Ddreigiau wrote:What? Barring your RL reference, where does it say you have to provide water to your enemies? It says you can't intentionally contaminate their civilian, and it specifies civilian, water supplies. I'm also unsure what anti-drug tactics you're using that require the intentional contamination of civilian water supplies.
By requiring that a nation ensure water is supplied to its citizenry, it opens the door for invading forces to abuse that. They may intercept H20 shipments for use by civilians in occupied territory, and no part of the water grid may be destroyed with the intent to deny easy water access to invading forces.
Anti-drug tactics such as firing on "Go-fast" boats that refuse to comply with Coast Guard directives. Standard Operating Procedure is to fire warning shots across the bow -
lead bullets. Even other bullet materials are harmful to water supplies, no matter how minute that harm may be, but the clause specifically and directly emphasizes "without exception". This would also mean that water may not be turned off in the case of hostage situations, again part of the S.O.P. of many nations, including Ddreigiau, The United States, Russia, Britian, Finland, Germany, etc.
There is also the issues of enabling wonton destruction by naval ships firing onto the shore, of preventing the damaging of near-shore bases (including "boomer" (nuclear weapon-carrying) submarine bases, drydocks, and naval yards), and of preventing joint allied naval exercises.
Any munitions that are ultimately end up in the water are effectively banned by this.
That's check. your move, Embolalia[/quote]
"Oh, for the love of-" "Civil, Gwaredd!", an aide whispers frantically in the ambassador's ear. "You already nearly turned away voters for going off the rails last time."
"Right," Ambassador LLwyd sighed. "I just don't understand where they're getting this from." He stepped back up to the podium.
"The resolution requires a national government to supply water to its citizens. The opposing military forces are not citizens of a nation, unless you have truly bizarre citizenship laws. Therefore, you do not have to provide water to enemy troops.
"The proposal bars, and I quote, 'The intentional contamination of any water supply that may conceivably serve civilians'. I have said before, and I will say again. The noun contamination is operated upon by the word intentional. Therefore, it is the contamination that must be intentional. In other words, the contamination can not be accidental, or an unintended side effect of another action.
"Furthermore, your drug trafficking example is truly inaccurate. In a 160,000 acre-foot body of water (a small reservoir), it would take about 10,000,000 automatic rifle rounds to reach one part per million of lead in the water, which is nowhere near a dangerous level for humans. So firing a few thousand would not, by any reasonable interpretation of the word, be contamination. But that is still rendered moot by the fact that you are not intending to contaminate by doing so.
"I apologize if my pointing this out is rude. But the resolution says what it says. And only because people seem to be taking your preposterous claims seriously am I responding to them. Thank you, and I yield the floor. I shall be headed over to the Strangers' Bar, as my aide does not look very happy with me. Good day."