European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 27, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday january 27, 1993 commentary the stars and stripes Page 15 Clinton must regain control of foreign affairs Harry g. Summers Given his trouble with the Quot vision thing it waa perhaps inevitable that George Bush a presidency would end in irony and contradiction foreign and military affairs were generally seen As Bush a Strong suit with Domestic economics his greatest weakness. Yet his legacy to the Clinton administration is an Economy on the Rise with three unresolved foreign military involvements requiring immedi ate attention. Especially Sticky is the fact that All have a moral dimension making them almost impossible for president Clinton to repudiate. Not the Quot imperialist crusades in Pur suit of hard National interests his supporters love to piously condemn these Are humanitarian interventions in Pursuit of human rights. Most pressing is the ongoing military confrontation with Iraq a crisis brought about by iraqis flagrant violations of the . Resolution mandating a no Fly zone South of the 32nd parallel. Like its counterpart in the North to protect the kurd the zone was established for humanitarian reasons to protect the shiites in Southern Iraq from Saddam s terrible postwar vengeance. As it now stands Saddam can to lose. If the United states backs away from its commitments to enforce the . Resolutions he champions himself As the Savior of the islamic world who alone has the courage to face Down the evil if we use Force he cloaks himself As a Martyr the victim of a hypocritical America that punishes Only muslims while ignoring . Resolutions against Serbia and Israel designed to protect muslims. It is a potent propaganda theme in the Arab world even among our erstwhile Arab politics it is said is Domestic politics. Given the growing threat of islamic fundamentalism that Saddam a propaganda themes exploit even the egyptian government for Domestic political Rea sons finds it necessary to distance itself from americans military actions. And Clinton docs not have a free hand either. When he said in a Jan. 14 new York times interview that lie was not As Quot obsessed with Saddam Hussein As Bush had been and hinted at a Chance for normalization of relations he was hit with such a storm of criticism that he had to backpedal. Most dangerous is the growing pressure to intervene militarily in Bosnia and Herzegovina to halt serbian Quot ethnic cleansing against the Muslim population. Bush had brought the situation to the Brink with offers to use . Air Power to enforce the no Fly zone there. But Clinton told the new York times he would be prepared to be More assertive than Bush Quot possibly pressing for. Military actions. In order to do what serbian ground forces have been responsible for most of the fighting and . Enforcement of a no Fly zone would be just More of the toothless diplomacy that has encouraged rather than deterred serbian aggression. Putting Teeth into ongoing diplomatic efforts should be Europe a business not ours. Clinton should listen to his military advisers and not get further involved in the bosnian morass. John Quincy Adams admonitions about an earlier Balkan crisis in 1821 Bear repeating. Acknowledging Macri can idealism he went on to say that Quot America Well knows that by enlisting under other banners than her own. She would involve herself beyond the Power of extrication in All the wars of in Terpst and intrigue of individual avarice envy and ambition which assumes the colors and usurp the standards of Freedom. She might become the dictate ass of the those words apply As Well to the american intervention in Somalia. Even the new yorker Magazine usually slightly Dingy when it comes to the military a an editor there once told reporter Henry Fairlie Quot we do not like War Here. It hurts people so we done to like War and pieces about a has seen the dangers involved in such no Wilso Nian idealistic impulses. The humanitarian impulse the new yorker editorialized Jan. 11, Quot is a thoroughly admirable one. But it offers no guide to the makers of policy no Means of choosing from among the worlds ills those which Merit the use of Power especially military Power and no Structure for exercising that Power. If it did the United states might now be deploying troops in East timor Liberia Kurdistan and Haiti As Well As in and Well we might yet for in recent months the decision to intervene abroad has been abdicated to the news Media. As the Jan. 16-22 to guide noted a Somalia is an american foreign policy first a military operation launched to Gay the evening Clinton must retake control. As the new yorker concluded Quot the Brave new Donic Stic policy president May find himself through inattention or timidity overwhelmed by foreign entanglements so Malia is just the c los Angelos time Campaign slogans won t solve nation s woes just As 1 began composing this column about the Clinton inauguration the television a few feet away was carrying the image and voice of George Bush who has been Busy trying to Settle his score with Saddam Hussein before the moving vans take away the Bush furniture. The outgoing president was saying on television Quot i would like again to thank the new president for his Strong support for the airstrikes against Iraq. No division on this question at this affirmation of shared views albeit on but one Issue was a sobering reminder of an abiding Washington reality virtually every incoming president talks about creating Brave new worlds but real change a at least change created by the White House and not by unanticipated forces out there in people land a is a relatively rare item. What this Means is that while president Clinton May be a Quot new generation Quot Leader and May indeed salubrious by open doors and windows Long closed he will almost cer tally never ascend to anyplace near the plateau of change conjured up by the exuberant rhetoric imagery music Bell ringing and mass conditioning via television that have become the hallmark of the inaugural week. That said it is nonetheless a very different group that has entered this democratic town As the Reagan Bush occupiers were leaving. Its not just that Broccoli will appear again on dinner party menus or that saxophone music will be heard More often in Georgetown bars or that there la now be endless stories in the press about Arkansas culture transplanted to Washington. Things much More fundamental Mark the divergences Between the Reagan Bush years and the Clinton Era. President Clinton and most of his close people Are truly of a different generation. America today whether politically or sociologically is not the place it was in 1981 when Ronald Reagan came to Washington with his celluloid fantasies about How the country could be improved. Trouble is the voters bought those fantasies for Reagan s eight years and Bush a four years too a and now there a a big mess to clean up. Are they buying fantasies this time As Well when they put their no pcs in Clinton a vows to make us More inclusive tolerant educated Safe and economically Strong to a degree not yet possible to measure the answer has to be yes. No president could or should be expected to satisfy All the expectations that Clinton s intelligence and Energy Ana outgoing Ness have raised. Already the real world has compelled him to alter Rosy Campaign promises on such issues As haitian immigrants and Middle class tax cuts. But t1ie real world was also on the mall last week and _ All Over the capital City getting an emotional nigh out of the Celebration. And that crowd was 1993 America a minus of course the unemployed and the homeless. It was heavily Young Middle class though not upper a Middle Cluss and striving it was far from All White Black latino and asian faces were significantly in the gathering. And just As it was in the 1960s, Many of the faces were Earnest and wanting to believe in something better even As they saw that big Money paid for and was largely running this inaugural As it has run All the others in the modern Era. America needs inaugural parties. Like revival meetings they Are necessary to re infuse disappointed congregations with reasons to have Hope. And last week s was a discontented Patchwork of congregations. If nothing else taught us about the frustrations of main Street America the last election Campaign should have. Sidney h. Schanberg Ross Perot captured nearly 20 percent of the vote because that 20 percent did no to think that either the democrats or the republicans were relevant to their lives. The Perot phenomenon though not the limited and mercurial Perot himself fundamentally altered american politics because it Shook up the two party system which now has some major adjusting to do. Another phenomenon of 1992 wus also vividly evident almost overwhelming at the inaugural a the Power of our popular entertainment culture As disseminated instantly und everywhere on television. Quot it Slu Ichael it s Michael a the crowd squealed almost As in a cry of ecstasy As Michael Jackson s figure transmitted from a stage at the Lincoln memorial out of the crowds sight suddenly appeared on the giant television screens that Hung like rectangular Moons Over the mall on sunday night. Tiie problem for the celebratory and for the press As it emitted its Gushy coverage a was to keep in mind at least in the Back of the mind that when the National revival party was Over everyone had to go Back to work on monday morning. A Little but Only a Little of that tempered Quality could be found on the Lively 88-foot bulletin Board on the mall where celebrants posted their advice and Praise for the president elect. Amid the notes hailing Clinton and calling for racial tolerance an end to sexism better education and Legal abortions one person offered a needed chastening message. It said Quot slogans and sound bites wont solve and then there was the tall Young woman who leaped up and slapped her glue backed note High onto the Board. As she descended from her slam Dunk the crowd got a took at her advice to the new president and broke into laughter and cheers. She had written but one word c no amp Jay
