Annika Wahlsten

807

10-10-14

Argument Essay

Syria is in the midst of a brutal civil war. Some people of Syria are in support and others are rebelling their tyrannical dictator Bashar al assad. Air strikes are being conducted to protect people but they may be doing more harm than good  hurting not only terrorists but innocent people. It is not ethical to conduct air strikes.

The article “Escape from Hell” in Upfront magazine centers around Amna al-khodr, 17, who used to be a normal teen before the air strikes. Amna studied computer science liked hanging out with her friends until in 2011 when the war broke out and neighbors turned against each other for political views. Assad's military ravaged her home town and set up barricades looking for rebels but often these soldiers harassed civilian like Amna and took her groceries. Amnas family found out a girl had been detained at a checkpoint and raped by the soldiers so they finally decided to move from their home to seek refuge. There was constant bombing in Syria and after Amna moved her hometown was in ruins. In the article she quotes “Airstrikes do not discriminate between civilians and militants.” This shows airstrikes can help the situation in syria but also hurt innocents.

The question whether airstrikes are ethical or not is very complex. It brings up the question are innocent lives more important than a countries peace. Airstrikes might help the fight with the terrorist group ISIS but unjustified death is never right. But whose to define what's right or not, the government conducting the airstrikes thinks choosing nations peace over civilian lives is the right decision. But until airstrikes completely fix the nation I don't believe they're worth these lives.