ROUS wrote:
>"John D. Giorgis" wrote:
>>
>> Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine do not have formal
>> mutual defence treaties with either the Russian
>> Federation, nor the PRC.
>
>At least not as far as is public knowledge.. Gummints
>like to do a lot of shite in secret.
>
>
Yes, but the trouble with secret treaties is that they are absolutely
unenforceable. If a government no longer wants to abide by the secret
treaty then it simply stops abiding by it. What can the other party to
the treaty do?
Treaties only have value if they commit governments to actions. Any
government can break a treaty, but they will usually pay a price for
breaking a public treaty. What price will they pay for breaking a
secret treaty? A secret treaty is really no more than an informal
agreement between dictators. It has no legal standing, and is
forbidden by all democratic countries. Secret treaties will only be
adhered to if the signatories feel it is in their intrest to do so.
And besides, the purpose of mutual defense treaties is to deter
agression. A secret treaty of mutual defense is useless for deterence,
since your enemies obviously don't know of it. And they don't commit
the other guy do to a damn thing if he doesn't feel like it. He
doesn't even have to worry about public opinion.
=====
Darryl
Think Galactically -- Act Terrestrially
__________________________________________________
Terrorist Attacks on U.S. - How can you help?
Donate cash, emergency relief information
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Emergency_Information/
