On August 21, a flood of horrific videos hit youtube, some of them just hours after an alleged chemical attack on several suburbs of Damascus, in Syria. Before most videos, viewers are warned of “disturbing images”; people convulse on camera, rows of body bags are shown, and doctors and volunteers are seen, trying to comfort the victims of the attack. In one video, a doctor takes a moment to record what he’s experiencing. “The size of this tragedy is immense,” he says. “The number of fatalities and casualties is immense. We’ve run out of supplies here in Jobar.”

  But what exactly happened in those early-morning hours that caused so many terrible deaths? For many, that is still unclear. For some time after the attack, the only available information was the mass of videos posted by Syrian opposition activists and some social media posts. While raw footage such as this might seem beneficial, the loads of propaganda being produced by both sides of the conflict must be taken into consideration. Rebels blame the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad and his cabinet, for the attack, and Assad blames terrorists. At this point though, the question on many minds is not “Who?” but, “Why?”

  It all started back in 2011, when a build-up of anti-Assad regime sentiments broke in a wave of protests that were quickly and brutally put to an end by the government. Beyond that, responsibility for the attacks within the country becomes confusing. The government blamed a series of city-bombings in 2012 on terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda. However, rebels claimed this was just a front, and that the government was planting the bombs in order to discredit protesters. While this may be a very astute look into what’s really going on in Syria, many terrorist groups have already claimed responsibility for the bombings. At the same time, while the Syrian government may not be directly responsible for such occurrences, unconnected loyalist groups throughout the country are more than willing to retaliate against civilian protesters on behalf of a government that may or may not know of their eager loyalty.

  Within days of the attack, countries from around the world were choosing sides in the conflict. Countries such as France, Turkey, the U.K., and the United States all called for military action against Assad, believing the Syrian president to be responsible. Other countries, namely Russia, insisted that the Syrian government would never use such terrible weapons on its own people. After a tense meeting on September 14 however, Russia and the U.S. reached an agreement that allowed Syria until the first half of 2014 to destroy all chemical weapons. Inspection of the chemical weapons and their sites are expected to be completed by November. Syria submitted a comprehensive listing of all their chemical weapons and paraphernalia on September 21, and a final U.N investigation took place on September 25.

  However, some suspect this agreement to be a political maneuver on the part of the Syrians to buy themselves more time before other nations get involved. While this is certainly possible, the sketchy information from the attack leaves little evidence with which to find the culprits. In the meantime, the fighting in Syria continues and rifts between rebel groups grow larger, contributing to the overall conflict within the country. As neither side seems willing to compromise, only a decisive victory for the government or its opposition will end the roll of casualties now. It may be many years before Syria sees peace.