President Assad,

Some time ago, I heard news about what was happening in your country, and my entire world was completely flipped around. Here I was, an average child with basic human rights such as free speech, the right to go to school, the right to wear what I choose, and the right to a life of safety. Meanwhile, children in your country are busy dying from chemical weapon attacks, finding food and shelter, and screaming out the names of their parents, who have been lost in the rubble of this war.

You say that you sleep fine knowing that thousands of your people are dead and millions relocated, but I wonder how well you will sleep when you realize that there is no prize to be won in this war. If you were to ‘win’ the only object to gain would be an empty vessel. You claim that you are not the one orchestrating these attacks on your people, but from what I’ve seen, you’re not offering aid either.

I find it appalling that you take no responsibility for your actions in this fight, that you find it amusing that millions of your own citizens are being murdered and displaced by your own forces and allies, and that you hold your enemies responsible for everything that has occurred. Maybe, instead of turning to the media to capitalize on the mass destruction manifesting in your country, you should be offering clean water to the citizens whose aqueducts you have replaced with bomb craters. Maybe, you should be lending assistance to the children whose parents have been shot down with yet another one of your chlorine bombs. Maybe you shouldn’t let your pride and deep seated need for power get in the way of running a country, but that’s just my opinion.

Aleppo was once a gleaming beacon of historic presence, beauty, and culture, but your own ego has reduced it to a hazardous wasted warzone, far from even coming close to a shadow of its former heights. Your immaturity has changed the life of Syrians for the worst, turned valuable foreign alliances into dangerous opponents, and has given a dictator full access to the main frame of power in your country. When will you see that gaining territory over rebels isn’t everything? What will it take? Would you be willing to sacrifice even a shred of your dignity to create a safer world, or would you prefer to murder the free world in exchange for some influence over your country?

You state that you are the world’s best and most prominent leader, but if that is true, why are you always in the headlines? Each story, article and editorial I’ve ever read about you only shows major atrocities committed upon your citizens, each one worse than the last. So tell me, when you give yourself a good look in the mirror, do you really see an honorable man? Or do you see what I see, a coward?