So BUSCHO thinks the Strait of Hormutz is "International Water"??

[Doc Mercer]

FUCK OFF to Bush and Cheney .... BULLSHIT IF IT IS !!! : # Per Article 39 of the UNCLOS, pertaining to "duties of ships during transit passage" US ships passaging through the Strait of Hormuz must "proceed without delay" and "refrain from any threat or use of force against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of states bordering the strait" .... # Per Article 40, "During transit passage, foreign ships may not carry out any research or survey activity without the prior authorization of the states bordering the straits." And yet, by the US Navy's own admission, it has been conducting sonar activities in the area, to detect submerged vessels. This, in turn, has harmed the Persian Gulf's aquatic mammals. In light of a recent US court ruling limiting the US Navy's sonar activities off the California coast, Iran now has greater political leverage to seek information regarding the activities of US warships transiting through its territorial waters ....... # Given the US's verbal acrobatics, of trying to depict as "international waters" what is essentially Iran's territorial water in the inbound traffic channel of the Strait of Hormuz, it collides with Article 34 of UNCLOS. This regards the "legal status of waters forming the straits used for international navigation", that strictly stipulates that the regime of passage "shall not affect the legal status of the waters forming such straits". Following the UNCLOS, Iran's territorial water extends 12 nautical miles at the Strait of Hormuz ..... # The Pentagon videotape of the incident shows a US helicopter hovering above the US ships, which is in clear contradiction of Article 19 of the UNCLOS, which expressly forbids "the launching, landing or taking on board of any aircraft" during transit passage ..... # Article 19, elaborating on the meaning of "innocent passage", states that "passage is innocent so long as it is not prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal state". And that means a prohibition on "any exercise or practice with weapons of any kind" and or "any act of harmful and serious pollution" ........ In other words, US warships transiting through Hormuz must, in effect, act as non-war ships, "temporarily depriving themselves of their armed might". And any "warning shots" fired by US ships at Iranian boats, inspecting the US ships under customary international laws, must be considered an infringement on Iran's rights. This technically warrants a legal backlash in the form of the Iranians temporary suspending the US warships' right of passage. Again, the US could be technically prosecuted by Iran in international forums for conducting questionable activities while in Iranian territorial waters ... # Under Article 25 of the UNCLOS, a "coastal state may take the necessary steps in its territorial sea to prevent passage which is not innocent ... the coastal state may suspend temporarily in specified areas of its territorial sea the innocent passage of foreign ships if such suspension is essential for the protection of its of security, including weapons exercise."...... # Per Article 30, "If any warship does not comply with the laws and regulations of the coastal state concerning passage through the territorial sea and disregards any request for compliance therewith which is made to it, the coastal state may require it to leave the territorial sea immediately." ...... # Pursuant to Article 42 of the UNCLOS, "states bordering straits may adopt laws and regulations relating to transit passage" and "foreign ships exercising the right of transit passage shall comply with such laws and regulations." In this connection, Iran's 1993 maritime law echoes Article 20 of the UNCLOS: "In the territorial sea, submarines and other underwater vehicles are required to navigate on surface and to show their flag." Yet, disregarding both international law and Iran's laws, the US Navy until now has refused to comply with the requirement of surface passage of its submarines through the Strait of Hormuz ...... In light of the above, the Strait of Hormuz has now turned into a most fertile source of tension and conflict between Iran and the United States, touching on the larger issue of international law of the sea and the navigational regime through the strait(s) ...... Iran could conceivably use its privileged geographical position to tap into the complex set of rules pertaining to the navigational regime, as a form of (geo) political leverage to wring concessions from the US Navy, and its regional allies, with respect to security and maritime affairs of the Persian Gulf ...... Note 1. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea strikes a balance between the sovereign rights of coastal states and the right of passage of foreign ships, requiring concessions from both sides. It prohibits passing ships from "any act aimed at collecting information or use and threat of force" ....... 2. The Iranian press have complained of the US's intention to use the man-made, artificial islands by the United Arab Emirates for military purposes, to complement the US's forward base in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. They wonder if this has been one of the unstated purposes of Bush's visit to the region, given the brisk operational tempo of the US Navy with regard to Iran. This includes the US's plan to implement the provisions of its multilateral PSI (Proliferation Security Initiative) , such as ship interdiction, already exercised with regard to North Korea, with respect to Iran. Yet, the PSI initiative collides head-on with the UNCLOS-based limitations on the US Navy's activities in the semi-landlocked Persian Gulf and, especially in the Strait of Hormuz, discussed in this article ........... Asia Times Online :: Middle East News, Iraq, Iran current affairs

[Doc Mercer]

NOTICE "INTERNATIONAL WATERS" ??? ..... ............. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A cargo ship hired by the U.S. military fired warning shots at approaching boats in the Gulf, the U.S. Navy said on Friday, underscoring tension in the region as the Pentagon sharpened its warnings to Iran ........ According to American defense officials, the Westward Venture cargo ship chartered by the U.S. Defense Department was traveling in international waters when two unidentified small boats approached on Thursday.

[diggin'4gold]

There is not a place on face of the earth thats out of bounds as far as the neocons are concerned.

[Doc Mercer]

Hey... "Spreading Democracy" is not easy work !!

[DimeDR]

what was the stat i saw, usa has invaded 67 countries since ww2 under hr guise of democracy (i know i dont quite have #) and not a one of them is currently has a democratic governing body.


VERY FEW OF THE REASONS AS TO WHY THE USA IS HATED « Lew333’s Weblog


79. Attempts to overthrow democratic government in Venezuela: During 2003/04, the USA has been making persistent attempts to remove the democratically elected government in Venezuela because of criticism of the USA. This is yet more proof that the USA does not respect democracy.

80. Successful overthrow of democratic government in Haiti: In March 2004, the USA has sucessfully removed the democratically elected leader in Haiti with a puppet leader. This is just one in a very long series of democratic governments overthrown by the USA and replaced with puppet dictatorships throughout the last 100 years. When will the US government learn to be comfortable with foreign democracies?

[Doc Mercer]

a few "certain" posters will tell ya that it is "justified"

[DimeDR]

this guy lists 87 reasons to hate america and much more great research ... every HS kid should rid this

Why do they hate us so much?


76. Incubator babies Mark II: the Iraq WMD lie:

After their success with the notorious Incubator Babies lie in 1991, when the US government presented to the United Nations a woman who they trained to lie about babies being thrown out of the Kuwait hospital incubators by the Iraqi invaders, the US had further success in 2003 with their lies to the United Nations about the Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction. Although Colin Powell talks like a gentlemen, he is an expert liar like the rest of the US government. Meanwhile the USA continues to give massive financial, military and diplomatic support to the only state in the Middle East with WMDs, a state which kills thousands of innocent people in a massive concentration camp every year. Now the US government expects everyone to believe that they are putting pressure on the Israeli regime to give some very limited form of statehood to their little slave colony. The world continues to hope that this time the US government can be trusted. After 55 years of duplicity on this issue, the US government deserves no trust at all until they can show that they can the truth and keep promises. There is no hope of this, of course. It is not in the US government's interest to tell the truth or keep promises.

[Doc Mercer]

RW ONLINE:"Wagging the Dog":US/Kuwait Incubator Scam ..... The highlight of the October 10 "hearing" was the testimony of a 15-year-old Kuwaiti, known only by her first name of Nayirah. The Human Rights Caucus said her last name was being kept hidden due to fears of Iraqi reprisals against her family. Sobbing, she claimed that she witnessed first-hand the Iraqi soldiers yanking babies out of incubators at the al-Adden hospital ...... This testimony was used to sway public opinion--at a time when there were large demonstrations around the country against the U.S. war moves and polls by major news organizations indicated strong opposition to the taking of military action against Iraq. During the period from October 10 to the start of the air war, the "babies taken from incubators" story was repeated many times by the newspapers, TV and radio. It was raised at the UN Security Council. President Bush told the story in a speech in January 1991, shortly before he launched the bombings on Iraq ............. But, as Stauber and Rampton point out, "Hill & Knowlton and Congressman Lantos had failed to reveal that Nayirah was a member of the Kuwaiti Royal Family. Her father, in fact, was Saud Nasir al-Sabah, Kuwait's Ambassador to the U.S., who sat listening in the hearing room during her testimony. The Caucus also failed to reveal that H&K vice-president Lauri Fitz-Pegado had coached Nayirah in what even the Kuwaitis' own investigators later confirmed was false testimony." ...... By the time the truth came out, the U.S. had brought massive destruction to Iraq with weeks of bombing and killed 200,000 Iraqis. According to Stauber and Rampton, "Following the war, human rights investigators attempted to confirm Nayirah's story and could find no witnesses or other evidence to support it. Amnesty International, which had fallen for the story, was forced to issue an embarrassing retraction. Nayirah herself was unavailable for comment." .