U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley forced Bolivia to "defend the
atrocities of the Syrian regime" in "full public view" on Friday, after
the country's ambassador requested a closed session to discuss
President Trump's strikes in Syria.
Trump ordered the missile
strikes in response to a chemical weapons attack by Syrian President
Bashar Assad Tuesday which killed dozens in northern Syria.
Haley
revealed the Bolivian ambassador's request for a private emergency
session of the U.N. Security Council in a written statement Friday
morning.
She countered: "The United States, as president of the
Council this month, decided the session would be held in the open. Any
country that chooses to defend the atrocities of the Syrian regime will
have to do so in full public view, for all the world to hear.”
At
the session, Haley stood by the U.S. actions, and said that when the
international community fails to act, it is up to individual states to
act themselves.
”The moral state of the Assad regime could no
longer go unanswered. His crimes against humanity could no longer be met
with empty words. It was time to say enough. But not only say it, it
was time to act,” she said.
Haley also questioned Russia’s role in
carrying out a deal to remove chemical weapons -- arguing that either
Moscow knew about the weapons, was “incompetent” in removing them, or
was played “for fools” by Assad. She went on to warn that more U.S.
action could be on the table.
“The United States took a very
measured step last night. We are prepared to do more. But we hope that
will not be necessary,” she said.
The session itself was fiery.
Russian
ambassador Vladimir Safronkov blasted the United States for trying to
impose an “irresponsible geopolitical project” on the world, and warned
of “extremely serious” consequences.
Meanwhile Syrian Ambassador
Bashar Ja'afari condemned what he called “a barbaric, flagrant of
aggression” and a violation of the U.N. charter.
“This act makes America a partner of ISIL, Al-Nusra and other terrorist groups,” he said.
The
visibly aggravated Bolivian ambassador -- Sacha Sergio Llorenty Soliz –
used his time to tear into what he called an “extremely serious
violation of international law” and “an imperialistic action” by the
United States.
“We believe it is the duty of the Security Council,
of the United Nations organizations, to defend multilateralism … we are
here to defend it,” he said.
He went on to brandish not only a
copy of the U.N. Charter, but also a large photograph of former
Secretary of State Colin Powell addressing the Security Council in 2003
about the alleged threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. Soliz
went on to argue that there were no WMDs found in Iraq then, and that
the council should therefore be skeptical of the United States now.
Soliz’s
remarks were immediately met by stern criticism by U.K. Ambassador
Matthew Rycroft, who backed the U.S. action and claimed the Bolivian
ambassador was “more outraged at the United States than the Assad
regime.”
“The United Kingdom supports the U.S. airstrike … because
war crimes have consequences,” he said, calling the strike “a
proportionate response to unspeakable acts.”
Rycroft also mocked the Russians, saying Assad had “thumbed his nose” at Russia’s calls for Assad to engage in peace talks.
“Russia sits here today humiliated by its inability to bring to heel a puppet dictator,” he said.
Other
members took more restrained approaches. Italian Ambassador Sebastiano
Cardi called for the Security Council to redouble its efforts to seek a
U.N.-led political transition from the Assad regime, while French
Ambassador Francois Delattre said Assad’s crimes should not go
unanswered, and renewed calls for the U.N. to take charges to the
International Criminal Court – but noted that such efforts have been
vetoed by Russia.
Delattre called the strikes by America a
“legitimate” response and a sign that use of chemical weapons will not
be tolerated, but warned that a solution will not be reached by military
means alone.
