Posted on 05/28/2012 8:34:07 AM PDT by Kaslin
Last week, the Senate Foreign Relations committee turned the proud men and women of our military into a political football. During a hearing on the long-stalled Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST), two top Obama administration officials constantly invoked the military a reason to ratify fatally flawed treaty.
In her written testimony, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said “no country is in a position to gain more” from the treaty because “as the world's foremost maritime power, the United States benefits from the Convention's favorable freedom of navigation provisions.” She also declared the treaty would “secure U.S. sovereign rights over extensive marine areas.”
It is a savvy public relations move that proponents of the U.N. treaty have decided to play the national security card and hijack the winning message of sovereignty. There is just one problem with these arguments, though: they are not true.
Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) asked General Martin E. Dempsey, USA, the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, whether America is “at risk as a result of failure to ratify this treaty.” In a measured tone, the General Dempsey responded, “based on our current application of customary international law, we will, of course, assert our sovereignty and our ability to navigate” and “our ability to project force will not deteriorate.”
Defined in its most simplistic terms, sovereignty is the freedom from external control. And while 162 countries have been willing to cede their freedom to an international organization based in Jamaica, America has refused to do so for three decades. What President Ronald Reagan, and countless Senators, understood is that an international treaty does not guarantee America’s sovereignty, but rather it would erode our freedom.
Even when then-President George W. Bush pushed the treaty, the sovereignty argument won the day and stalled the treaty. Proponents learned their lesson, forming the “American Sovereignty Campaign” to push for the ratification of LOST. On top of a crafty campaign name, they are also advertising on conservative websites that have been critical of the treaty.
It’s a crafty campaign, but as The Heritage Foundation has explained repeatedly, LOST will undermine America’s sovereignty, not restore it. One international law expert described the treaty in stark terms:
“It is therefore not an exaggeration to say that, as a result of production technology on the deep seabed and subsoil, U.S. Senate ratification of LOST would mean the largest abandonment of territorial rights by any nation in history. More than that, LOST would put those territorial rights to a very specific purpose.” (emphasis added)
Senator-turned-lobbyist Trent Lott brought a different spin to the issue of territorial rights, though. In justifying his flip-flop on the treaty (he was vehemently against it before he before it), Lott said, “the world has changed from an economic and military standpoint. … Some people say ‘we have the biggest, baddest navy fleet in the world, we’ll go and do what we want to,’ [but] we ought to be careful about how we think about that.”
Just days prior to Memorial Day, lawmakers and lobbyists use the military – and the Navy in particular – to tout a treaty that would undermine American sovereignty because they apparently no longer have faith in its ability to carry out necessary missions.
While General Dempsey obviously rejects that vision, the treaty’s most prominent lobbyist does not; and make no mistake, Trent Lott is no ordinary Senator-turned-lobbyists. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta praised Lott’s lobbying effort, saying, “Seeing Trent Lott in the room, I feel a hell of a lot better about the chances for ratification.”
The administration, senators and lobbyists should stop using the military to justify the treaty. Senators must understand the Navy’s support for the treaty is extremely narrow, focused on navigational rights, which are the least controversial provisions. A new legal regime created by LOST, which covers seabed mining, international lawsuits and more, is extremely dangerous.
Instead of transferring billions – and potentially trillions – of dollars to an unaccountable international bureaucracy, lawmakers should focus on ensuring America’s Navy has the necessary resources to protect our national interests.
I hope someone is warming up the Filibuster.
So far McCain is kinda FOR LOST and McConnell is not saying boo.
This is a total disaster. USA only loses with LOST.
How dare the Government give away The Peoples Sovereignty!
Infuriating!
What good is having the largest and most powerful Navy in the World if it has to take orders from an International organisation based in Jamaica.
Jamaica for Krysts sake. The damned Rastafarians will be Admirals.
We won’t even be allowed to fish in our own waters.
If the Senate passes this ,Well I won’t say_________
They are planning to pass LOST during the lame duck session AFTER the 2012 election and before January 2013.
There are other devastating measures in the hopper.
Signing on to the International Criminal Court which would allow war crimes prosecutions for our troops and even our leaders, under UN rules.
Another involves banning hand guns and/or ammo. There are about 6 of these nasty buggers.
The only way to stop it is to (a) beat Obama...decisively and (b) elect as many Tea Party Congressmen/women as possible to show Boehner and McConnell that there is a new Sheriff in town. The Tea Party caucus will also keep Romney in line...the way it is supposed to work.
They are planning to pass LOST during the lame duck session AFTER the 2012 election and before January 2013.
There are other devastating measures in the hopper.
Signing on to the International Criminal Court which would allow war crimes prosecutions for our troops and even our leaders, under UN rules.
Another involves banning hand guns and/or ammo. There are about 6 of these nasty buggers.
The only way to stop it is to (a) beat Obama...decisively and (b) elect as many Tea Party Congressmen/women as possible to show Boehner and McConnell that there is a new Sheriff in town. The Tea Party caucus will also keep Romney in line...the way it is supposed to work.
I would not be surprised if it will be passed entirely by the rats
Don’t forget the Senate. It is important that we not just take Senate back, but get the super majority
Ohyea, when I speak of Congress I include Senate. McConnell should give up the reins. He is such a pushover.
It requires 2/3 of Senators “present” to pass a resolution of treaty ratification.
At least 10 Republicans would need to vote in favor of the resolution, assuming all 100 Senators were “present.”
If LOST should pass in the “Lame Duck” session after the Democrats have their ass handed to them in November, the incoming administration (if it has it’s testicles out of the Democrat lockbox!), it can be repealed:
FRom Wikipedia: “American law is that international accords become part of the body of U.S. federal law.[1] As a result, Congress can modify or repeal treaties by subsequent legislative action, even if this amounts to a violation of the treaty under international law. This was held, for instance, in the Head Money Cases. The most recent changes will be enforced by U.S. courts entirely independent of whether the international community still considers the old treaty obligations binding upon the U.S.[1]
Additionally, an international accord that is inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution is void under domestic U.S. law, the same as any other federal law in conflict with the Constitution. This principle was most clearly established in the case of Reid v. Covert.[8] The Supreme Court could rule an Article II treaty provision to be unconstitutional and void under domestic law, although it has not yet done so.”
Within WHAT jurisdiction, Hillary?
Or did you just ACCIDENTALLY leave that little detail out, Madam Secretary of State?
Anyone who thinks Hillary is the lesser evil to Obama is a damn fool. He can't even shine her toe claws.
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