US asks did they put a metal flag,or a bed sheet on the ocean floor

[lovuian]

Russian Reminder: Territorial Imperative of the Nation-State

http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/95835-0/

There are two useful lessons in the international reaction to news that Russian explorers had planted the Russian Tricolor on the floor of Arctic Sea on August 2nd. The first is that symbolism is still powerful in international politics.
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U.S. State Department spokesperson Tom Casey said, “I’m not sure of whether they put a metal flag, a rubber flag or a bed sheet on the ocean floor. Either way, it doesn’t have any legal standing or effect on this claim.” Given the Bush administration’s efforts to undermine on the Geneva Conventions, International Criminal Court and Kyoto Protocol, among others, it comes as a surprise that any of its officials would express so much confidence in the authority of international law, but that is a different subject.
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CTV Television anchor Seamus O’Reagan draws that conclusion by asking, “What’s at stake here? Oil and gas? Shipping routes in a melted North Pole? …So, what do we need to do to make sure that Canadian interests are protected?” Mineral rights are certainly part of the explanation but not all of it.

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Bush was snoozing