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CYIL 7 ȍ2016Ȏ
that Russia had increased its military assistance to Syria and that this was done on the
demand of the Syrian state. Another part of the Russian president’s statement stresses
that the support for the Syrian army is helping it in its legal fight against terrorist
groups. The support will be only in the form of air assistance and not in the fighting
operations on the ground. This support will be restricted by the time of the offensive
operations of the Syrian army.
57
Similar to Iraq, where the air strikes of the USA
and their allies are conducted with the agreement of the Iraqi government, in Syria
Russian forces operate with the agreement of the Syrian government.
Much more questionable is the intervention of the USA and their allies
on the
territory of Syria.
The ambassador of the USA to the UN Samantha Power wrote in
a letter addressed to the secretary general of the UN of 23 September 2014 about the
reasons which give the USA authority under international law to conduct air strikes
against ISIL in Syria based on the right to self-defence in order to help Iraq defend
itself.
58
The USA refers to Article 51 of the UN Charter on the right to self-defence
and claims that Iraq faces a serious threat of continued attacks of ISIL from its
camps in Syria. These ISIL camps are used as bases for training, planning, financing
and practical support for attacks across the border in Iraq and against the people
of Iraq. The government of Iraq therefore asked the USA to lead the international
forces in their attacks against the military bases of ISIL in Syria. With the aim to
prevent continued attacks against Iraq, to protect the citizens of Iraq and to fulfill
the objective of reestablishing Iraqi control over its borders. Higgins
59
similarly states
that the USA rely on individual and collective self-defence of Iraq. She also notes
that no UN resolution was adopted in this direction. She considered interesting the
fact that the intervention in Syria are according to UN Legal Counsel justified by the
right to collective self-defence
in international law.
The letter of the US ambassador of 23 September 2014 also states that ISIL and
other terrorist groups in Syria are posing a threat not only to Iraq but to other
countries, including the USA and their partners in the region. States must be able
to protect themselves in accordance with the right to self-defence as expressed in
Article 51 of the UN Charter, in case the government of the state where the source
of the threat lies is unwilling or unable (here Syria is meant) to prevent use of their
territory for such attacks.
60
S. Power in this way indicates that Syria is “unwilling
or unable” to act against ISIL. The USA therefore claimed the same controversial
right by arguing in a similar way as they had before for justifying their interventions
57
Ibid
.
58
Contemporary Practice of the United States. United States Deepens Its Engagement with ISIL
Conflict.
American Journal of International Law
, 2015, vol. 109, No. 1, p. 203.
59
HIGGINS, Rosalyn. The United Nations at 70 Years: The Impact upon International Law.
International
and Comparative Law Quarterly
. 2016, volume 65, p. 14.
60
Contemporary Practice of the United States. United States Deepens Its Engagement with ISIL Conflict.
American Journal of International Law
, 2015, vol. 109, No. 1, p. 204.