European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 15, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday december 15, 1992 commentary the stars and stripes a Page 13 preventive intervention by . Might be Tricky William Buckley i recently supported intervention in Somalia. Who says a the philosophical Jingle goes must say b. If we accept the right of intervention in a nation that does not threaten military aggression then we disrespect that nations Independence. If we do that we do not acknowledge its sovereignty. Are we willing to go so far Paul Johnson the historian and moralist who turns out important books and articles at about the same rate As the Oxford University press has come out now and challenged the most encumbered Shibboleth of the fat postwar anti colonialist age. Johnson the author of Modem times gets a Little bit More specific than some who applaud intervention in Somalia would wish to go a he Hopes that the United nations will in the future take action military action if necessary to prevent rather than to assuage such crises As we face in Somalia. A we must transform collective Security from a reactive and negative Force a he writes in National review a into a True watchdog engaged in foreseeing and forestalling a crime prevention and disaster avoidance. The Somaliland famine like the ethiopian one which preceded it was predictable and was in fact predicted. Countless lives and vast expense could have been saved if a regular International operation had been mounted in the Early All of that is of course True and we do not need to be lectured about How much easier it would have been to Stop Hitler in 1938 than in 1945, How much better to have stopped Stalin before his own heart if that is what you want to Call it stopped beating. But the mobilization of intelligent International Energy to do any such thing remains the problem. We Are witnessing the dissolution of what used to be Yugoslavia with All the attendant misery and torture and genocide with no effective action by Central or Western Europe. But let that go for a moment a the search for technical criteria on which we might agree that intervention was justified. What Johnson says of liberating interest is the antecedent step. It is of profound implication because it denies legitimacy to de Facto and de Jure governments. Paul Johnson is not afraid to Wade right into the Central question. A we cling to our belief that All Peoples Are ready for and can practice democracy and maybe we Snail in due course authenticate it. But a related belief that All people Are ready for Independence has been proved illusory at incalculable Cost in human misery. Many so called Independent and Sovereign states cannot function and their Peoples suffer accordingly. These include not merely quite recent creations like Somaliland but longer established ones like Haiti which goes Back to the 1790s, and Liberia which has been Sovereign since the 1840s. There Are at least a score of states where government cannot discharge its elementary functions. A a the plight of almost All Africa after 30 years of Independence is already pitiful. It will become rapidly worse As the Peak of the population curve is reached standards of government deteriorate still further debt increases finance dries up and violence famine and disease fill the vacuum left by administrative collapse. A decade ago four or five Independent african states appeared to be making Progress that number is now reduced to one or at the most a generation ago Harold Macmillan serving As prime minister of great Britain uttered hts famous speech about the winds of change. Twenty years later As a guest of firing line he told his television audience that the fact of the matter was this simple that Africa had to have its own growing pains. Macmillan the accomplished historian recited a handful of the barbarities that had accompanied the coming of age of great Britain a torture religious persecution Young princes stuffed into the Wall of the Tower of London. He was precisely attempting not to be condescending suggesting As he was that the new Post colonial states of Africa should be expected to go through their own dark Days. But it is Johnson a Point and the events in Somalia make it startlingly relevant that current historical perspectives arc saying no no to genocide no to starvation brought on by anarchy or despotism. Because Germany had a holocaust 70 years after its amalgamation does no to mean that Nigeria is entitled to a holocaust 70 years after its Independence. He proposes what would be something on the order of a United nations trusteeship to superintend delinquent governments even As the victorious Powers after world War i accepted trusteeship around the world and gave much of the world government much better than what came with the Advent of Uhuru a the african version of a give me Liberty or give me death a which gave them mostly death. Very tender Tricky business. But if we Are to generalize on the experience of Somalia questions arise to which we must give thought. President Bush has initiated what May be the defining diplomatic act of the close of the Century. C 1002 univ Tsal Pioss senator prefers dialogue to party line one of the More intriguing footnotes to the last Lection came my Way last week and got me thinking bout a Junior member of the Senate of whom i expect of will be hearing More in years to come. The Story came from or. James j. Zogby the presi Lent of the Arab american Institute that Community a political action Arm in Washington. Zogby who is a Democrat had been having what he Calls a a very frustrating time All year establishing Contact with Bill Clinton a presidential Campaign. Many overtures were made and rebuffed in what Zogby took to be an excess of concern among Clinton a political advisers about a possible backlash from pro Israel jewish groups. Finally Zogby tried what David Broder seemed the most unlikely possible called sen. Joe Lieberman d-conn., a jew it of such strict orthodoxy that he never campaigns on saturday the jewish Sabbath. Zogby knew that Lieber Nan was esteemed in Little Rock for endorsing Clinton ast january when few other Washington insiders were iving the Arkansas governor much of a Chance. A the senator and i had debated Middle East policy it a a can crossfire show a Zogby told me a and i hink we were both surprised at the wide area of agreement. Can thought the show was a bomb be Ause we did no to holler at each other. So in september seeing no other Way Zogby ailed Lieberman a office and pleaded his Case to be allowed Access to the Clinton Campaign. A Tihe next Day a Zogby said a the senator called and said a Call George Steph Nopoulos Clinton s communications director. 1 less waiting for your a i did and 1 was invited to Little Rock the next Day. And from that Point on we got a level of recognition for our group that wed never gotten irom the democrats before. Clinton wrote a letter to Arab americans and authorized its translation into arabic and we ended up doing very Well for him in Michigan and other Zogby made the obvious Point a Only in America a he said a would an Arab american spokesman Call a jewish american senator to Call a greek orthodox Campaign operative to let us help a Southern Baptist get elected Zogby a Story subsequently confirmed by Lieberman came just a few weeks after i had heard words of Praise for Lieberman from another unlikely source housing and Urban development Secretary Jack Kemp the Darling of conservative republicans. I was on a Campaign swing to Connecticut with Kemp 10 Days before election Day when Kemp brought up Lieberman a name a not in private conversation but at a news conference at the Bush Quayle Headquarters. After praising the president and several members of the state gop ticket who were with him Kemp added gratuitously a a in a glad your sen. Lieberman is not running this year. He is a stand up Guy and id have trouble campaigning against when i asked Kemp about this unusual gesture to a democratic senator he was effusive even by Kemp Ian standards. A the Lieberman was the democratic cosponsor of the Enterprise zones Bill. He a with us on reducing capital gains taxes and eliminating them entirely in the inner City. I can t think of anything i so tried to do from welfare Reform to Enterprise zones to a Green lining the inner cities encouraging Bank Loans in the ghettos that Joe Lieberman Hasni to provided counsel and guidance and leadership. And when he voted with the president on desert storm despite All the political pressures i called him Ami said a you to just won my highest a when i bounced these anecdotes Oil the other Day he did a reasonable impersonation of being embarrassed at the Praise. A i like to think of my self not As a renegade but As unpredictable a he said. Quot in be never believed you should follow the party line just because it is the party Lieberman Defeated an avowed Maverick Republican sen. Lowell Weicker or. Now Independent governor of Connecticu who loved to lecture other republicans on the error of their ways. In his first tour years in the Senate Lieberman has shown a Knack Lor going his own Way on some issues while maintaining his Good standing with his party. Endorsing Clinton a few Days before the Gennifer mowers Story broke last Winter brought him some derisive comments from colleagues. But Lieberman now ranks As one of the new presidents Best friends on Capitol Hill. What i find attractive a and unusual a is Lieberman a View of his Job. A i believe in dialogue whether its with Jim Zogby or Jack Kemp a he said. A to me one of the things i like about this business of politics and this place the Senate is the Range of people and of ideas you get exposed to. A you have to carve out time for thinking a and that Means talking to people who Are thinking themselves. Thais the Only Way you Lieberman just turned 50, so he has time to grow. It i p.,-,
