Syria is not in a civil war. My response to the Guardian Syria War explanation video
The Guardian released the following video:
Inspired by the unanimous response by commenters who were able to tell the video was propaganda, I researched the critical facts that the video omits or lies about. The result of this is below:
It is not a civil war, it is a foreign intervention. According to the US state department, half of the ~100k rebels are not from Syria, and according to Russian Defense Ministry, well over half are not from Syria. They come from over 100 outside countries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_fighters_in_the_Syrian_and_Iraqi_Civil_Wars
They are funded and armed by the USA and Saudi Arabia. The USA alone has spent over half a billion dollars as of 2016 arming these rebel groups. This averages to about 5,000 USD per rebel in a country where the average working citizen makes 300 USD per month. If you combine the years of 2016 to 2018 and include Saudi support, the total backing is likely a billion USD this by now.. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-seeks-500-million-to-train-equip-syrian-rebels/
A study funded by the EU and German foreign ministry concluded that every single weapon that ISIS obtained involving an arms trafficking violation was purchased by either Saudi Arabia or USA. In many cases the time from factory line to ISIS hands was less than 2 months. It also concluded that all ISIS chemical weapon precursors came from Turkey, while also concluding that it was impossible for Turkey to not be aware they were arming rebels with chemical weapons. https://steemit.com/geopolitics/@kharn/analysis-of-the-isis-weapons-trafficking-serial-number-based-investigation-report-released-dec-2017
Only one side has and uses chemical weapons: The rebels. A U.N. investigation into the first major chemical weapons attack committed in early 2013 — an atrocity the West immediately pinned on Assad — concluded the evidence suggested the attack was more likely committed by the Syrian opposition. The primary reasons are: the range of the weapon makes it impossible for it to have come from Assad controlled area, and inspectors had already found that Assad did not have chemical weapons, while another rebels refused to comply with the disposal of their chemical weapons. The American public did not believe it and neither did many congress members who openly called it a lie. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-22424188
The dominant western narrative says that the conflict was started by Assad after the ‘evil dictator’ clamped down on peaceful protests against his rule in March 2011. The history of US intervention in Syria tactics and hundreds of millions of dollars of funding given to violent groups suggests that the peaceful pro-democracy protests were hijacked at a very early stage by rebels funded by foreign powers. Despite his popularity, Assad has had a history of not allowing groups to run in elections against him, and thus the pro-democracy protests were a natural response. However, the violence from foreign backed rebel groups is likely what provoked a violent response from the Syrian authorities.
The rebels fighting against Assad are largely motivated by their desire to have a removal of the current relatively secular democracy so it can be replaced with an islamic theocracy that will likely be as brutal as ISIS and its US backed allies.
NATO concluded in 2013 that 70% of Syrians want Assad to stay in power, and 10% want the rebels to overthrow him. NATO has taken down the original source document, but various other polls show 45 to 70% support for Assad staying in power. This is a higher approval than US presidents typically maintain. 
Imagine if the same thing happened to USA. I am keeping the numbers roughly proportional to the Syrian army budget and personnel count. Lets say that people in the USA began peaceful protests complaining that the US election process is rigged. Then Russia calls the protests part of a humanitarian crisis and publicly announces that it will be spending ~200 Billion USD supporting a violent overthrow of the US government. This results around 1 million fighters entering the US from countries around the would. These foreign fighters begin atrocities like beheadings, terrorism, suicide bombings, and importantly, chemical weapons gas attacks. Virtually all Americans are against a civil war breaking out, and prefer to peacefully protest. Russian ships park of the coastlines of the USA and every time a gas attack happens they send in cruise missiles to hit US military bases before any evidence or investigation. Every time a missile attack or airstrike happens, the Russian mercenaries somehow manage to coordinate on attacking the same military base. Violence and sanctions build up for a decade until the US economy is 1/4th the size it was, and is in worse financial situation than the great depression. Everyone is poor and afraid for their lives, Russian funded terrorists roam the streets and have taken over major US cities entirely. Then the RT releases a video called the US war in 5 minutes where the only facts mentioned are that the USA has an oppressive government, that the democracy is rigged, and that the civil war in the USA was a natural result of the overly oppressive US regime. And thats a glimpse into opposite land for you.