Now entering its sixth year, the conflict has conflated popular uprising against dictatorship with a medley of powerful regional
and international interests all competing for a slice of the pie. The end result is what the United Nations described as the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era, with millions of refugees and displaced and a half a million dead. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv
and international interests all competing for a slice of the pie. The end result is what the United Nations described as the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era, with millions of refugees and displaced and a half a million dead. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv
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00:00What began as part of the Arab Spring protests, the Syrian war has emerged as the bloodiest
00:10conflict of our time.
00:11Now entering its sixth year, the conflict has conflated popular uprising against dictatorship
00:16with a medley of powerful regional and international interests, all competing for a slice of the
00:21pie.
00:22The end result is what the United Nations described as the biggest humanitarian emergency
00:26of our era, with millions of refugees and displaced and a half a million dead.
00:31But just how did we get here?
00:32I try to break it down for you in this Soundslide Recap.
00:36On March 15, 2011, demonstrations break out in Daraa, near the southern border with Jordan,
00:41demanding the sacking of the city's governor and security chief after they reportedly ordered
00:45the arrest of 15 children for writing anti-regime slogans on school walls.
00:49Two years later, Bashar al-Assad addresses the nation, downplaying the demonstrations
00:53and accusing them of being foreign-backed.
00:55A month later, the Syrian army enters Daraa and carries out widespread arrests.
00:59A 13-year-old boy named Hamza Khatib goes missing.
01:02His body is later returned to his family, bearing marks of unspeakable torture.
01:06His death ignites protests across the country, reminding Syrians of the oppressive and the
01:10sectarian decades-long rule of the Alawite al-Assad family over the predominantly Sunni
01:15country.
01:16The army cracks down violently on the protests, sparking thousands of Syrians to flee the
01:20country.
01:21The number of fleeing grows exponentially over the course of the conflict.
01:24In August 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama calls on al-Assad to resign, and Syria's
01:28first official opposition council is formed in Istanbul.
01:31In November, Syria is kicked out of the Arab League in response to its brutal crackdown
01:35on its people.
01:36In January 2012, the al-Qaeda-allied al-Nusra Front is formed and vows to topple the al-Assad
01:41regime.
01:42A series of high-profile military and political defections occur, as a significant chunk of
01:47the Syrian army defects and forms the Free Syrian Army.
01:50In August 2012, Prime Minister Riyad Hijab defects to Jordan and becomes a major player
01:54in the Syrian opposition.
01:56The Syrian National Council is recognized by the U.S., Turkey, France, Great Britain
02:00and Qatar as the sole representative of the Syrian people.
02:03With rebel forces across the country making widespread gains, the Iran-backed Lebanese
02:07militant group Hezbollah enters Syria to help bolster the al-Assad regime, despite Lebanon's
02:11policy of neutrality in the conflict.
02:13In August 2013, shocking footage emerges of hundreds of civilians in Ghouta on the outskirts
02:18of Damascus, killed after a chemical weapons attack.
02:21The images of children struggling to breathe and lying dead goes viral and sparks international
02:25condemnation.
02:26The Obama administration says the attack was a red line and vows to strike Damascus.
02:31The U.S. later backtracks on its promise, the first in a series of backtracking later
02:34to come.
02:35It is said that Russian President Vladimir Putin called Obama personally and warned against
02:39such a strike.
02:40A series of peace talks in Geneva fail to reach a solution, and the following year al-Assad
02:43is sworn in for a third seven-year term after holding farce elections.
02:47The emergence of the radical Daesh group in Syria and Iraq sparked international outrage
02:51and Western states team up with Gulf allies to form a coalition to strike the terrorist
02:55group, where it had carved out a so-called caliphate.
02:58Strikes begin in September 2014 after graphic propaganda videos emerge of Daesh carrying
03:02out beheadings and setting hostages on fire.
03:05Iran also recruits Shia fighters from Iran, Iraq and Pakistan to fight in Syria to bolster
03:09the regime, which has been weakened by three years of war that drained its coffers and
03:13shattered its economy.
03:15Despite the massive backing of such groups, 2015 was the year where the al-Assad regime
03:19appeared to be standing on its last legs.
03:21The regime only held the border with Lebanon and Damascus, but the coastal areas of Latakia,
03:25where al-Assad hails from, was coming under increased attack.
03:28The capital was also surrounded by rebel forces.
03:31As a result, Russia decided to enter the war in September 2015, fearing it would lose its
03:35only regional ally and pour on the Mediterranean Sea.
03:38When world powers meet the following month, they agree to endorse a political transition.
03:42But for the first time, do not call on al-Assad to step down from power.
03:45Saudi Arabia, a chief backer of rebel forces, sets al-Assad's removal as a precondition
03:50for future peace talks.
03:512016 becomes the bloodiest year of the conflict.
03:54With Russian air power, the death toll now reaches half a million.
03:57The U.S. shifts its focus on the removal of the regime and continues with its anti-Daesh
04:01campaign.
04:02Without a strong American backing, Syria's opposition weakens and splinters, and rebel
04:05forces across the country begin to drastically lose territory.
04:09The Syrian regime was implicated in war crimes by the U.N. for its systematic starvation
04:13campaigns across the country.
04:14Shocking pictures of emaciated children emerge on the internet and go viral.
04:18But the world, numb by the years of conflict, fails to take action, leaving the Syrian people
04:22to lose hope.
04:23They begin risking their lives by traveling in dinghy boats to Greece, where they seek
04:27to build better lives for their children in Europe.
04:29The massive numbers of refugees walking on foot across Europe sparked many countries
04:33to panic and close their doors.
04:35The Syrian regime, backed by Russia, set its sights on the final major city under rebel
04:38control, Aleppo.
04:402016 saw the relentless bombing of the rebel-held eastern Aleppo that sparked widespread condemnation,
04:46but no international action.
04:48The U.N. affirmed war crimes were committed by government forces when they dropped chlorine
04:52bombs resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties.
04:54The regime finally declares Aleppo is under government control in December.
04:58With Russia firmly in the driver's seat, political talks have shifted focus from the
05:02transition of the regime to fighting terrorism.
05:04The emboldened al-Assad is now slated to stand in future elections, which can keep him in
05:08power for the foreseeable future.
05:10The new U.S. administration of Donald Trump has expressed its willingness to cooperate
05:14with Russia and Syria and focus on eliminating the Daesh threat.
05:17At the end of the day, the Syrian people were the biggest losers, and 2016 proved to be
05:22the worst year yet.
05:24At least 652 children were killed, according to the United Nations Child Relief Agency.
05:29One of every three schools in Syria is unusable, some because armed groups occupy them.
05:34An additional 2.3 million children are refugees elsewhere in the Middle East.
05:39What began with the killing and torture of the young Hamza Khatib six years ago has led
05:43to thousands more Hamzas, as Syrian children trapped in the conflict become helpless victims.
05:48What was once a dream for liberation has turned into an unspeakable nightmare, which the Syrian
05:53people will bear the scars of for generations to come.
05:59For more UN videos visit www.un.org