United States Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power and US Secretary of State John Kerry, September 2013. Allan Tannenbaum/Press Association. All rights reserved.
On 18 August 2011, President Obama declared that “the future of Syria must be determined by its people”. But he immediately contravened this basic democratic principle by saying that Bashir al-Assad should cease to be president of Syria forthwith, irrespective of the wishes of the Syrian people. In a joint statement the same day, the UK, France and Germany dutifully agreed.
