-Caveat Lector-
October 25, 2000
Ex-top officials concerned over Gore's secret Russian deal
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
A bipartisan group of 11 former secretaries of state and
defense and top national security officials yesterday expressed
concern over Vice President Al Gore's secret dealings with
Russia.
"The military balance in regions of vital interest to America
and her allies — including the Persian Gulf, which is a critical
source of the world's energy supplies — is the essential
underpinning for a strong foreign policy," the group said in a
statement issued through the office of former Secretary of State
George P. Shultz.
"That is why we are deeply disturbed by the agreement made
between Vice President Gore and then Russian Premier Chernomyrdin
in which America acquiesced in the sale by Russia to Iran of
highly threatening military equipment such as modern submarines,
fighter planes and wake-homing torpedoes.
They added: "We also find incomprehensible that this
agreement was not fully disclosed even to those committees of
Congress charged with receiving highly classified briefings —
apparently at the request of the Russian premier.
"But agreement to his request is even more disturbing since
the Russian sales could have brought sanctions against Russia in
accordance with a 1992 U.S. law sponsored by Senator John McCain
and then Senator Al Gore," the former officials said.
In addition to Mr. Shultz, the signers included former
secretaries of state Henry Kissinger, James A. Baker III and
Lawrence S. Eagleburger; former Clinton administration CIA
Director R. James Woolsey; Zbigniew Bzezinski, national security
adviser in the Carter administration; and former defense
secretaries Caspar Weinberger, James R. Schlesinger, Donald
Rumsfeld and Frank C. Carlucci. Former National Security Adviser
Brent Scowcroft also signed.
The former officials were commenting on recent newspaper
reports, including those in The Washington Times, revealing the
back-channel dealing by Mr. Gore.
The statement was issued on the eve of a Senate hearing on
the issue. The Senate will conduct hearings today on Mr. Gore's
agreements with Mr. Chernomyrdin that allowed Russian
conventional arms and nuclear weapons technology to be sold to
Iran without U.S. sanctions.
State Department officials will testify on the dealings
before Senate Foreign Relations subcommittees on Near East
affairs and European affairs, a spokesman said.
The administration tried to have the hearing closed, but it
will be open to the public.
The Times reported last week that a secret 1995 agreement
between Mr. Gore and Mr. Chernomyrdin, which was called an "aide
memoire," stated that the United States would not impose
sanctions on Russia for its conventional arms sales as required
under U.S. law.
The 1992 law and a 1996 amendment to the Foreign Assistance
Act requires sanctions to be imposed on nations that sell
advanced conventional arms or lethal aid to terrorist nations.
Iran is designated a state sponsor of terrorism by the State
Department.
The Times also reported a secret 1995 letter from Mr.
Chernomyrdin to Mr. Gore detailing Moscow's nuclear cooperation
with Iran. The letter stated that Mr. Gore should not disclose
the information to "third parties, including the U.S. Congress,"
and noted that Mr. Chernomyrdin was "counting" on Mr. Gore's
cooperation in keeping Congress in the dark.
The Times also disclosed a Jan. 13 letter from Secretary of
State Madeleine K. Albright to Russian Foreign Minister Igor
Ivanov. In that letter, stamped "secret," Mrs. Albright stated
that the United States would have imposed sanctions on Russia for
its conventional arms sales to Iran if there were no
Gore-Chernomyrdin pact.
The document contradicted public statements by the Clinton
administration that Russia's arms sales to Iran did not trigger
U.S. laws aimed at stemming the sale of weapons to Iran.
=================================================================
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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