Global lawgiver?: The UN Security Council arrogantly considers itself the lawgiver for the world, and the Bush administration's submission to its Resolution 1373 puts U.S. sovereignty and liberty at risk. (United Nations).(Brief Article)

In 1950, when the United Nations was just five years old, future Secretary of State John Foster Dulles wrote:

The Security Council is not a body that merely enforces agreed law. It is a law unto itself. If it considers any situation as a threat to the peace, it may decide what measures shall be taken. No principles of law are laid down to guide it; it can decide in accordance with what it thinks is expedient.

Since the September 11th terrorist attacks, the Security Council has certainly been acting accordingly. In matters concerning terrorism, as the Security Council has repeatedly made clear, it considers itself the highest authority. Unfortunately, it's also becoming clear that officials in the Bush administration are willing to kowtow to the Security Council's claims of supremacy.

On September 28, 2001, the Security Council approved Resolution 1373, which set requirements for member states to follow in combating terrorism. These were not to be construed merely as guidelines, as the resolution's language makes crystal clear; paragraph 1 begins with the phrase "Decides that all States shall:" (emphasis in original), and paragraph 2 opens in similar fashion. Resolution 1373 requires states, among other things, to impose strict controls on financial activities, weapons trafficking, and issuance of forgery-proof identity papers and travel documents, to fight the threat of terrorism. The resolution also sets up, under paragraph 6, a special committee "to monitor implementation of this resolution" and demanded that states "report to the Committee, no later than 90 days from the date of adoption of this resolution and thereafter according to a timetable to be proposed by the Committee, on the steps they have taken to implement this resolution."

In accordance with paragraph 6, the Security Council set up the new Counter-Terrorism Committee, with Jeremy Green-stock of Great Britain as chairman.

By December, member nations began responding to Resolution 1373's reporting requirement. The U.S. government submitted its report of compliance with Resolution 1373 on December 19th.

This extraordinary report illustrates the degree to which the UN Security Council is now allowed to dictate terms to the Bush administration. In the introduction, the U.S. report affirms that "this historic resolution [1373] established a body of legally binding obligations on all UN member states.... Most states will have to make changes in their laws, regulations, and practices.... As this report that follows makes clear, the United States is ready to provide technical assistance to help in these efforts.... Our report details only some of the many steps that ...