I’m honestly not sure which is more hysterical: Frank Gaffney’s most recent Washington Times column, which argues that the Russians laid claim to the North Pole in a cunning gambit to corner the U.S. into ratifying the Law of the Sea convention; or the Times’ decision to print his ridiculous column even though it was published – verbatim – on another site the previous day.
I’ve held my fire since reports first emerged of a Russian submarine symbolically planting a titanium flag at the North Pole. I’m naturally interested in all things related to Russia and ocean law, but I kept quiet. After reading Gaffney’s column – twice – I simply can’t choke back the laughter.
Under the terms of the Law of the Sea, each State Party enjoys an Exclusive Economic Zone that extends 200 miles off of its coast. If a State Party’s continental shelf extends beyond this area, it can claim exclusive rights there too.
Russia is essentially saying that the North Pole (specifically, the Lomonosov Ridge that cuts the Arctic circle in half) is part of its extended continental shelf. Other Arctic countries that have ratified the Law of the Sea can dispute this claim, as surely they will. None of this, by the way, is a surprise: when my colleagues and I were drafting our Law of the Sea fact sheet earlier this year, we suggested in an early draft that by refusing to ratify, the U.S. would miss out on “the great Arctic land grab” (the phrase was imprecise and alarmist, so we removed it from later versions).
As the State Department acknowledges, this is just one of many compelling reasons to ratify the treaty. According to the St. Petersburg Times, Senator Mel Martinez, Chairman of the Republican Party, has come on board, too.
But Frank Gaffney thinks this is just a secret ploy by the Russians:
Two deep-ocean submersibles were dispatched to the Arctic floor ostensibly for the purpose of laying claim to the Lomonosov Ridge – and, more importantly, to the potentially vast oil, gas and mineral resources that may lie within a zone 200 miles wide on either side of that underwater mountain range. This move may have been a grandmaster’s feint, however, masking another purpose: blackmailing the United States into ratifying the defective Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST).
Yes, according to Gaffney, extensive deposits of oil and gas are just decoys, distracting from the Russians’ real and dastardly goal: to force the U.S. to ratify a treaty with which it already complies and that its President supports.
This makes even less sense than Gaffney’s America: World Police-like proposal that force (or the threat of force) be used to the protect deep seabed mining activities of U.S. firms as an alternative to the legal framework provided by the Law of the Sea.
Gaffney’s column in the Times is entitled “Lost at Seize.” He also wrote a column called “Russian L.O.S.T. and Found” that was published yesterday on renewamerica.us, a site that supports “the “Declarationist” ideals of Alan Keyes.” Here’s what he wrote on that site:
Two deep-ocean submersibles were dispatched to the Arctic floor ostensibly for the purpose of laying claim to the Lomonosov Ridge – and, more importantly, to the potentially vast oil, gas and mineral resources that may lie within a zone 200 miles wide on either side of that underwater mountain range. This move may have been a grandmaster’s feint, however, masking another purpose: blackmailing the United States into ratifying the defective Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST).
In case you’re wondering, that wasn’t a typo: the passages are identical. In fact, Gaffney’s entire August 7 column in the Washington Times is a re-print of his August 6 column on renewamerica.us (precisely one word was changed).
Apparently, the Washington Times is about as interested in obtaining original, exclusive submissions from its columnists as Gaffney is in…well…the facts.
— Scott Paul
Note: This is not the first of Frank Gaffney’s columns that the Washington Times has reprinted a day after it’s gone up on renewamerica.us. STP
Another Note: I almost forgot the most hysterical part of this whole business. Opposite Gaffney’s column, the Washington Times published a column on the Russian claim by Ariel Cohen of the Heritage Foundation, who writes:
“To stop the expansion, the U.S. should encourage its friends and allies – Canada, Denmark and Norway – to pursue their claims in the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. While the United Sates has not ratified the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST), other Arctic countries, including Norway and Denmark, have filed their own claims with the Commission, opposing Russian demands.”
Keeps getting better and better. STP
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