Tell the Truth About the Arms Treaty

On April 2, the United States joined an overwhelming majority of countries at the United Nations in voting to adopt a treaty regulating the international trade in conventional weapons – a monumental achievement after seven years of diplomacy, lobbying and out-and-out arm-twisting.

The United States pushed for the General Assembly vote last week after securing, in a March conference, the treaty language its negotiators wanted.

Yet now, just days after the United Nations’ 154-to-3 vote, top United States officials are already hedging on whether President Obama will sign the treaty when it opens for signature at the United Nations on June 3 – let alone whether the United States will ratify it, an act that would require the approval of two-thirds of the Senate. Continue…

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This op ed first appeared in the New York Times on April 12, 2013

Photo credit: IcronticPrime via Flickr