How UN Could Enhance Peacebuilding in Post-ISIL Syria

Rasa - When it comes to ensuring peace and security in post-ISIL Syria, there’s no right or left, and certainly no middle at the United Nations. There’s just International Law and commonsense.

News ID: 433389

Date: 24 October 2017 - 23:45

RNA - The United States, its allies, and their terror proxies – who spent millions of dollars to regime change Syria but failed - appear on the way to getting what they paid for: a permanent occupation of parts of Syria, including Raqqa.

The media report that terrorist groups and their patrons are meeting frequently with key regional players in order to shape what they assume as their own political future after capturing Raqqa, the self-declared capital of ISIL, whose details remain secret. They even plan to call Raqqa the future capital of Syria, which is strange at best. Speed and secrecy are critical. The quicker the warmongers get this done, and without protests at the UN, the less likely will the rest of the world discover how much it will cost in regional security or ballooning future war costs.

To this end, President Donald Trump has been trashing UN institutions, international protocols, the independence of the press, member states who disagree with him, uncooperative Europeans – while raking in money off his presidency by selling arms worth hundreds of billions of dollars to his Arab friends in the Persian Gulf. But don’t lose sight of the larger attack on International Law that was underway even before Trump was elected: A flood of Saudi money and American weaponry into terror hands, regional politics and more.

After revelations that the regime changers want to call Raqqa their future capital, you would think this would be a no-brainer. But never underestimate the power of Saudi money and Israeli lobby, whichever side of the UN aisle it’s aimed at. Often, it’s both sides.

This shameful plot to stop Syria from fully functioning as a normal state after ISIL should be stopped on its tracks. It will be a major cause of future crises in the region. And that’s just the tip of the corrupt iceberg that’s sinking the United Nations. The world body knows exactly what’s going on. And it has to stop voting for the Trump White House and the War Party at the Security Council when the time comes.

The member states should want a Syria that’s not of, by, and for the moneyed, regional, or colonial interests. Many Europeans are now suffering buyer’s remorse. They recognize Trump has sold his administration to corporate lobbyists, Wall Street, and Israel. The Obama administration conned the Europeans too and they should say no to further violation and occupation in the region. It’s most polite response to any future pressures from the Trump White House.

The regime change disease that has affected American politics in recent years has created the biggest security backlash in contemporary Western history – inside both Europe and the United States. It’s also splitting the UN between its irresponsible member states and a base that detests the Military-Industrial Complex, War Party, big corporations and Israel.

Trump is trying to straddle both by pretending he is a champion of the Syrian people while pushing for permanent occupation of their unfortunate country. But if the devastation of Raqqa and many other cities and towns is any indication, the International Civil Society is starting to see through it.

This creates a huge opportunity for the UN. Think again. Much of the UN institutions and member states are still in denial, continuing to debate whether they should support the War Party in post-ISIL Syria or not. But when it comes to International Law and ending complicity, there’s no right or left, and certainly no middle. There’s just International Law and commonsense.

All responsible UN member states, therefore, should be fighting for commonsense steps to reclaim the world body’s position from the American-Israeli interests. For that matter, the member states should be fighting for these, too:

A- Address issues related to the promotion of peace and security as a platform for collaboration and the advancement of human rights in Syria.

B- Establish reconstruction goals that aim to promote peace, justice and prosperity in every corner of Syria.

C- Promote a future in the mutual interest of all Syrian people at the forefront of international decision-making. The realization of International Law and peaceful solutions between the Syrian government and the opposition should be areas of great concern too.

D- Go against the US-backed gambit to partition and occupy Syria permanently, and not be swayed by American-Israeli-Saudi interests that are at odds with Syrian-global interests.

E- Strengthen efforts to accelerate disarmament, enhance peacebuilding and contribute to preventive diplomacy and mediation through dialogue, conflict prevention and dispute settlement.

Occupation of post-ISIL Syria by the US and company, and the selective application of relevant international legal norms will only give rise to further distrust and violence in the war-torn country and beyond. In post-ISIL Syria, the credibility of the UN and in particular of the Security Council depends on the resolve to apply International Law and human rights standards uniformly and not to be influenced by special interests and pressures.

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