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Video: Nikki Haley Torches Russia Over UN Security Council Veto on Syria

Guy Benson
Guy Benson  |  April 13, 2017 3:01 PM
Former South Carolina Governor and current United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has emerged as a powerful voice of moral clarity at that institution, unapologetically standing up for American interests, defending Israel against hopelessly selective international calumny, and hammering both the barbaric Syrian regime and its craven protectors in Moscow. During Wednesday's UN Security Council vote on a resolution in response to Assad's horrific chemical weapons attack on his own people, Russia once again wielded its veto power to defeat the measure. Against clear evidence, the Kremlin dismissed Assad's culpability in the murderous act -- a denial that comes on the heels of US intelligence sources releasing an assessment that the Russian government was complicit in the attack. Following a statement from the UK's representative at Turtle Bay, Haley unloaded on the Russian delegation. Leah wrote up some of the remarks yesterday, but the video is worth watching, especially to see Haley blasting the Russians and Syrians to their faces. Skip ahead to the seven minute mark:

"With its veto, Russia said no to accountability. Russia said no to cooperation with the United Nations' independent investigation. And Russia said no to a resolution that would have helped promote peace in Syria. Russia once again has chosen to side with Assad, even as the rest of the world -- including the Arab world -- overwhelmingly comes together to condemn this murderous regime. Russia said this resolution was biased, and the Assad regime was not involved. This resolution simply emphasized the information the regime is already required to provide to investigators...if the regime is innocent, as Russia claims, the information requested in this resolution would have vindicated them. Unfortunately, this was Russia's eighth veto on the Syria resolution. The United States takes no pleasure in seeing Russia isolated again on the Security Council...By its failure, Russia will continue to be isolated."
Haley then turned her rhetorical guns on Assad's representatives: "To Assad and the Syrian government, you have no friends in the world after your horrible actions. The United States is watching your actions very closely. The days of your arrogance and disregard of humanity are over. Your excuses will no longer be heard. I suggest you look at this vote very carefully, and heed this warning." Alas, Assad does have a handful of friends in the world, including the regime in Tehran. Their most important ally has a permanent seat on the Security Council and has been actively shielding Assad from international consequences for years. The regime in Damascus has been actively not heeding these sorts of warnings throughout this bloody conflict, meeting with virtually no meaningful ramifications until the Trump administration's limited missile strikes. During the previous administration, the Syrian government violated US red lines with impunity, instead participating in a pathetic charade of WMD disarmament. Haley also called out the Russians on social media:


I'll leave you with the latest news out of the United Nations, which will perversely be viewed as less important than condemning Israel's latest "war crimes," or whatever: