A U.N. Treaty We Can All Support

The General Assembly endorsed by consensus Friday the International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism . The treaty sets up useful legal definitions of nuclear materials and imposes obligations on signatories to pass laws outlawing nuclear terrorism, to cooperate in exchange of information on terrorists, and to prosecute or extradite alleged nuclear terrorists (but not extradition to an international court). The U.S. is a big winner, as this State Department release suggests. The product of nine years of deliberation and a breakthrough was finally reached when it was agreed that military forces using nuclear weapons will not fall within the treaty’s cope. I presume this no-brainer treaty will sail through the U.S. Senate.