Ambassador Sabbagh: Washington’s destructive behavior has led to insecurity and instability
Syria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh, affirmed that the bad American policies in the world and our region, and in Syria in particular, have led to destabilizing security and stability in it, and destroying what was achieved over decades. He stressed that it is Washington’s destructive behavior that has caused the state of insecurity and instability, and turned a large part of Syrian people into refugees and displaced people, and made them lose their food security.
During a session of the Security Council on Wednesday on political and humanitarian affairs in Syria, Sabbagh noted that the insistence of some countries on the pattern of repeated discussions of the Council every month on Syria, without any developments that require that, confirms their indifference to preserving the Council’s time and resources and the need to dedicate them to serve its function in preserving international peace and security. But rather this reflects these countries keenness to exploit it to repeat campaigns of lies and misinformation against Syria, and to press baseless accusations.
Sabbagh said: Between the end of the year 2022, in which the Syrian people witnessed difficult and multifaceted humanitarian crises, and the start of the year 2023, which opens the door to searching for solutions to them, and finding appropriate ways to mitigate them, it is worth considering the reasons that led the Syrians to this difficult humanitarian situation, and led to its exacerbation and continuity. The wrong policies pursued by the United States in the world and our region in general, and in Syria in particular, have led to destabilizing security and stability there, and to destroying the developmental achievements made over decades.
Sabbagh indicated that the policy of “creative chaos” adopted by successive US administrations in our region, and in Syria worked to fabricate and exaggerate problems to ignite tension and conflicts by spending hundreds of millions of dollars on suspicious media outlets to mislead public opinion and distort the image of the Syrian state. This malicious policy has caused the demolition and destruction of all achievements at the political, economic and social levels, and the emergence of terrorist organizations, led by the terrorists “ISIS” and “Al-Nusra Front”, and the creation of harmful structures and frameworks alien to the Syrian society.
Sabbagh pointed out that the United States and its allies in NATO invented various pretexts to intervene directly in Syria, as they manipulated the provisions of international law and the United Nations Charter to justify their illegal military presence on Syrian territory. This greatly contributed to threatening the integrity and unity of Syrian lands and stealing the resources and wealth of the Syrian people.
Ambassador Sabbagh affirmed that the protection of the United States and its Western allies to Israel enabled it to continue its occupation of the Syrian Golan since 1967, and prevented the Council from assuming its responsibilities regarding the repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian lands and vital facilities therein.
Sabbagh underscored that, in parallel, the United States and its European allies imposed illegal unilateral coercive measures on Syria, exacerbating the suffering of its people. Washington’s
Sabbagh pointed out that the United States and its Western allies did not provide an opportunity to exploit and politicize humanitarian activities and they also use various international bodies as a tool to exert political pressure on Syria.
Sabbagh expressed regret for the statements publicly made by some American and European officials that they would not implement the provisions of Resolution 2672 recently adopted by the Security Council, especially in the areas of early recovery and electricity. The overall destructive American behavior in Syria is what brought millions of Syrians to a state of insecurity and stability, turned a large part of them into refugees and displaced people, made them lose their food security, and placed them in difficult humanitarian conditions. The Covid 19 pandemic and the outbreak of cholera and other infectious diseases also entrenched the suffering and misery of Syrian people.
Sabbagh stressed that while Syria condemns all these crimes, violations and practices followed by the United States and its allies, it calls on the Security Council to shoulder its responsibilities and fulfill its mandate in terms of respecting Syria’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity and to ensure compensation for all the damages caused to the Syrian people as a result of these wrong policies and practices. He indicated that Syria dealt responsibly with the challenges it faced during these difficult years, and its people worked with a high patriotic spirit to fight terrorism and to restore security and stability to all areas in their homeland.
Syria’s permanent representative to the United Nations stated that the state supported the paths of political settlements and the establishment of national reconciliations that contributed to strengthening national unity. It facilitated the delivery of humanitarian aid to those who deserve it, in a way that guarantees meeting the needs of all Syrians, and contributes to supporting their steadfastness. It has also implemented its legal obligations under the international agreements it has joined and it was keen to support all the initiatives put forward by friendly countries, foremost of which are the meetings held in the “Astana” format, with the aim of mitigating the repercussions of the crisis and finding solutions to it.
Sabbagh reaffirmed that resolving the crisis in Syria requires stopping the repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian territory, ending the illegal foreign presence and its associated terrorist organizations and separatist militias, the immediate and unconditional lifting of coercive economic measures, improving the humanitarian situation by meeting the humanitarian needs of the Syrians fairly without discrimination, implementing the commitments that some countries made regarding the humanitarian response plan, and increasing early recovery projects in quantity and quality.
Inas Abdulkareem