Arms Show by Rehan Khan/EPA
An arms industry event in Karachi, Pakistan. UN member states voted by 154 to three, with 23 abstentions, to control a trade worth an estimated -46bn a year. Photograph: Rehan Khan/EPA
A truly extraordinary thing happened today which should give every person who cares about ending genocide in all its forms cause to breathe a bit easier. Every one of us who wants to believe it's possible for the world community to come together for important & urgent change now has a chance to share a collective "YES!"
The UN General Assembly voted today, 153 to 3, to create the first international treaty regulating the global arms trade, with North Korea, Iran & Syria voting to block the treaty. It probably won't surprise many Americans, but the NRA came came down on the side of Iran, North Korea & Syria.
To quote Colum Lynch , of the Washington Post: The National Rifle Association contended during negotiations that the treaty would weaken Second Amendment gun rights in the United States. The powerful gun lobby has pledged to fight the treaty's ratification in the Senate.
The predictable knee jerk stupidities of the NRA aside, if we are ever to reign in the rampant war mongering & mindless violence precipitated by cheap, ubiquitous arms of every kind available in every corner of the globe, treaties like this one have a real chance of making it happen. If this treaty, realistically, won't end the violence, it is a very, very important step in reducing it.
Perhaps...no, no "perhaps" here- one of the most encouraging things about the treaty is that the U.S. of A. played a key role in making it happen. That's "key" folks, which rhymes with "t" & this time doesn't stand for pool or trouble in river city. In fact, just the opposite, it stands for LESS trouble in all the river cities around the world that could use a bit of good news today.
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