U.S. envoy walks out in protest
China and Russia issued a rare double veto at the UN Security Council on Tuesday, quashing a resolution to condemn Syria for its violent crackdown on anti-government dissidents. The resolution was backed strongly by the U.S. and European countries, but was automatically overturned when Russia and China objected. Syria’s envoy to the UN, Bashar al-Jaafari, upon hearing of the double veto, praised the “voices of the wise” for confronting pressure from Western powers. Susan Rice, the U.S. representative at the Security Council, left the meeting in protest as Jaafari accused her country of being a “party to genocide” for its support of Israel. “The United States is outraged that this council has utterly failed to address an urgent moral challenge and a growing threat to regional peace and security,” Rice was quoted as saying in The Washington Post. “Several members have sought for weeks to weaken and strip bare any text that would have defended the lives of innocent civilians from Assad’s brutality.” Defending the use of its veto, Russia said the resolution would have exacerbated tensions in Syria. Syrian security forces have killed an estimated 3,000 people during their months-long demonstrations against the government of Bashar al-Assad.