<strong>Filibuster Cartoon</strong>
<strong>Title: </strong> <a href="http://www.filibustercartoons.com/archive.php?id=20070806" target="_blank">Planting Flags</a> (click to view)
<strong>Date: </strong> August 06, 2007
The Russian Navy used a robotic drone to plant a flag on the floor of the Arctic Ocean this week, in a move that is supposed to serve as a symbolic territorial claim to ownership of the North Pole.
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<br>As we all learned as children when debunking the existence of Santa Claus, there is no land at the North Pole, only sea. But recently many nations have started to vigorously debate just who owns that sea space. The motivations are varied. Some view the Arctic Ocean as a valuable trade route from Europe to Asia, while others are more interested in the vast oil deposits that supposedly exist on the ocean\'s floor.
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<br>Canada, Denmark, and now Russia all claim to own the North Pole, while the US and most other countries say the territory is located in international waters. Russia\'s latest stunt is unlikely to change anything. As the Foreign Minister of Canada so eloquently put it, \"this isn\'t the 15th century. You can\'t go around the world and just plant flags and say we\'re claiming this territory.\"
