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99 lines
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99 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
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* Michael R. Burhans - Out Of My Mind *
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* A Weekly Electronic Column *
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* March 30, 1994 *
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*************************************************************
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The Failure Of A Foreign Policy
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Or
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"Stop it, or we will make more empty threats."
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Secretary of State Warren Christopher's recent trip to the People's
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Republic of China was the proverbial straw breaking the back of our
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nations foreign policy camel. It seems he has learned little since
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his tenure in the administration of President Carter. So far, much
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like then, our Foreign Policy under the Clinton Administration has
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been marked by grandiose plans, hollow threats, and very little
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action. This is unacceptable. Such actions, if continued will lead
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to mistrust from our allies, and contempt from our adversaries. Let
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us examine the record so far.
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Upon taking office the Clinton Foreign policy team was immediately
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met with two major crisis: Somalia and Bosnia. In Somalia, with the
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best of intentions, he allowed the agenda of United Nations Secretary
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General to override the best interests of the United States. What
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should have been a simple mission of humanitarian relief, became a
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manhunt for a scapegoat. Since he was also the most powerful man in
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Somalia, this was very unwise. American troops were asked to perform
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military strikes with inadequate intelligence and equipment. When
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they ran into a ambush situation, there was no armor to back them up
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and safely extract them. Consequently many died needlessly, the
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people of the United States were shocked, and we pulled our people
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out. This makes us look week and foolish in the eyes of the world.
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Such behaviors embolden tyrants and make us lose the respect of our
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allies.
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One of Clinton's strongest points during the campaign for the
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Presidency was that Bush had mishandled the situation in Bosnia, and
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that he would take decisive action there. One can only wonder how a
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man who laid out exactly what Bush was doing wrong, could possibly
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make exactly the same mistakes! He was issued warnings, which proved
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empty. Drawn lines that he allowed to be trespass, and in the end,
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done almost nothing. The only real action taken so far was the
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shooting down of some old Serbian Jets AFTER they had completed a
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bombing run in the much touted "No-Fly Zone". Even at this they
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allowed several of the planes to run across and imaginary line and
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return home. This is far from decisive action. It is nauseate
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reminiscent of our nations "Paper Tiger" days of the late 1970's.
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Then there was Haiti. After months of loudly proclaiming that we
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were dedicated to placing the democratically elected President back
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in power, we dropped him like he was plague infected. We threatened
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to send in peacekeeping forces, and when a rag tag bunch of armed
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thugs appeared at the docks, the United States Military turned around
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an sailed away. If we allow a few untrained bandits to run off our
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military, how can we reasonably expect any nation to respect us? If
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you are unwilling to use troops you should not send them. If you
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decide to send them, send them in a level of force that is so
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overwhelming that resistance isn't even considered an option by those
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you are using force against.
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Lastly, there was the travesty of Christopher's trip to the
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People's Republic of China. Our nation has not suffered such an
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embarrassment on the diplomatic front since the taking of our embassy
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in Iran. He went to China blustering threats of trade cut offs, when
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the US was clearly not willing to actually do so. The fact is
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China's huge market is desperately needed by the United States
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economy, and both parties know it. As much as China needs and wants
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trade with us, we need it more. Never make threats from a position of
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weakness. The Chinese Diplomats held several news conferences where
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they told us exactly where we could get off. The last conference was
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a virtual de- pantsing of Christopher, and the United States
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government. After this, he slunk home in defeat while the world
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laughed at our weakness. At a time when we need China's influence to
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help in the dangerous situation regarding the North Korean nuclear
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program, first alienating and then angering the Chinese is hardly an
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intelligent strategy.
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President Clinton desperately needs to get new help in his State
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Department. Chrisptopher should resign; if he does not, he should be
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fired. In a world growing rapidly more intertwined, one cannot
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address domestic concerns without equal attention being paid to
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international relations. We seem to have gone from a Presidency that
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ignored the domestic agenda and was over concerned with the
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diplomatic scene, to one that is the exact opposite. Perhaps this
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unbalanced approach, swinging from one to the other with each change
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in party control is the cause of so much of our nations problems.
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The people of our nation need to stand up and demand a rational,
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balanced approach to national government. If we do not do it soon,
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we may find it is to late to stop our nations decline.
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************************************************************
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*(c)1994 Michael R. Burhans\24th Century Society Publishing*
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*Permission for unaltered reproduction and dissemination is*
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*granted as long as it is not for profit & with this notice*
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* Internet-michael.burhans@f1004.n239.z1.fidonet.org *
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************************************************************
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