Fail: Hillary, Panetta urge ratification of sea treaty
- Post 24 May 2012
- By Staff
WASHINGTON TIMES -- The nation’s top defense officials warned Congress on Wednesday that the U.S. will have to rely solely on military might to assert itself on the high seas and maintain freedom of navigation if the Law of the Sea Treaty is not ratified.
“The force of arms does not have to be, and should not be, our only national security instrument,” Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
If the U.S engages in “gunboat diplomacy,” instead of international law governing rights and responsibilities on the high seas, “then the end result of that is going to be conflict,” Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told the committee.
"Question all which is 'taught,' dig deeper, think clearly, respond profusely. Conformity is the antithesis of free thought and self-determination." -- Standard Pearls