“We have enemies around the world that need to understand that we’re not going to tolerate this type of behavior,” Boehner said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “We also have allies around the world and allies in the region who also need to know that America will be there and stand up when it’s necessary.”

Christina DeJong, associate professor in the School of Criminal Justice, said one of the aspects to this situation that people have been questioning is if these vicious actions are considered a genocide. Even though Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, and his military did use chemical weapons toward its own people, it is not considered a genocide, she said.

“Some will say that it is a genocide because they want to kill a lot of people, but international law says they need to kill a specific group of people for it to be labeled as a genocide,” DeJong said.

DeJong also said one way this could greatly affect Syria is the increased use of sexual violence toward innocent people in the area.

“Whenever there is a conflict situation like the one in Syria, one of the first thing that happens is women, children and even men are sexually victimized,” DeJong said. “This is an attempt of the government and troops to dehumanize the population and keep them from fighting back.”

International relations senior Anas Attal, who is from Syria, said that students need to be educated about the crisis because it shows what a dictator government and military is like.

“It is important for students to be aware of this situation because hundreds of innocent people have died,” Attal said. “This is a reminder for everyone to know how important democracy is.”

If the U.S. were to intervene, there could be a backlash of support, but the U.S. cannot let innocent people die, Attal also said.

“If we invaded, the aftermath could be very bad,” Attal said. “But at the same time, this use of chemical actions should not be unpunished. There has to be a better solution.”

Students from the Michigan State College Libertarians and the Young Democratic Socialist Organization set up outside Wells Hall on Tuesday to start getting word out about the possible government intervention.

“We will be organizing an open forum in the next week or two to spread awareness about issues the country is facing right now,” said Andrew Gibson, a political theory and constitutional democracy sophomore and member of the Young Democratic Socialist Organization.

No one knows the true answer on whether to invade or not, but because there has been force used upon innocent people, DeJong thinks something needs to be done.