Susan Rice: U.N. Negotiations On Syria ‘Shameful’

US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice speaks during the daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Monday, Feb., 28, 2011.
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

National Security Advisor Susan Rice said Monday that United Nations negotiations on Syria have been “shameful,” singling out Russia and China as obstacles to diplomatic progress in the Syrian conflict.

Rice, who served as the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. from 2009 until this past June, assured in a speech at the New America Foundation that President Barack Obama would have preferred to secure the U.N. Security Council’s support in responding to chemical weapons in Syria with limited military action.

“But let’s be realistic. It is just not going to happen,” she said. “Believe me. I know. I was there for all of those debates and negotiations on Syria. I lived it. It was shameful.” 

Rice added that three resolutions proposed by the Security Council condemning violence by the Syrian regime, despite including “the most watered-down language imaginable” that rendered them “almost meaningless,” were vetoed by Russia and China.

 

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: