The truth is that brutality is winning in Syria because the democratic powers are afraid to confront it. As for Assad’s allies, Iran and Russia, the latest deaths will certainly not make them reconsider their support for him. Since the war began in 2011, Russia has vetoed 11 draft resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Syria. On Saturday, the UN security council finally voted unanimously for a month-long Syria ceasefire.
As a permanent member of the security council, Russia has a special responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. Instead, in New York it has protected Assad against the consequences of his actions, including the use of chemical weapons; inside Syria, its forces have actively participated in attacks on hospitals and other prima facie war crimes. These atrocities have been well-documented.
The response of western countries to the horrors in Syria is always the same: more statements deploring and condemning what has happened and appeals for an end to the violence. In the first two years of the conflict, the EU averaged almost one statement a week. The statements have become less frequent but no more effective. As the UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, said recently: “The conduct and management of this war has been utterly shameful from the outset and the failure to end it marks an epic failure of global diplomacy.”
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Waiting for Putin and Assad to run out of people to kill. Is that our plan? | Ian Bondwhen politicians say that there is no military solution in Syria, they are lying: there is a military solution and Assad, Khamenei and Putin are imposing it. The west can either try to stop them or wait until peace comes to Syria when Assad and Putin run out of people to kill.↱www.theguardian.com
