US Foreign Policy--Why People
Overseas Hate Us

The
AGRIBUSINESS EXAMINER
Monitoring Corporate Agribusiness From a Public Interest Perspective
A.V. Krebs Editor\Publisher

Issue #139
January 11, 2002

COMMENTARY:
JUSTICE MUST NOT ONLY BE DONE,
BUT BE SEEN TO BE DONE

There is a certain hollowness to President-Select George W. Bush's calling
for a unified coalition of cooperation throughout the world at the same time
wrapping so-called "free trade" agreements in the flag all in the name of
fighting terrorism.

Of course, past administrations and Congress are not entirely blameless in
buying into such hypocrisy.

As for the general American public most remain in the dark when it comes to
the point of their nation saying one thing and doing quite another when it
comes to the world's greatest --- and only --- "super power" giving the type
of genuine moral and political leadership necessary to build a "global
village."

The principle that justice must not only be done, but be seen to be done is
as foreign to our political leadership as is the reality that billions of
people on this earth hold this nation in contempt and a road block to
genuine world peace.

So while the Bush Administration and Congress profess wanting to put an end
to terrorism, violence and war their actions betray their words. As proof of
such one needs to examine a list put together by Z Magazine's Richard DuBoff
--- America Alone !!!

1. In December 2001, the United States officially withdrew from the 1972
Antiballistic Missile Treaty. . .

2. 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention ratified by 144 nations
including the United States. In July 2001 the US walked out of a London
conference to discuss a 1994 protocol designed to strengthen the Convention
by providing for on-site inspections. . .

3. UN Agreement to Curb the International Flow of Illicit Small Arms, July
2001: the US was the only nation to oppose it.

4. April 2001, the US was not reelected to the UN Human Rights Commission,
after years of withholding dues to the UN (including current dues of $244
million)-and after having forced the UN to lower its share of the UN budget
from 25% to 22% . .

5. International Criminal Court Treaty, to be set up in The Hague to try
political leaders and military personnel charged with war crimes and crimes
against humanity. Signed in Rome in July 1998, the Treaty was approved by
120 countries, with seven opposed (including the U.S.). . .

6. Land Mine Treaty, banning land mines; signed in Ottawa in December 1997
by 122 nations. The United States refused to sign, along with Russia, China,
India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, Egypt, and Turkey. . .

7. Kyoto Protocol of 1997, for controlling global warming: declared "dead"
by President Bush in March 2001. . .

8. In May 2001, [the U.S.] refused to meet with European Union nations to
discuss, even at lower levels of government, economic espionage and
electronic surveillance of phone calls, e-mail, and faxes (the U.S.
"Echelon" program),

9. Refused to participate in Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development-sponsored talks in Paris, May 2001, on ways to crack down
on off-shore and other tax and money-laundering havens.

10. Refused to join 123 nations pledged to ban the use and production of
anti-personnel bombs and mines, February 2001

11. Withdrew from International Conference on Racism, bringing together
163 countries in Durban, South Africa

12. International Plan for Cleaner Energy: G-8 group of industrial nations
(U.S., Canada, Japan, Russia, Germany, France, Italy, UK), July 2001:
the U.S. was the only one to oppose it.

13. Enforcing an illegal boycott of Cuba, now being made tighter. In the UN
in October 2001, the General Assembly passed a resolution, for the tenth
consecutive year, calling for an end to the U.S. embargo, by a vote of 167
to 3 (the U.S., Israel, and the Marshall Islands in opposition).

14. Comprehensive [Nuclear] Test Ban Treaty. Signed by 164 nations and
ratified by 89 including France, Great Britain, and Russia; signed by
President Clinton in 1996 but rejected by the Senate in 1999. . .

15. In 1986 the International Court of Justice (The Hague) ruled that the
U.S. was in violation of international law for "unlawful use of force" in
Nicaragua, through its actions and those of its Contra proxy army. The U.S.
refused to recognize the Court's jurisdiction. A UN resolution calling for
compliance with the Court's decision was approved 94-2 (U.S. and Israel
voting no).

16. In 1984 the U.S. quit UNESCO and ceased its payments for UNESCO's
budget, over the New World Information and Communication Order project
designed to lessen world media dependence on the "big four" wire agencies
(AP, UPI, Agence France-Presse, Reuters). . .

17. Optional Protocol, 1989, to the UN's International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, aimed at abolition of the death penalty and containing a
provision banning the execution of those under 18. The U.S. has neither
signed nor ratified and specifically exempts itself from the latter
provision, making it one of five countries that still execute juveniles . .
.

18. 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women. The only countries that have signed but not ratified are the
U.S., Afghanistan, Sao Tome and Principe.

19. The U.S. has signed but not ratified the 1989 UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, which protects the economic and social rights of
children. The only other country not to ratify is Somalia, which has no
functioning government.

20. UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966,
covering a wide range of rights and monitored by the Committee on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights. The U.S . signed in 1977 but has not ratified.

21. UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,
1948. The U.S. finally ratified in 1988, adding several "reservations" to
the effect that the U.S. Constitution and the "advice and consent" of the
Senate are required to judge whether any "acts in the course of armed
conflict" constitute genocide. . .

22. The three best aid providers, measured by the foreign aid percentage of
their gross domestic products, are Denmark (1.01%), Norway (0.91%), and the
Netherlands (0.79), The three worst: USA (0.10%), UK (0.23%), Australia,
Portugal, and Austria (all 0.26%).

For additional details check
http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2001-12/21duboff.cfm