ANALYSIS: Failed Syrian ceasefire raises uncomfortable questions about the UN
New York — A ceasefire resolution for Syria has failed to take hold as Syrian forces, backed by Russia, make gains in Eastern Ghouta. The question is arising: What is the UN doing? French ambassador Francois Delattre said the failure to stop the bloodshed in Syria could be "the graveyard of the UN", which was founded on the ashes of the Second World War. Not everyone shares that view. While the Security Council had failed the people of Syria, this did not mean the end of the global organisation, said British deputy ambassador Jonathan Allen. The council adopted on February 24 a resolution calling for a 30-day ceasefire in Syria where hundreds have died in a fierce government attack on the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta. It was the latest in a series of dark chapters in the seven-year war that the UN has been largely powerless to stop. The resolution called for lifting sieges to allow humanitarian aid deliveries, but only two convoys have been authorised by the Syrian governmen...
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