washington seeks international alliance on syria

Slate | Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the Russia and China vetoes of a U.N. resolution calling on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down were nothing short of a “travesty” and called for the formation of an international coalition to support Syria’s opposition.

“Faced with a neutered Security Council, we have to redouble our efforts outside of the United Nations with those allies and partners who support the Syrian people's right to have a better future,” Clinton said, according to the Associated Press. Britain’s Foreign Minister William Hague and France’s Alain Juppe also criticized Russia and China.

Clinton added that the United States will “seek regional and national sanctions against Syria and strengthen the ones we have.”

There is fear that violence will now quickly escalate in Syria as opposition fighters increasingly see an armed struggle as their only option. Before the U.N. vote, both the opposition and the government had an interest in trying to at least appear peaceful. “Now both sides are likely to move quickly toward a bloodier showdown,” writes the Wall Street Journal.