While German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis prepares to deliver his report to the UN Security Council today, strong disagreement remains over the wording and intent of a resolution being prepared by the US and France. (Washington Post: Security Council Split Over Resolution on Syria). The holdouts appear to be Algeria, China, and Russia. The Arab world is also a bit queasy about invoking sanctions against Syria, although their logic for opposing it remains a bit shaky.
China's UN ambassador Guangya Wang openly opposed the invocation of chapter seven which would threaten "serious consequences", tantamount to the authorization of the use of force if Syria doesn't comply with the resolution. Said Wang, "I think we have to be very careful with Chapter 7. Chapter 7 is the dog that will bite, not just bark."
That, Mr. Wang, is precisely the point. Any resolution that does not invoke Chapter 7 is just noise. Syria knows it and the rest of the world knows it. Don't waste our time with a series of meaningless resolutions. Sadly, that appears to be precisely what is going to happen. Even France is starting to back away from the stronger resolution since there does not appear to be unanimous support for it in the council.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shrugged it off yesterday, saying that she would support a series of progressively stronger resolutions leading up to an ultimate invocation of Chapter 7. Rice said, "This is all about Syrian behavior, but if people want to sequence it, fine, we can sequence it." She then added that the world, "must make very clear to the Syrians that this is a really serious matter and that their nonchalant attitude, their efforts to discredit the investigation . . . are not the attitude of the international community."
So it looks like this will be another typical long dragged out UN affair that accomplishes nothing. It looks like a resolution will be proposed that has no substance and no teeth; a resolution that leaves Syria plenty of room to wiggle off the hook. Meanwhile, Syria continues to support the terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah. They continue to allow Iraqi insurgents safe harbor in border towns within Syria. They continue to allow easy access to the Iraqi border for those same insurgents. They will remain unpunished for the assassination of a head of state that had taken an anti-Syrian shift in his policies. Well, that is the UN at its finest. There is not another organization on this planet better at doing absolutely nothing than is the UN. What a waste of time and money.
Technorati: politics UN Security Council Bolton Rice Condoleezza Rice Syria Mehlis
IceRocket: politics UN Security Council Bolton Rice Condoleezza Rice Syria Mehlis
1 comment :
No doubt that it why it is called the "un". Surely it will be our un-doing if we surrender sovereignty to the great un.
Peace, and thanks.
BG
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