Raise your hands if this Russian hindrance of enforcing the Syria chemical weapons deal shocks you:
Syria and close ally Russia clashed with the U.S. and other nations Tuesday over a Western initiative to suspend Syria’s voting rights in the global chemical weapons watchdog for failing to provide details of three chemical attacks in 2017 that investigators blamed on President Bashar Assad’s government. The confrontation in the U.N. Security Council foreshadowed a showdown when the 193 member states of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons meet in The Hague, Netherlands, in April to consider a French-drafted measure, on behalf of 46 countries, to suspend Syria’s “rights and privileges” in the body.
Seriously, who actually believed that the farcical Syria chemical weapons deal would ever be enforced? Not me. It was obvious from the start:
But hey, it is a victory to get the Russians on board military action in case Assad does not comply, you have to admit.
Cue the Russians:
Lavrov said of the agreement: "There (is) nothing said about the use of force and not about any automatic sanctions."Wait. What? We didn't get the military option in this resolution? Imagine that.
Which means that if Assad does not comply we have to go to the UN Security Council for a second resolution authorizing UN-blessed force under Chapter 7. A resolution Russia or China will veto.
Well, that does put a fly in the Sarin, doesn't it?
Surely, it is only my failure to appreciate the deep nuance of our smart diplomacy that leads me to question the diplomatic victory that Kerry has achieved in Geneva. Assad is probably sobbing in his bunker, worried for his future as America, Russia, and the United Nations have joined forces to cripple his criminal regime.
Consequences delayed will be consequences denied. Which was the whole point of the deal.
The Russians are awful. But before Trump the Democrats were huge fans of Russia and its supposed ability to make the world a better place. I assume that with Trump gone, once again Russia will have a role in reviving the glories of Smart Diplomacy.
Oh, by the way, I see a lot of people on the Biden transition team with their hands up.
