US scorn for international law blasted

The retreat from the UN-sponsored system of international law makes it much harder for the White House to take the moral high ground, says the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy in Washington. Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, the institute's vice-president Kristin Dawkins said less than 30% of laws already agreed with the UN had become law, despite pledges made by the White House. "It has set a dangerous precedent that other countries could follow in areas such as arms trade and nuclear weapons," she added. The widely-publicised Bush decisions to withdraw US support from the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, abandon the US-Russian Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and shun the International Criminal Court are just the latest manifestations. The report details a generally sceptical attitude in Washington towards international law, the report pointed out.[more ]