Canada PoliticsChrétien-era cabinet ministers slam international community’s response to Syria
After a deadly two year civil war in Syria, there's finally been an international response.
This week, U.S. President Barack Obama is trying persuade Congress and the American public that a military intervention in Syria is just while the Russians — in conjunction with the UN security council — are in the midst of brokering a deal to have the Assad regime relinquish control of their chemical weapons.
[ Related: Obama backs discussion at the UN on Russia proposal to secure Syria's chemical weapons ]
Two former Canadian political heavyweights, however, suggest that the international community has fumbled and mumbled their way through the crisis and continue to do so.
In an op-ed piece published in the Globe and Mail, former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy and former justice minister Allan Rock slam the action — or inaction — of every engaged institution from the UN, to the G-20 to the President's office.
Start with the United Nations, where a dysfunctional Security Council has shown once again that major reform is long overdue. Its five permanent members (“the P5”) earned their special seats by winning the Second World War. But that was nearly 70 years ago, and judging by the changes in the distribution of global influence, the interval might as well be 1,000 years.
...the council’s most damning defect is the P5 veto, by which any one of these countries can shut down the most powerful international body for even the most self-serving or immoral reasons. Is that any way to run the world?
The UN’s shortcomings in the Syrian crisis do not end there. In late August, the UN dispatched an inspection team with a mandate to determine whether chemical gas was used, but not to investigate who was responsible.
The list of those who have let down the Syrian people continues to lengthen. The G20 ended its meeting last week in disarray, unable to form a unified front even against a tyrant prepared to murder his people by the most appalling means.
And then there is U.S. President Barack Obama, whose now legendary caution has begun to look more like chronic indecision, and whose deferral to Congress now feels more like political gamesmanship than respect for the Constitution.
Interestingly, the two former Liberal cabinet ministers are almost complimentary of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Our own government has laudably supported intervention, recognizing (as Prime Minister Stephen Harper said last week) that leaving Mr. Assad’s war crimes unanswered establishes a precedent that will haunt the world for generations. Canada has also led the way in humanitarian funding, although it would be good to see us assume the leadership role for which we are so well qualified, making sure that the money is used quickly, and where it can do the most good.
Last week, at the close of the G-20 summit in Russia, Harper announced $45 million in aid for humanitarian organizations which provide food, shelter, clean water and medical assistance to Syrian civilians affected by the war.
[ Related: New poll suggests Canadians have little appetite for intervention in Syria ]
Meanwhile, where the international community goes from here still remains to be seen.
According to CBC News, Syria has agreed to Moscow's proposal after to place its chemical weapons under international control for dismantling. France will introduce a motion with the UN, on Tuesday, in an attempt to hold Syria to that commitment.
And, in the United States, President Obama will speak to the nation in a televised address at 9 p.m. (EST). He has said that he supports the Russsia-Syria deal but will press for military intervention if Assad's promise to extinguish all chemical weapons is not credible and swift.
Since the Syrian conflict began in 2011, more than 100,000 people have been killed, and nearly two million refugees have been forced to flee to neighbouring countries.
(Photo courtesy of Reuters)
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