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Obama’s obsession with regime change in Syria is blinding it to the graver danger that jihadists pose to international peace and security

UN Security Council Continues To Dither On Syria



Senior United Nations officials once again urged the Security Council to “come together to put an end to the bloodshed” in Syria. “We are not only watching the destruction of a country but also of its people,” the Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos said in her briefing to the Security Council on July 16th.
“This is a regional crisis not a crisis in Syria with regional consequences, requiring sustained and comprehensive engagement from the international community,” she added. Ms. Amos, who is also the UN Emergency Coordinator, was joined by UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, and Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights, Ivan Simonović. The speakers outlined a humanitarian and human rights catastrophe in Syria, spilling over into neighboring states as Syrian refugees seek safe havens in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq. Lebanon and Jordan are currently the two most affected countries, hosting over one million refugees between the two. “Measures must be taken now to mitigate the enormous risks of spill-over and to support the stability of Syria's neighbors, so as to keep the situation from escalating into a political, security and humanitarian crisis that would move far beyond the international capacity to respond,” said Mr. Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

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Ms. Amos noted reports of an “open and blatant violation of the rules of war, with total disregard for human life and dignity, in a climate of generalized impunity.” Recalling that senior United Nations officials had repeatedly called for a political solution, she said: “We are looking to this Council to exercise a leadership role in that regard.” Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights Simonović said that the “war crimes, crimes against humanity, and gross human rights violations must not go unpunished.” He repeated a call for the Security Council to “refer the Syrian crisis to the International Criminal Court.” Security Council members listened intently during the briefings and then deliberated in closed consultations for nearly two hours. Although members expressed support for the UN’s multi-agency humanitarian efforts and appreciation for the countries bearing the burden of absorbing Syrian refugees, as usual they decided nothing. As Acting U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Rosemary A. DiCarlo told reporters after the closed door session, there was “a lot of passion in the room and frankly a lot of frustration that we have not been able to come together and speak with one voice, even on humanitarian issues.” Nothing has changed at the Security Council since the outset of the Syrian crisis. The five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council have long since chosen sides in the conflict and remain frozen in place. Russia and China are supporting the Assad regime. The United States, the United Kingdom and France are backing the opposition – at least those elements which they believe they can vet as being “moderate.” In truth, as Mr. Simonović in particular noted, both sides are to blame. “In Syria today, serious human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity are the rule,” he declared. The Assad regime, the Assistant Secretary General said, has carried out “indiscriminate and disproportionate” attacks with heavy weapons. He referred to massacres committed by government forces and affiliated militias, including one in early May that resulted in at least two hundred deaths, “including entire families, women, and children some of whom appeared to have been mutilated and burned.” Armed opposition groups are just as savage. The only thing holding them back is lack of heavy weaponry comparable to the regime’s arsenal. And Islamist sponsoring countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey are doing what they can to even the odds. The rebels, according to Mr. Simonović, have committed their share of killings, torture, kidnappings, and threats of reprisals against civilian populations, sometimes along “sectarian lines.” Their military operations within populated areas are “endangering civilians, including women and children.” Mr. Simonović underlined that the continuous influx of foreign fighters into Syria to support both sides is endangering the whole region, and called on the supply of weapons to both sides to stop. The Obama administration is ignoring this plea. It is planning to supply arms to elements of the opposition which it believes it can vet as reliable, while looking the other way as al Qaeda-affiliated jihadists pour into Syria, reportedly with the assistance of Turkey led by Obama’s close friend, Islamist Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. These jihadists are dominating the opposition forces. Some have threatened to establish an independent Islamist state in northern Syria. Ambassador DiCarlo admitted the situation was “murky.” She told reporters that “I think we do have to distinguish between the armed opposition—the sort of the moderate opposition that many of us have been working with—and the extremist elements, and the extremist elements that have perpetrated some pretty horrible atrocities that we have seen in recent days.” However, the murky boundaries between “moderate opposition” and “extremist elements,” together with the increasing control over rebel-held areas exercised by the “extremist elements,” make the job of picking out reliable opposition partners a pipe dream. The Obama administration’s obsession with regime change in Syria is blinding it to the graver danger that jihadists pose to international peace and security. Ambassador DiCarlo and other members of the Obama administration cannot even bring themselves to use the term “jihadists” or “Islamists” to describe this threat, let alone understand that Syria is only one battle front in their world-wide war of violence and intimidation to establish Islamist supremacy wherever they think they can fill a vacuum. Hezbollah, supporting the Assad regime, and al Qaeda affiliates supporting the opposition, together with their sponsoring states, constitute a common menace. This is the threat which should bring all the veto-wielding members of the Security Council together on Syria, instead of arguing over which side in the conflict is more atrocious.


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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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