So US can do whatever they fancy, but other countries cannot?
WHY then invoke, day in, day out, “the respect of international law” if the US doesn’t care a straw about it???
I see.
You have no understanding of what “international law” is. International law is created when two nations sign a treaty. They then treat the terms of the treaty as their respective national laws. Russia certainly had no problem violating international law when it decided to violate the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe in 2007. Incidentally, Putin did that by issuing a decree. It was not done by a vote in the Duma.
The U.S. has the same right to cease complying with treaties it has signed.
This is one of the reasons I think we should not base our positions on international law or the UN. It is clear that we have abused our position in the UN to inflict International Law on others, but when it comes to the reverse application of International Law on the U.S., we balk, well at least until we have a leader who is so weak, he swallows that bitter pill.
It is better to be a strong nation, with key allies, and handle international relations as our constitution dictates, rather than manipulating the UN, etc.
The manipulation and reverse shielding just make us look like hypocrites to the world.
But, here is the problem: no leader since Reagan has seen fit to lead our nation to that state. Even the Bushes became enthralled with international law and being its enforcer. I don’t know where the desire comes from. Obviously as voters, we have some say in this, but we don’t seem to care, as long as the Constitution is the law of our land, screw everyone else. The problem is, when the “right” leader comes along, we are going to end up as screwed as the people we are actively screwing over now. Right now, the double standard makes us look like hypocrites.
Notice I am not advocating we become weak and allow International Law to come inside our borders, but I am advocating we become strong again, withdraw from the UN, and find solace with our allies, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada (the five eyes).
Finally, if we were already on that course, we wouldn’t be concerned about Crimea right now. If a Nation allied with the U.S., then we’d protect you, International Law be damned. If you weren’t an allie, then you hopefully appeal to the UN courts and maybe in a few years, they hear your plea, issue a edict, and then nothing will happen.
As it is, we have screwed ourselves mightily in Crimea. Putin acted within the boundaries of international law and treaties, and got what he wanted. Our guarantee to the Ukraine was worth less than the paper we wrote it on, because we are basically confined to glorious International Law nowadays, and a military force, that while strong and efficient for its size, its not capable of fighting all our battles at this point.