majority of population is sunni muslim but the rulers are 'Baathists', a

sort of communist atheists that are representing a small population. To control the majority

population, the Baath party has been employing an authoritarian style of government for decades

by depriving the majority of their basic human rights. It is not mainly the difference in sect or

religion of rebels and the ruling party; it is oppression, fear of being arrested for no crime, lack of

freedom of expression, absence of justice and the current wave of unrest against the authoritarian

rulers in the Middle East that has given the courage to Syrian people to start protests against the

ruling party. Keeping in view this scenario and the fact that the ruling party has no soft corners

for the majority population, any sanctions on Syrian Regime by UN or military action by NATO

would not result in anything positive but to increase the plight of Syrian people from both sides
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/iraq.usforeignpolicyhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/iraq.usforeignpolicyhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/iraq.usforeignpolicyhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/iraq.usforeignpolicyhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/iraq.usforeignpolicyhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/iraq.usforeignpolicyhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/iraq.usforeignpolicyhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/iraq.usforeignpolicyhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/iraq.usforeignpolicyhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/iraq.usforeignpolicyhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/iraq.usforeignpolicyhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/iraq.usforeignpolicyhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/iraq.usforeignpolicyhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11680239http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11680239http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11680239


4/6


that would result in more bloodshed and more migrations of refugees in the neighboring

countries. We cannot also forget here the ever increasing plight of Palestinian refugees who have

been living in Syria for past several years. Total population of Palestinian refugees in Syria is

approximately 460,000.

There are a total of 13 refugee camps inside Syria, only 10 of which are officially

recognized by UNRWA. There are seven camps in Damascus, two in Aleppo, and one in each of

the Homs, Hama, Dara and Latakia governorates. Despite only ten being recognised, the agency

provides a lower level of services to the unofficial camps.

http://paltelegraph.com/palestine/palestinian-refugees/9818-palestinian-refugee-camps-

in-syria-an-overview.html

Finally, the main difference between situation in Syria and Libya is that in Libya, rebels called

for foreign intervention right from the start whereas majority of Syrians do not want a NATO

intervention. Syria is hugely populated compared to Libya. The later has population of

approximately 6 million people divided mainly between Benghazi and Tripoli, whereas the

former is packed with approximately 22 million people in relatively small territory. Military

intervention, therefore, would create large scale damage to the economy, infrastructure and,

above all, would, endanger the lives of large number of innocent people including children and

women. Syrians believe that they can handle their problem on their own. On the other hand,

Asad has good friends and allies in the neighboring Arab countries and therefore, they are not as

vocal as they were in the case of Quaddafi who was accused of trying to kill Saudi King

Abdullah in 2003. As a member of NATO, Turkey will also not allow the NATO to repeat the

history of Bosnia in Syria in which NATO forces were accursed by the international media and
http://paltelegraph.com/palestine/palestinian-refugees/9818-palestinian-refugee-camps-in-syria-an-overview.htmlhttp://paltelegraph.com/palestine/palestinian-refugees/9818-palestinian-refugee-camps-in-syria-an-overview.htmlhttp://paltelegraph.com/palestine/palestinian-refugees/9818-palestinian-refugee-camps-in-syria-an-overview.htmlhttp://paltelegraph.com/palestine/palestinian-refugees/9818-palestinian-refugee-camps-in-syria-an-overview.htmlhttp://paltelegraph.com/palestine/palestinian-refugees/9818-palestinian-refugee-camps-in-syria-an-overview.html


5/6


public of not being able to prevent 8,000 Muslim Bosnians from being murdered in front of the

world's eyes. Relationship of Asads Regime with Iran is very important as they are receiving

help from Iran to curb and defeat the protestors causing unrest in Syria. According to Evelyn

Scott, Tehran is clandestinely providing training, equipment and reinforcements to the military

and intelligence services of its only real Arab ally so that they can crush the insurrection, western

diplomats saidOn the other hand, Syria is the only real Arab ally of Iran and stability and

continuation ofAsads regime is very important for Iran to continue its proxy war with Israel.

Evelyn Scott further stated that,

For Iran the survival ofMr. Assads regime is strategically crucial. It is through

Syria that it channels arms to Hezbollah, the militant Islamic group based in

neighboring Lebanon, and conducts its proxy war with Israel. Damascus also

hosts the leadership of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that is supported by

Tehran.

http://justjournalism.com/the-wire/middle-east-unrest-media-highlights-iran%E2%80%99s-

increasing-role-in-syrian-crackdown/

Despite the role of Asads regime that they are playing for Iran, Israel still finds itself more

comfortable with an autocratic yet predictable regime, rather than face an unknown new

government in its place. Any instability in Syria would, therefore, not be in the best interest of

Israel and hence the US.

Conclusion
http://justjournalism.com/the-wire/middle-east-unrest-media-highlights-iran%E2%80%99s-increasing-role-in-syrian-crackdown/http://justjournalism.com/the-wire/middle-east-unrest-media-highlights-iran%E2%80%99s-increasing-role-in-syrian-crackdown/http://justjournalism.com/the-wire/middle-east-unrest-media-highlights-iran%E2%80%99s-increasing-role-in-syrian-crackdown/http://justjournalism.com/the-wire/middle-east-unrest-media-highlights-iran%E2%80%99s-increasing-role-in-syrian-crackdown/http://justjournalism.com/the-wire/middle-east-unrest-media-highlights-iran%E2%80%99s-increasing-role-in-syrian-crackdown/


6/6


To sum up, ground realities are indicating that the US and NATO should not intervene in Syria

as they did in the case of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. There are various logical reasons in

support of this argument, firstly, past record of the US and NATO proves that they usually have

no planning or long term strategy for the post war period. Iraq is the recent example where the

postwar period has proven to be worse than the prewar period. Different groups are still fighting

with each other, huge investment is required for the reconstruction of infrastructure that has been

destroyed during the war, and revival of social and political systems is meeting obstacles, and

US and allied forces are being criticized for their ill planning for post war period. Secondly, high

casualties are being anticipated in case of any military action by the US and NATO because of

Syrias high population density. Thirdly, neither Syrian rebellions nor other stakeholders are

interested in taking any move to intervene in Syria due to their political and ulterior motives.

argumentative essay1

Documents