TODAY’S MESOP COMMENTARY : TODAY ASSAD BOMBED AGAIN A HOSPITAL

‘How to Save the Syrians’ – Michael Ignatius, The New York Review of Books Blog

“The fact is that what law forbids conscience may still command. What law forbids international peace and security might still require. What is legal is not always legitimate. Those who argue that international legality is the sine qua non for legitimate action in the international arena ignore the fact that there are situations of extreme necessity in both domestic and international law where obeying the strict letter of the law may allow a greater harm to occur.

When legality and legitimacy part company, as they have done in Syria, those who say strict legality must prevail have an obligation to explain how this squares with morality, just as those say that morality should prevail need to explain why they are justified in breaking the law. A veto at the Security Council against protecting civilians in Syria has moral consequences. Such vetoes enable a ruler to continue butchering his own people and driving millions into exile. If a veto has these ghastly consequences, who would call it legitimate? Who would dare believe that such a veto strengthens the rule of law?”

http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2013/sep/13/how-save-syrians/