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More US Sovereignty LOST to the UN, Law of Sea Treaty

By Dan Gilbert

The United Nations' record is hardly stellar as an instrumental organization in promoting the general welfare of all people across the globe. In the 60+ years since the UN was established, not much can be written in the history books as to how effective the UN has been except as a silent accessory to the genocide of millions in Rwanda and Sudan, a bloated bureaucracy rampant with corruption, and a soapbox for third-rate dictators hostile to the United States. Now the United States Senate wants to give control of 70 percent of the earth's surface to the UN.

Should the United States Senate ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST), the UN would not only have control of the earth's oceans; the United States would turn its sovereignty over to an inept organization bent on diminishing the power of the United States and bolstering the power of tyrannical regimes hostile to the US.

President Reagan realized this and not only refused to sign the treaty, he fired those who negotiated it. President Clinton did sign the treaty in 1994 after minor changes but the Senate never ratified the treaty. Now the US Senate has the opportunity to ratify the treaty, handing over our sovereignty as readily as they hand over government programs.

Under LOST, the UN would have unprecedented power to tax and regulate anything that remotely affects the sea beds of the oceans. The UN would have to power to enforce quotas for mining and oil production, reap undeserved royalties, and control ocean exploration and research, courtesy of US taxpayers who fund nearly a quarter of the organization's budget.

UN jurisdiction however, may not stop at the shoreline. According to the UN, "the greatest threat to the health of the marine environment comes not from oil spills at sea or ocean dumping, but from human activities on land." In essence, should the international tribunal created by LOST decide a US firm or governmental agency on land somehow affected the marine environment, the UN would have the authority to act.

The UN did just that when Ireland invoked LOST against a nuclear power plant in Great Britain claiming the production of mixed oxide fuel at the plant endangered the marine environment in the Irish Sea. The UN demanded Great Britain cooperate with Ireland.

Not only will this affect the US economically, but militarily as our security will be greatly compromised.

Under current US law, the United States has the authority to stop and board any ship on the high seas suspected of carrying terrorists or WMDs. Under LOST, the United States would be required to have UN permission first, to stop a ship. The US may also be required to provide detailed technological (and often sensitive) information on the required permits for any activity. LOST allows this information to be openly shared with other nations, even our enemies.

Unable to break the US at the knees with the Kyoto Treaty, LOST is another attempt by the UN and rogue nations to diminish the superiority of the US and redistribute wealth and power to third rate regimes set on destroying America. If the treaty is ratified by the Senate, all sovereignty of the American people is lost.