A US ambassador nominee to the United Nations has called the UN Security Council's response to Syria's war a "disgrace" at her confirmation hearing.

Samantha Power, who was President Barack Obama's nominee for the position made the statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday.

"We see the failure of the UN Security Council to respond to the slaughter in Syria - a disgrace that history will judge harshly," Power said in testimony that also praised the New York-based world body.

Under questioning from senators, she called Syria one of the worst "cases of mass brutality" that she has ever seen.

Power, 42, a former White House national security staffer and journalist won a Pulitzer Prize for her study of US failures to prevent genocide and is seen as an advocate of an activist foreign policy.

PHOTO CAPTION

Destroyed buildings are seen on a deserted street in Homs

Aljazeera