| February
27, 2003
Bush
will soon launch an unprovoked war, an unnecessary war, a war will
kill countless thousands of innocent civilians. This war is built
on fear mongering, lies, and outright bullying. Nobody should be
surprised, since this Administration has been discarding internationalism
at every step. Again, all common-sense knowledge around the world,
except here in America. It's much easier for our media to trump
out "experts," who are often members of the very think
tanks that write policy for the White House.
So
what, exactly, is the United States' record on international law,
under "President" Bush?
Pulled
out from the Kyoto Protocol, the landmark global warming treaty
signed by 178 counties, including the US.
Declined
to support the Small Arms Treaty.
Opposed
the 1997 Land Mine Treaty, signed by 146 countries. There are reports
that the Pentagon may use landmines in Gulf War II. Some 26,000
deaths occur each year from mines.
Opposed
the verification protocol for the Biological Weapons Convention.
Opposed
the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights,
because of a clause declaring a "right to health." The
United States is the only industrialized nation to not have universal
health care.
Opposed
the International Criminal Court, at the insistence of the Pentagon.
The treaty had been previously signed by the US.
Pulled
out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, signed in 1972, so the
Bush Administration could develop its missile defense system. Only
days after the US declared its intention to abrogate the ABM, a
speech by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld outlined an intensification
of plans to develop weapons systems in outer space.
Opposed
the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which was signed by President
Clinton but not ratified by the Senate. The CRC contains a provision
opposing state execution of minors, something the US does under
capital punishment.
Called
into question American participation in NATO deployment in the Balkans.
Rejected
an international accord to enforce the 1972 treaty banning germ
warfare.
Opposed
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Opposed
the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination
Against Women.
Virtually
ignored the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Sought
the dismissal of a class-action lawsuit filed in the US against
Japan by Asian women forced to work as sex slaves in World War II.
And
this isn't even the half of it. The Bush Administration is pushing
for the development of offensive, tactical nuclear weapons for a
first-strike capability (the Pentagon has drawn up a list of targets
that includes Iraq and North Korea). This runs against the UN Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Comprehensive Teat-Ban Treaty, and
any sense of morality.
In
January, 2002, the White House announced it would withhold $34 million
in payments to the UN Population Fund, at the behest of the "Religious
Right" lobby. According to the British newspaper The Observer,
international aid organizers warned that America's decision could
seriously undermine its capacity to prevent the deaths of 4,700
women, 77,000 children under the age of 5, and 800,000 abortions.
This didn't stop the White House from blocking aid to international
family planning programs.
Until
9/11, conservatives had blocked $1.9 billion in payments to the
UN on the grounds that it might be used to promote advice on abortion.
Of course, the UN is forbidden from doing such a thing, but they
only say that because the Anti-Christ secretly controls the UN,
and colludes with Jewish bankers when not flying around in his Black
Helicopters. Oh, and if you're curious: the Anti-Christ is Catholic,
and probably gay. God bless you, Robertson and Fallwell.
In
May, 2001, the UN kicked the US off its Human Rights Commission
for a full year. Shortly afterwards, the same 54 countries also
voted to remove the US from the 13-member International Narcotics
Control Board, which monitors compliance with UN conventions on
drug trafficking and substance abuse. Media pundits were shocked
and baffled at how such a thing could occur. I can't imagine why.
The
reasons why this happened were completely lost on the American public,
who turned on their TV's to hear talking heads blaming the UN and
Europe for, somehow, having an axe to grind. Oh, why do they all
hate us? Sigh. It really is much easier to watch when you don't
actually know anything.
Why
was the United States voted off the Human Rights Commission? During
the session in 2001, the US voted against a commission resolution
calling for drug companies, mainly American, to provide low-cost
AIDS medication to poor people infected with HIV; a resolution calling
for a moratorium on the capital punishment; a resolution declaring
that the right to food shall be considered an international human
right.
The
Americans opposed a resolution criticizing Israel for human rights
violations in the killing of over 400 Palestinians on the West Bank
and Gaza since October, 2000. The Americans opposed a resolution
condemning "disappearances," kidnapping, and murder of
political opponents long practiced by US allies, especially in Latin
America, during the Cold War.
Even
a year later, when the United States was voted back in the Commission,
it couldn't help but throw its weight around.
"The
Americans were at Geneva as observers, though some saw their presence
as less than constructive as they worked to undermine various initiatives,
including a Mexican proposal to ensure the protection of human rights
in terrorism-related issues, which would have put the US detention
policy in Guantanamo Bay under scrutiny."
Guardian
UK, April 30, 2002 |
