On eve of U.N. push for global government, advocates urge Senate to approve a building block: The Law of the Sea Treaty
Posted on 09/05/2005 8:59:17 AM PDT by Paul Ross
| Decision Brief | No. 05-D 44 | 2005-08-31 |
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On eve of U.N. push for global government, advocates urge Senate to approve a building block: The Law of the Sea Treaty
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(Washington, D.C.): As concern grows that the United Nations is intent on replacing what the National Security Guidance calls "an orderly arrangement of sovereign states" with a proto-world government - complete with the ability to impose international taxes, a new push is being made for a treaty that would advance that purpose: the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST).
This sovereignty-sapping agenda is at the heart of a dispute now playing out in Turtle Bay, where U.S. Permanent Representative John Bolton is resisting an initiative pushed by governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who are hostile to the United States and/or champions of a supranational government. Amb. Bolton is being savaged by the latter for wisely seeking over 500 changes to a draft Outcome Document envisioned for signature by heads of state and government at a High-Level Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly next month.
Yesterday, French President Jacques Chirac underscored his government's intention to push forward with one such tax - on international airline travel, both as a unilateral initiative and together with Germany, Spain, Algeria, Brazil and Chile at the UN meeting. According to the Associated Press, "French authorities said a tax of about $6 per passenger worldwide, with a $25 surcharge for business class, would generate about $12 billion a year. The contribution could be adjusted in poorer countries, so passengers there were not penalized."
The Establishment Strikes Back
It is against this unlikely backdrop, that a group of prominent former and present officials released today a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist urging him to facilitate the "expeditious" ratification of a treaty that would help establish precedents useful to opponents of the Bush Administration at the UN and elsewhere: the Law of the Sea (LOST).
Despite the highly generalized praise for LOST offered by its proponents in the letter dated 31 August, the Treaty is problematic in a number of respects. For example, its governing body would be empowered to impose what amount to international taxes on resources extracted from the ocean floor and subsurface. Parties to the accord, moreover, are compelled to submit to what will, inevitably, be politicized tribunals like the World Court, whose decisions are binding and unappealable. It contains sweeping environmental obligations that make those entailed in the Kyoto accords pale by comparison - especially insofar as the Law of the Sea Tribunal has established that it believes its jurisdiction extends to activities on land and in the air if they might affect the world's oceans.
Perhaps most worrisome is the fact that LOST was shaped by individuals, NGOs and regimes that have sought to use such international agreements governing the so-called "common space" to constrain America's freedom of action and military power. This could be accomplished, were the United States to become a party to LOST, by the use of the Treaty's tribunal and/or arbitration panels to encumber U.S. intelligence collection and submarine activities, by insisting upon the transfer of militarily significant technology and information, and even by prohibiting the interdiction of vessels believed to be engaged in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Second Opinions
Opponents of the Law of the Sea Treaty have their own roster of influential figures who can go toe-to-toe on the implications of this accord with those who lent their name to the letter to Senator Frist. In fact, earlier this year, an array of organizations and individuals representing virtually the entire conservative movement joined a press conference at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) to release their own letter to Sen. Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Among those who participated were Senator James Inhofe, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee; Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick; David Keene, Chairman of the American Conservative Union; Patrick Buchanan, author and commentator; Grover Norquist, President, Americans for Tax Reform; Fred Smith, President, The Competitive Enterprise Institute and Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., President, Center for Security Policy.
Incredibly, the voices of such critics were not afforded an opportunity to be heard when, in the Fall of 2003, the Foreign Relations Committee last considered the Law of the Sea Treaty and approved a resolution of ratification. In the intervening period: serious opposition has emerged; the Treaty was returned to the Foreign Relations Committee with the end of the last session of Congress and must be considered by that panel, and others, afresh; and the Bush Administration has had to confront new realities. Of these, the most immediate is the fact that the sorts of problems inherent in this Treaty are of a piece with those it is currently confronting in the draft Outcome Document for the UN General Assembly meeting next month.
The Bottom Line
For these reasons, if Senator Frist feels the need to respond to the LOST proponents' new letter, it should be with an assurance that any further consideration by the Senate of this flawed treaty will be done in a manner that assures its defects as well as putative merits are carefully and deliberately examined. And, just as the United States must oppose global taxes and world-government-advancing programs at the UN this fall, it should do as Ronald Reagan did in 1982 - namely, reject the Law of the Sea Treaty.
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Agreed. Will this one do? (It comes right from Wikipedia's RINO discussion!)
Have long, with Pres Reagan and others, seen this as an insideous, traitorous, horrid, destructive treaty.
Lord, God, please--hold this back as long as possible. Bring to naught all efforts toward it. Neutralize in fiercely effective ways all who support it, in Jesus' Name.
Bush seams to be in favor of anything that weakens sovereignty while at the same time claiming to be for strong security.
LOST PING
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
BTTT!!!!!!!
'We ought not to entangle ourselves in really stoopid entanglements.' (Paraphrasing the Founding Fathers.)
INTREP - ALERT - Yet another invasion of our beloved country!
What is it with these damn retired U.S. Navy AdmiralS? Former Secretarys of State I understand, they were half communist when they took the job. Schwarzenegger managed to get on the list too!
James D. Watkins
Admiral, U.S. Navy (Retired)
Chair, U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy
Ambassador David M. Abshire
President, Center for the Study of the Presidency
John Adams
President, Natural Resources Defense Council
Madeleine K. Albright
Former Secretary of State
James A. Baker III
Former Secretary of State
Senior Partner, Baker Botts, LLP
Leon E. Panetta
Chair, Pew Oceans Commission
Robert D. Ballard
Professor, Graduate School of Oceanography,
University of Rhode Island
Ted A. Beattie
President and CEO, John G. Shedd Aquarium
Lillian C. Borrone
Former Assistant Executive Director,
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Senator John B. Breaux
Senior Counsel, Patton Boggs LLP
David G. Burney
Executive Director, U.S. Tuna Foundation
David D. Caron
Program Director, Law of the Sea Institute,
University of California, Berkeley
Red Cavaney
President and CEO,
American Petroleum Institute
Clarence P. Cazalot, Jr.
President and CEO, Marathon Oil Corporation
Eileen Claussen
President and Chair of the Board,
Pew Center on Global Climate Change
James M. Coleman
Professor, Coastal Studies Institute,
Louisiana State University
Joseph J. Cox
President and CEO,
Chamber of Shipping of America
Walter Cronkite
CBS
Admiral William J. Crowe, Jr.
Admiral, U.S. Navy (Retired)
Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
Chairman, Advisory Board, Global Options, Inc.
Ann D’Amato
Chief of Staff, Office of City Attorney,
Los Angeles
Thomas Dammrich
President,
National Marine Manufacturers Association
Lawrence R. Dickerson
President and COO,
Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc.
Donald L. Evans
Former Secretary of Commerce
Thomas Fry
President,
National Ocean Industries Association
Paul G. Gaffney II
President, Monmouth University
Robert B. Gagosian
President and Director, Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution
Representative James C. Greenwood
President and CEO,
Biotechnology Industry Organization
Governor Christine Gregoire
State of Washington
Carlotta A. Leon Guerrero
Executive Director, Ayuda Foundation,
Micronesia Medical Missions
Representative Lee Hamilton
President and Director, Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars
Mike Hayden
Secretary, Kansas Department of
Wildlife and Parks
Geoffrey Heal
Professor, Graduate School of Business,
Columbia University
Marc J. Hershman
Professor, School of Marine Affairs,
University of Washington
Carla A. Hills
Former U.S. Trade Representative,
Chairman and CEO, Hills & Company
Senator Ernest F. Hollings
Hollings Cancer Center
Paul L. Kelly
Senior Vice President, Rowan Companies, Inc.
Donald Kennedy, Ph.D.
Editor-in Chief, Science Magazine
American Association for the
Advancement of Science
Charles F. Kennel
Director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
University of California, San Diego
Tony Knowles
Former Governor of Alaska
Christopher L. Koch
President and CEO, World Shipping Council
Governor Ted Kulongoski
State of Oregon
Governor Linda Lingle
State of Hawaii
Jane Lubchenco
Professor, Department of Zoology
Oregon State University
Robert C. McFarlane
Former National Security Advisor
Chairman, Energy and Communications
Solutions LLC
John Norton Moore
Director, Center for Oceans Law and Policy,
University of Virginia School of Law
Frank E. Muller-Karger
Professor, College of Marine Science,
University of South Florida
James J. Mulva
Chairman and CEO, ConocoPhillips
George B. Newton, Jr.
Chairman, U.S. Arctic Research Commission
Senator Sam Nunn
Co-Chairman and CEO,
The Nuclear Threat Initiative
Sean O’Keefe
Former NASA Administrator,
Chancellor, Louisiana State University
Julie Packard
Executive Director, Monterey Bay Aquarium
Pietro Parravano
President, Institute for Fisheries Resources
Governor George E. Pataki
State of New York
Brian T. Petty
Senior Vice President,
International Association of Drilling Contractors
Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering
Former Under Secretary for Political Affairs,
U.S. Department of State
Colin Powell
Former Secretary of State
Joseph W. Prueher
Admiral, U.S. Navy (Retired)
Edward B. Rasmuson
Chairman of the Statewide Advisory Board,
Wells Fargo Bank
William K. Reilly
Former EPA Administrator,
Chairman, World Wildlife Fund
Joseph P. Riley, Jr.
Mayor of Charleston, South Carolina
David Rockefeller, Jr.
Vice Chair, National Park Foundation
Andrew A. Rosenberg
Professor, Department of Natural Resources and
Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space
University of New Hampshire
William D. Ruckelshaus
Strategic Director, Madrona Venture Group
Roger T. Rufe, Jr.
President, The Ocean Conservancy
Barry Russell
President,
Independent Petroleum Association of America
Paul A. Sandifer
Senior Scientist, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
William L. Schachte, Jr.
Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy (Retired)
Harry N. Scheiber
Co-Director, Law of the Sea Institute,
University of California, Berkeley
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State of California
Governor Togiola Tulafono
U.S. Territory of American Samoa
Marilyn Ware
Chairman Emeritus, American Water
Kathryn Sullivan
President and CEO,
Center of Science and Industry
Strobe Talbott
Richard D. West
President, Consortium for Oceanographic
Research and Education
Patten D. White
CEO, Maine Lobstermen’s Association
Russell E. Train
Chairman Emeritus, World Wildlife Fund
cc: President George W. Bush
Vice-President Richard B. Cheney
Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Senator Harry M. Reid
Senator Richard G. Lugar
Senator Joseph R. Biden
Bolton is causing havoc at the UN by fighting AGAINST what the UN is trying to sneak through. It even says so in the posted article. That's why Bolton was appointed by President Bush.
"This sovereignty-sapping agenda is at the heart of a dispute now playing out in Turtle Bay, where U.S. Permanent Representative John Bolton is RESISTING an initiative pushed by governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who are hostile to the United States and/or champions of a supranational government. Amb. Bolton is being savaged by the latter for wisely seeking over 500 changes to a draft Outcome Document envisioned for signature by heads of state and government at a High-Level Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly next month."
Well said!
You know, that prayer sounds like you've surrendered to it already.
It hasn't been confirmed, and with the proper pressure in the right places, it never will be.
Cheers!
A CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3b2aa8747413.htm
a package of 34 treaties, all of which were ratified by a show of hands -- no recorded vote.
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a325b3f5d31.htm
Annan in historic meeting with Supreme Court &Congress/is believed to be unprecedented.
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3b0c30a81760.htm
Now we know why the RATS didn't want Bolton in the UN.
The acronym for this treaty is LOST.
Just like we should rename
"Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS)"
to
"Supreme Court, Rulers of the United Metrosexual States (SCROTUMS)"
Cheers!
Why would Bush appoint Bolton then if he was so for this treaty and the UN? Your statement doesnt jive with whats going on.
What kills me is the rah-rah support for John Bolton by conservatives. We don't need a UN ambassador at all, because we never should have a member of the UN in the first place. The solution to the UN problem is to for the US to get out of the UN and kick it out of the US!
I'm not giving up either...but I can understand his frustration...we are fighting the entire system, for all practical purposes, because we already lost the high ground, the White House.
The President himself has thrown in with these characters. The treaty can't be presented unless he tenders it. He is backing it the whole way.
And frankly when we are on our knees praying....and 'looking to the hills for our help'...that is when we are truly in fighting form...and at our most effective.
Who can stand against HIM?
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