The pro Opposition human rights group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, has called on ""all people in the international community who have a conscience" to increase their efforts to end the 2-1/2 year war." (Solomon 1). We believe that the U.S. is a nation with a strong conscience and presence in the international community, and that we must support the Syrian people who are oppressed by the Assad Regime. We think that the U.S. should provide support, such as arms training in a neighboring country, for pro- democratic Syrian rebel groups who support equal human rights ( not just rights for their own religious or ethnic group), such as the Syrian National Counsel. Our opinion is backed by statements from an interview on February 25th, 2014 conducted by this website's authors with Timur Kuran, a professor of Economics, Political Sciences, and Islamic Studies at Duke University. In our interview, Professor Kuran said that "in order to break the vicious circle of mistrust, we need to identify the people in Syria who are committed to basic human rights (vs. promoting their own ethnic group)." The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution grants all U.S. citizens the freedom of religion. It is very important to us that the U.S. support rebel groups that would bring religious freedom to Syria.
It is also very important for the U.S. to show its support for the pro-democratic Syrian rebels who want equal human rights, and for the Syrian people as a whole, by devoting U.S. resources to support these groups within Syria, and expanding the United States' commitment to providing humanitarian aid to Syria and its refugees in neighboring countries. Professor Kuran also supports this strategy by saying that "I think a better plan would be for the U.S. to step up resources for aid to democratic forces, and offer more humanitarian aid to nearby countries where refugees have fled."
We believe the U.S. should try to convince other nations to press individual sanctions on Syria, although Professor Kuran said that would have a minimal effect on the violence in Syria. It is still important that the U.S. does anything it can do to stop the bloodshed.
It is also very important for the U.S. to show its support for the pro-democratic Syrian rebels who want equal human rights, and for the Syrian people as a whole, by devoting U.S. resources to support these groups within Syria, and expanding the United States' commitment to providing humanitarian aid to Syria and its refugees in neighboring countries. Professor Kuran also supports this strategy by saying that "I think a better plan would be for the U.S. to step up resources for aid to democratic forces, and offer more humanitarian aid to nearby countries where refugees have fled."
We believe the U.S. should try to convince other nations to press individual sanctions on Syria, although Professor Kuran said that would have a minimal effect on the violence in Syria. It is still important that the U.S. does anything it can do to stop the bloodshed.