US won't seek UN approval for military strike on Syria

The United States has declared it has given up trying to work with the United Nations Security Council on Syria.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power made the comments, which left no doubt that Washington would not seek UN approval for a military strike on Syria.

The United States is planning to carry out a strike in the war-torn country in response to an August 21 chemical attack near Damascus.

According to stuff.co.nz, she said a draft resolution Britain submitted to the five permanent council members last week calling for a response to that attack was effectively dead.

She said that after months of efforts on chemical weapons and after two and half years of efforts on Geneva peace talks, the humanitarian situation is that there is no viable path forward in the Security Council.

Power said the 15-nation council has failed to live up to its role as the guardian of international peace and security, the report said.

She said the US mission briefed UN member states on Washington's assessments of August 21, which overwhelmingly point that the Assad regime perpetrated a large-scale and indiscriminate attack against its own people using chemical weapons.

Earlier this week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon cast doubt on the legality of any military action against Syria that lacks Security Council backing.