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Representatives of the government have used the opportunity afforded by the recent UN General Assembly and UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution on Syria to continue to spread disinformation about the actions of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic, to signal its determination to continue to meddle in Syria’s internal affairs and to demand regime change in that country.
UNSC Resolution 2118 was unanimously adopted and requires the “scheduled destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons” in keeping with the agreement reached recently by the governments of Russia and the United States in Geneva. A UN mission began inspections of these weapons on October 1. Their decommissioning will be undertaken under the direction of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Most importantly the UNSC agreed that the use of chemical weapons anywhere “constituted a threat to international peace and security”, thus creating the conditions for the future use of various sanctions in response to any violation, including the possible deployment of military force under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. The UNSC also agreed that non-compliance with the Resolution by the Syrian government “or any use of chemical weapons by anyone in the Syrian Arab Republic” would also result in the imposition of what were described as “Chapter VII measures”.
Foreign Secretary William Hague was adamant that the Resolution had established “an important international norm”. He continued to blame the government of Syria, which he described as a “brutal regime”, not just for its alleged use of chemical weapons in the recent attack at Ghouta but for the deaths of all the tens of thousands of Syrians killed throughout the recent conflict. Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, had accused the al-Assad government of “committing a war crime” in relation to the events in Ghouta. This presentation of events is then used to justify the demand of the British government and its allies for punitive measures against Syria and regime change in that country, which they hope will be brought through the use of force as well as through other means. It is in this context that the government and its allies back the rebel Syrian National Coalition, which they refer to as “the legitimate representatives of the Syrian people”, as if to assert that this is a matter that can be decided by the big powers rather than by the Syrian people.
However, Sergey Lavrov, the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, pointed out that the UNSC Resolution had not been passed under the UN Charter’s Chapter VII and as such did not permit the use of “coercive measures”. He pointed out that it imposed responsibilities on all countries, especially Syria’s neighbours to report to the UN and prohibit any moves by what were described as “non-state actors” to acquire chemical weapons. The Russian government continues to demand a UN investigation into several other alleged chemical weapons attacks including one in March near Aleppo in which at least 26 civilians and army personnel were killed and over 80 injured. He pointed out that evidence had already been presented to the UN linking the attack at Aleppo with that at Ghouta and both with those fighting against Syria’s government. Lavrov also raised some doubts about the likelihood of the Syrian opposition forces attending the peace conference in Geneva, which is planned for November. Hitherto, those forces have refused to negotiate with a government headed by Al-Assad, a position encouraged by their backers in Washington, London and elsewhere. In a thinly veiled criticism of Britain and its allies, Lavrov stated that “until recently we have been relying on our Western partners who pledged to push the opposition to the negotiations table and we hoped they would manage it quickly. But so far they have not succeeded. And I am not sure they will by mid-November.”
The overwhelming majority of nations are calling for a peaceful Syrian-led solution to the crisis in Syria. The peoples of the world are opposed to the use of force to settle disputes and particularly opposed to the use of force by the big powers that currently dominate the UN Security Council and use it to advance their own narrow interests. The government of Britain continues to act in a manner completely at odds with the demands of its own citizens as well as the rest of the world. It must be condemned for its continued interference in Syria, the spreading of disinformation and its open support for an armed rebellion against the government of that country. It must be condemned for its hypocritical claim of “humanitarian concern”, manipulation of the UN Security Council and for its continual efforts to use force to settle international disputes. It is the task of the workers and all democratic people to put an end to all such activities and create the conditions for an anti-war government
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