The Law of the Sea Treaty: Sink it
The Law of the Sea Treaty, or LOST, is an underwater version of the Kyoto treaty run by the United Nations. That is reason enough for President Bush to oppose the LOST cause before U.S. Senate ratification.
LOST transfers sovereignty from individual nations to the International Seabed Authority, a governing body of nations existing for the collective good.
No country would have more than a 12-mile territorial sea limit and a 200-mile exclusive economic zone. The ISA would control every other centimeter of ocean.
The U.S. Navy would not be allowed to sail the high seas — or blockade Cuba to prevent nuclear attack — without the blessing of France. The United States would not be allowed to drill for oil or conduct deep-sea mining without the blessing of Iran.
Companies would have to pay fees exceeding $1 million and a percentage of profits. They’d also have to share their technology so that no country would be left behind.
LOST also authorizes the taxation of anything extracted from the oceans. The seabed authority would determine the redistribution of the wealth among its members, hopefully not like the U.N.’s $20 billion oil-for-food scandal.
American courts could not settle disputes — U.N. courts or tribunals would. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan would become the new Poseidon.
Ratification means other nations will limit America’s liberty. With that sea change, all is lost.