White House: UN Ceasefire in Syria ‘Not Working’

Blames Regime as Rebel Attacks Grow

White House spokesman Jay Carney today urged the international community to “admit defeat” and abandon the struggling ceasefire in Syria, insisting that the Assad regime was fully to blame for its failure.

Carney said that a new alternative should be considered through the UN Security Council, likely referring to the initiative promised last week by French FM Alain Juppe calling for a UN invasion of Syria.

The latest White House comments, which centered on blaming the regime, came just one day after the deadliest day of the ceasefire for Syrian government forces, in which rebels killed 22 soldiers nationwide in multiple attacks.

Both sides have been intermittently flouting the ceasefire, but UN monitors have said that violence is down markedly in areas they’ve deployed. With more monitors expected in the days and weeks to come, they aren’t as ready to give up as Western officials who were pushing for war and saw the calm as a stumbling block.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.