U.N. Amb. Samantha Power Refuses to Say Whether Syria Attack Legal
In an interview with National Public Radio on Monday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power refused to directly respond when asked if a unilateral American attack on Syria would be legal. She did, however, say that an American attack would be “legitimate, necessary, and proportionate response” to the use of chemical weapons on civilians.
“If we take military action in this context, it will be a legitimate, necessary and proportionate response to this large-scale and indiscriminate use of chemical weapons by this regime,” Power said.
She lamented that the West “couldn’t even get a press release” out of the United Nations when seeking condemnation for the apparent Syrian chemical attack, though the condemnation would have ascribed no blame to any particular party.
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When pressed about what the legal implications would be if the United States moved forwards with an attack without the sanction of the United Nations, Power said that it is simply “structurally impossible” to get the U.N. Security Council to sanction an attack.
“In this case, you have the grave breach of such a critical international norm in terms of the ban on chemical weapons use,” Power stressed. “It is very important that the international community act so as to prevent further use.”
Listen to the clip below via NPR:
h/t [ The Huffington Post ]
[Photo via AP]
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