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Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

UN Coordinator Discusses Syrian Chemical Weapons

NATE MOULTON FOR THE HOYA
NATE MOULTON FOR THE HOYA

Sigrid Kaag, the United Nations special coordinator of the mission to eliminate chemical weapons in Syria, spoke on the challenges and successes encountered in the midst of the Syrian Civil War in an event hosted by the Center for Security Studies in Riggs Library on Tuesday.

Colin Kahl, an associate professor in Georgetown’s Security Studies Program, who was recently tapped to serve as National Security Advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, began the event by providing background information on the use of chemical weapons in Syria that began a year ago when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used them to attack Damascus.
“While chemical weapons had been used previously by the regime … this marked a major escalation in the regime’s brutality, and it set in motion a series of events, including the prospect of a possible U.S. military strike on Syrian facilities,” Kahl said.

He said that in September 2013, Syria agreed to dismantle its weapons and place them under international control, in exchange for a guarantee that the United States would not attack Syria.

That 2013 agreement led to the appointment of Kaag, who began her speech by discussing the importance of the framework agreement, which prompted Syria to declare its number of chemical weapons.

“[Syria] declared, for the first time, what is considered to be its chemical weapons program, which was always assumed by the international community to be quite significant, sophisticated and quite large, and to pose a significant threat to the region and to the civilians of the region,” Kaag said.

This initial declaration, she said, prompted the creation of a body to ensure the elimination of chemical weapons, eventually realized through the joint mission between the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Kaag went on to discuss the process of destroying chemical weapons. According to Kaag, the unique situation of having to destroy chemical weapons during wartime complicated this step.

“Normally, the state party would destroy the material on its soil in its own country,” Kaag said. “However, conditions of war are hardly the ones in which you can continue to reliably implement destruction of chemical weapons material. The fear is always that it could be used again, and secondly that it could fall in the wrong hands.”

Kaag and her team packed the weapons into The Cape Ray, a U.S. ship with a reactor that neutralizes chemical materials. She said she felt as though the mission was successful, and that it helped the United Nations Security Council unify under a common goal.

“This was one of those opportunities where you’re in the field and you had to demonstrate we are the voice, the channel, the means of the international community,” Kaag said. “We don’t have time and we cannot afford to quarrel over little issues among ourselves. … We are here to serve, we are here to serve the Syrian people, those who had been victims, those who suffered.”

Kaag concluded her speech by reiterating that there is still work to be done down the road in Syria. “Our intent has always been to make Syria somewhat safer, to do what we can for the people of Syria and the region, and truly hoping that the political process can be inclusive and that the humanitarian and early recovery tracks will really, truly be there to get people back on track,” Kaag said.

Leah Metoudi (COL ’17) attended the event, and asked a question about certain hangars and tunnels in Syria that had not yet been destroyed by the joint mission. Kaag replied that they are expected to be destroyed by April.

“That was one of the main reasons I came here, I was curious to know if they had been destroyed in terms of completing this mission so that was one of the things I found really interesting, that they are actually carrying out this mission and it’s going to be completed this April,” Metoudi said.

Julia Eckelmann (SFS ’18), also attended the event and said she enjoyed learning more about the security situation.

“As someone potentially interested in security studies, I thought it was really interesting to hear firsthand how long the process of diplomacy was, and in this case how little time it actually took,” Eckelmann said. “She continued to point out how rare it was that they did meet this short deadline.”

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