Syria vote: US ‘appropriated’ UN power

While officials in Washington tirelessly admonish Russia and China for blocking another resolution on Syria, Rick Rozoff of the Stop NATO group tells RT that the UN has been hijacked by the US and NATO.

On Saturday, the United Nations voted on a resolution on Syria, drafted by Morocco. In the end of the day, the document was vetoed by Moscow and Beijing. This move provoked a wave of anger from the West, with most harsh rhetoric heard from the US; American Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said Washington was “disgusted” by the veto, while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the vote a "travesty."‎But Rozoff says the US is going overboard in its pursuit for international democracy.“The very name of the international community has been appropriated by the US and its NATO allies – now including the Arab world,” Rozoff told RT.Syrian opposition groups operate with complete impunity inside Turkey – which is a NATO member – with a green light from the Turkish government. Without arms and sponsorship from outside Syria, the opposition would never dare to take up arms against the Syrian army, Rozoff concludes.Thus, Damascus is stripped of its natural right to protect itself from foreign assault.“Were armed groups to invade the territory of the United States from Mexico or Canada, I can assure you Washington’s response would not be limited to a domestic one,” Rozoff said.

Moscow says Western states have made a habit of using the UN to bring about regime change in countries like Libya, and now Syria.“Regime change seems to be the only point of these resolutions. If there is no interest in bringing about regime change, we would have not heard about any resolutions at all,” says Jason Ditz of Antiwar.com.“What happened in Libya has been a real wake-up call for the international community that these resolutions can lead to wars – and that they are not going to be easy to pass in the future.

Political scientist Nada Hashwi says Syria is being punished for its ties with Iran.“What is happening in Syria has from the very beginning been a conspiracy to bring down the regime and make President Assad sever ties with Iran. This is why Assad has never been asked for any reforms, but only to change his stances,” the analyst told RT.Hashwi is certain that gangs sponsored by foreign powers are behind the Syrian bloodshed. Syria is falling victim to “active terrorism,” and the Russian Foreign Minister's upcoming visit to Damascus will help shed light on that, she says.