Treaties, Schmeeties ... we are tossing them out like broken dishes ...

That last posting relating to our withdrawal from the International Criminal Court got me to thinking. Yes, Richard, I do think ... sometimes!

Actually, I knew nothing about Mr. Bush's having pulled the United States out of the International Criminal Court until I was reminded of it by the Honorable Benjamin Ferencz's thoughts on Saddam's and Bush's violation of International Law. And I'm sure that most of us were unaware until recently that the U.S. no longer regarded the Geneva Conventions as applying to us -- that last one even surprised Senator John McCain, as you recall.

But the fact is ... from the ICC (last posting) to the Kyoto Treaty, from the biological weapons treaty to the Peaceful Use of Space Treaty ... and oh yes, we might or might not have been aware of our stance on land mines (the kind that blow the legs -- and more -- off of small children or farmers working in their fields years after a war has been concluded) ... etc, etc. etc. ... the list is seemingly endless, and very well might be.

But thanks to googling about, I was able to compile the following list that shows just how much progress can be destroyed in a mere five and a half years. The list includes as many as I could find of the treaties and agreements that Mr. Bush has professed to ignore ... meaning we, the people of the United States of America are choosing (through the ballot box) to ignore:

1- Ban of nuclear weapons (ignored by the USA, the only nation that used a-bombs already)

2- Stop of nuclear weapon tests (ignored by the USA -- but have you noticed our concern about North Korea preparing to explode "something" underground during the last week?)

3- Convention against biological weapons (ignored by the USA)

4- Treaty against chemical weapons of 1993 (production of narcotized chemical weapons)

5- Ban against mines and cluster bombs (ignored by the USA) -- just this week, several Lebanese were killed by unexploded (until now) cluster bombs (made in the USA) used by the Israelis in the recent conflict

6- ABM contract (Quit by the USA)

7- Kyoto agreement (US boycott, even though USA is the world champion for CO2 emissions)

8- Contract for the creation of an International Court against crime (US boycott)- and menacing countries that want to join!

9- International Patent law (Bayer-Anthrax case)

10– International Criminal Court (complete withdrawal)

11- Agreements for diplomatic care of foreign prisoners (ignored in spite of numerous protests, especially in Texas)

12- Prohibition of torture (US torture prisons)

13- UN Convention for the rights of children 1989 (death penalty even against teenage offenders)

14- Convention of Geneva for prisoners of war (Guantanamo)

15- GATT agreement for free international trade (US steel policy)

16- Other (than those already mentioned above) specific provisions of the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty and the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

17- ...

As I said ... the list goes on and on and seems to grow every year that George W. Bush is in office.

Sad ...