teleSUR – 2018-04-16 01:19:34
https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Corbyn-UK-Needs-War-Powers-Act-After-legally-Questionable-Syria-Strike-20180415-0007.html
Jeremy Corbyn: UK Needs ‘War Powers Act’
After legally Questionable Syria Strike
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LONDON (April 15, 2018) — The British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said his country needs a war powers act to limit government’s control over military interventions.
After questioning the joint US, UK and French airstrikes against Syrian government structures, British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said he will push for a “war powers act” that would require the British government to seek approval from parliament for any future military actions.
In an interview with the BBC Sunday, Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom, reiterated his argument that the UK strikes lacked legal basis and an authorization from the United Nations.
“The legal basis would have to be self-defence, or the authority of the UN security council. Humanitarian intervention is a legally debatable concept at the present time,” Corbyn said.
“I think parliament should have a say in this, and the prime minister could quite easily have done that … What we need in this country is something more robust, like a war powers act, so that governments do get held to account by parliament for what they do in our name.”
His comments come after the United States, United Kingdom and France fired early Saturday over 100 missiles into Syria according to the Syrian government, Russia and the US military. The Syrian army said that more than 70 missiles of the 105 fired at its structures were intercepted by its air defenses.
Corbyn sent a letter to British Prime Minister Theresa May Saturday criticizing her decision to join the coordinated unilateral attack before international inspectors even had the chance to begin their probe into the alleged chemical attack by the Syrian government.
“It is now vitally important that the OPCW inspectors, who are due to arrive in Douma today, are allowed to do their work and publish their report into their findings — and report to the United Nations Security Council,” he said in his letter to the prime minister.
He further called on May to assure the country and lawmakers that no further action will be taken against Syria and that international inspectors “be allowed to complete their inspections without hindrance.”
Protests took place Saturday and Sunday in the United States, India and other countries by leftists organizations and anti-war activists who rejected the attack and called for the end of western intervention in Syria.
The United Nations Security Council rejected Saturday a resolution proposed by Russia seeking to condemn the US-led attack in Syria. Only Russia, Bolivia and China voted in favor of the resolution.
Meanwhile global chemical weapons watchdog OPCW inspectors arrived in Syria Saturday and were due to try to reach the site of a suspected poison attack in the Syrian town of Douma in eastern Ghouta.
Syria’s deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad met with them Sunday as they prepared to begin their fact finding mission after a request by the Syrian government last week.
Latin America Leaders Condemn US-led Attack on Syria
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(April 14, 2018) — Several Latin American governments, including those in Cuba and Venezuela, as well as regional leaders and presidents condemned Saturday the attacks by the US, France and the United Kingdom on Syria, using as a pretext the alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma by President Bashar Assad’s forces without proper investigations being done.
The Cuban government was one of the first nations to decry the aggression on Syria. A statement by the Cuban Foreign Ministry said the unilateral action, ignoring the UN Security Council, constituted a “flagrant violation of International Law and the UN Chapter, while being an outrage against a sovereign state that worsens the conflict in Syria and the region.”
“The US has attacked Syria without the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Damascus government being proved, and despite the fact that Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons being already on the ground to open an investigation in Douma,” the statement says.
Cuba is a signatory nation of the Convention of Chemical Weapons, and it firmly turns down the use of this armament and others of mass extermination by any party and under any circumstance, the foreign ministry stressed.
“The Cuban Revolutionary government conveys its solidarity and sympathy with the people and government of Syria for the loss of lives and material damage as a consequence of this heinous attack.”
Meanwhile the Venezuelan government issued a statment later Saturday decrying the attack as ignoring the basic elements of international norms. “The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela rejects and strongly condemns the unilateral military attack perpetrated by the United States, France and the United Kingdom, against the territory and the brother People of the Syrian Arab Republic,” Venezuela’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Once again, the United States and some of its allies are unaware of the most elementary principles and norms of International Law, when undertaking unilateral action, without their discussion and approval within the organs empowered to do so by the United Nations.”
The statement further warned that the attack was carried out by the US, United Kingdom, and France before international inspectors had the opportunity to probe the incident and determine the perpetrators or if in fact was a chemical arms attacks.
“The hasty military operation of the United States, recalls the catastrophic invasion of Iraq in 2003, justified under the pretext of the necessary neutralization of weapons of mass destruction that, after months of death and chaos, they acknowledged never having located.”
The comments from Havana and Caracas came hours after the United States, United Kingdom, and France fired over 100 missiles into Syria according to the Syrian government, Russia, and the US military. The Syrian army said that more than 70 missiles of the 105 fired at its structures were intercepted by its air defenses.
Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia, also condemned the attacks remembering that the US also made up a similar story to justify their real intentions in Iraq:
“With the force of dignity, the defense of peace and of the peoples of the world, we strongly condemn Trump’s deranged attack against our Syrian brothers and sisters. Yesterday they invented fake weapons of mass destruction to invade Iraq, today they launch missiles with a similar excuse.”
He further said that Bush’s ultimate aim was to get control over oil and that now Trump wants Syria’s natural resources.
Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza suggested that the attack is a new attempt to restart the so-called Cold War and called for the people to be ready for what’s coming:
“The western aggressiveness guided by the US white supremacy finds a sadic satisfaction in lying to justify their brutality against the people’s of the world. We’re billions who want Peace in the world! No to war! No to imperialism!” said Delcy Rodriguez, head of Venezuela’s constituent assembly.”
In New York, Peru’s ambassador to the UN, Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, also condemned the chemical weapons, saying the nation supports an investigation into attacks by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemicals Weapons (OPCW).
“The Peruvian government has clearly stated these facts, has called for restraint (. . .) and has very clearly condemned the use of chemical weapons, which constitutes a heinous crime,” said Meza-Cuadra.
“The Security Council has a mandate and a fundamental responsibility in the maintenance of international peace and security, it needs to be united in order to face these key issues on the international agenda,” the Peruvian ambassador said.
Putin: US-led Attack on Syria Violation of International Law
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(April 14, 2018) — The United States-led military attack in Syria was a “an aggression against a sovereign state which is at the forefront of the fight against terrorism,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a statement Saturday morning, stressing that the multi-national strikes were not sanctioned by the UN Security Council and thus were “in violation of the UN Charter and principles of international law.”
The United States, United Kingdom and France fired over 100 missiles into Syria according to the Syrian government, Russia and the US military. The Syrian army said that more than 70 missiles of the 105 fired at its structures were intercepted by its air defenses.
President Putin argued that an unconfirmed chemical attack has been used as a pretext for a western aggression against Syria, in a similar fashion of last year’s US attack on a Syrian air base after another unconfirmed claim of a chemical attack by the government.
“The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons sent its experts to Syria to clarify all the circumstances. But a group of western countries cynically ignored this, undertaking a military action, without waiting for the result of the investigation,” the Russian president lemented.
“Russia condemns with great seriousness the attack on Syria, where the Russian military is helping the legitimate government in the fight against terrorism.”
He added that such actions “further aggravates the humanitarian catastrophe in Syria” suffered by the Syrian people, indulges terrorists who have been “torturing the Syrian people for seven years, prompting a new wave of refugees from the country and the whole region.”
Putin concluded by saying that Washington and its allies have used such strategies of unconfirmed reports and attacks by local governments to launch interventions as was the case in Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya
“Russia calls for an emergency meeting at the UN Security Council to discuss the aggressive actions of the United States and its allies.”
Hours after his comments, the United Nations said its Security Council was set to meet Saturday at Russia’s request to discuss the Syria airstrikes.
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