The Kyoto Protocol generates at least five potential dangers to US national security policy. First, the treaty's ambiguity and the Administration's subsequent lack of clarity and candor in congressional testimony make it easy for pressure groups, both domestic and international, to hamstring US military power. They could do so by subjecting to scrutiny every movement of US military forces, whether in support of US security obligations abroad, or training exercises at home, arguing that greenhouse gas use was improperly accounted for. Because the US military operates globally, it is particularly vulnerable to this sort of legal action. In this regard, the Administration's claim that the exemptions for multilateral military operations covers all conceivable uses of the US military is either naive or disingenuous.
Foreign reaction is even harsher.
Third, unless the administration or Congress denounces the unacceptable aspects of the Kyoto Protocol and precisely clarifies the circumstances and conditions under which greenhouse gas emissions may be counted against its national limit, the US may find itself required by customary international law to adhere to the Protocol, despite the fact that the Senate has not given its consent to ratification. In any event, it is likely that new bureaucracies, both domestic and international, will proliferate and seek to establish constraints on the legitimate exercise of US power. Fourth, there are no enforceable mechanisms to ensure compliance. Indeed, some argue that the Protocol is inherently unverifiable. The practical result would be that, while it would difficult, if not impossible, for the US to verify compliance by other nations, the US always would be expected to err on the side of compliance.