Russia and China Catch Security Council in a Devastating Lie

Source: Russia Insider

March 25, 2017 • 117 comments

Security Council members expressed "unanimous concern" about Islamic State's use of chemical weapons in Iraq — then blocked a Russia-China resolution to investigate. Why?

Russia and China have teamed up once again in the U.N. Security Council — and this time they called a rather embarrassing bluff.

On Friday, Moscow and Beijing proposed that a United Nations panel investigating chemical weapons use in Syria be extended to Iraq, a proposal that was immediately rejected by the U.K.

This came as a bit of a shock, because earlier the Security Council had expressed "unanimous concern" about Islamic State's use of chemical weapons in Iraq.

As AFP reports:

Security Council members expressed "unanimous concern" about the latest information concerning IS's use of chemical weapons, according to British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, who chaired the talks.

Russia and China then presented a draft resolution that "seeks to expand the work of the Joint Investigative Mechanism to Iraq," Rycroft said, adding that Britain opposes the measure.

"The UK pointed out that there were many differences between the situation in Iraq and Syria," he said.

Rycroft claims that the reason the U.K. opposed the measure is because the Iraqi government is "fully cooperating" with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

That's odd logic. If the Iraqi government is fully cooperating with the U.N., then surely they would be open to investigating chemical weapon attacks by Islamic State?

The proposal was suggested during a Security Council discussion "about the battle of Mosul, where Iraqi forces are fighting Daesh group jihadists".

Reading between the lines, it seems like there's really only two good reasons why the U.K. would block this proposal:

1. For whatever odd reason, the U.K. does not want investigators to be snooping around the ongoing carnage in Mosul

Or:

2. "Unanimous concern" is a meaningless baloney phrase used to feign outrage about atrocities in non-western countries

We suppose a third possibility is that "someone else" has been using chemical weapons in Mosul. 

At any rate, Russia and China just caught the West in a big, embarrassing and shameful lie — and anyone who's paying attention can see the double-standards and hypocrisy.

This is just the latest diplomatic team victory for Beijing and Moscow.

Expect many more.

http://russia-insider.com/en/russia-china-call-wests-bluff-uk-rejects-resolution-investigate-allegations-chemical-weapons-used
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Source: Arab News

Russia, China seek chemical weapons probe in Iraq

Agence France Presse | Published — Saturday 25 March 2017

UNITED NATIONS, UNITED STATES: Russia and China on Friday proposed that a United Nations panel investigating chemical weapons use in Syria be extended to Iraq, a proposal Britain immediately rejected.

The two countries raised the prospect of broadening the scope of the Joint Investigative Mechanism during a council discussion about the battle of Mosul, where Iraqi forces are fighting Daesh group jihadists.

Security Council members expressed "unanimous concern" about the latest information concerning IS's use of chemical weapons, according to British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, who chaired the talks.

Russia and China then presented a draft resolution that “seeks to expand the work of the Joint Investigative Mechanism to Iraq,” Rycroft said, adding that Britain opposes the measure.

"The UK pointed out that there were many differences between the situation in Iraq and Syria," he said.

Unlike the Syrian government, the Iraqi government "is fully cooperating with the OPCW," Rycroft added, referring to the intergovernmental Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which works with the UN to implement the Joint Investigative Mechanism.

"There are no allegations" the Iraqi government is using chemical weapons, he said.

The council took no decision over the draft on Friday, Rycroft said. He did not indicate whether Russia and China would submit their resolution to a vote in the future.

The dispute highlighted a fundamental disagreement over Syria between Western countries and Russia.

The Joint Investigative Mechanism — which Moscow helped establish as a Security Council member — found that the Syrian government, a Russian ally, had used chemical weapons at least three times.

But in February, Russia and China vetoed a draft resolution that would have sanctioned the Syrian government for its use of chemical weapons.
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Further reading:

Chemical weapons found in Mosul in Isis lab, say Iraqi forces

US 'hid Iraq chemical weapons incidents'

UN says chemical weapon use in Mosul would be war crime

U.S. troops found nearly 5,000 abandoned chemical weapons in Iraq from 2004 to 2011: report

Terrorists Use Mustard Gas, Sarin in Syria, Iraq - Russian Foreign Ministry