--- Begin Message ---
-Caveat Lector-
http://www.americanpresident.org/kotrain/courses/GB/GB_Foreign_Affairs.htm
THE "KINDER AND GENTLER" PRESIDENT
The Bush Presidency: Foreign Affairs
The collapse of the Soviet Union and its powerful empire that had begun in
the 1980s reached its final stage during George Bush's term. By 1991, the
Soviet Union had disintegrated into fifteen Republics with the
anti-communist Boris Yeltsin replacing Mikhail Gorbachev as the reigning
political leader. The old Soviet Union became the Commonwealth of
Independent States, with the Russian Republic—headed by President Yeltsin—as
its most powerful entity. East Germany had become part of a new united
Germany, and all of the former satellites of the Soviet Union in Eastern
Europe had driven their communist rulers out of power to become independent
states.
The End of the Cold War
With the Cold War over, Bush spoke of creating a "New World Order" led by
the United States and its allies. The Cold War's end enabled Bush to
dramatically advance the move for arms control. Bush and Yeltsin agreed in
August 1991 to sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) cutting the
nuclear arsenals of Russia and the U.S. by one-quarter. By June of 1992,
Yeltsin had agreed to give up all Russian land-based MIRV missiles, and to
deactivate all missiles aimed at the U.S. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organization) announced a 50 percent troop reduction and the signing of a
non-aggression pact with its former enemies in Eastern Europe. With no
realistic enemy to face, the nation's defense spending also plummeted,
moving from a high of $375 billion in 1987 (employing 1.4 million Americans)
to less than $300 billion by 1992.
Almost immediately with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the forces of
nationalism and ethnic/religious rivalries filled the vacuum. Yugoslavia
splintered into the independent republics of Serbia (along with Montenegro),
Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Czechoslovakia split
into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania also
had declared their independence. In Bosnia, a murderous civil war erupted,
characterized by "ethnic cleansing," torture, and the wholesale slaughter of
civilians. And almost all of the former members of the Soviet empire had
great difficulty making the transition from state-controlled economies to
free-market economies.
Despite Bush's expertise and experience in foreign affairs, he seemed not to
know what to do with his so-called New World Order. The president
reluctantly supported an economic aid program to Russia (coming only after
former President Nixon publicly criticized U.S. hesitancy). Bush also kept a
low profile in the horrible civil war in former Yugoslavia, as nearly 20,000
Muslim residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina lost their lives to Serbian
militiamen in 1992. He did not confront either Libya or Syria for their
support of international terrorism. Although Bush held six summit meetings
with Gorbachev and also met frequently with Yeltsin, nothing politically
dramatic emerged from the talks beyond the START treaties. In the end,
Germany rather than the United States became the principal supplier of
foreign aid to the states of the former Soviet Union. Bush's critics saw his
hesitancy as another sign of weakness and drift rather than as diplomatic
caution.
China Policy and NAFTA
In China, the collapse of European communism inspired efforts by
pro-democracy students and intellectuals to call for democratic reforms and
the resignation of China's aging leaders. When the Chinese government sent
tanks and the military against thousands of students in Tiananmen Square in
Beijing, Bush only mildly objected. He also opposed congressional efforts to
deny China its most favored nation trading status with the U.S. and secretly
informed China that the U.S. remained firmly committed to continued
friendship between the two nations. Again, Bush looked weak and indecisive,
failing to effectively explain his belief in the merits of quiet diplomacy
rather than public denunciations to convince China to modify its
restrictions on human rights.
Closer to home, the Bush administration tried to follow a pragmatic rather
than ideological course in the Western Hemisphere. He supported the plan to
end U.S. aid for the Contra insurgents in Nicaragua in exchange for free
elections, which the Contras surprisingly won, ousting the leftist
Sandinistas without bloodshed. Additionally, Bush began negotiations for the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the U. S., Mexico, and
Canada. NAFTA promised open markets in the three countries within twenty
years. Most Democratic Congress members also supported the treaty, including
presidential candidate Bill Clinton, in whose presidency the treaty
negotiations would be concluded.
Invasion of Panama
In Panama, Bush found the opportunity to flex his leadership muscle by
sending in American paratroopers to capture General Manuel Noriega, head of
the Panamanian government. The pretext for the 1989 invasion was the request
of opposition leaders who complained that Noriega had cancelled the outcome
of a free election after losing the vote. More importantly, a federal grand
jury had indicted Noriega for smuggling cocaine into the United States. He
was allegedly a controlling member of a drug syndicate that included
Colombian drug lords, Cuban leader Fidel Castro, and Contra rebels in
Nicaragua. After Panamanian troops manhandled some American service
personnel near the Canal Zone, Bush responded forcefully, sending thousands
of airborne troops into Panama City in a lightning attack that left hundreds
of Panamanian civilians killed or injured.
The raid worked, leaving Noriega under arrest in Florida and the
popularly-elected Panamanian government in Bush's debt. Noriega was
convicted in an American court of drug smuggling in 1992. Within two years,
however, the promised foreign aid to rebuild the Panamanian economy never
materialized, and the pro-American government lost support and was replaced
by anti-American politicians. Bush's critics disparaged his initial success
as an example of his compartmentalized approach to foreign policy—segments
unconnected to a larger principal or purpose.
Persian Gulf War
To the utter surprise of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, George Bush
responded to Iraq's 1990 invasion of neighboring Kuwait, the tiny oil-rich
Arab nation in the Persian Gulf, by organizing an American led force of
700,000 troops from twenty-eight nations under United Nations (UN) auspices.
Saddam had fully expected Bush and the rest of the world to write off the
invasion of Kuwait as a local affair to be settled by the Arab nations.
Moreover, just one week before the invasion, the Iraqi dictator was assured
by the U.S. Ambassador April Glaspie that the "U.S. does not intervene in
inter-Arab disputes." The pledge made sense to Saddam because the U.S. had
eagerly courted his regime during the prior two years, especially in the
wake of the Iran-Contra affair. After all, the CIA had shared information on
Iran with Saddam's intelligence agency, and supported billions of dollars in
agricultural loans and undercover private (illegal) loans that had been
siphoned off by the ruling B’aath Party leadership. The CIA had also
apologized for Voice of America broadcasts critical of Iraq's horrible
record on human rights. Furthermore, the U.S. sold Iraq over $2 billion in
sophisticated equipment which Saddam used in his nuclear, chemical, and
biological weapons programs.
Bush's reaction to the invasion was swift. He feared that an unchecked
Saddam would move against Saudi Arabia, which would put the Iraqi dictator
into a position to control the price of Middle Eastern oil. He put 100,000
troops into Saudi Arabia in Operation Desert Shield within weeks to protect
that pro-Western monarchy. He then organized a coalition of Allies who
contributed to a buildup of troops, and won the assent of the Russians and
of the Arab League with adroit diplomacy. When Saddam refused to leave
Kuwait by the January 15, 1991 deadline set by the United Nations, Bush,
launched "Operation Dessert Storm." The attack of U.S. bombers, joined by
aircraft from Britain, Italy, France, and Kuwait, devastated Iraqi forces
and defenses. Five weeks later, the non-stop bombing of Iraq was followed by
a full-fledged ground assault, employing hundreds of thousands of UN ground
troops—principally Americans. Exactly 100 hours after the ground war began,
Kuwait was free of Iraqi troops. Fewer than 150 UN soldiers had died in the
assault.
It was Bush's finest moment. He personally had put together the coalition,
that included former enemies in the Middle East, such as Syria and Israel;
and he collected the full cost of the war—$35 billion—from Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, other Gulf States, Germany, and Japan. When Saddam tried to turn the
war into a pro-PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) and anti-Israel war
by firing Scud missiles at Israel, Bush persuaded Israel not to retaliate
for fear that it would break up the coalition.
Within weeks of the victory, however, Bush's popularity dramatically faded.
Critics wondered why Bush had stopped just inside the Iraqi border? Why had
he allowed Saddam's crack personal guard to remain intact and for Saddam
himself to stay in power? When the suppressed Shiites in the south of Iraq
and the Kurds in the north rose up in rebellion, why had Bush refused to
assist them as Saddam used his remaining troops to brutally put down the
uprisings? (Eventually Bush established a no-fly zone on Iraqi warplanes in
the southern and northern parts of the country.) Moreover, the UN-brokered
cease-fire agreement had insisted upon the free movement of UN-sponsored
weapons inspection teams to oversee Saddam's destruction of Scud
missiles—which he had fired at Israel—and Iraq's chemical, biological, and
nuclear weapons programs. When the teams met with continued harassment, Bush
took no immediate action. Worst of all, Saddam remained in power.
By the end of his first term, Bush's foreign policy was under attack as no
policy at all. His critics in the Republican Party accused him of not
knowing what America's role in the world should be at the close of the 20th
century. His Democratic opponents hit hard on his proclaimed successes.
Democrat Senator Albert Gore put it directly: "If they [Bush and Quayle] are
such whizzes at foreign policy, why was the Iraqi dictator still in power,
and why did Bush support Saddam before the war?"
Bush tried to explain that his anti-Saddam coalition would have fallen apart
had he tried to capture or kill Saddam. He also pointed out that many Arab
nations feared the power of an unchecked Iran in the wake of a defeated
Iraq; they actually preferred that Saddam remain in power so as not to
create a power vacuum that might have led to the breakup of Iraq. When he
added that Saddam's defeat would have saddled the U.S. with the task of
policing the Middle East, Bush sounded like he was making excuses for his
own failures as a leader of the "New World Order" he had once so
triumphantly proclaimed.
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
<FONT COLOR="#000099">4 DVDs Free +s&p Join Now
</FONT><A HREF="http://us.click.yahoo.com/pt6YBB/NXiEAA/MVfIAA/TySplB/TM";><B>Click
Here!</B></A>
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
-__ ___ _ ___ __ ___ _ _ _ __
/-_|-0-\-V-/-\|-|-__|-|-|-/-_|
\_-\--_/\-/|-\\-|-_||-V-V-\_-\
|__/_|--//-|_|\_|___|\_A_/|__/
===============================================================
SPY NEWS is OSINT newsletter and discussion list associated to
Mario's Cyberspace Station - The Global Intelligence News Portal
http://mprofaca.cro.net/mainmenu.html
===============================================================
*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Spy News is making it available
without profit to SPY NEWS eGroup members who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of
intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques,
human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues,
for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this
constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of
the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright
owner.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
-----------------------------------------------
SPY NEWS home page:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spynews
To change your subscription mode to Daily Digest
(one message a day) send a blank message:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Please note that replying to THIS e-mail
will not remove you from the mailing list.
To unsubscribe SPYNEWS send a blank message:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Mario Profaca
--------
Another web site maintained by Mario Profaca:
University of Practical Sciences in Split, Croatia
http://www.vest.hr/
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
--- End Message ---
