Did they have permission?

Just an aside from my usual topic.

In the movie, AIT, Gore briefly touched on how he'd gone in a US nuclear submarine to the North Pole. He elaborated on it even more in the book. He made a big deal about how the US navy has spent years going back and forth under the Arctic ice cap, taking diligent measurements of the ice thickness so they'd know where they could safely surface. It bought up a question that has nothing to do with AGW.

While Gore was on board that US naval submarine, did they get permission from Canada (or Russia, or Denmark) to sail in their waters?

Of course, I know the answer to that one. It would be a resounding NO. The US military tends to infringe on the sovereignty of other countries on a fairly regular basis, but in respect to the Arctic, the US claims these are international waters. Well, they may say it, but the reality is that, unlike the Antarctic, the Arctic is within the international boundaries of at least three nations - this doesn't include the US, because Alaska isn't close enough to the Arctic Circle to fall within international coastal limits.

Based on the geography, it's pretty much a given that the submarine Al Gore was in was, at the very least, in Canadian waters. Probably Russian as well.

So what do you think? Do you think Al Gore insisted that the captain of the submarine he was on get permission from these countries before sailing in their waters?


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