Haid Haid is a Syrian writer and researcher focusing on security and conflict resolution. He is an associate fellow at Chatham House, working on the Middle East and North Africa program. The opinions in this article belong to the author.

(CNN) After last night's airstrikes on a Syrian regime airbase, the world is wondering what the US will do next in this messy, seemingly unsolvable conflict.

For Syrians, the situation is even more complicated. Not only are they the people most affected by whatever comes next, but last night's strike comes after living through six years of horror, as they anxiously remember what they have already lost.

The heartache for them is therefore not limited to predicting what the future might hold but also how their lives would have been different, had the international community acted sooner.

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Syrians were waiting for former President Obama to act on his "red line," hoping it would alleviate their suffering. I was there to share in the disappointment -- and anger towards the United States -- after it decided to call off a proposed military strike on the Assad regime, instead striking a deal that would have the regime peacefully give up its chemical arsenal.