The Surprise that Wasn't

Well here's something that shouldn't shock anyone. The UN's report on the use of chemical weapons in Syria, released yesterday, provides even more evidence that responsibility for the attack comes directly from elite military units positioned around the government's strong point in Damascus. Even though the report was commissioned only to determine if chemical weapons were used, not who used them, the evidence was just so in-your-face that the inspectors couldn't help but identify from where the missiles were launched.

Also unsurprisingly, Russia, the broker of this new "deal" to rid Syria of chemical weapons, strongly condemned the report. Wasn't it just last week that Vladimir Putin was writing an op-ed in the NYTimes compelling America to work through the UN to resolve this crisis? Now that the UN has issued a report he has denounced it. Not that Putin's op-ed carried any weight before this report, but if you were someone who thought he had a shred of credibility before (do not count me among those people), then his reaction to the report should deprive you of the notion that Putin is an honest broker in the attempt for peace in Syria.

Of course, I have been advocating for action since May, so the release of the UN's report is somewhat meaningless to me. It was evident long before the report was even commissioned, let alone released that chemical weapons had been used, and it was also obvious long before the report was able to pinpoint from where they were launched that the attack was carried out by the Syrian military. Still, Russia maintains the rebels are responsible, while simultaneously proposing a plan to strip the Syrian military of its chemical weapons and supplying them with traditional arms. If this doesn't make any sense to you, that's because it doesn't make any sense. This whole charade has gone on too long, and frankly I am both embarrassed and infuriated that the United States has ceded the moral high ground and our leadership role to a thug like Vladimir Putin whose actions are only going to cause more death and suffering in Syria in the short-term and more long-term instability and violence.

The time at which action became acceptable has long since passed. While the UN Security Council frivolously debates the measure to force Syria to turn over its poison gas more people are dying, more unnecessary suffering is happening, and the foundation for future violence - already having been laid - is being strengthened.

Neither the "revelations" of the UN report nor Russia's harsh condemnation of it should surprise anyone. What should surprise us is the fact that, even in light of overwhelming evidence that the Syrian government has gassed its own people (not to mention blowing them to bits), and the fact that we have been knowingly (and dare I say, willingly) duped by Russia, we still lack the political and moral willpower to do what is both ethically demanded of us and what is in our own strategic interests.

The surprise that wasn't was exactly that, a mundane confirmation of what anyone who is monitoring this situation already knew: the government of Syria is committing mass murder of its own citizens. My only question now is how long will we watch the slaughter continue before we take action?