Millions of people have died because of genocides. Some may or may not know that Syria is currently experiencing mass killing. Syria is going through a civil war, which is why this conflict broke out. Genocide is an important topic because it allows people to learn that other people, in different places, do not have as easy a life as they do. It is important to talk about the Syrian conflict because the problem arose from a civil war, unlike most genocide-type problems arising from wars. The massacres in Syria should not be considered genocide. Before the government began eliminating the Sunnis, Syria started a civil war. This is what prompted the government to start killing Sunnis. They are killing Sunnis because the government believes that Sunnis will take power over the Assad family, which would bring about the end of the Alawite regime (Simon 1). According to Chip, the Al-Assad regime was manufacturing chemical weapons to fight in the civil war, and once the government decided to eliminate the Sunnis, it began using these weapons against them. Since 2013, approximately 110,000 people have died in massacres, suggesting that this problem is genocide (Amr 1). The conflict in Syria should not be considered a genocide because the government is killing Sunnis because of a civil war. As Chip stated, it was during the civil war that they started killing Sunnis, so presumably the government has a legitimate reason to kill them. The sources do not say this specifically, but it can also be assumed that the Sunnis were bothering the Alawites, and therefore had to kill them to win the war. If this later turns out to be true, it would defy the definition of genocide, as they are killing them for war reasons...... middle of paper ...... should petition to help many places in the grip of massacres to help stop them. You might think they are useless, but one person could help save many lives. Works Cited Adams, Simon. “The World’s Next Genocide.” The New York Times. The New York Times, November 15, 2012. Web. April 3, 2014.Cumming-Bruce, Nick and Michael R. Grodon. “Watch over the genocide.” Genocide monitoring. Google, October 27, 2013. Web. March 31, 2014. Grant, RG Genocide. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1999. Print. Salahi, Amr. “Middle East Monitor – The latest news from the Middle East.” Middle East Monitor - The latest news from the Middle East. Np, September 23, 2013. Web. April 3, 2014.Carey, Chip. "Syria's civil war has become a genocide | World Policy Institute." Syria's civil war has become a genocide | Institute of World Politics. World Policy Institute, September 16, 2013. Web. March 30. 2014.