American UN ambassador says the UN Security Council has failed to act decisively on Syria, prevent loss of lives.
By JPOST.COM STAFFNational Security Adviser Susan Rice 370(photo credit: REUTERS)
US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice slammed the world's failure to act on the Syrian civil war during her farewell speech to the United Nations Security Council Stakeout on Tuesday."The Council's inaction on Syria is a moral and strategic disgrace that history will judge harshly," Rice chided the UN.She also reasserted America's past and continued support for Israel. "We've forcefully opposed unbalanced and biased actions against Israel across the UN system, standing shoulder to shoulder with Israel on principle - regardless of whether such actions were popular in these halls."Rice accepted a position earlier this month as National Security Adviser to US President Barack Obama and this speech served as her farewell address to the UN. After serving as the United States's permanent Representative to the UN for four and a half years, Rice is being replaced by Irish-born Samantha Power.A former Secretary of State candidate, Rice left with a bang, citing the Syrian issue as one of the Council's worst failures."I particularly regret that the Security Council has failed to act decisively while more than 90,000 Syrians have been killed and millions more displaced," she said.Click for full JPost coverageHowever while Rice was critical of the world's lack of action regarding the Syrian crisis, she deflected blame from the United States."The crucial issue of Syria, I think, is a stain on this body and something that I will forever regret, even thought I don't believe that outcome is a product of the action of the United States or its closest partners," Rice said.Though Rice's remarks seeped with frustration, she noted that there are some positives, using for an example last week's Friends of Syria meeting, during which 11 countries met to discuss the issue and promised to help aid the rebels. She called the meeting a "very strong and unified declaration" of support for the Syrian opposition.
