© UN Photo /Jean-Marc Ferré/ flickr
Only one week after announcing her decision to step down as one of the three members on the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria where she has spent five years since it's inception in September 2012, Carla Del Ponte told Swiss media in interviews published Sunday, that her team has collected enough evidence against the President of Syria, Dr. Bashar Al Assad to convict him of war crimes.
She stated that her reason for stepping down is due to frustration at the U.N. Security Council's failure to continue the commission's work by setting up a special tribunal for Syria that could try alleged war criminals. "That is why the situation is so frustrating. The preparatory work has been done, but nevertheless, there is no prosecutor and no court," she told
Sonntagszeitung. "It's a tragedy." She stated that "everyone in Syria is on the bad side. The Assad government has perpetrated horrible crimes against humanity and used chemical weapons. And the opposition is now made up of extremists and terrorists." In Sunday's interviews, she said she had handed in her resignation letter last Thursday, and that she would officially step down on September 18, after the commission presents its latest report to the UN Human Rights Council. UN chief Antonio Guterres appealed last week for the commission to continue its work despite Del Ponte's departure.
As a veteran former war crimes Prosecutor and former Swiss Attorney General, Del Ponte has prosecuted war crimes in Rwanda and former Yugoslavia and is accustomed to high stress, high level corruption and crimes. Therefore her abrupt decision to step down and theoretically throw in the towel based on "frustration" seems a bit out of character for someone of her caliber.
Comment: Whether or not Bannon had much of an influence on the Trump Administration is no longer an issue. What we're seeing now in the elevation of former military personnel to the White House may be Trump's last ditch effort to surround himself with war party 'insiders' that he thinks may provide some level of security and protection against relentless Deep State attacks. The wagons have him surrounded, and his relative freedom to do anything of value for the US - and for the world - is being mercilessly curtailed. Hang on to your hats, this situation is only bound to get worse.