U.N. is Tested as Syria’s Fate Hangs in the Balance

The United Nations Security Council has so far been unable to organize a response to the crisis in Syria.
Secretary of State John Kerry’s so-called diplomatic accident, which made the relinquishment of Syrian chemical weapons an option to avert military action, has resulted in intense negotiations at the Security Council. Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, are discussing a proposal by Russia today in Geneva.
The proposal has other Security Council members talking.
“It is an interesting proposal, if it is a serious one, then it’s one that we should take very seriously because it could achieve a major goal we have as a government–to get rid of chemical weapons,” explained Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron to British members of parliament.
But there is tension between Russia and the Western permanent members of the Security Council as to whether the demands should be presented as a binding U.N. resolution with the threat of military action.
If the Security Council fails to act, its very legitimacy could be at stake.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nancy Soderberg, says we should not lose sight of how to bring the civil war to an end in Syria, and that trying to get a resolution on chemical weapons through the United Nations Security Council is an exercise in futility.