As of mid-August, international news outlets began circling the entire nation of Syria, an Arab Spring nation in the midst of civil war. The Syrian government and its President, Bashar al-Assad, have been accused by members of the global community of using chemical weapons, specifically sarin gas, on their own citizens. However, the premise behind who must take responsibility and why chemical weapons were even used has yet to be clearly proven to the international community. Syria’s problems did not just begin weeks ago; months earlier, whispers of unjust chemical weapon use were discovered, sparking the start of a history-altering crisis.

In April of 2013, France and Britain warned the United States, based on credible evidence, that Syria used chemical weapons on its own people. This exchange of information took place months before the current debate. In June of 2013, the U.S. concluded for themselves that Syria did in fact use chemical weapons. President Barack Obama offered help directly to Syrian rebels, promoting his claim that Syria had overstepped the “red line” , the boundary Obama placed in front of Syria in terms of political turmoil and social unrest. July brought a new leader of the rebel opposition, Ahmad al-Jarba. However, the situation in Syria was silenced until rebel groups began their own international accusation.

On August 21st, 2013, the Syrian opposition formally accused the government of Syria of using deadly chemical weapons in the suburban Damascus, killing and injuring thousands of men, women, and children.. According the U.S., 1,429 citizens were killed in the chemical weapons attack. Within a week, U.N. inspectors made their way to Syria to perform tests and clarify the claims given. Not long afterward, on August 31st, President Obama calls a vote for Congress to decide on military force fulfilling the moral obligations of the U.S. to intervene. Russia decides to ask Syria to avoid U.S. attacks by handing over chemical weapons, by early September. Russia , Iran, and China stand firm as three major nations against U.S. military intervention in Syria, claiming that the U.N. must first prove the events occurred, what for, and how. Russia has stepped out as Syria’s biggest ally, offering the nation, specifically the government, their support On September 16th, the U.N. confirmed that the inspectors found that “the nerve agent sarin [was] used”. Indeed, new “clear and convincing evidence” on behalf of the U.N. proves that sarin was used on the people of Damascus.

Amidst an ongoing investigation, the debate amongst leading nations of the world continues. With only France outwardly supporting possible U.S. military intervention, the Congress still has to vote as to decide how the nation must act. The President continues to possess the option of an executive order, vetoing Congress’ decision regardless, if it reaches that point in the debate. As for right now, Russia continues to scrutinize the U.N. report, despite agreeing to work with the U.S. to convince Syria ridding of all chemical weapons by the middle of 2014, stalling an airstrike. The state news agency of Syria, SANA, claims the proposal to be a good starting point, although there was no agreement to the plan thus far. The remainder of the global community continues to debate and flip-flop decisions over the situation, spending a majority of their time discussing the uncertain fate of Syria in the coming weeks.