What is your opinion on the use of chemical warfare agents in the Syrian Civil War?

The current armed conflict happening in Syria has been going on for almost five years now. The situation does not look like it is moving towards a resolution. As years passed, the Syrian Civil War that was triggered by its citizens’ protest against President Bashar al-Assad's government, has led to the creation of worse problems. One example is the issue about the alleged existence of a chemical weapon stockpile which may have already been used by President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

The U.N. fact-finding commission worked with the U.N. Human Rights Council Commission on Inquiry to investigate the issue on Syria’s chemical stockpile mainly because of the human rights violations involved in its use. The investigation discovered that over 50 incidences involved the use of chemical warfare agents in different parts of Syria which caused the death of almost a thousand civilians.

People involved in the investigation, along with many sympathizersfrom different parts of the world, say that the use of chemical weapons is not limited to those directly involved in the war.Noncombatants or civilians who are within the scope of the chemical’s effect may also be gravely affected. These innocent people have no way of protecting themselves from the effects of chemical weapons especially because chemical warfare agents can come like a thief in the night. 

Some people say that the use of chemical warfare agents is something that shows cowardice and desperation. It is a form of attack that is very unfair especially to those who are not directly involved in the conflict. Using war to address a conflict is already undesirable in itself. Adding the use of chemical agents to attack the enemy without considering how others will be affected makes it more abhorrent.

I am among those who are fervently hoping for the Syrian Civil War to come to an end soon. Many civilians already lost their material possessions, careers, family members, as well as their idea of a good future. The use of chemical weapons will only take away more innocent lives, and I don’t think it will make any of the parties involved more powerful than the other. It puts the lives of everyone in Syria, regardless of the side they are on, in grave danger. So, along with my desire for the Syrian Civil War to end, I hope that the use of chemical warfare agents will stop permanently.