European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 28, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 14 the stars and stripes thursday May 28, 1992 commentary William Safir devious paths taken in . Support of Iraq Xian on or about july i 1989, Joe d. Whitley a associate attorney general at the Bush department of Justice supervising the 93 . Attorneys a left to practice Law in Atlanta. On july 18, 1990, another Atlanta attorney tipped the local . Attorney about a huge Bank fraud being committed at the Atlanta Branch of Italy a Banco Del Lavoro. On aug. 4, Fri agents raided the Bank. Records were seized showing How . Taxpayer guaranteed Grain Loans to Iraq were being corruptly handled. Matrix Churchill ltd., an iraqi owned exporter used by Saddam Hussein to buy technology for nuclear devices and rockets was implicated. Joe Whitley who says he had no prior knowledge of the Case joined the Law firm representing matrix Churchill. Internal documents and Handwritten notes of Whitley a Law firm have appeared in the Atlanta Constitution and the new York times. They show the Well connected Whitley certain of the prosecutors thinking . Attorney firmly believes a a the notes show him telling his partners that the Bank manager a would never have taken risks without a payoff a presumably from higher in Rome or Baghdad. When a partner says a we Are trying to a go around . Attorney to Sway her opinion because she has no appreciation of How the world works a the a sourced notes say a a Jwo assures them . Attorney will at some time have to get Washington something looks like conspiracy theorists would say that sounds like he knew How and where to get the Case handled by a Justice official who did know How the world works. While representing the iraqi firm Whitley was seeking the Job of . Attorney in Atlanta. Did he Volunteer the information to Justice that he was representing a company involved in the offices Only must billion Dollar Case no. A i would have answered any question the Fri asked me a he tells me. Funny when it comes to one of justices own the Fri turns suddenly shy. Agents never asked about potential conflicts. In Early 1990, Bush appointed the iraqi firms lawyer to head the office investigating Saddam Hussein a corrupt banking. Joe Whitley promptly recused himself from the big Case. What do his former associates at Justice in Washington say about appointing a prosecutor who cannot ethically prosecute a it would have been Nice to know a admits Robert Mueller chief of the criminal division adding a but recusal is nothing but Laurence Urgenson his Deputy for Bank fraud says a a Whitley a recusal came As a Shock to me and a Shock to Bob Mueller. We were looking Forward to a . Attorney who could oversee this operation and it was were they really disappointed George Bush a infamous National Security directive 26 which it would be Nice to get in the mail called for government wide support of Saddam. A Lavoro indictment would have made it impossible to continue misusing Farmer support funds for High risk foreign Aid purposes. State Legal adviser Alan Kreczko was showing avid interest and agriculture a Clayton Yeutter was also being briefed. The Man sent Down to delay indictment in Early 1990 was Urgenson. A the indictment Wasny to ready a he insists. He disagreed with prosecutors Gerrilyn Brill and Gale Mckenzie a their theory of the Case was that it involved Only local that a not what Mckenzie says. Brill tries to smooth Over the difference saying the decision to delay came by what do the 1989 notes of Whitley a Law firm show about this that a prosecutor had the conviction of the local Bank officers a a a in the Bank but she is trying to find what else she can timely indictment would have exposed the Ripoff in Baghdad. In my opinion Justice was obstructed the hard to prove Way a by demanding that understaffed prosecutors present a voluminous Case. Even As the aborted indictment was being prepared even As Treasury and the fed warned the support sad dam zealots not to give one fifth of All . Credit guarantees to Iraq a secretaries Baker and Yeutter combined in late �?T89 to Jam through $500 million. That a Why House judiciary a Jack Brooks can inform the president formally of other committees a preliminary conclusions that the administrations support of Iraq May have gone so far As to involve violations of Federal criminal c the new York times George f. Will balanced budget amendment badly needed what a new not much. At least not in american political argument. Follow the thread of most current controversies Back into american history and you reach arguments from the 1790s. Today a argument about a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget rekindles an argument that engaged Madison and Jefferson against Hamilton As William Niskanen knows. An economics professor at Berkeley and Urcla before joining president Reagan a Council of economic at visors Niskanen now is chairman of the Cato Institute and an advocate of a a new fiscal a balanced budget amendment would he says restore what was lost when America abandoned two linked understandings one of the Constitution and one of fiscal morality. During the nations first to years he says government growth was Rusti amid and budget discipline was maintained to a constitutional interpretation and an Quot informal the interpretation was of article i Section s s enumeration of Congress Powers. It said Congress could spend Only to Ever Vise pow e i s spell k ilk c enumerated in Section 8 Niskanen in the jul Lisoni m i Idu m i. A i .11 tie s that of is m i a it i. I m. Congress to spend pursuant to a Only 18 rather narrowly defined Powers a few of which a establishing Post offices and Post roads raising an army and Navy a involve the potential for substantial expenditures. President Jefferson doubting the constitutionality of most Public spending reluctantly signed the National Road Bill but urged Congress to initiate a constitutional amendment specifically authorizing such activities strict construction of Section 8�?Ts enumerated Powers accorded with the a informal rules that government should borrow Only during recessions and wars. Niskanen a Fidelity to the madisonian notion of enumerated Powers one of Madison a last acts As president was to veto a roads and canals Bill on the ground that a such a Power is not spies by Given by the a Sci m of merely Antu Canan it Chest history has Long since settled the institutional question m the 1 i a of with a Pei Misew to Misti in Taui of the inst of Section is clauses ii u clause which suss on mucus hit put in e i in us a the be 11 e i d a n he be t Une a f m it p i i it >1 e Inse t \ i 1 it Illel let 1 t i i i la i i i e h a. Out of the Way of the new Deal formally interred the doctrine of enumerated Powers. The court opened the Way to the modern state by asserting that a the Power of Congress to authorize appropriations of Public Money for Public purposes is not limited by the direct Grants of legislative Power found in the still Niskanen notes that As late As the Eisenhower administration there was rhetorical deference to the doctrine of enumerated Powers. Thus when creating the interstate Highway system Congress called the legislation the National defense Highway transportation act a title linking the project to the enumerated Power to Quot provide for the common similarly the Federal govern no nth a Tost major education program proud my Loans Tor College students was a ailed the National defense education a t nowadays government uni Iii it us a constitutional enumeration of its Topci , permeates ble. And t a if i a no i Mici c. E 11 a nod to quid the Tai d ii tonal values trampled since the overthrow of the strict construction of Congress enumerated Powers. The constitutions substantive limits on the purposes for which Congress May spend and the old political cultures a informal rules about borrowing have both been abandoned. Therefore Niskanen says a balanced budget amendment with More constraining rules on voting that affects budget totals is a conservative Means to achieve a traditional end limited government. The intellectual Pedigree of Niskan Cne a argument underscores the unconvincing nature of most opposition to the amendment. Many opponents simply assert that a it won t but no one claims the pm rent attempt to limit government is and the most fervid opponents of the Amend ment Public employees organizations lobbies Tor the elderly cities and other grasping interests Are not fervid because they tear the amendment might be met i actual. The intensity of their opposition test cities to their belief hit the Imen me j it Ivi ii do i k i e. Ii t t 1
