Posted on 08/02/2007 6:29:57 PM PDT by blam
Russia criticised for planting Arctic flag
Last Updated: 1:42am BST 03/08/2007
Russia has been condemned for planting its flag on the seabed at the North Pole in a symbolic bid to stake a claim to the vast mineral wealth of the Arctic.
Explorers from the country descended 14,000ft in a mini-submarine to place the titanium flag in an area that is home to a quarter of the world's untapped energy reserves.
Russia also used the expedition, disclosed in The Daily Telegraph , to gather samples to substantiate its claim that the Lomonosov Ridge, a shelf that runs through the Arctic, is an extension of Russian territory.
However, the other Arctic nations - Norway, the United States and Denmark, through its sovereignty of Greenland - have challenged Russia's claims and criticised its flag-planting mission.
So if I go build my own sub and go up to the north pole and capture the flag. Is the territory now mine?
No, but the flag is yours...
Cool, Would I have to plant my own flag to get the territory?
Couldn't hurt. However, without nation state status, your chances of prevailing would be considered small.
I'm sure that if you tried to improve your knowledge of the issue, you could use the internet to determine the credibility of the claim.
Of course you know what is required to make a claim? And if claim is not made..........?
No problemo, we can pull our gunboats out of the Straits of Malacca and put them in the Bering Strait. Do you think the Ruskys will co-operate better than Indonesia and Malaysia?
Someone has to rule on that data; it doesn't speak for itself. Anything involving the UN, or any other international gaggle of bureaucrats, is not to be trusted.
"I'm sure that if you tried to improve your knowledge of the issue, you could use the internet to determine the credibility of the claim."
And I'm sure I have sufficient knowledge to recognize a third world globalist UN scam (LOST) when I see one. The difference between us is that you're willing and anxious to entrust U.S. rights to unaccountable and faceless international bureaucrats while I am not.
"Of course you know what is required to make a claim?"
Doesn't matter. The U.S. can file claims until it's blue in the face. A futile exercise so long as a UN-sanctioned international body has the last word.
Just wait until a Soviet flag is planted under the North Pole...
As the Prez has said, there are decisions being made that affect the US so it is wise to have a seat at the table.
Without a seat, the US has no way of presenting the data, and as those maps show, it is significant data.
Without a seat, the US has no way of making a claim.
With a seat, the US has no way of recovering on a claim. Not in a third world/UN forum. Not a chance.
Besides, there is always that "gunboat diplomacy" to which you were in thrall a few posts back. Ready to give up on that so soon? Far better, no UN taxes and no submitting to an international court--bottom line = no diminution of our national sovereignty. While this is unimportant to you, it is a critical issue for loyal Americans.
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