European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 30, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday november 30, 1994 commentary the stars and stripes Page 15 make no Fri Ista be Harry g. Summers Clinton the report in the Washington pos about sen. Jesse Helms went this Way asked if he knows anyone in the armed forces who agrees president Clinton is not competent to be their com Mander in chief Helms said Well for openers just about every military Man who writes Tome " reporting on Helms appearance Oncin s Evans and Novak program the Post went on to say that Helms said those who agree with him in clude Active duty officers including some of general s j Helms a North Carolina Republican who is slated to head the Senate foreign relations committee in the new Congress answered no com ment when asked if such generals included members of the joint chiefs of staff. Such remarks Are serious business indeed for they Call into question a Basic Tenet of american democracy the subordination of the military to civilian control. While not questioning sen Helms veracity i think he misunderstood what he was hearing. As i also recently found out Many members of the military in and out of uniform have contempt for Clinton Asa person. In my editorial in the current Vietnam Magazine i commented favor ably on Clinton s remarks last year at the Vietnam memorial Eulogi zing the Veter ans of the Vietnam War. It is apparent that you Are in Awe of our illustrious president one irate Reader wrote news indeed to regular readers of this column. Or. Clinton has the morals of an Alley cat he went on today. Or. Clinton is a con artist. The worst kind of politician. Or. Clinton is Noless than a pure and simple draft dodger. Or. Clinton is not fit to lick the boots of the common everyday private in the Mili tary never mind be commander in yet there he is. Clinton is commander in chief of the armed forces of the United states for on simple reason. Even though Given the re sults of the last election some of those who did so May Rue it today a plurality of the Chi american citizens knowing full Well the defects in his character voted Clinton into that office i was a recruit it was explained to me in Basic training that one did not Salute the person. One saluted the uniform an the authority it represented. One did not have to respect the person but by both Cus Tom and Law one had to submit to the authority of those appointed Over any person subject to this code says article 90 of the uniform code of military Justice who wilfully disobeys the lawful command of his Superior officer shall be punished if the offence is committed in time of War by death or such other punishments a court martial May direct and if the of sense is committed at any other time by such punishment other than death As a court martial May the punishment was not As Draco Nian article 88 of the Ucma also makes it a chargeable offence to use contemptuous words against the president. Having said that however using such words against president did not begin with Bill Clinton. They go Back for at least a worst examples were against Abra Ham Lincoln now one of our most beloved presidents. And they were made not so much by the confederates but by his own Union officers. His Secretary of War Edwin Stanton called him the original Gen. George Mcclellan commanding the army of the Potomac openly snubbed him. Gen. Joseph Hooker who also Rose to com Mand the same army told a newsman that the president was an imbecile and played out and a dictator was needed and the sooner the have heard in such a Way that i believe it wrote Lincoln of your recent saying that both the army and the govern ment needed a dictator. Of course it was not for this but in spite of it that i have Given you command. Only those generals who gain successes can set up dictators. What i now ask of you is military Success and i will risk the during the korean War some harsh words indeed were said about Harry tru Man and his handling of what he called the police action there. And Lyndon John son was roundly vilified for botching Viet Nam. But none not even Gen. Douglas Macarthur who was fired for challenging Truman s handling of the War Ever questioned the president s authority As com Mander in chief. The Jesse Helms sure a Nice letter in a famous Exchange during the great debate in the Senate following his Relief Macarthur was reminded by one senator that in 1932, while serving As army chief of staff he had said the president sets nation Al objectives and policies. Macarthur s reply was classic. As i look Back senator upon my rather Youthful Days then i am surprised and amazed How Wise i and that Wisdom continues. President Clinton is our commander in chief said . Army Gen. John m. Shalikashvil the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff in the Wake of Helms remarks. He has and will continue to have the loyalty and full sup port of the joint chiefs of c lot Angeles Tolmei bosnian War straining cohesion in by Craig r. Whitney in London Paris and in Bonn some officials Are beginning to fear that nato could be headed toward its gravest crisis since 1956, when the United states clashed with Britain and France Over their attempt to seize the Suez canal. This time the Issue is Bosnia where europeans and americans have been at Odds Over How to react to aggression by bosnian serbs against the Muslim led bos Nian government. Disagreement is becoming increasingly acrimonious despite diplomatic attempts to Patch up the quarrel. According to diplomats the american undersecretary of state for political affairs Pete Tarnoff came to Paris to see foreign minister Alain Juppe. His Mission was to deny in person recent reports that the United states had been secretly arming the bosnian. According to one Diplomat Juppe told Tarnoff i take note of your statement diplomatic language unusual Between supposed allies for i won t come right out and say it but i Don t believe you. In London advisers to prime minister John major worry that the new Republican dominated Congress could Force president Clinton to a unilateral . Deci Sion to violate a , nato enforced arms embargo against the bosnian government. Acting under congressional pressure Clinton has Al ready directed . Ships to Stop taking Active measures to enforce the naval blockade in the Adriatic to halt ships with arms for the bosnian government and not to share intelligence about them with the . Officials say much depends on whether sen. Bob Dole who is expected to become majority Leader of the new Senate can be persuaded to change his mind about the Wisdom of the United states unilaterally violating the embargo. Nato has approved detailed contingency plans for providing air support and ground reinforcements to cover a withdrawal if it becomes necessary bit Diplo Mats in All the major capitals say a forced by unilateral . Action would put Nat under Strain for and . Officials Hope it won t come to that. But last thursday night a . Attempt to per Suade the nato allies to get Tough on serbs attacking the Northwestern bosnian enclave of Bihac ran a round in Brussels when France objected saying that enforcing a . Safe area around the town would take thousands of additional ground troops. France with 6,000 soldiers already in the former Yugoslavia could t provide any More. And the British with about 4,000, said in effect Don t look at so the French representative at the meeting wanted to know where were the soldiers needed to make this new american plan work going to come from the United states remains unwilling to provide any. Clinton concluded after he was elected that the Ameri can people did not want him to risk american lives in the Balkans. Instead he sent Secretary of state Warre Christopher to Europe in an attempt to persuade the allies to lift the arms embargo for the Muslim led bos Nivans and to support them with airstrikes against the serbs. Christopher failed. On thursday . Officials in Zagreb Croatia tried to arrange a local cease fire in Bihac but once More the world s most powerful military Alliance was in the position it has been in so often before in Bosnia looking on helplessly while civilians fled for their lives before serbian artillery. The .�protection Force in the area 1,200 lightly armed bangladeshis was barely Able to protect itself. Nato and . Officials have begun openly disparaging the double key arrangement the Alliance made with4he United nations when it first stepped into the conflict in 1993 in an Effort to deter More vigorous Mili tary action. Nato has no combat forces in Bosnia andean Send in airstrikes Only if civilian and military com Manders of the . Force approve. I Hope we never see it again the assistant Secre tary of state for european affairs Richard c. Hol Brooke said thursday in London of the arrangement. The dual key turns into a dual veto because of the enormous complexity of two different command Struc Tures with two different nato Secretary general Willy Claes expressed similar reservations. But politically sharing the Burden was the Only Waythe United states could get its european allies to inter Vene at All. C Newport
