{"id":65236,"date":"2017-04-16T22:34:54","date_gmt":"2017-04-17T04:34:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=65236"},"modified":"2017-04-16T15:02:25","modified_gmt":"2017-04-16T22:02:25","slug":"who-owns-the-r2p-responsibility-to-protect-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2017\/04\/16\/who-owns-the-r2p-responsibility-to-protect-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Who ‘owns’ the R2P (Responsibility to Protect) Syria?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Malinda Seneviratne<\/i><\/span><\/h2>\n
\u00a0There\u2019s saber-rattling in Washington.\u00a0 There\u2019s saber-rattling in Moscow.\u00a0 Tit-for-tat talk.\u00a0 Rattle-for-rattle.\u00a0Neither the USA nor Russia is under attack.\u00a0 Neither country can claim that there is a threat to its security.\u00a0It’s all about a country that is located almost 11,000km from the USA and about 5,500km from Russia.\u00a0Syria.<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
It all followed a chemical attack which Washington blamed on the Syrian President\u00a0 Bashar al-Assad and then proceeded to launch some 60 Tomahawk missiles on the al Shayrat airbase.\u00a0 US Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson warned that Russia was at risk of becoming irrelevant in the Middle East if it continued to support Assad. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Damascus has denied US allegations, noting that the targeted area may have been hosting chemical weapons stockpiles belonging to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS\/ISIL) or Al-Nusra Front jihadists.\u00a0 Moscow, in a wry dismissal, has alluded to the \u2018events of 2003\u2019 when the US representative (Colin Powell) insisted at the UN that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin observed that \u2018the military campaign was subsequently launched in Iraq and it ended with the devastation of the country, the growth of the terrorist threat and the appearance of Islamic State [IS, formerly ISIS] on the world stage.\u2019<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
They can laugh about it and they will<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/div>\n
Just because the USA lied in 2003 does not mean that it will always lie and has done so in this instance.\u00a0On the other hand, that 2003 lie has given cause for any allegation to be properly investigated before any action is taken.\u00a0 Russia in fact has called for such an investigation.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Bolivian Ambassador to the UN, Sacha Llorenti lambasted the USA for its unilateral response, pointing out that the principle of multilateralism has been violated. He added that following the 2003 lie, the UN had set up modalities for dealing with such situations which included in the first instance independent and comprehensive investigations. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But Washington does not care.\u00a0 Washington rattles sabers.\u00a0 Washington has promised to repeat military action in response to any possible new chemical weapon attacks.\u00a0 Moscow has not blinked.\u00a0 Russia (along with Iran) has responded likewise, telling the US to expect \u2018response with force\u2019 if \u2018red lines are crossed in Syria\u2019.\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
There are no diplomatic niceties in the joint communique issued by the two countries: \u2018What America waged in an aggression on Syria is a crossing of red lines. From now on we will respond with force to any aggressor or any breach of red lines from whoever it is and America knows our ability to respond well.\u2019<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It is hard to argue with Llorenti when he asserts that \u2018the United States believe that they are investigators, they are attorneys, judges and they are the executioners. That’s not what international law is about.\u2019 \u00a0 The problem is that when any law is violated with impunity, that law ceases to be effective.\u00a0 The problem with Llorenti\u2019s argument is that it makes sense only if the UN makes sense (when it comes to multilateralism).\u00a0 What we have is a monumental hypocrisy, a lie which makes it laughable when a liar is called out. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
If the UN cannot rein in the rogue state that is the United States of America, then we have to accept that Washington\u2019s do-as-we-please ways in fact invite do-as-we-please from Russia, Iran or whoever.\u00a0 It won\u2019t take too long before we get to that terrible point where the question \u2018who started it all?\u2019 ceases to matter. \u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Well, what\u2019s new?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t this what \u2018multilateralism\u2019 has always been about?\u00a0 Huff, puff, hot air and not much else? Lovely words that get lost in the misery?\u00a0 Well, should we then shrug shoulders, raise and then lower eyebrows and wait for the next great example of hypocrisy? \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Perhaps we should use it to call to question certain groups and certain assumptions.\u00a0 The International Crisis Group, for instance, has issued a statement following the US attack.\u00a0 It is \u2018an opportunity\u2019 (yes, those words!) they say.\u00a0 An opportunity to jumpstart diplomatic efforts, they say.\u00a0 No mention of the legality of that attack.\u00a0 Nothing on investigations.\u00a0 The ICG takes the US narrative as valid.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2018If regime chemical attacks were to continue (perhaps employing chlorine instead of the much deadlier nerve agent sarin), the U.S. might find itself compelled to launch additional, more significant strikes,\u2019 ICG states.\u00a0 Now this is certainly a cute license to trigger-happy Donald Trump.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
What needs to be understood is that while these games are being played with Trump and Putin trying to out-stare one another and while outfits like the ICG tosses out character certificates to preferred aggressors, there are people who cannot stare, cannot blink and in fact are dead.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
This forces us to ask, \u2018what happened to all those who were waving a flag called Responsibility to Protect?\u2019\u00a0 Is it about protecting Syrians from Assad?\u00a0 How about the risks that Syrians face at the hands of the ISIS and a global thug wearing a Good Samaritan name-tag?<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But wait, why should we even bother about these rag-tag outfits who are operating as approvers for the actions of preferred parties who don\u2019t do too much apart from constructing legitimacy for aggression against the chosen enemies (of their chosen buddies), when the United Nations itself does just that when it is divested of the somber architecture and established procedures for the conduct of discussions?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The UN\u2019s impotency has been revealed once again. It is not a forum that can do anything of significance to prevent wars.\u00a0 It can only pick on weaker nations that have for one reason or another fallen out of favor of the favored member states. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Just imagine if Bolivia had taken the kind of initiative that the USA took in Syria.\u00a0 The UN Security Council would not be discussing the legality of the particular action.\u00a0 We won\u2019t hear impassioned speeches of past errors, the reiteration of established procedures, calls for investigations and so on.\u00a0 They would be discussing sanctions.\u00a0 That\u2019s if they didn\u2019t authorize the USA to bomb the Bolivian capital. \u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It\u2019s all happening in Syria, folks.\u00a0 For now, maybe we can call it \u2018a show\u2019 and watch from the sidelines.\u00a0 After all Syria is more than 5000km from Sri Lanka.\u00a0 But what if Sri Lanka became tomorrow\u2019s Syria? \u00a0 Sacha Llorenti may lash out at the USA at a hastily arranged emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.\u00a0 The ICG would bend over backwards, touch its metaphorical heels and salute the USA for \u2018opportunities produced\u2019. \u00a0 Trump and Putin would indulge in a game of who will blink first.\u00a0 There would be Sri Lankans who won\u2019t be watching though.\u00a0 They won\u2019t be able to blink.\u00a0 They\u2019d be dead.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Malinda Seneviratne is a freelance writer.\u00a0 Email: <\/i>malindasenevi@gmail.com<\/i><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 <\/i>Twitter: malindasene.<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Malinda Seneviratne \u00a0There\u2019s saber-rattling in Washington.\u00a0 There\u2019s saber-rattling in Moscow.\u00a0 Tit-for-tat talk.\u00a0 Rattle-for-rattle.\u00a0Neither the USA nor Russia is under attack.\u00a0 Neither country can claim that there is a threat to its security.\u00a0It’s all about a country that is located almost 11,000km from the USA and about 5,500km from Russia.\u00a0Syria. It all followed a chemical attack […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-malinda-seneviratne"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65236\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}