Crisis in Syria. October 2012

Summary: What started as a few isolated protests suddenly became a nationwide phenomenon and, the more the movement grew, the more violent President Bashar al-Assad’s army became. Within months, the crisis evolved into an all-out civil war. It was the president’s hope that the military might of the Syrian army would stop the uprising in its tracks. Instead it spawned a spirit of militancy among the common people and caused many members of the armed forces to defect to the protesters' side, thus pitting the extremely well-armed and well-trained Syrian army against a makeshift rebel army consisting of protesters and ex-soldiers.