They are not "old European rules". The US used to be a leader in establishing treaties like the Geneva Conventions, Biological and Chemical Weapons Conventions, Nuclear Non-Proliferation, etc.
It is a more recent phenomena in the US that is paranoid about UN governance and refuses to sign onto things like the ICC and the Mine Ban Treaty, and tends to want to ignore international law in favor of a might means right approach. Things have gotten much worse for the respect of international law after Bush's aggressive stance after 9/11.
Still, these are valid treaties that most countries have signed.
For the US and Israel to be banging the drums of war over Iran's supposed violation of the NNPT while at the same time committing illegal acts of industrial sabbotage is huge irony.
Yes, thank you for providing another example of how easy it is to point at one group of entities in an effort to frantically handwave away the problems of another.
I see no great evidence that the international community of today sets great stock by treaties, either, at least not much past about five minutes after the signing ceremony ends. "Paranoia" about the UN is an effect of this underlying problem, not the cause. Nor am I even remotely convinced that "Bush did it!"; flouting of UN convention and treaties goes back a lot farther than that and it takes a very narrow view of history to somehow lay it at the feet of any one party, or even "the West" in general.
> For the US and Israel to be banging the drums of war over Iran's supposed violation of the NNPT while at the same time committing illegal acts of industrial sabbotage is huge irony.
To me that doesn't seem ironic at all, and in fact morally (if not necessarily legally) consistent. They're trying to prevent nuclear militarization in Iran, and in this case doing so in a non-violent manner, specifically avoiding further "banging the drums of war."
It is a more recent phenomena in the US that is paranoid about UN governance and refuses to sign onto things like the ICC and the Mine Ban Treaty, and tends to want to ignore international law in favor of a might means right approach. Things have gotten much worse for the respect of international law after Bush's aggressive stance after 9/11.
Still, these are valid treaties that most countries have signed.
For the US and Israel to be banging the drums of war over Iran's supposed violation of the NNPT while at the same time committing illegal acts of industrial sabbotage is huge irony.