Putin's treaty trap

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The Russian claim to the North Pole has started a panic among some politicians and the press, who think the U.S. response should be to dicker with the Russians over Arctic riches before a United Nations panel established by the Law of the Sea Treaty.

The United States must ratify the treaty quickly, they say, so we don't get left out. In fact, the U.S. already has valid claims to the North Pole region, under the "Doctrine of Discovery" legal principle, and accession to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) could sink any chance of America ever cashing in on the black gold.

The Russian ploy was old-style disinformation that shows President Vladimir Putin hasn't forgotten his old KGB days. As part of his effort to resurrect Russia as the superpower it was during Soviet times, he sent an expedition to the Pole to stake a claim.

In fact, Russian scientists have themselves conceded the Americans were there first, in 1908 and 1909, depending on which American team one believes actually physically reached the Pole. They even planted an American flag there. U.S. nuclear-powered Navy submarines traveled under the Pole in the 1950s, also claiming the territory for America. All this is a matter of official and public record, though the U.S. State Department does not seem to recognize it.

But when Russia staked a claim there in August, the American explorations were quickly forgotten and supporters of UNCLOS suddenly declared Russia would get the Arctic riches unless we quickly ratified the treaty. This claim is as bogus as the Russian expedition.

As to what the Russians actually did on their North Pole visit, we saw photos and video of Russian mini-subs and a Russian flag on a seabed. But it is not at all clear any of this occurred under or near the Pole. Russian television channel Rossiya aired the footage, only to have it backfire when a 13-year-old Finnish boy noticed the subs looked like those in James Cameron's movie about the Titanic. Reuters used the Russian TV clips, later acknowledging they were of the search for the Titanic and had nothing to do with the North Pole visit. NBC Nightly News used one of the clips as well, but didn't acknowledge making an error. So was the Russian flag planted under the Pole? It's hard to know.

We do know Rossiya came under the control of Mr. Putin's regime when he installed Alexander Zdanovich, spokesman for the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), as deputy director of the company that runs the channel. The FSB, of course, used to be known as the KGB, notorious for disinformation operations designed to confuse and mislead the world about Soviet intentions.

Confusion is exactly what has occurred after the Russian claim. Many papers, including the New York Times, have said we must ratify UNCLOS to get in on the Arctic action. Never mind that the Times even opposes limited drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

But how exactly does passing UNCLOS cut us in on the action anyway? It would effectively undercut our historic claims to the region and turn the matter over to the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS). This body, created by UNCLOS, has 21 members from various countries.

It's true the CLCS rejected some Russian claims to the Arctic region in 2002. It did so with information provided by the United States, proving we didn't need to be a treaty member to play a role. But if the Senate ratifies this treaty in September and a decision subsequently goes against our interests, there will be enormous pressure for the U.S. government to comply. Indeed, the United States would be accused of violating international law if we rejected an UNCLOS finding.

Perhaps this is the trap Mr. Putin has set for us.

Cliff Kincaid is a veteran journalist who heads America's Survival Inc. (www.usasurvival.org) and edits the Accuracy in Media Report.