Confused About Syria? A Guide to the War’s Friends, Enemies, and Frenemies.Syria’s bloody civil war, which has killed more than 220,000 people and uprooted millions, began in 2011 as a conflict between Bashar al-Assad’s government and the rebels fighting to overthrow him, with a number of foreign powers backing each side. The emergence of ISIS, a new destabilizing force opposed to both Assad and the rebels, complicated the picture significantly and spread the conflict in
