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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/20/world/middleeast/syria-recovery-aleppo-douma.html
Journey through Shattered Syria
(New York Times) Vivian Yee - Picking our way around the ruins of the Damascus suburb of Douma, there were few young men. They had died in the war, been thrown in prison or scattered far beyond Syria's borders. After eight years of civil war, the Syrian government now controls much of the country. The Syria we saw was missing a middle class, its members having fled or fallen down the economic ladder. The UN estimates that more than 80% are now living in poverty. Even as the displaced trickle back home, young men are still being forced into the army, and dissidents, or those connected to them, are disappearing into grim prisons. People are still fleeing the country. No reconstruction aid is coming from international donors. "Assad Forever," proclaimed a banner featuring his image, one of many strung over Syrian roads. Almost everywhere we went, we were chaperoned by government minders, several soldiers, and armed plainclothes intelligence agents who would stand next to us during nearly every conversation with a Syrian.