The President is undoubtedly using the situation in Iraq as a diversion from his present crisis in the Capitol Building. The more it appears that Congress will impeach the President for perjury the more likely it appears that the President will send American forces into harms way.
There is little question that Saddam Hussein should be dealt with in a strong way. However, the President seems to time these crises for whenever it suits him politically. The present mustering of US forces has all the earmarks of a wag the dog scenario. In the recent US response to bin Laden's bombing of US embassies in Africa, the President ordered air strikes in Afghanistan and Sudan. These bombings diverted attention from the President's difficulties with Monica Lewinsky and a Grand Jury. At the same time innocent people working in a factory producing medicine died in Sudan. US men and women were put at risk by the President's actions.
It is truly frightening that we have a man in the White House who is willing to sacrifice the lives of others merely to keep his hands on the reins of power. Liberals, moderates and conservatives should all be concerned that foreign policy crises fomented by this flawed and immoral man could lead to senseless death.
If Clintonian foreign policy has been poor in recent months is was disastrous even before the recent scandals. Consider the Nuclear Treaty with North Korea concluded some three or four years ago. The terms of that treaty obligate the US, Japan and South Korea to build two nuclear power plants if that rogue nation suspended its nuclear weapons research for 5 years. Though it sounds as though the administration was buying time, in fact the provisions of the treaty were unverifiable - and were known to be so at the time. The North Koreans have continued their nuclear research and recently launched a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan.
On an even more serious front, the Clinton/Gore campaign fund accepted over 2 million in campaign contributions from the Chinese Army. At the same time sales of missile guidance technology and communications technology were funneled through the commerce department for approval. This sale of technology to a potential enemy is a treasonous offense.
In Haiti, US troops continue to be boxed up in tiny enclaves while the country deteriorates around them. US intervention there was completely counter-productive. It has merely stirred up hatred for the US in the Caribbean. US intervention in Bosnia has been equally ineffective. Serbians continue to commit atrocities in the Balkans merely diverting their ethnic cleansing from Bosnia to Kosovo.
The willingness of the Clinton Administration to put lives at risk merely for the political exigencies of the moment is symptomatic of the entire six years that this President has served. The failure of Clintonian foreign policy can be attributed to several factors. Of course, the most important is the use of foreign affairs as a tool to control internal politics. Second is the moral failure of the President…his blatant disregard for the lives of fellow humans be they US citizens or not. Third seems to be a poor grasp of history and a total misunderstanding of the military's role.
Feminists praise President Clinton for advancing feminism. Environmentalists praise him for advancing environmental causes. Liberals praise him for his ability to "feel their pain". Though his credentials in all of these areas could be argued, it may be best to point out that any supposed gain for any interest group could be easily wiped out by one nuclear missile from China, or a fresh war in Korea, or a bullet in the head from a Serbian Nationalist, or the conflagration that could come from an ill-considered war with Iraq.
WJR
