President Donald Trump ordered a military strike against the Syrian government after a deadly chemical attack killed dozens. But the carnage in Syria began long before now, reports CNN’s Randi Kaye on the Anderson Cooper 360 show.
Daraa, Syria is a small town about 50 miles from Damascus. Here is where Graffiti containing anti Government slogans sparked the start of the Syrian uprising. It was March 2011, and more than a dozen children had been arrested for drawing that graffiti. Protesters demanded the release of the children and democratic reforms. It quickly turned violent with protests spreading and Syrian security forces opening fire on crowds. Protesters targeted the Government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The regime’s response was swift; a brutal crackdown, massive arrests and casualties. The President made promises that never came. The Government militias continued to torture and murder their own people using tanks and surprise raids. Emails obtained by CNN from Assad’s private email accounts showed that they continued to live a life of luxury. One day in February 2012, the same day opposition fighters in Homs reported more than 200 killed, Mr. Assad’s wife was emailing a friend about a shoe she liked that cost about $7000 a pair. In another email where Syria’s first lady used the fake name “Aliya”, she contacted London art dealer for an art that cost as much as $16,500. All of this during the senseless slaughter of Syrian civilians.
The UN estimates about 400,000 Syrians have been killed since the war began in 2011. And as of last December, nearly 5 million Syrians have fled the country; only adding to the refugee crisis in the Middle East. Many in Syria have lost hope.