How Not to Get Aid Into Homs, Yarmouk, and to 9.

3 Million Syrians Via a UN Resolution

Dr. Franklin Lamb Salem-News.com- e!"#$"%&#$
The starving victims besieged in Syria, and all people of goodwill, are demanding immediate, non-politicized humanitarian aid without further delay. (EL !"E#, Syria$ - %ho authored the seemingly designed-to-fail ! Security &ouncil 'raft (esolution on delivering urgent humanitarian aid into the )ld &ity of *oms and other besieged areas of conflict-torn Syria+ %hen we ,now this, much may become clearer with respect to the cynical politicization of the continuing civilian suffering. The draft resolution was put forward by -ustralia, Lu.embourg, and /ordan, and according to a ! 0!S congressional source1one who actually wor,ed on rounding up the three countries to front for the !S and its allies1none was pleased with the decidedly raw and undiplomatic pressure they received from the office of !S ! -mbassador Samantha 2ower. %hen this observer in3uired how such a poorly drafted, one-sided, adversary-bashing draft resolution could actually have seen the light of day and been submitted to the ! Security &ouncil, the reply he received was terse4 5-s, Samantha.6 Suspicions are being raised in 7eneva, in Syria, and among certain ! aid agencies, in *oms and elsewhere, that efforts on behalf of those they are trying to save from starvation were 8setup9 to fail as a result of power politics and influences emanating from %ashington and Tel -viv. This observer is not a big fan of conspiracy theories. o doubt it9s a personal congenital defect of some sort that ma,es him want to hear at least a modicum of relevant, prohibitive, material, non-hearsay evidence to support some of the wilder and internet-fueled claims ricocheting around the globe. *owever, some things are becoming clear as to what happened at the ! S& last wee, and why certain specific language was included in the resolution. :s. 2ower, it has been claimed by two *ill staffers who monitor -;2-&, owes her position as ! -mbassador to ;sraeli 2: etanyahu, who views her and her husband, -;2-& fund raiser, &ass Sunstein, as ;srael-first stalwarts. &ongressional sources claim the %hite *ouse went along with her appointment so as not to provo,e yet another battle1either with -;2-&9s congressional agents or the wider !S <ionist lobby. -s part of her continuing gratitude for her 5dream =ob,6 as she told an -merican /ewish &ommittee convention on >0?@0?A in ew Bor,,

:s. 2ower assured the -/& that the !nited States 5strongly supports ;sraelCs candidacy for a seat on the ! Security &ouncil, and we have pushed relentlessly for the full inclusion of ;srael across the ! system.6 :s. 2ower is said to have assured -;2-& officials in private that evening that 5one of ;srael9s few survival reeds may be to grasp, in the face of rising antiSemitism, a seat on the council.6 ;nsisting that 5there is growing and rampant hostility towards ;srael within the ! , where a large number of member states are not democratic,6 :s. 2ower, continued6 5; will never give up and nor should you.D Eollowing the standing ovation from her adoring audience, she repeated, according to one eye witness4 5%e have also pushed relentlessly for the full inclusion of ;srael across the ! system.D %hat the <ionist regime still occupying 2alestine ,nows, as does no doubt :s. 2ower, is that the -merican public and increasingly even the !S &ongress is finally pulling bac, from the regime in favor of =ustice for 2alestine. Thus the lobby9s strange reasoning that the ! system, where the -merican public is essentially absent, is increasingly important. So what9s the problem with the !S-mission-spawned Security &ouncil draft resolution on Syria so dutifully submitted by three chummy and faithful allies+ %ell, for starters, the resolution is ')-, as presumably every sophomore poli-sci, civics, or governance student would have recognized from the outset. The aggressive language1 demanding the ! S& immediately ta,e action by targeting only one claimed violator with yet more international sanctions1would have caused chaff and cringing among many, probably most. "ut even beyond that, :oscow, with a ! S& veto ready to use, sees the !S-initiated draft as a bid to lay the groundwor, for military stri,es against the Syrian government, interpreting the language as an ultimatum4 that if all this isn9t solved in two wee,s then the Security &ouncil will automatically follow with sanctions against the Syrian government. -s (ussian Eoreign :inister Lavrov told the media on >0?@0?A, 5;nstead of engaging in everyday, meticulous wor, to resolve problems that bloc, deliveries of humanitarian aid, they see a new resolution as some ,ind of simplistic solution detached from reality.6 The draft te.t, obtained by this observer from (euters, e.presses the intent to impose sanctions 1on individuals and entities obstructing aid1if certain demands are not met within the ne.t two wee,s. 5;t is unacceptable to us in the form in which it is now being prepared, and we, of course, will not let it through,6 said (ussian 'eputy Eoreign :inister 7ennady 7atilov. )ne diplomat in Syria, spea,ing on condition of anonymity, said Fitaly &hur,in, (ussia9s permanent representative to the ! , had told the Security &ouncil on >0??0?A that :oscow opposes some G@ percent of the original draft, but did not specify what which parts. *e added, 5%e9re not aiming for a (ussian veto, we9re aiming for a resolution that everybody can agree. That is what we want.6 Eor his part, 2resident )bama, spea,ing at a =oint news conference in %ashington with Erench

2resident Erancois *ollande, ,ept up the pressure for the Security &ouncil to accept the !S resolution. *e insisted that there is 5great unanimity among most of the Security &ouncil6 in favor of the resolution and 5(ussia is a holdout.6 Secretary of State /ohn #erry and others have 5delivered a very direct message6 pressuring the (ussians to drop their opposition. 5;t is not =ust the Syrians that are responsible6 for the plight of civilians, but 5the (ussians as well if they are bloc,ing this ,ind of resolution,6 #erry claimed. 5*ow you can ob=ect to humanitarian corridors+ %hy would you prevent the vote of a resolution if, in good faith, it is all about saving human lives+6 -mong international observers, the draft resolution is widely viewed as one-sided, condemning rights abuses by Syrian authorities, demanding Syrian forces stop all aerial bombardment of cities and towns as well as indiscriminate use of bombs, roc,ets and related weapons. ;t also, parenthetically and somewhat obli3uely, condemns 5increased terrorist attac,s,6 and calls for the withdrawal of all foreign fighters from Syria, but the latter language is believed to be aimed mainly at *ezbollah. Sources in Syria claim that the draft heaps all the blame on the Syrian government without devoting the necessary attention to the humanitarian problems created by the actions of the rebels. These gratuitous draft elements are not only aggressive, but fran,ly appear calculated to end serious discussion and to undermine a solution of the problem. "eing new on the =ob is one thing for :s. 2ower (she has served as ! ambassador only since -ugust of last year$, but politicizing relief from starvation for a besieged civilian population is 3uite another. Li,ewise for promoting a draft resolution focusing all blame on one side. Such things violate a broad range of applicable and mandatory international norms, and if :s. 2ower is hazy on this sub=ect, the State 'epartment9s )ffice of ;nternational )rganization -ffairs is not1or at least was not when this observer interned there following law school years ago. Language that would have stood a much better chance of ending the siege of *oms, Barmou, and other areas under siege was drafted this wee, by a Syrian law student at the 'amascus !niversity Eaculty of Law. The widely esteemed university witnessed the death of ?H of its students, along with the serious in=uring of more than >@ others, when rebel mortar bombs, on G0>I0?G, targeted the canteen of the &ollege of -rchitecture. Those responsible for the shelling later admitted they were trained and armed by agents of the !S government. The '! law student9s draft resolution on unfettered humanitarian aid into besieged areas of Syria will hopefully be widely discussed over the wee,end at a news conference tentatively scheduled on campus. 2erhaps the ne.t ! draft resolution will reflect the student9s homewor, assignment. The starving victims besieged in Syria, and all people of goodwill, are demanding immediate, non-politicized humanitarian aid without further delay. Firtually every -merican voter is in a position to pressure his or her congressional representative, and would possibly achieve much good by ma,ing the %hite *ouse aware of their demands to end playing international 8gotcha9

politics, and to cooperate to end the needless deaths by starvation that continue today. JEran,lin Lamb is a visiting 2rofessor of ;nternational Law at the Eaculty of Law, 'amascus !niversity and volunteers with the Sabra-Shatila Scholarship 2rogram (JJsssp-lb.comJ Khttp://sssp-lb.com/LJ$. *e can be reached c0o JJfplamb@gmail.comJ Kfplamb@gmail.comLJ.J