A Look At How Syria Became A Destroyed State

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Armin Rosen, Business Insider: Here's how Syria became hell on earth

In 2010, Syria was ranked 111 out of 169 countries on the Human Development Index, just behind South Africa.

But there's more to the life of a country than the maintenance of a solidly lower middle-income economic baseline. There's more to it than even peace and stability.

Since 1970, dictator Hafez al-Assad and his son and successor, Bashar al-Assad, have turned Syria into one of the world's most thorough police states.

WNU Editor: I am one of those who never thought that the Arab Spring would bring about the sectarian wars and conflicts that are now gripping the Middle East. In the case of Syria .... I never thought that the war would last as long as it has ... or this bloddy. Sighhh .... no more doubts now. The Middle East is now gripped in a massive and brutal sectarian conflict with almost every major power in the world getting involved .... and this is a conflict that has every indication of not only escalating, but one that will probably last for a generation (if not more).