Circumventing Russia at the United Nations

All of us, with the exception of Gary Johnson, are painfully aware of the current situation in Syria, especially in and around Aleppo. For over 5 years a civil war has raged, a war which has claimed at least 470,000 lives. The real number is likely much, much higher, and will probably never fully be known. Millions of internally displaced persons are scattered across Syria, and millions more have fled the country. A full 1/3rd of neighboring Jordan's population are now refugees. The power vacuum in Syria allowed for the spread of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS/ISIL/IS/Daesh), which threatens both regional and global security.

Omran Daqneesh in an ambulance in Aleppo

Alan Kurdi prior to his death in 2015

For every Omran Daqneesh or Alan Kurdi we see in the West, hundreds more go unseen and unreported. Children in Syria are bearing the brunt of the violence, with schools now being deliberately targeted by regime forces and their Russian allies. Just this past week, over 23 children and 6 teachers were killed in an airstrike which was carried out either by the Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) or the Russian Aerospace Force (RuAF). In response, at least 6 children in west Aleppo were killed by a rebel bombardment. And these tactics are in no way new or revolutionary to the Syrian civil war.

Russian Su-34 dropping munitions over Syria 

As the war continues, the likelihood that radical Islamist factions eventually take power increases.  On the 28th of October (2016), the opposition operations room known as Jaysh al-Fatah (Army of Conquest), along with select members of Fatah Haleb (Aleppo Conquest), launched an offensive to break the government siege of east Aleppo. Groups such as Ajnad al-Sham, Ahrar al-Sham, harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki, and the "former" al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (previously known as Jabhat al-Nusra) have been leading the charge, indicating that the real strength on the ground currently lies with radical elements. This is due in no small part to repeated RuAF/SyAAF bombardments of rebel factions, both more moderate groups and extremist groups.

In order to defeat Daesh, one of the underlying causes of their rise must first be resolved. That cause, of course, is the Syrian civil war. But, with Russia directly involved in the conflict, and with Russia also holding a veto at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), UN action on Syria is all but impossible. However, the last UNSC resolution on Syria, decided on 8 October 2016, was approved by 12 members of the UNSC, with 1 abstention (China) and two no-votes (Russia and Angola). This means that only Russia stands in the way of meaningful progress in Syria. The resolution had been supported by Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America, representing a wide swath of different nations around the world all seeking to establish the same principles of international law.

Russian representative to the UN Vitaly Churkin vetoes a resolution on Syria

There are two mechanisms in place that can and should be employed by the UN to help alleviate the situation in Syria. The first is called Responsibility to Protect (R2P), a doctrine recently being tested out by the UN. The resolution on R2P reads, in part, as follows:

The international community, through the United Nations, also has the responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means, in accordance with Chapters VI and VIII of the Charter, to help to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. In this context, we are prepared to take collective action, in a timely and decisive manner, through the Security Council, in accordance with the Charter, including Chapter VII, on a case-by-case basis and in cooperation with relevant regional organizations as appropriate, should peaceful means be inadequate and national authorities are manifestly failing to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. We stress the need for the General Assembly to continue consideration of the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and its implications, bearing in mind the principles of the Charter and international law. We also intend to commit ourselves, as necessary and appropriate, to helping States build capacity to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and to assisting those which are under stress before crises and conflicts break out. 

 So, essentially, should genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, or crimes against humanity be perpetrated by the Syrian regime, the UN has the partial authority to intervene military with peacekeepers or via regional authorities (NATO, the AU, the Arab League, etc.) to prevent said crimes from occurring. However, this alone does not circumvent a Russian veto. For that, we must look back further, to UN Resolution 377A. 377A, also known as the "United for Peace" resolution, states the following, among other things:

Resolves that if the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security in any case where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of peace, or act of aggression, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately with a view to making appropriate recommendations to Members for collective measures, including in case of a breach of the peace or at of aggression the use of armed force when necessary, to maintain or restore international peace and security...

What this means is that the UN General Assembly, in light of the inability of permanent members to come to an agreement (due to Russia's repeated use of its veto powers) on the Security Council, may circumvent the UNSC and substitute their own resolution with full powers of the UNSC as though it were a regular UNSC resolution. 337A has been invoked twice in the past; during the Suez crisis and during a push for sanctions on Apartheid South Africa. If the international community wishes to make meaningful, multilateral progress in Syria, forcing a vote through the General Assembly may be the best bet.

Khaled al-Asaad, the Hero of Palmyra

So since Palmyra has been liberated I feel like it's a good time to share this story from last year. Khaled al-Asaad (b. 1934) was born and raised in Palmyra, also known as Tadmur, Syria. A father of eleven children (including one daughter named after the Palmyrene queen Zenobia), al-Asaad worked as an archaeologist, historian and head of antiquities at the ancient city of Palmyra for 40 years. He was a man with a passion and a devotion to history and to his field, a passion that cost him his life.

When ISIS invaded Palmyra last summer, they took over all of the museums and UNESCO heritage sites. With a stated mission of destruction of artifacts (or their sale overseas on the black market), Daesh set about looking for the rarest, most expensive artifacts in the collection. Unfortunately for them, al-Asaad had evacuated some artifacts and hidden many more. For weeks he was held and tortured, but he never broke down and revealed the location of the artifacts. For this he was beheaded publicly, his body left up on display as a warning to others.

Palmyra is more or less liberated now. Already teams from as far away as the United Kingdom are preparing to descend on the ancient city to begin estimating the costs of repairs and taking tally of the damages. Thanks to the efforts of one extremely brave man, future generations will be able to better understand and enjoy historical artifacts that were saved from sure destruction at the hands of Daesh. I think it's important to remember people like him in a world that so often only showcases the nastiest parts of humanity.

Update on the Situation in Syria

The last month has seen some of the worst violence of the entire Syrian civil war. Starting in mid-September with the breakdown of a poorly-implemented US/Russian-backed ceasefire, Russian Aerospace Force (RuAF) and Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) aircraft continued and increased their bombing missions against opposition-held territory. In particular, the city of Aleppo has seen a drastic increase in violence, with hundreds being killed in the last 30 days alone. Many of those killed have been children, and on top of those killed there are many thousands more wounded and millions displaced, not to mention the psychological impact. 

The SyAAF drops weapons known as barrel bombs, crude anti-personnel munitions consisting of a metal barrel of some kind filled with shrapnel and an explosive of some kind, then attached to a helicopter or simply rolled out of the cargo bay (or sometimes attached to attack aircraft) and left to find a target somewhere in opposition turf. The weapons are indiscriminate at best, and when they land they have the ability to level an entire city block. These weapons, despite their terror factor, cannot typically be aimed with any degree of accuracy. To hit precise targets, you need the RuAF's arsenal. The Russians are employing, among other things, bunker buster munitions, cluster munitions, incendiary weapons, and thermobaric weapons. Each of these is horrifying for a different reason. 

Bunker buster munitions are massive, designed to penetrate the thick concrete of aircraft hard-shelters or traditional bunkers, then exploding to destroy the substructure targeted. When used on a city building, the effect is the complete collapse and destruction of the target area, usually at least a city block, and the death of nearly everybody within. The video linked above shows a SyAAF jet making a bunker buster run.

Cluster munitions are, even at their best, an imperfect weapon simply due to their nature. A cluster weapon is a weapon that disperses a large number of smaller munitions over a certain area. Inevitably some of these smaller weapons will misfire and not detonate when they should, instead remaining on the battlefield until they are disposed of or discovered by somebody. Children are often the victims with cluster munitions, a lesson the US has been taught (and ignored) numerous times, from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. 

The incendiary weapons in question are also known as white phosphorus weapons. White phosphorus (WP) burns at an extremely high temperature, making it nearly impossible to extinguish. When any amount of WP gets on the human body, it immediately burns through any clothing, then through the skin and the flesh until it hits the bone, where it will continue to burn until it exhausts its fuel. Victims are often brought to the hospital still on fire, smoke pouring from tiny holes all over their bodies. 

Thermobaric weapons are a whole different level of horror; instead of killing via an explosion or a concussion, they typically kill via conflagration, or the non-explosive rapid spread of fire. The fires rapidly suck the air out of the room before igniting, often leading the weapons to be called "Vacuum bombs". Human lungs are collapsed or popped, or according to some reports even sometimes pulled out through the mouth and made external. The weapons are, needless to say, inhumane at least. 

All of these weapons are being used in and around civilian areas of Syria. In particular, Aleppo has seen a large share of these events. And the targets of these weapons? Along with "valid" targets such as opposition strongholds, many Russian air strikes in particular have been seen targeting hospitals, marketplaces, schools, and Syrian Civil Defense (White Helmets, henceforce SCD) facilities.

SCD facility destroyed by Russian airstrikes -- Aleppo 

The White Helmets (SCD) are a group of several thousand civilian volunteers across Syria who run toward the bombs and missiles to dig their friends and strangers alike out of the rubble. At least 146 have been killed since the organization began operating in 2013, yet they have saved over 60,000 lives. They are the shining spot of light in the darkness that is the Syrian civil war.

The situation is incredibly dire and requires immediate action. Please consider a donation (link at the bottom of this post) to the White Helmets, or if you can't afford a donation, take the time to write/call your representatives and tell them to support H.R. 5732, also known as the Caesar Bill or the Caesar Resolution, that would call for harsher sanctions against the Syrian government and leadership, require the creation of a list of war criminals and persons who have violated international law, and create a body to investigate the feasibility of putting a no-fly zone in place over parts or all of Syria.

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