Clinton concedes to Russian adamance on Syria

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has acknowledged that an accord with Russia on a Western-drafted UN resolution on Syria is unachievable given both sides’ positions.

­Clinton has had vigorous talks with Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of Munich Security Conference, discussing various matters from the European anti-missile shield to the UN’s proposed resolution on Syria.

She said that up to the last moment, she had hoped it would be possible to ease Moscow’s concerns. But negotiations with Lavrov only showed that both sides were unwilling to compromise.

Of the vote, Clinton said, “It is difficult, however, to imagine that after the bloodiest day yet in Syria, there are those who would prevent the world community from condemning this violence. And I would ask them: what more do we need to know to act decisively in the Security Council?”

Clinton had criticized Moscow and Beijing for blocking a new resolution on Syria while the Security Council’s other thirteen members voted in favor of it. She warned that Syria’s current state of affairs could devolve into civil war between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those of the armed opposition.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon expressed his deepest regrets over Russia’s and China’s decision to block the resolution, saying it could undermine the UN’s image.

Meanwhile, French UN Ambassador Gerard Araud said the vote on the Syria resolution marks a sad day for the Security Council, Syrian citizens and democracy.

­Moscow says Western states have made a habit of using the UN to bring about regime change in countries like Libya, and now Syria.

“Regime change seems to be the only point of these resolutions. If there is no interest in bringing about regime change, we would have not heard about any resolutions at all,” says Jason Ditz of Antiwar.com.

“What happened in Libya has been a real wake-up call for the international community that these resolutions can lead to wars – and that they are not going to be easy to pass in the future.”


­The UN has been hijacked by the US and NATO, says Rick Rozoff of the Stop NATO group.

“The very name of the international community has been appropriated by the US and its NATO allies – now including the Arab world,” he told RT.

Further, he says, Syrian opposition groups operate with complete impunity inside Turkey – which is a NATO member – with a green light from the Turkish government. Without arms and sponsorship from outside Syria, the opposition would never dare to take up arms against the Syrian army, Rozoff concludes.

Thus, Damascus is stripped of its natural right to protect itself from foreign assault.

“Were armed groups to invade the territory of the United States from Mexico or Canada, I can assure you Washington’s response would not be limited to a domestic one,” Rozoff said.


Views: 0

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes