Editor, Gazette-Journal:

I would like to thank Mr. Alan Biddison for his letter ("U.S. not a party to Vienna Convention," Jan. 10 Readers Write). My apologies for creating a misunderstanding concerning this contentious treaty.

May I refer to the words of Mr. Frank Gaffney, who was Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan Administration and currently heads the Center for Security Policy, when he explains the curious fact that we are bound by treaties, even if we don’t ratify them. "The Vienna Convention governing the status of treaties—to which we are a party—requires states that sign a treaty to refrain from any actions that undermine the treaty pending ratification until such time as a formal renunciation of the treaty is made. … This translates into actual compliance with the treaty, including often paying the dues we would be obliged to pay once we are parties (to the treaty after ratification)."

While the balance of power and the checks and bala...