Note
The UN General Assembly today adopted the Arms Trade Treaty, but not by consensus. The treaty was adopted by a vote of 154 in favor to 3 against (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Iran, Syria), with 23 abstentions. The United States voted in favor. The treaty will not apply internally without Senate ratification. The countries abstaining (for reasons unrelated to internal opposition within the U.S.) included a who's-who of non-democracies and human rights abusers, like Russia, Sudan, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Bolivia, Egypt, Belarus, and China. India and Indonesia also abstained. Syria, speaking against the treaty, said it was worried about "the immoral chaos" surrounding the illicit arms trade, and about its victims. Syria was especially upset that the treaty didn't "include a paragraph banning the supply of weapons to unauthorized non-State actors" - by which it means terrorists not officially approved by the likes of the Syrian government. Sudan - whose President has been indicted for genocide - said "provisions should have been based on the United Nations Charter." Egypt said it abstained because there weren't enough Israel-bashing provisions - or in UN-eze: "non-cooperation with the United Nations Human Rights Council should constitute a serious violation that triggered prohibition."