Syria: stripping the power structure (part 1)

Syrian Arab Republic, is a middle-eastern state in Asia bordering Lebanon to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the south west.People who view Syria mono-chromatically would be amused to know that Syria has been a center stage right in world politics right from the cradle of civilization from the Assyrians to the Ottoman empire to the post World war 1 french colonization. It has always played a leading role in shaping the events in this part of the world. The city of Damascus which is now the capital of the Assad regime is said to be one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities.Hosting a multicultural and multi-ethnic background Syria has a long tradition of tolerant beliefs.

Like most major conflicts around the world our Syria is also infected with religious tensions.The root cause of the conflict here originated thousand years ago under the imperial advancement of the Ummad Dynasty which was Sunni in idolog ruled for almost 110 years later to be over thrown by the Abbasid dynasty which was Shia in origin. Apart from its religious inclination the Abbasid dynasty was know as the golden age of Islamic caliphate having applauding contribution in the field of arts science and politics. The same dynasty is also responsible for the preservation of Greek literature after the fall in Rome which resulted in to the dark ages of Europe. The Turkish rule was probably the most peaceful and prosperous time in the history of this nation. The further advancement and assimilation of new cultures is prominent in the field of art and architecture.
By the end of world war 1, The Ottoman Empire though victorious on its own battles found itself in the losing side of the war which escalated the dissolution of the empire which had began at the prelude of the war, Bosnia and Herzegovina being a former part of it and we know what happened over there as history. The latter annexation of the middle-east was agreed on mutual greed of the imperial forces of Great Britain and France. The major land mass of present day Syria was given to the French where as the remaining land of modern day Iraq, Palestine and Jordan were mandated to the British under the League of Nations which is a predecessor of the United Nations. The borders drawn on these lands were in-considerate of the ethnic background And a grotesque negligence of the historical perspective. The racist views of imperial champions like Sir. Winston Churchill, who was willing to try chemical weapons on the same people for their unwillingness to fight for the empire, is itself an irony towards present Western view of the region.
Critics of the Western imperialism are correct when they point on of the major cause of middle-eastern tension is the unresolved conflict of Israel and Palestine. Soon after the independence from the french, the political structure of Syria was in term-oil ,the newly introduce parliamentary system(a step before democracy.) failed to deliver during the Arab-Israel war in which Syria was involved.The impressive victory by Israel kick-started a series of coup d'etat in Syria which resulted in to failure of parliamentary system to deliver and gave a unhygienic impression of democracy. The mid 50s were a fertile ground for socialist and pan-Arabic movements in Syria. The crisis of Suez canal which was another form of aggression of the imperialistic powers of France,Britain and Israel gave rise to two new situation in Syria, 1- it opened doors for communist intervention in the face of USSR which was already fighting proxy war with the US. 2- it also gave rise to the merging of Syria and Egypt under the leadership of Gamal Abdel Nasser under the banner of United Arab Republic (UAR) in the year 1958. The merger was said to be fragile and had many opponents within the leftist movement. The members of the newly emerged Ba'ath party started a military committee under the leadership of members like Lieutenant-Colonel Muhammed Umran, Major Salah Jadid and Captian Hafez al-Assad. This group also came in charge after the secession of Syria from the UAR in the year 1961.