Last week, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2254, endorsing the road map for the Syrian peace process, and setting a timetable for talks aimed at bringing the brutal, half-decade-long conflict to a close.
Despite being hailed as an important step toward peace, not everyone is optimistic over the resolution's significance. The problem, according to Italian journalist Manlio Dunucci, is that three of the Security Council's permanent members are engaged in the systematic violation of the country's sovereignty, while their allies provide direct support for the terrorists ripping Syria apart.
"Among the Security Council's five permanent members, three – the US, France and Britain, have blatantly violated 'the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic' [a line from the draft text], despite voicing their 'strong support' for the resolution. They are the ones responsible for the 'increase in terrorists drawn to the fighting in Syria', despite simultaneously expressing their 'gravest concern' over the issue."
"Thus," the journalist notes, a real ceasefire actually "depends for the most part on three NATO powers, plus Turkey – the outpost in the covert war against Syria, and other members of the alliance, such as Germany. It also depends on another power – Israel, which has its fingers not just in this pie, but in many others. What are their intentions? In this case, the facts speak louder than words."
"On December 18, the same day the UN Security Council was working through its roadmap for peace in Syria, NATO announced the shipment of Danish and German warships to Turkey, as well as AWACS aircraft, all 'in order to strengthen the security of Turkey's border with Syria'."
"As Der Spiegel has documented, these Dolphin-class subs have been modified to be able to launch the US Popeye Turbo submarine launched cruise missile (SLCM), capable of carrying a nuclear warhead a range of 1,500 km. With this new sub, dubbed the Rahav, and costing over $2 billion – a third of it paid by the German government, Israel strengthens its position as the only nuclear power in the region at the same time that Iran (which, unlike Israel, has acceded to the Non-Proliferation Treaty) has renounced nuclear weapons, while Syria has handed over its chemical weapons, meant to contain Israel's nuclear forces."
Dunucci also recalls that "on December 19, a day after the Security Council reaffirmed 'the sovereignty and territorial integrity' of Syria, Israel launched an airstrike on Damascus, destroying a building and killing, along with several civilians, Lebanese militant leader Samir Kuntar, who had spent thirty years in an Israeli prison for his involvement in the struggle for Lebanese and Palestinian independence. Released in a prisoner exchange in 2008, Kuntar had joined Hezbollah, and was preparing to fight against Daesh. For this reason, it seems, he was included in Washington's list of 'international terrorists.'"
