Haley’s remarks at UNSC meeting on Chemical Weapons Use in Syria

Haley’s remarks at UNSC meeting on Chemical Weapons Use in Syria

Washington, Jan 24 (Just News): Ambassador Nikki Haley, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, delivered remarks this afternoon at a UN Security Council meeting on chemical weapons use in Syria.

“We know that for years Russia has looked the other way while their Syrian friends use these despicable weapons of war. Russia is complicit in the Assad regime’s atrocities. Will the Russian Federation say anything at all today about the suffering caused by Assad’s barbaric tactics? Will they hold Assad to account? Of course not. They never do.”

“Here’s the bottom line. The Security Council gave the Joint Investigative Mechanism a mandate to tell us who used chemical weapons in Syria. When investigators found ISIS to be responsible, Russia was fine. When the investigators found that the Assad regime used them, Russia tried to find any excuse to poke holes in the investigation and threw up smoke to question the findings. But that is not how independent investigations work. You don’t get to question the findings when they don’t go your way.”

“We’re not going to accept any Russian proposal that undermines our ability to get to the truth or that politicizes what must be an independent and impartial investigation. If they want to work in good faith toward that goal, we are ready to re-establish the JIM, with its original independent and impartial mandate, right now. But anything less is unacceptable.”

“The United States and the international community are not going to be fooled. We remain steadfast in pursuing accountability for those who use chemical weapons. We stand strong in doing all that we can to preserve the norm against their use. And we remain forever committed to preserving the truth of what the Assad regime has done in Syria and, sadly, what they will likely continue to do.”


(Justnews/ys/0020)