After five years, civil war in Syria still going strong

As the death toll mounts, the sea of refugees rises and the price tag approaches historic levels, the future of Syria seems bleaker today than at any time in the five-year civil war.

Norwegian painter Edvard Munch’s iconic pre-Expressionist painting “The Scream” has come to life.

Consider this description by the website edvardmunch.org of the world- renowned masterpiece:

“Essentially this famous picture is autobiographical, an expressionistic construction based on Munch’s actual experience of a scream piercing through nature while on a walk, after his two companions, seen in the background, had left him. Fitting the fact that the sound must have been heard at a time when his mind was in an abnormal state, Munch renders it in a style which, if pushed to extremes, can destroy human integrity.”

In Syria, the screams of children, women and men have pierced the soul of humanity. And yet, the international community is at a loss of how to end the death and destruction.

The following comment from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier this month at the Conference Supporting Syria and the Region in London should be a clarion call for a settlement – but has fallen on deaf ears, thus far:

“The situation is not sustainable. We cannot go on like this. There is no military solution. Only political dialogue, inclusive political dialogue, will rescue the Syrian people from their intolerable suffering.”

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and representatives of Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to a “cessation of hostilities” to serve as a springboard for formal peace talks later this month, but over the weekend, the situation on the ground showed why a settlement remains elusive.

On Sunday, the al-Jazeera news organization reported that Syrian government forces (assisted by the Russians in the fight against Islamic State) advanced militarily and tightened their grip around the city of Aleppo, parts of which are controlled by the rebels seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. Al-Jazeera reported Saturday that the Syrian army, backed by Russian airstrikes and fighters loyal to al-Assad, regained control of the town of al-Tamoura and several surrounding hills in Aleppo’s northern suburbs.

As so after five years of bloody fighting, the civil war in Syria shows no signs of abating.

DISTURBING RAW NUMBERS

It’s hard to understand how this conflict has truly changed the course of humanity without looking at raw numbers.

According to Mercy Corps, more than 220,000 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. Bombings have destroyed crowded cities, and horrific human-rights violations are widespread, according to the aid organization. Basic necessities such as food and medicine are sparse.

The U.N. estimates that 6.6 million Syrians are internally displaced, while millions more have fled the country and taken refuge in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and countries in Europe.

According to the U.N., it will take at least $7.7 billion to meet the needs of the vulnerable Syrian refugees in 2016.

And while pledges are coming in from countries around the world, giving some cause for optimism, the reality is that many nations will fall short of their commitments.

That means the screams of suffering will continue to be heard from Syria and the overcrowded refugee camps.

The United States and its European allies have taken the lead in dealing with this humanitarian crisis, which serves to show the failure of the countries in the region to step up to the plate.

To be sure, the civil war has reignited age-old ethnic and religious tensions. President al-Assad, with the help of Russia and Iran, is attempting to cleanse the country of Syrians whom he views as undesirable.

The five-year war has opened the door to Islamic State to further destabilize the country. The goal of the Islamic extremists is to create a caliphate in the Middle East governed by Shariah law.

The Russians and Iranians have said their involvement is only to help the Syrian government in its fight against IS, but it’s now clear that al-Assad has found a way of achieving his goal of ethnic and religious cleansing in the country.

Thus, the longer the civil war continues, the greater the danger of Syria becoming a humanitarian crisis of historic proportions. It’s time to end the fighting.