-Caveat Lector- >From polyconomics.com > June 29, 1999 > > It Was Madeleine’s Fault > > Memo To: President Bill Clinton > From: Jude Wanniski > Re: What went wrong? > > In your press conference the other day, I noticed that you > expressed puzzlement that it took so long for the bombing > campaign to bring Slobodan Milosevic to his knees. Your Secretary > of State, Madeleine Albright, told you it would take three days > max and it turned out to be 78. If you really are puzzled, you > should ask around, and you will find that Ms. Albright is > incompetent at what she does over there in Foggy Bottom. She may > be better suited to driving the tank around that Michael Dukakis > used in his 1988 campaign. I don’t have 20-20 foresight, Mr. > President, but even I could see from a distance two years ago > that the Lady Diplomat was one of the "Ten Most Dangerous People > in the World." Hey, Milosevic did not even make the list. I told > my friend, and yours, Jack Kemp, back then that this lady was > going to cause a lot of problems for the world, but he said maybe > we should give her a chance. Jack is a compassionate > conservative. Anyway, now that the dust has settled, several > thousand people are dead or maimed, and at least $100 billion in > real property has been turned to ash. (Although I see in Monday’s > NYTimes that the Serbs played that old Russian trick on our NATO > commanders, setting out cardboard trucks and tanks for them to > blow up from 10,000 feet. Each missile expended cost at least, > what, $2 million? And the Serbs still have all their real stuff > in caves and places even the Nazis could not find.) > > Ask around, Mr. President, and you will begin to realize Ms. > Albright is not going to get the Nobel Peace Prize for her > diplomatic tour de force at Rambouillet. If I were Jack, I would > not stop at calling for her resignation, as he does in the > accompanying op-ed in the Sunday Washington Times. Alas, Jack is > kinder and gentler than I am, at least lately. I also would have > called for the resignation of your Secretary of Defense, William > Cohen, who in fact should be named the Poet Laureate of the > Library of Congress. His pay also should be docked until he pays > for all those missiles he dropped on all those cardboard tanks, > when he was not dropping bombs on convoys of Kosovo civilians who > were trying to get out of his way. By the way, you might not have > had to read Jack’s op-ed here, reprinted from the Washington > Times. But when he sent it first to the NYTimes, which he knows > you read without fail, In their infinite wisdom on what you > should read and not read, the Times editors rejected it without > comment after sniffing it for a week. Read on, Mr. President. > > * * * * * > > June 27, 1999, Sunday, Final Edition > Artfully Woven Web of Deceit > By Jack Kemp > > Official Washington and the sleepy "establishment" media are agog > over President Clinton's "great victory" in the Balkans. Even the > president's critics grant him a stupendous foreign policy > success. "Victory," screams the editorial headline of the Weekly > Standard, and the editorialist goes on to proclaim, "Slobodan > Milosevic's capitulation to U.S. and NATO demands represents a > triumph for...President Clinton, and for the small but stalwart > group of Republicans...who supported the war from beginning to > end." The National Review's senior editor Peter Rodman said on > C-Span's "Washington Journal" that it would be "churlish" of Bill > Clinton's critics now to criticize the Clinton/ NATO policy in > Kosovo after events have proved it right. > > "Milosevic's capitulation to NATO demands?" " NATO proved right?" > My goodness, what delusions are emanating from inside the > Washington Beltway; what fabrications are being perpetrated on > the American people. The truth of this war is the exact opposite > of the establishment's portrayal. It was an unnecessary, and in > my opinion illegal and unconstitutional, war from the beginning. > It failed on every score to achieve the goals articulated to > justify it, exacerbated the very problems it sought to remedy and > created new problems that will plague America and the Balkans for > years to come. It was, in short, a debacle, an "international > Waco," which no amount of "spinning" by NATO and the media can > erase. We could have had the same, or perhaps even a better deal > at Rambouillet if we had been willing to, in Winston Churchill's > words, "jaw jaw instead of war war!" > > President Clinton, spurred on by U.S. Secretary of State > Madeleine Albright in particular, led NATO to start an unprovoked > and unjustified war out of pique because the Yugoslavian > government, as would any other sovereign nation, refused to > consent to two provisions of the Rambouillet proposal that were > insisted on by the Atlantic Alliance: (1) that Belgrade allow a > foreign military alliance ( NATO) to occupy every square inch of > its sovereign territory, billet its forces wherever it desired > and receive immunity before the fact against "any claims of any > sort" that might arise out of alliance activities (including > criminal acts by NATO personnel); and (2) that Belgrade concede > to a referendum after three years that would almost certainly > have guaranteed independence for Kosovo and thus wrench it out of > the Yugoslav Federation. > > Far from capitulating to these NATO demands, which constituted an > unambiguous assault on Yugoslavian sovereignty, Belgrade > withstood 79 days of brutal bombing, while the Milosevic > government ruthlessly exploited the opportunity to engage in > killing and brutality by pillaging and conducting wholesale > displacement and deportation of Kosovar Albanians, only a > fraction of whom are ever likely to return to their homes. Far > from stopping a humanitarian disaster, the NATO bombing provoked > one. The Yugoslavian Parliament finally agreed to withdraw most > of its troops from Kosovo only after NATO agreed to a peace > accord that explicitly reaffirms Yugoslavian sovereignty and > conspicuously omits both of the two unacceptable demands from > Rambouillet. > > Moreover, unlike Rambouillet, this accord will be adopted and > implemented under the auspices of the United Nations. The > international peacekeeping force called for in the agreement, > while comprising troops from NATO countries, will be deployed in > Kosovo only, under the auspices of the United Nations, and its > actions will be authorized and limited by the U.N. And NATO has > agreed wisely to disarm the Kosovo Liberation Army. > > NATO also claims at least to have salvaged its "credibility" by > demonstrating the alliance will carry out even the most > imprudently made threats when another sovereign nation refuses to > knuckle under to its demands. But such a victory is dubious. The > war NATO started in Kosovo -- the first offensive action in its > history -- may have harmed the alliance's credibility far more > than it helped. What NATO officials perceive as preserving its > credibility and demonstrating its resolve, much of the rest of > the world sees as bully tactics, leading them to ask whether > America one day will, in the words of the New York Times' Abe > Rosenthal, "fly over their lands to bomb them into submission for > not carrying out our orders." As he went on to say, we should use > our brains first and bombs last instead of the other way around. > > An objective observer, I think, must conclude that, on paper at > least, Mr. Milosevic has achieved, albeit at a very high price, > what he sought at Rambouillet, while NATO, far from achieving a > great triumph, has suffered an ignominious defeat, causing > millions of innocent civilians great suffering in the process. > The danger now is that NATO may concede Kosovo to an armed and > menacing KLA in an attempt to save face. > > The NATO bombing and the killing and destruction it wreaked in > Yugoslavia were absolutely unnecessary to achieving the final > terms of the current agreement. Even when judged narrowly in > terms of the effect on NATO, the adventure was a failure. Since > the NATO forces are placed under the auspices of the United > Nations in the current peace accord (nowhere in the agreement is > NATO mentioned), they will have less authority and flexibility to > maintain the peace as they see fit than they would have had under > the Rambouillet framework, absent the two unacceptable demands, > which Slobodan Milosevic and the Russians were prepared to agree > to in March before the bombing began. > > Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said we must stand firm > "when our will is tested." Her will is to see an Atlantic > alliance that acts out-of-area in humanitarian missions through > what Tony Blair and Third Way guru Anthony Giddens call > "cosmopolitan interventionism," and woe to the country or > individual who challenges their judgment. > > This is not the way a defensive alliance should behave, > especially in peacetime. This is not the way constitutional > democracies should act at any time. In fact, in my judgement, > President Clinton compounded the constitutional injury when he > flouted the U.S. Senate's treaty-ratification power by helping to > rewrite the NATO Charter at the 50th Anniversary meeting in April > and then proceeding immediately to implement that rewritten > charter in Kosovo without first presenting it to the Senate for > ratification. > > The Senate, the Greatest Deliberative Body in the World, now > stands mute, aware that the president has in broad daylight > stolen from it the constitutional power given it by the Founders > to advise and consent on treaties with foreign powers. It seems > as long as the establishment can rationalize its behavior on the > grounds that both political parties silently assent to the evil > act, it can be done without fanfare or press commentary. > > But through this fog of lies, this culture of deceit that has > enveloped our foreign policy, someone must call for truth or > consequences. We have had precious little truth out of this war, > and therefore I believe its chief architect, Madeleine Albright > should resign before the administration's efforts to hijack the > peace by implementing its illusions has disastrous consequences. > It should make one's hair stand on end to hear the country's top > diplomat say, as she did recently, "now, our diplomacy serves to > back up our military." Both Mrs. Albright and Defense Secretary > William Cohen continue to insist NATO will run the show in > Kosovo, and we have a standoff with Russia to show for it. > > Make no mistake -- if NATO usurps control in Kosovo, even greater > chaos and instability will result. If we value our relationship > with Russia, if we want to improve our relations with China -- if > we truly care about the principles of freedom and democracy that > define our way of life -- we must begin to lead the world by > example and with diplomacy not by bluster and bombs. > > Jack Kemp is co-director of Empower America. > > Return to top of page. > > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > ------- > > > Home/ Search/ Contact Us > A<>E<>R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller, German Writer (1759-1805) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." 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