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© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Over 65 countries sign global arms trade treaty
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Wakarimasen
Surely this will not make much of a change. Where there is money to be made the arms industry is about as unscrupulous as it gets.
Elbuda Mexicano
And don't you forget that LIFE is dirt CHEAP to the NRA and all of these low down no good arms dealers!! $$$$$ is the only thing they really care about!!
Laguna
Sure, the US will sign - but that does not necessarily mean that the treaty will be ratified by the Senate. Look for Tea Party- affiliated or -fearing GOP senators to rise in rabid opposition.
SuperLib
The NRA and Republicans are already selling this to their knuckle dragging mouth breathers as a UN attempt to take their guns. "Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on Tuesday wrote to President Obama urging him not to sign the Arms Trade Treaty, calling it a “threat to Americans’ constitutional liberty” and threatening legal action."
Mohamed Al Hashimi
weapons are made to protect nations as Asian people are close nation like western people are close nation so Japan should start military trade link with China.
Molenir
Not going to just be Republicans and Tea party people opposing it. Look for quite a few Dems to oppose it as well. Just look at how many Dems opposed the minimal expansion of background checks. Something of this nature, will have a harder time passing then that did.
Heh, you seem a bit confused here. The role of 'knuckle dragging mouth breathers' is typically filled by union thugs, and racist, new black panther types.
Noliving
Curious but do you know why the NRA is opposed to it?
toshiko
There have been some problems in harmonizing the translations of the treaty into the U.N.‘s six official languages, and Kerry said the United States looks forward to signing the document “as soon as the process of conforming the official translations is completed satisfactorily.” Once that happens, the treaty would have to be ratified by the U.S. Senate where it is expected to face an uphill struggle because of opposition from the powerful National Rifle Association.
UN Official languages' Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish
UN provides translated versions to countries,
yabits
Because the treaty is not in the financial interests of the arms makers and dealers. If you think this really about principles, you're a sucker.
toshiko
My last comment did npt have Russian as one of 6 UN official languages.''
USA is the biggest weapons manufacturers and traders in the world. Other industries in USA could not compete Japan, Inc.
Kuya 808
From what I see in this treaty I don’t think it will have any real negative effect on “business as usual” for the big manufacturers and exporters like the US, Russia and China. In fact it could help by eliminating some of the smaller competitors. The US already regulates their weapons sales at a significantly higher level than this treaty proposes and strict compliance with the ATT would be a step down for them.
There will always be a market for arms, and there will always be competition among the major players for a bigger market share. This treaty merely gives the big “sellers” more control over the supply and consequently the potential profits.
As for the NRA, I don’t really think their objections are for the benefit of their buddies over at Bushmaster or Boeing. These guys see a gun-grabber behind every tree and this is just one more thing to get their hackles up. A lot of Americans, not just the NRA, are uncomfortable with the idea of having their national sovereignty under the control of the UN and that is probably going to be the biggest hurdle in the Senate. I think the NRA is just playing to that nationalistic sentiment.
But because everything is always about money, consider the motivation for a lot of the little countries that have signed on to the ATT already. This treaty is amendable and it is reasonable to assume that any future amendments might be proposed to advance the political, strategic and economic agendas of the different interested parties. Imagine the bidding war that could take place as the big boys start trying to buy a three quarters majority to push through their pet projects. Things could be looking pretty good for the likes of Antigua and Djibouti.
SuperLib
Are we really going to play this game?
Moderator
No, the NRA is not relevant to this discussion.
Elbuda Mexicano
We are talking about arms trade here and the United Nations trying to make some gains against all of this guns etc..but the NRA is not relavant????
SuperLib
The NRA is the catalyst to the US's position on this issue. How can they be irrelevant?
yabits
I believe the NRA is mentioned in the article.
JeffLee
Other industries in USA could not compete Japan, Inc.
Like Apple, Boeing, Starbucks, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, etc.? LOL.