The United Nations' investigations into the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria are going nowhere. The UN Security Council is paralyzed when it comes to dealing with the current crisis in Syria, and is unwilling to enforce resolutions it passed years ago to prevent Syria's neighbor Lebanon from becoming Hezbollah's staging ground to attack Israeli civilians with sophisticated imported rockets.
Consider the spinning of the United Nations Human Rights Council Independent Commission of Inquiry's examination of evidence regarding the use of chemical weapons in Syria against the Syrian people. On Sunday one of the lead investigators, Carla Del Ponte, said that it looked like rebel forces have used the nerve agent sarin, based on testimony gathered from victims and medical workers. She said that the commission had not yet seen any evidence of chemical weapons use by government forces, contradicting the U.S. narrative. Within twenty-four hours, the commission issued a press release walking back Ms. Del Ponte's claim, stating: "The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic wishes to clarify that it has not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict. As a result, the Commission is not in a position to further comment on the allegations at this time."
Why this sudden distancing from the conclusions of a leading commission member who was commenting on evidence that she personally reviewed?
Meanwhile, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon renewed his appeal last week for unfettered access to Syria for a separate United Nations technical team focused specifically on probing whether there has been any use of chemical weapons during the conflict, ignoring the question of who was responsible. That fact-finding team, headed by Swedish scientist Åke Sellström, was launched in late March following a formal request from the Syrian Government. It has been in hiatus for a month, pending authorized access from Syrian authorities who refuse to permit the on-site investigation to also examine allegations made by France and the United Kingdom.
The UN is quick to criticize Israel, however, whenever it takes legitimate steps to protect its civilians against lethal terrorist attacks. Although admitting that "the United Nations does not have details," Ban Ki-moon's office was quick to issue a statement expressing "grave concern over reports of air strikes in Syria by the Israeli Air Force." The statement asked for all sides to exercise maximum restraint and urged "respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries in the region, and adherence to all relevant Security Council resolutions."
The implication, as usual at the UN, is that Israel alone was the aggressor. Also, as usual, context and history do not matter at the UN. There was no consideration of the fact that the Israeli air attacks were intended to prevent advanced missiles and chemical weapons from reaching Hezbollah from Syria in violation of "relevant Security Council resolutions" that are never enforced.
Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006) requires all member states to "take the necessary measures to prevent, by their nationals or from their territories or using their flag vessels or aircraft:
(a) The sale or supply to any entity or individual in Lebanon of arms and related materiel of all types, including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, paramilitary equipment, and spare parts for the aforementioned, whether or not originating in their territories."
Resolution 1701 also requires "disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon" except for "the Lebanese State." Disarmament was intended to apply to Hezbollah.
In return, Israel made significant concessions in agreeing to the ceasefire with Hezbollah ending the 2006 Lebanon War and the creation of a buffer zone free of armed personnel other than the UN's peacekeeping force.
Hezbollah did not disarm. Soon after Resolution 1701's passage, both the UN and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon ("UNIFIL") contributing nations such as France disclaimed responsibility for disarming Hezbollah. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General at the time, asserted that "dismantling Hezbollah is not the direct mandate of the UN."
Consequently, in flagrant violation of Resolution 1701, the Syrian government has allowed its territory to be used with impunity for years as a transit point for storage and delivery of weapons, sourced from Iran and bound for the Hezbollah terrorists. These weapons, once under Hezbollah control, are aimed directly at Israeli population centers. There are thousands of rockets already in Hezbollah's hands.
Israel is fulfilling its fundamental duty to protect its civilians by preventing Hezbollah, which has demonstrated its willingness to fire rockets at Israeli population centers, from obtaining the ability to strike civilian targets even deeper inside Israel with even greater precision than it currently possesses.
Moreover, chemical weapons are potentially on the loose in Syria and the UN is unable to conduct a credible investigation of chemical weapons use by either side of the Syrian conflict. In such circumstances, given Israel's proximity to Syria and Lebanon, Israel has every right to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons, toxic chemicals or their means of delivery, to Assad’s Hezbollah allies and to prevent the seizure of such weapons by jihadists who dominate the opposition fighting to overthrow the regime. The United Nations has no moral standing to object.
