The Complete Idiots Guide to the Syrian Civil War

by Tom O’Brien

As we watch the horrors of the civil war in Syria unfold and the escalation of Russian involvement, it may seem difficult to make sense of it all. So many sides, so many agendas, so many interests. To simplify things, let us attempt to break down the various players using teams.

Below is a breakdown of the teams in this fight; team Assad, those loyal to current ruler Bashar Al-Assad and the various rebel factions. We’ll call them team Assad, team Not-Sad, and ISIS. For simplicity purposes, we are going to include Turkey in NATO because their strategy in this mess is another topic for another time.

The Players

Team Assad: Those loyal to current Syrian strongman and ruler Bashar Al-Assad.

Members: Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and related Shia militias.

Why do they support Assad?

For Iran, Hezbollah, and the various Shia militias operating in Syria, this is pretty cut and dry; they are their Shia brothers in a region dominated by Sunni Muslims. They share a religious bond that has pitted them against the Sunni’s for influence throughout the Middle East and the Muslim world.

While their ties are mainly religious and cultural, Russia’s support stems from their national interests being served. Syria has not only been one of Russia’s best and most loyal arms customers over the years, but they also one of their biggest trading partners. In 2011, bilateral trade between the two nations reached nearly $2 billion. Russia has many lucrative defense contracts with Damascus, including a naval base in the port city of Tartous. This serves as Russia’s sole naval base in the Mediterranean Sea and is one of a handful of warm water ports the Russian Navy has access to.

Team Not-Sad: Those that are seeking to remove Bashar Al-Assad from power

Team Members: The United States, NATO, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Al-Nusra(basically Al-Qaeda in Syria), The Free Syrian Army (FSA), and various affiliated rebel groups

Why do they want Assad Gone?

This is a very tricky question and these various factions have their own agendas in this war. For Saudi-Arabia and the Gulf states, Assad’s Shia government is a historical rival that is a big obstacle to their interests in the region. They indiscriminately funded and armed anybody that opposed the regime from day one (including ISIS), and continue to do so at an alarming rate.

For the United States and NATO, Assad has always sided against them going back to his fathers regime during the Cold War. They view them as one of the worlds foremost state sponsors of terror, and a threat to Israel’s existence given their support of Hezbollah. Basically the Assad regime refused to indiscriminately give into Washington and NATO’s interests over the years, which is a cardinal sin in their eyes.

Now onto the FSA, Al-Nusra, and various affiliated rebel groups. I could write ten thousand words on the various rebel groups and barely scratch the surface. Instead, you are getting a condensed version of the biggest players.

The Free-Syrian Army, or FSA is the original rebel group that rose up in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, when Syrian government troops fired on and killed almost a dozen unarmed protesters.

This gave rise to the current conflict that has evolved (devolved?) into the chaos that is Syria today. At first they were the main opposition group in this civil-war but over the last four years, a number of groups have broken off including what is now ISIS and Al-Nusra. Today they continue to operate but have taken a back seat to ISIS and Al-Nusra.

Al-Nusra is basically Al-Qaeda in Syria; yes that Al-Qaeda that crashed two planes into the World Trade Centers, one plane into the Pentagon, and another in a rural Pennsylvania field on 9/11. The same Al-Qaeda that has carried out attacks against Americans. Like the Arab Gulf States, they view Assad as a historical rival in the Muslim world. They have basically overtaken FSA as the top non-ISIS opposition group fighting in Syria.

Team ISIS: Islamic State in Iraq and Syria

Team members: ISIS

Why do they want Al-Assad gone?

The so called “JV Team” has become the varsity team among the rebel factions. Problem is they are so crazy that anti-Assad players including Al-Nusra (Al-Qaeda for those of you keeping score at home) have taken up arms against them. Basically, they are the surviving members of Al-Qaeda in Iraq (the group the US declared dead or almost dead many times) that seized a golden opportunity to create a Muslim caliphate in swaths of lawless territories in Syria and Iraq. They rule their territory (nation?) based off radical Sharia law with no tolerance for other religions. They have enslaved non-Muslims including the Yazidi Christians in Iraq and Syria, bulldozed ancient Christian sites, and control the second largest city in Iraq, Mosul. They are so crazy that many senior military brass (including the architect of the Iraq Surge, General David Petraeus) have proposed allying with Al-Nusra (You know, those affiliated with Al-Qaeda that perpetrated the most lethal attack on US Soil in recent history) to defeat ISIS.

Ladies and Gentleman, the Syrian Civil-War.