 |
| Cameron and Obama/ Flickr CC via The Prime Minister's Office |
The debate over
whether to use military force in Syria while the government wages war on its
rebellious citizens has been fierce in the United States and Britain. While leaders President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron strongly advocate military consequences against Syria, polls say that citizens are opposed to intervention, and the
United Nations does not support the decision.
The push for use of force become more prominent when it was released
recently that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons
against citizens of Syria.
While Obama and
Cameron see the use of chemical warfare as a threat to western nations and a
violation of international treaties, the United Nations dictates that in order
to use military force against another country, the United States has to be
attacked or directly threatened. Of the
five seats on the United Nations Security Council, China and Russia oppose
action against Syria, while France strongly supports it. The United Kingdom is having additional
debates in parliament about its vote, delicately laying out the evidence after
support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq turned out to be motivated by false
information.
Recent polls by
various news organizations show that almost 60% of United States citizens are
opposed to military intervention in Syria.
This is almost double the percentage of those who object from a poll
conducted in December. Currently the
sentiment is that the attack against Syria would be illegal under international law. As the conflict in Syria is a civil war,
there is no justification for an attack by another country. Should Syria attack an ally of the United
States, such as Israel or a member of NATO, then approval from the U.N. would
not be necessary. As it stands, Russia
and China are not expected to give consent.
 |
| UN Security Council Chamber/ Flickr CC via Michelle Lee |
President Obama is
currently in Europe trying to convince Russia to change its mind on military
intervention. Russia is a long time ally
of Syria, and while many analysts say that President Putin does not heavily
benefit from the relationship, most believe it be political. Both Putin and al-Assad share similar
political ideologies.
إرسال تعليق