Close to half a million Syrians have died in the Syrian Civil war since 2011. In Aleppo alone, since 2012, over 100,000 Syrians have been killed. As of 2015, the UN puts the estimate of civilians killed by the Syrian regime at 250,000. Other estimates range from 150,960 to 470,000.[1]
More Arabs have been killed by Bashar Al-Assad since 2011 than by Israel since 1948.
More Arabs have been killed by Bashar Al-Assad since 2011 than by the US Iraqi Invasion (by most estimates).
More Arabs have been killed by Bashar Al-Assad since 2011 than by ISIS.[2]
War is ugly. We learn daily about atrocities committed by all players in the region. Certainly many of them by the secular rebels like the Free Syrian Army. Many of them by the U.S.-led coalition.
We all need to be ashamed. No one is on the “good” side here.
The regime deserves a special place, though.
What, other than hypocrisy allows one to protest Israel’s occupation yet excuse the regime? What, other than hypocrisy allows one to protest US Imperialism, yet excusing Russian and Iranian imperialism?
Perhaps it is denialism. We live in a world where basic facts are contested. Where there is no common truth. Perhaps it is not hypocrisy. Perhaps we each have our own realities, with their own numbers, and each reality continues to fuel our fight against our neighbors.
[1] Totals for war via SCPR and SOHR. Estimate for those killed by Syrian Regime via Quora answer, see answer for cited UNHCR reports.
[2] Estimates are in the mid-tens of thousands