Zakharova: UN Gave No Mandate on Deploying US Troops to Syria

MOSCOW- The United States has not received the United Nations’ mandate on deploying its troops to Syria, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

“We were surprised to hear a statement made by US Defense Secretary James Mattis when talking to the US media representatives on November 13 that the US Armed Forces are in Syria “with the permission of the UN,” Zakharova said as quoted by Itar Tass.

“I want to remind you that the Security Council is the only body under the UN Charter that is entitled to take decisions on using military force in the international community,” she said, adding that no such decision has been taken. “The US units are there in disregard of the country’s legitimate government in fact acting as occupants,” the diplomat stressed.

 Zakharova stressed that there is such an impression that the US tries to “withhold part of Syrian territory.” “The task, which is again seen as part of this approach, is to achieve the necessary result of settlement by force,” she said.

“We are very concerned by the US attempts to settle in someone’s house while they apparently do not bring peace and calm to that house. We hope that the US will still formulate its fair and legal position on the issue of its presence in Syria, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier said,” Zakharova said.

On Monday, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis claimed that the UN authorized the US military presence in Syria. He noted that the US military would remain in the country until the Geneva process on the settlement in Syria yields results.

US Military Action in Syria Violates International Law – Ex-US Diplomat

Former US diplomat and adviser to Senate Republican leadership Jim Jatras told Sputnik that the United States is abusing a UN Security Council resolution that authorized action against the Daesh terrorist group in addition to violating Syria’s sovereignty.

Jatras was commenting on US Secretary of Defense James Mattis claims that the UN authorized the US military presence in Syria.

“The claim to ‘go after IS [Daesh]’ doesn’t change any of this. Nor does it justify a dozen US bases in Kurdish-held territory in Syria,” former US diplomat and adviser to Senate Republican leadership Jim Jatras said. “And it doesn’t justify the recent report where it appears US-supported forces cut a deal with IS to allow the evacuation of thousands of its members from Raqqa.”

According to Sputnik, Jatras noted that the Security Council had never given the United States approval to carry out military action against Daesh or any other group anywhere in Syria, and that it had never sought permission from the Syrian government to do so.

“Note that this language does not include any authorization to use force under Chapter VII of the UN Charter – the only legal authority that can, in principle, supersede state sovereignty,” he said.

Mattis Distorts UN Resolutions Meaning to Justify US Presence in Syria

Meantime, former US Army lawyer Major Todd Pierce also told Sputnik that Mattis has distorted the meaning of UN counterterrorism resolutions to wrongly justify the  US presence in Syria.

By Mattis’ logic it would seem, the US military would be authorized to invade any country on earth, so long as we claimed there was one or two self-identified IS members in the country,” Pierce said. “So he’s claiming license for US military action anywhere in the world, basically at our own discretion, regardless of the human cost in collateral damage,” he added.

Pierce, who previously served as a lawyer in the US military’s Judge Advocate General (JAG) office pointed out that Mattis had distorted the clear meaning and specified authorization in the UN resolution.

“Without United Nations authorization to be in Syria, the United States has no legal authorization to be in Syria, as Syria certainly didn’t give the US permission,” he said.

The US presence in Syria has been repeatedly criticized by Damascus, which stressed that any foreign military operation taking place without government approval would be considered an illegal invasion.

H.M