600,000 Dead. For What?

When Syrian protesters tore down pictures of their dictator, Bashar al-Assad, toppled statues, demanded government reform and braved a military crackdown in 2011, Feras Fayyad was twenty-six years old. He picked up a camera and filmed it all. As his country devolved into warring factions, Fayyad bore witness, documenting the horror, and went on to make two Academy Award nominated films. More than ten years after that first protest, 600,000 people have been killed, more than 6 million Syrians are now refugees, and Assad’s forces have retaken much of the country. This war may have fallen off the front page, but it’s not over, and it’s not just some humanitarian crisis on the far side of the world. On this week’s episode of the podcast we revisit a program about Syria’s war. We explore what was accomplished after 10 years of bloodshed and what could happen if justice is not served for Syria’s people. Guests: Feras Fayyad, documentary filmmaker, Last Men in Aleppo and The Cave; Tima Kurdi, author of The Boy on the Beach: My Family’s Escape from Syria and Our Hope for a New Home; Joby Warrick, national security reporter for The Washington Post and author of Red Line: The Unraveling of Syria and America’s Race to Destroy the Most Danger Arsenal in the World Hosts: Teresa Cotsirilos, senior producer, WorldAffairs; Ray Suarez, co-host, WorldAffairs If you appreciate this episode and want to support the work we do, please consider making a donation to World Affairs. We cannot do this work without your help. Thank you.