Secretary
of State John Kerry released a statement today saying that the Obama
administration will sign the U.N.
Arms Trade Treaty despite
protest by Congress. And there’s still no official word yet from the president
himself speaking directly on the matter.
-snip-
“There
is nothing in this treaty that requires the U.S. to do anything differently,”
Rachel Stohl, a senior associate at the Stimson Center, a D.C.-based think
tank, told the Inter Press Service. “Rather, the issue here is simply the
symbolism of saying that [the U.S.] is committed to this on an international
level – that’s really important.”
“The
symbolism is not that there has to be any change to U.S. law,” she added.
“Rather, it would be sending a signal to the rest of the world that the United
States, which is responsible for 75 percent of the arms trade, is taking on
this obligation as the world’s largest [arms] exporter.”
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