Syria: Silence is what the U.N. offers

By Jennifer Rubin
06/08/2012 
The Washington Post 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/syria-silence-is-what-the-un-offers/2012/06/07/gJQAtMzxLV_blog.html

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, tweeted on Thursday: “Nations of the world just stood together in silence for the victims of Syria.” I am not sure which is worse — that this is the U.N. response to mass murder, or that Rice thought this reflected well on her efforts there. (I am especially fond of “just.” Just did it? Or that is all they can muster? )

Meanwhile, The Post reports:

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad faced mounting international condemnation at the United Nations on Thursday as Syrian forces blocked U.N. monitors from investigating a fresh massacre site in a village near the city of Hama.
The standoff came as special emissary Kofi Annan acknowledged that his six-point plan for a political transition in Syria has reached a dead end, with both sides refusing to implement it. He said a reinvigorated diplomatic push would be required to avert a full-fledged civil war, and he warned for the first time that any party blocking a political transition should face unspecified “consequences.”
Yes, that is “just” what we need — more diplomacy. What we are doing is so feckless and morally obtuse you hardly know where to begin. (“U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the monitors came under small-arms fire Thursday as they tried to reach the site of the reported new massacre in Qubair, a small village in Hama province. Speaking at a U.N. General Assembly session, Ban said the incident occurred after the U.N. monitors were blocked from entering Qubair to investigate the alleged killings.”)

At this point, all the hand-wringing and expressions of outrage confirm how little we care to disturb ourselves and how utterly inept this administration is in doing anything more than pleading with despotic regimes to “let us” act. If they aren’t going to do anything, they might as well stop the histrionics. It’s hypocritical and pathetic — with 13,000 dead Syrians and counting.