Russia blocks U.N. Security Council condemnation of Syria attack

[webfact]

Russia blocks U.N. Security Council condemnation of Syria attack

By Michelle Nichols

REUTERS

 

Russian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Vladimir Safronkov delivers remarks at a Security Council meeting on the situation in Syria at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, U.S., April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith

 

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia blocked a Western-led effort at the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to condemn last week's deadly gas attack in Syria and push Moscow's ally President Bashar al-Assad to cooperate with international inquiries into the incident.

 

It was the eighth time during Syria's six-year-old civil war that Moscow has used its veto power on the Security Council to shield Assad's government.

 

In the latest veto, Russia blocked a draft resolution backed by the United States, France and Britain to denounce the attack in the town of Khan Sheikhoun and tell Assad's government to provide access for investigators and information such as flight plans.

 

The toxic gas attack on April 4 prompted the United States to launch missile strikes on a Syrian air base and widened a rift between the United States and Russia.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that trust had eroded between the two countries under U.S. President Donald Trump.

 

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson echoed that comment after meetings with Russian leaders in Moscow, saying that relations are at a low point with a low level of trust. Tillerson called for Assad to eventually relinquish power.

 

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, called on Moscow to stop protecting Assad and said the United States wants to work with Russia toward a political solution for Syria.

 

"Russia once again has chosen to side with Assad, even as the rest of the world, including the Arab world, overwhelmingly comes together to condemn this murderous regime," Haley told the 15-member Security Council.

 

"If the regime is innocent, as Russia claims, the information requested in this resolution would have vindicated them."

 

Russia's deputy U.N. envoy, Vladimir Safronkov, said the draft resolution laid blame prior to an independent investigation.

"I'm amazed that this was the conclusion. No one has yet visited the site of the crime. How do you know that?" he said.

 

He said the U.S. attack on the Syrian air base "was carried out in violation of international norms."

 

ATTACK INVESTIGATION

 

Syria's government has denied responsibility for the gas attack in a rebel-held area of northern Syria that killed at least 87 people, many of them children.

 

A fact-finding mission from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is investigating the attack.

 

If it determines that chemical weapons were used, then a joint U.N./OPCW investigation will look at the incident to determine who is to blame. This team has already found Syrian government forces were responsible for three chlorine gas attacks in 2014 and 2015 and that Islamic State militants used mustard gas.

 

China, which has vetoed six resolutions on Syria since the civil war began, abstained from Wednesday's U.N. vote, along with Ethiopia and Kazakhstan. Ten countries voted in favor of the text, while Bolivia joined Russia in voting no.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking at an event in the White House, said he was not surprised by China's abstention.

 

Britain's U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told the Security Council that samples taken from the site of the April 4 attack had been analyzed by British scientists and tested positive for the nerve gas sarin. He said Assad's government was responsible.

 

Diplomats said that Russia has put forward a rival draft resolution that expresses concern at last week's gas attack and condemns the U.S. strike on Syria. It was unclear if Moscow planned to put the text to a vote.

 

(Additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Alistair Bell)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-13

[craigt3365]

Who would have guessed.  Trying to cover up what's going on there?  Hmmm...

[thaibeachlovers]

Bit rich Haley complaining when the US has for years and years veto'd any resolution against a certain country that they support in the face of condemnation from ( I believe ) most countries in the world.

Rycroft saying "Assad did it" don't make it so. Some actual proof would be necessary to do that.

Edited April 13, 2017 by thaibeachlovers

[craigt3365]

1 minute ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Bit rich Haley complaining when the US has for years and years veto'd any resolution against a certain country that they support in the face of condemnation from ( I believe ) most countries in the world.

The security council is a waste of time.  Giving one country the ability to veto a resolution doesn't work.

[jollyhangmon]

... my sentiments exactly ^^ - makes them just a useless farce - again.

A bit like the perp sitting in his own jury (no matter who's concerned at the moment ...). 

[craigt3365]

Seems Russia might have something to hide here.  They are trying to cover their butt.

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/12/politics/us-intelligence-syrian-chemical-weapons/index.html

 

Quote

 

US intelligence intercepted communications between Syrian military and chemical experts

The US military and intelligence community has intercepted communications featuring Syrian military and chemical experts talking about preparations for the sarin attack in Idlib last week, a senior US official tells CNN.

 

The intercepts were part of an immediate review of all intelligence in the hours after the attack to confirm responsibility for the use of chemical weapons in an attack in northwestern Syria, which killed at least 70 people. US officials have said that there is "no doubt" that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is responsible for the attack.

 

The video with this link says a Russian drone was flying over the area bombed.  So they knew what was going on.  Or were involved.

 

More to come.  Definitely not a false flag operation as some have said.

[Baerboxer]

1 hour ago, craigt3365 said:

Seems Russia might have something to hide here.  They are trying to cover their butt.

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/12/politics/us-intelligence-syrian-chemical-weapons/index.html

 

The video with this link says a Russian drone was flying over the area bombed.  So they knew what was going on.  Or were involved.

 

More to come.  Definitely not a false flag operation as some have said.

 

Just like Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, insurgents were backed to oust Ukraine's democratically elected President, and only the Russian bomb hospitals.

 

Call me a cynic Craig, but the days when you could believe the West to be the good guys and the Russians and allies the bad automatically are long long gone. Dealing with ever increasing complexity seems to mean taking shortcuts that involve being economical with the truth, and the end justifies the means.

[craigt3365]

6 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Just like Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, insurgents were backed to oust Ukraine's democratically elected President, and only the Russian bomb hospitals.

 

Call me a cynic Craig, but the days when you could believe the West to be the good guys and the Russians and allies the bad automatically are long long gone. Dealing with ever increasing complexity seems to mean taking shortcuts that involve being economical with the truth, and the end justifies the means.

Agreed.  But this isn't 20 years ago.  That's an old and tiring argument. Times have changed.  Western media reports on coalition bombings of hospitals.  Heck, that just happened recently.  Ukraine is well documented by a number of reliable sources.

 

Don't be too cynical.  You are right, but the dots connect here.  I don't believe everything in print either.  But in this case, it's all coming together.  And of course, there's the history of this happening before.  Many times if you include chlorine bombs.  Just too much evidence to point to anything else. Russian propaganda aside. LOL

[Krataiboy]

2 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

Seems Russia might have something to hide here.  They are trying to cover their butt.

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/12/politics/us-intelligence-syrian-chemical-weapons/index.html

 

The video with this link says a Russian drone was flying over the area bombed.  So they knew what was going on.  Or were involved.

 

More to come.  Definitely not a false flag operation as some have said.

I don't think you can use the word "definitely" about anything emanating from the Pentagon via one of its tame hacks until the evidence is in a form which can be properly verified, which right now it cannot.

 

If it is not a false flag but a deliberate act of cold-blooded killing which can only bring him opprobrium, then Assad - an astute and experienced veteran of the propaganda war being waged by all sides in this seemingly endless conflict - must have suddenly and inexplicably lost his marbles.

 

He and the Russians had IS on the run and the newly-elected US President reconsidering the US historic insistence on Syrian regime change. Why should he or they shoot themselves in the foot with the winning post in sight?

 

Only time will reveal the truth - as it did on a previous occasion when the Syrian regime was blamed for a similar incident which in the end turned out to the handiwork of one of the rebel groups supported by the Coalition.

 

But from now on, one thing is pretty certain: whatever his real motives (and there could be many, ranging from humanitarian to strategic) Trump's ferocious overreaction to the Iblis is likely to encourage the use of false flag events by battered fundamentalists forces seeking to redirect the heat off them and back on to the Aleppo regime and the Russians.

 

Let's keep all our fingers crossed that I am wrong.

Edited April 13, 2017 by Krataiboy
errors

[craigt3365]

100% agreed.  But the dots just connect too well.  Time will tell, but it's looking like Assad did this.  Or at least his people did.  Who knows if he was even aware of what was happening...or if he was directly involved.  We may never know that.  But these intercepts look pretty damning.

 

For the record, I'm 100% against what Trump did.  Bombing like that probably wasn't the best answer.  Especially since it appears he doesn't have a fully baked plan for what to do next.

 

Sadly, all the power lies with Russia.  And they've got too much to lose to pull out of Syria.  Blood is on their hands just like it's on Assad's.

[boomerangutang]

3 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

Seems Russia might have something to hide here.  They are trying to cover their butt.

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/12/politics/us-intelligence-syrian-chemical-weapons/index.html
The video with this link says a Russian drone was flying over the area bombed.  So they knew what was going on.  Or were involved.

More to come.  Definitely not a false flag operation as some have said.

The Pentagon and US intelligence agencies had a so-so reputation for veracity before Trump took office.   Now that they're joined at the hip with Trump's WH, their credence quotient plummets.

[craigt3365]

4 minutes ago, boomerangutang said:

The Pentagon and US intelligence agencies had a so-so reputation for veracity before Trump took office.   Now that they're joined at the hip with Trump's WH, their credence quotient plummets.

Not from what I've been reading.  Many are very upset with Trump and his team. Thus, all the leaked data to show the crazy stuff they are doing.  If they were joined at the hip, you wouldn't see this.

[thaibeachlovers]

3 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

I don't think you can use the word "definitely" about anything emanating from the Pentagon via one of its tame hacks until the evidence is in a form which can be properly verified, which right now it cannot.

 

If it is not a false flag but a deliberate act of cold-blooded killing which can only bring him opprobrium, then Assad - an astute and experienced veteran of the propaganda war being waged by all sides in this seemingly endless conflict - must have suddenly and inexplicably lost his marbles.

 

He and the Russians had IS on the run and the newly-elected US President reconsidering the US historic insistence on Syrian regime change. Why should he or they shoot themselves in the foot with the winning post in sight?

 

Only time will reveal the truth - as it did on a previous occasion when the Syrian regime was blamed for a similar incident which in the end turned out to the handiwork of one of the rebel groups supported by the Coalition.

 

But from now on, one thing is pretty certain: whatever his real motives (and there could be many, ranging from humanitarian to strategic) Trump's ferocious overreaction to the Iblis is likely to encourage the use of false flag events by battered fundamentalists forces seeking to redirect the heat off them and back on to the Aleppo regime and the Russians.

 

Let's keep all our fingers crossed that I am wrong.

I don't think Trump "over reacted". I think he was sending a message to ( unknown to me ) leaders, and used the excuse that Assad did it, because everyone wants to believe that. 

 

[sujoop]

Magnificent stage crafting by Putin, worthy of The Bard himself...

PROBLEM:
1) Putin can't get Trump to lift sanctions on Russia because of all the heat and public perception surrounding Russia/Whitehouse ties.

2) Trump's historical approval #s are in the toilet (which he REALLY hates, almost as much as when people USED to refer to 'President Bannon', or losing the popular vote, or low inauguration #s, or little hands comments, etc, etc;)
 

SOLUTION:
WAG THE DOG - Create an instant FIX to solve both issues, providing 'appearance' of a dramatic Trump/Putin split (with a few old planes scrapped, air field intact, Russia told in advance of strike timing)  plus boost Trump's ratings all in one go (his base no matter what &  some who actually believe Trump was upset over a few Muslim kids  deaths...)
 

THE LONGER GAME:
After successfully staging the public break-up, Putin now has breathing room to maneuver back towards his goal - REMOVING THE SANCTIONS. Thus, after fortifying the breakup with follow-up public appearances of further diplomatic spats (UN, State Depts etc), look for Rex & Team Trump to eventually announce a 'sudden break-through' agreement with Putin no longer favouring Assad in exchange for removal of sanctions.

 

FOOTNOTE:
Putin still defacto controls Syria no matter what (of course)

CAVEAT:
If the FBI or other drops a real bombshell on Trump/Putin-gate, or if Flynn or others start singing, all bets are off. Also, Congress has to buy the whole wag the dog n pony show:

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/318511-senators-move-to-limit-trump-on-russia-sanctions

TBC:
Regardless, saddled with his fragile reactionary ego, narcissist Trump will continue to cause major blunders which will require ongoing and possibly much larger distractions. North Korea or other flash points to follow, absolutely no doubt.

[sgracer]

they don't call him the deflector-in-chief for nothing

[boomerangutang]

1 hour ago, sgracer said:

they don't call him the deflector-in-chief for nothing

welcome to Thai Visa.

[boomerangutang]

6 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

Not from what I've been reading.  Many are very upset with Trump and his team. Thus, all the leaked data to show the crazy stuff they are doing.  If they were joined at the hip, you wouldn't see this.

                   The glass may be half-empty or half full. I think the intelligence agencies have been trying, thus far, to at least appear to be behind the Dufus in Chief.  The lurid stuff we hear about, is 95% stuff which liberal journalists have uncovered.  The FBI, for example, altho kowtowing to Republican demands to publicly skewer HRC for months leading up to the election, didn't divulge anything about their investigation of Trump/Russia connections ......and only did admit to it - eight months after their supposed investigation was opened, and then did so grudgingly. 

 

                 'Grudgingly' is the key word, when it comes to the FBI or either of the Republican-led investigations on Trump/Russia.   Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann are connecting a lot more dots than any of those 3 committees.   Since Comey was questioned by the House Intelligence Committee, the House hasn't done anything.   Weeks later, and nothing new, except proof of Nunes colluding with the WH staffers in the cover-up.

 

               As for the FBI:  Republican partisan Comey will continue to sit on his hands as much as he possibly can.  

[hawker9000]

12 hours ago, jollyhangmon said:

... my sentiments exactly ^^ - makes them just a useless farce - again.

A bit like the perp sitting in his own jury (no matter who's concerned at the moment ...). 

The UN itself is a waste of time & money, and their hot air is most likely the real root cause of global warming...  The US should have foreclosed on the Manhattan property long ago.  A new football stadium or shopping mall would contribute far more to world peace and stability.  Give all these diplomatic baboons their walking papers and cancel their diplomatic immunity. 

[boomerangutang]

17 minutes ago, hawker9000 said:

The UN itself is a waste of time & money, and their hot air is most likely the real root cause of global warming...  The US should have foreclosed on the Manhattan property long ago.  A new football stadium or shopping mall would contribute far more to world peace and stability.  Give all these diplomatic baboons their walking papers and cancel their diplomatic immunity. 

                             The UN is like democracy:   it's cumbersome and flawed, but it's about as good as we, as people, can do in that regard.  People are inherently flawed.  Any person can change his/her thinking/opinions 180 degrees in the wink of an eye.   The UN is comprised of people.  It's amazing it works as well as it does, considering the loony ways people think.  

 

                    If you have a better way for dealing with some of the world's big problems, let us know.

[craigt3365]

7 hours ago, hawker9000 said:

The UN itself is a waste of time & money, and their hot air is most likely the real root cause of global warming...  The US should have foreclosed on the Manhattan property long ago.  A new football stadium or shopping mall would contribute far more to world peace and stability.  Give all these diplomatic baboons their walking papers and cancel their diplomatic immunity. 

I've spent quite a bit of time at the UN in New York.  I was a rep for a tech firm.  The stories my customers would tell.  Net: most country's reps are there because of their connections and are primarily interested in partying.  Many don't show up to meetings and when they do, they aren't qualified to do anything.  There are exceptions to this, obviously.  But the concept is seriously flawed.

 

The UN does do some very good work.  Some of the agencies accomplish a lot.  But overall, a huge waste of money. 

[Krataiboy]

On 4/13/2017 at 4:06 PM, thaibeachlovers said:

I don't think Trump "over reacted". I think he was sending a message to ( unknown to me ) leaders, and used the excuse that Assad did it, because everyone wants to believe that. 

 

I tend to concur with your conclusion that Trump was sending a (not very) subliminal message to a number of leaders - not least those of Russia and China. Less clear is what exactly his message was intended to be - and even more importantly how it will be interpreted and acted upon by the recipients.

 

The knee-jerk nature of the US response, without conclusive evidence of the perpetrator(s), was palpably an over-reaction - as was the scale of the reprisal, which saw almost as many 21st century tomahawks launched as flew through the air during Custer's Last Stand (And we all know how that little skirmish played out for the American military).

 

Under UN terms of engagement, of course, no member nation is entitled to attack a sovereign state unless facing an imminent threat to its own national security - which, in this instance, the US was not.

 

But, as we know from the endless illegal wars launched against countries rash enough to resist its imperial might and hegemonic aspirations, Uncle Sam all too often shows himself to be the bully on the block, with about as much regard for international opinion and UN charters as a Brooklyn streetfighter has for the Marquis of Queensberry Rules.

Edited April 15, 2017 by Krataiboy
errors

[dabhand]

Just watching CNN and the topic was the sarin attack in Syria. Mention was made of an MIT report that expressed some doubt on whether the attack was air or land based.

So, this is the article:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/assessment-of-white-house-intelligence-report-about-nerve-agent-attack-in-khan-shaykhun-syria/5584867

I have reviewed the document carefully, and I believe it can be shown, without doubt, that the document does not provide any evidence whatsoever that the US government has concrete knowledge that the government of Syria was the source of the chemical attack in Khan Shaykhun, Syria at roughly 6 to 7 a.m. on April 4, 2017.

Analysis of the debris as shown in the photographs cited by the White House clearly indicates that the munition was almost certainly placed on the ground with an external detonating explosive on top of it that crushed the container so as to disperse the alleged load of sarin.

 

Yes, Global Research is an anti 'Western' website and, as can be expected, RT is all over this report. However, the author of this article, Theodore A. Postol, is a professor of Science, Technology, and International at MIT, and has recently been given an award by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) for his work in assessing and critiquing the government's claims about missile defense.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Postol

 

It would seem that the professor has had many run-ins with both the Pentagon and US missile contractors, but he seems to be respected by his peers and it would be absolutely no surprise, given the huge amounts of DoD funding at stake, that a rush to action would be the preferred option by players such as Raytheon (cruise missiles++). So, possibly, the professor has an axe to grind here, but would he let that affect his opinion on the matter?  

 

We may never know the absolute truth on this incident.

 

 

[sujoop]

Donald J. Trump‏ @realDonaldTrump

Things will work out fine between the U.S.A. and Russia.
At the right time everyone will come to their senses & there will be lasting peace!
6:16 AM - 13 Apr 2017

 

 

"Lovers' quarrels are hard, even when they're just for show"
(recommend following Evan McMullin on trump/Putin watch:)

 

Some of the comments resonate:
-He says "at the right time" like he is still waiting for a signal from Putin. Remember, like during the campaign.
-Interesting how the news seems to buy this Trump/Putin quarrel as a big split and proof that there is no collusion. "Sad"

-this "public fight" with Russia is sure helping trump's biggest political problem at home...

-We started a pool for how long it will take Trump to lift the sanctions.

-Prediction: Putin takes care of Assad, Trump lifts sanctions on Russia. Voilà BFF's again.