Bush fires a warning shot

By Henry Lamb
web posted May 13, 2002

George Bush fired a shot across the bow of the United Nations
last Monday, when he ordered Undersecretary of State, John R.
Bolton, to withdraw the signature of the U.S. from the treaty
which created the International Criminal Court. The curt, one-
paragraph letter to Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, says the
"United States has no legal obligations arising from its signature,"
which was attached by the Clinton administration, just hours
before the December 31, 2000 deadline.

The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties requires that
signature nations do nothing to interfere with the treaty, even if it
is not ratified. This too, is a treaty signed, but not ratified by the
U.S. Several other treaties also fall into this category: The
Convention on Rights of the Child, and two optional protocols,
signed by Clinton, but not ratified; the Convention on Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, signed, but not
ratified, and others. U.S. signature on these unratified treaties
should be unambiguously withdrawn as well.

Bush's unprecedented action has been roundly criticized by the
European Community, and by "progressives" in the United
States. Critics contend that the withdrawal signals to the world
that the U.S. is not interested in multilateral participation in
international justice.

The message that should be taken from Bush's courageous
action is this: The U.S. is not interested in surrendering its
sovereignty to any global authority.

This action is an exclamation point behind Bush's earlier
withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol, the walkout from the U.N.
Conference on Human Rights at Durban, and the administration's
insistence that all references to a Global Taxing Authority be
removed from the final report of the U.N. High Level Panel on
Financing Development.

This is the right message to send to the U.N., and it is long
overdue.

We have already surrendered sovereignty to the World Trade
Organization which has consistently ruled against U.S. interests.
We have already surrendered sovereignty to UNESCO by
agreeing (through memoranda, not treaties) to manage land and
resources according to principles set forth in the "Seville
Strategy," and other U.N. documents. The U.S. should withdraw
from these sovereignty-sapping U.N. institutions as well.

While Bush is saying "no-deal" to the U.N., he is saying to the
world that the U.S. is not only willing, but eager to work with
other nations to rid the world of terrorism, to help war-torn
nations rebuild their infrastructures; to help people - who now
live under the oppressive reign of dictators - discover the
principles of freedom that makes the U.S. the envy of the world.

It's time to put the U.N.-genie back into its original bottle: a
forum in which sovereign nations can discuss their differences
and agree on cooperative activities. The U.N. should have no
"enforcement" authority for anything. The U.N. should have no
"regulatory" authority for anything. The U.N. should have no
"taxing" authority under any disguise. The U.N. should have no
military capability. The U.N. should have no legislative authority.

In fact, the U.N. should become the I.F. - International Forum.
Period.

Fantasies of equitable per-capita redistribution of the earth's
resources, under the benevolent care of the United Nations - are
pipe dreams. Such fantasies camouflage inevitable global
oppression that despises individual freedom, and human
achievement, and instead, champions individual compliance and
group harmony. Neither Nations, nor individual people, should
be managed. Freedom results in voluntary cooperation.

Of course, there are bad actors, Osama bin Laden, for example.
The United Nations' only concern should be to provide a facility
for U.S. officials to consult with officials from other sovereign
nations to develop strategy and plans for sovereign nations to
act. Such plans and action do not require the approval of the
U.N.

The creation of the International Criminal Court is only the most
recent blatant example of U.N. aspirations to become the
government for the world. The President, and Congress, should
make it abundantly clear to the world, that the United States will
not allow the U.N. to consolidate its power into a world
government, which they choose to call "global governance."

Every candidate for every office in the mid-term elections should
be asked to declare whether they support or oppose Bush's
decisions to withdraw from the ICC and from the Kyoto
Protocol. Any response other than an unequivocal "support,"
should be interpreted as a willingness to surrender U.S.
sovereignty to a foreign entity.

President Bush has fired his warning shot. If the United Nations
continues on its present course, it will be up to ordinary citizens,
through the candidates they elect, to aim more accurately at the
U.N. when the next shot is fired.

<a href=mailto:henry@freedom.org ">Henry Lamb</a> is the
executive vice president of the <a href ="http:
//www.eco.freedom.org/el/"> Environmental Conservation
Organization</a> (ECO), and chairman of <a href="http:
//www.sovereignty.net"> Sovereignty International </a>.

Enter Stage Right - http://www.enterstageright.com