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Obama administration has allowed Russia to get the upper hand militarily, with devastating consequences that the most recent Security Council resolution can soften for survivors only slightly

UN Security Council Passes Watered Down Humanitarian Resolution for Aleppo



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The United Nations Security Council managed to pass a consensus resolution unanimously on December 19th regarding the ongoing humanitarian crisis in eastern Aleppo, Syria. Security Council Resolution 2328 (2016) emphasizes the importance of ensuring “the voluntary, safe and dignified passage of all civilians from the eastern districts of Aleppo or other areas, under the monitoring of and coordination by the United Nations and other relevant institutions, to a destination of their choice." It calls for "neutral" UN monitoring of evacuation from the city as well as the safety of civilians who choose to stay behind. All parties are to provide the monitors with “safe, immediate, and unimpeded access.” The resolution also calls on all parties to respect and protect all medical and humanitarian personnel, “their means of transport and equipment, as well as hospitals and other medical facilities throughout the country.”
The resolution text was discussed during more than three hours of closed-door consultations by the Security Council members on Sunday. Russia and France, the principal drafter of the resolution, negotiated an agreement on the final text after Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin had strongly objected to the original draft produced by France. When I asked France's UN Ambassador François Delattre what demands Russia had made in order to finally go along with the resolution, he replied that it was too long a question to go into. Russia has vetoed six prior resolutions dealing with the Syrian conflict, including ones specifically involving Aleppo. This time Russia had little to lose in agreeing to a watered down resolution, after helping to change the military facts on the ground in favor of the Syrian regime and strengthening President Bashar Hafez al-Assad's grip on key territory. This resolution sidesteps altogether repeated demands by the French, British and U.S. delegations to impose a nationwide ceasefire and a political roadmap leading to a new constitutional government. It follows by a year the passage of a much more comprehensive Security Council resolution that Secretary of State John Kerry had negotiated with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. That resolution, hailed by Kerry at the time, had laid out just such a road map that ended up leading nowhere but to more tragic deaths. Russia now holds all the cards. Even the very narrowly drafted resolution the Security Council was finally able to pass was in doubt until Russia’s concerns were assuaged. U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power admitted as much when she told reporters, following Russia’s agreement on the resolution, that “until a couple of days ago, people would not have thought the Russian Federation would allow [the resolution] to go through the Council.”

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Passing the resolution is one thing. Implementing it successfully is something else. Evacuations of more than 4500 civilians by bus to the dwindling territories still held by opposition forces have now been proceeding, according to the foreign minister of Turkey, which has been working with Russia on evacuation arrangements. However, militant jihadists are doing what they can to sabotage the evacuations. Over the weekend gunmen are reported to have attacked some busses transporting evacuees and killed a bus driver. On December 19th, the day the Security Council passed the Aleppo resolution, a gunman shot dead Russia's ambassador to Turkey at an art exhibition in Ankara, shouting, "Allahu akbar. Do not forget Aleppo! Do not forget Syria!" Aside from the continued violence committed by jihadists, it is by no means certain that the Syrian government will fully cooperate in the implementation of the Security Council resolution. Syria's UN ambassador, Bashar Jaafari, told reporters after the Security Council vote that the resolution was not really necessary but will prove whether some Security Council members - presumably, France, the United Kingdom and the United States - will finally act in good faith or continue to pursue their “hidden agendas.” He claimed that foreign intelligence officers, including one from the United States, were still in east Aleppo, and that discussion regarding their fate had held up final action on the resolution. The Syrian government intends to capture these foreigners, he added. While the Security Council resolution authorized the Secretary General to increase UN personnel on the ground as appropriate, beyond the 100 or so Syrian nationals working for the UN who are already in the Aleppo area, Ambassador Jaafari rejected the idea that any additional monitors “from the outside” were needed. This begs the question whether the approximately 100 Syrian nationals will be up to the task of undertaking new monitoring responsibilities, even assuming they can remain truly “neutral.” Moreover, with regard to the UN personnel already present in the Aleppo region but not yet positioned within the parts of east Aleppo that the Syrian government has just conquered, it is unclear whether the Syrian government will allow them unfettered access to safeguard civilians who decided to remain. Also, what protection will be afforded to monitors sent by the UN and other humanitarian relief organizations to accompany evacuees on the busses leaving east Aleppo? Ambassador Power said that she and Kerry had agreed, during a telephone call they held on the day of the Security Council vote adopting the Aleppo humanitarian resolution, that the Obama administration would continue pushing its “agenda” for “a country-wide cessation of hostilities and to get a political process back on track until our very last day in office.” The rhetoric is noble-sounding but hollow. The Obama administration has allowed Russia to get the upper hand militarily, with devastating consequences that the most recent Security Council resolution can soften for survivors only slightly.


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Joseph A. Klein, CFP United Nations Columnist -- Bio and Archives

Joseph A. Klein is the author of Global Deception: The UN’s Stealth Assault on America’s Freedom.


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