The following podcast contains advertising to access an ad-free version of the LawFair

podcast become a material supporter of LawFair at patreon.com slash LawFair.

That's patreon.com slash LawFair.

Also, check out LawFair's other podcast offerings, rational security, chatter, LawFair

no bull and the aftermath.

2011, it was a peaceful revolution that started, you know, everybody, like everybody from

every Syrian, from all of the backgrounds, were on the grounds in their own towns and cities

and calling for the, for Assad to be, to be toppled.

I told myself it's not over, even though I see that it's unfortunately things are, became

very dark now, much more complicated than before years ago, who's to blame Assad regime

number one and then the international community.

And also the Syrian opposition number people on the ground.

We have the foreign fighters coming from everywhere, whether they're joining ISIS or joining

us from front.

Syria became a battle, training, you know, battlefield and a training land for jihadists.

That's because of the Assad regime.

I'm Benjamin Wittis and this is the LawFair podcast April 11, 2015.

When Ola Abdul Hamid al-Rifay was almost 19, she fled Damascus with her family of dissidents

under death threats from the Bashar Assad regime.

Since then, she has watched as Syria has imploded.

While she was in college and getting started in Washington Middle East policy circles,

millions of people have become refugees.

...