| Ambassador Susan E. Rice, the US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, makes comments on Syria after Dictator Bashar Assad Massacres 110 Houla Villagers. -- Ambassador Rice: Good afternoon. I will just briefly summarize the main points that we made in our discussion. We certainly agree with Kofi Annan that this is a moment where we have reached, in effect, the tipping point, with the events over the weekend being the most recent manifestation of that reality. I think we may be beginning to see the wheels coming off of this bus. And that means that what happens next and the steps that are taken by the Syrian authorities and by this Council could well be dispositive. The reality is—as I said in our discussion—it's hard to see that there are any more than three potential outcomes at this stage. The political process—which is so crucial to the success of any transition, which is the purpose of the Annan plan—is thwarted by the ongoing, escalating, expanding violence perpetrated by the government and the reality that the opposition cannot possibly be expected to come to the table while the violence is intensifying, escalating, and the government is lying about it. So those three outcomes are as follows: The first and best outcome would be for the government of Syria to finally and immediately implement its commitments under the Annan plan as it's obliged to do under UN Security Council resolutions. That is what Kofi Annan is pressing for, and that is the surest and ... |
