United States News Digest
Ex-President Clinton Calls for Marshall Plan
In a major address on foreign policy on April 3, former President Clinton emphasized that the challenge of this millennium is to move the world to an integrated community with shared benefits.
The Bush Administration's view of cooperation, he said, is like that described by Robert Kaplan in Warrior Politicspeople never cooperate until they are forced to; the U.S. has the military power to make them, and we should use it. Another view of cooperation is expressed in Robert Wright's Nonzero: People may not like cooperating, but they realized early on that unless they did, they would destroy each other; so, cooperation has increased throughout history. Clinton said his own view is more like Matt Ridley's The Origins of Virtue: People don't want to cooperate, but ultimately, on the verge of destruction, realize they must.
America must have strong security (he elaborated four ways to strengthen it), but a security strategy alone can never make us safe: "There's no way in the world we'll ever be able to kill, jail or occupy every actual or potential adversary...."
Instead, we must build a world with more friends and fewer enemies: "Because, at the end of World War II, Harry Truman and George Marshall and Douglas MacArthur (who had fought in World War I and World War II), said, 'Why don't we take a little bit of our money to build a world with more friends and fewer enemies?' That's what the Marshall Plan did, and it included our enemies (Germany and Japan). That's what our efforts in Japan did, to make it a great democracy, and we have to do that." The U.S. needs to give more foreign aid (it's not 10-15%, as most Americans think, but less than 1%, the lowest of any of the 22 "richest countries"). We should contribute to the global AIDS fund Kofi Annan proposed (not give money on our own, though he praised Bush for proposing to do something on AIDS); strengthen institutions of international cooperation (accepting that we are not going to win all the timebut it is better to be part of them); make America better at home, so it can lead by exampleemphasizing that people around the world love the speeches of Lincoln, FDR, Kennedy; and develop "the mind and heart necessary" to build a world that looks at everyone as "us" and not "them." After talking about the assassination of Martin Luther King, Clinton emphasized three assassinations of great men in his lifetime for their attempts to include outsiders as "us": Gandhi, Sadat, and Rabin, "whom I loved as much as any other man I have ever loved in my life."
Clinton concluded, "The Bush Administration is essentially closer to the Kaplan view. They believe they should maximize power at home, and abroad, and force the changes they want, and that multilateralism and cooperation are often a fool's errand. We've got the power. We've got the juice. We should do the job. I am more in the other camp. I'm more where, at least where Mr. Ridley is. I don't think we ought to ever give up the right to unilaterally use our military when we need to do it, but I think we ought to bend over backwards to build a world in which we are sharing responsibilities, sharing benefits, and sharing our path to the future....
"And I may not be right about a lot of things, but I think that this big-picture issue is right. I believe that we have to be moving to an integrated global community, and I want America to be the world's leading force for peace and freedom and security and prosperity, but I think to do it we have to have security plus. Plus building a cooperation; plus building a world where America continues to be an example; and plus being a leading light of understanding that this is ultimately a problem of the heart. And we have to keep expanding the world's 'them' into 'us' so that some day, there won't be any 'them,' there will only be 'us'."
Washington Post Promoting Pax Americana
The generally liberal Washington Post is shamelessly running debates over "how to" run an American empire, instead of denouncing such talk as un-American. The most blatant example is the op-ed by Andrew J. Bacevich, who has written a recent book on empire, and writes that opposing "Pax Americana" is "honorable," but of no use now, because Bush has already made the U.S. "an imperial power." Being practical, he offers the "insights [that] flow from admitting that the United States ... is engaged in an imperial enterprise."
Bacevich lays out an immediate course of action to "keep" the Empire: pull the U.S. out of the Atlantic Alliance, leave South Korea to itself militarily, and concentrate all of the U.S. forces and attention on the challenges "from the Islamic world, the broad arc of nations stretching from Africa across to Indonesia and the southern Philippines." An even grander plan for world war than Bernard Lewis's already ghoulish "arc of crisis" in the 1970s. Meanwhile, the New York Times reports on its front page that Donald Rumsfeld and his Defense Department neo-cons are already planning on creating four permanent military bases to occupy Iraq and expand from there.
Bacevich also says this will shape all other reforms in the Bush Administration: "An imperial military has three functions: to dominate ... to punish ... and to police." And, he says, prepare to stay: Create "new mechanisms for imperial planning and coordination ... [and] one possible initiative is to transform existing military commands into regional political-military headquarters ... reporting directly to the White House." The "empire will need pro-consuls." He adds that "an imperial civil service" will have to be developed.
On the Wimp side (wimpy imperialist), Yale Professor Paul Kennedy warns in another op-ed against "exceeding our reach," suggesting readers take a look at the classic empire bookBritain's Moment in the Middle East by Elizabeth Monroewhich turned out to be decades gone sour. He says this should "give pause" before we go on to "accepting the neo-cons' recipes for changing the Arab world." Meanwhile, he forecasts that there may not be an immediate attack on Damascus, because it would "probably provoke the wholesale resignation of the foreign service, including ... Colin Powell," which Bush would not want.
The Empire roundup also includes an op-ed by Ralph Peters, who says there is nothing sacrosanct about the territorial integrity of Iraq, and it should be broken up if necessary: the Kurds especially have to be rewardedRoman Empire-stylewith a country, especially after Turkey betrayed the United States.
The Costs of Empire
In the April 20 edition of the New York Times, British history professor and author Niall Ferguson penned a provocative op-ed, entitled "True Cost of Hegemony: Huge Debt," which asks, "Can a global hyperpower also be a global hyperdebtor?" He argues that, unlike the British Empire of the 19th century, which first seized its colonies financially and then militarily, Bush's Pax Americana would have to be built on cash borrowed from abroadin fact, from the very Europeans who oppose U.S. unilateralism. Being an imperial debtor is a very risky concept, he suggests.
"History strongly suggests that Iraq's reconstruction will require a kick-start of substantial foreign capital, particularly to modernize the antiquated oil industry. Can the U.S. provide the necessary cash, even in the form of private-sector money? The answer is yesso long as foreign countries are willing to lend it to the U.S. .... Britain, the world's banker before 1914, never had to worry about a run on the pound during its imperial heyday. But today, as America overthrows 'rogue regimes,' first in Afghanistan and now in Iraq, it is the world's biggest debtor. This could make for a fragile Pax Americana if foreign investors decide to reduce their stakes in the American economy....
"Not so long ago, from 1984 to 1987, dollars were being dumped on the currency markets. Another crisis of confidence is not impossible to imagine, especially if all those foreign holders of bonds worry about the Bush Administration's combination of increased military spending and decreased taxation. Since the creation of the euro, investors have a whole new range of securities in which to invest."
Ferguson concludes: "The good news is that in the past one great empire did rely on foreign loans. The bad news is that it was czarist Russia.... Russia was the first European empire to collapsefirst militarily, then politicallyas a result of the costs of World War I. You might call being a debtor empire the Nicholas II method."
Historian McCullough Warns of Loss of Historic Sense
Widespread ignorance of American history among students and teachers at U.S. high schools and colleges, is a major threat to the nation's security, historian and author David McCullough told the Senate Committee on Health, Education and Labor last week. "We are raising a generation of people who are historically illiterate," McCullough said. "We can't function in a society if we don't know who we are and where we came from." McCullough's comments echo similar sentiments expressed by Lyndon LaRouche in his keynote at the Labor Day 2002 conference, when he said that one of the biggest problems we face in the U.S., is ignorance of our history and of the nature of our republic.
McCullough pointed out that only three colleges in the U.S. require a course on the U.S. Constitution to graduate; these are the Army, Navy, and Air Force military academies.
Responding to a question, McCullough said, "Yes, we are an exceptional people. The American story is exceptional. The American Revolution was the first revolution of a people breaking away from a colonial power and establishing a free country."
McCullough puts a strong emphasis on the voluntarist element in the making of history. In an interview on the occasion of the publication of his book John Adams, McCullough said: "A lot of people think our institutions, our freedoms, our structure of government sprang to life fully formed. Well, it didn't just happen; people made it happen.... Those people who entered into the huge risk of revolution had no guarantee they were going to succeed. In fact the odds were heavily stacked against them. They were up against the greatest power in the world. And only about a third of their fellow colonists favored revolution so they were in the minority.... So when the founding fathers made their pledge [of their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor] they weren't just mouthing platitudes. They were putting their necks on the line. We need to know why. We can never ever know enough about them."
Shultz Charged With 'Grotesque Conflict of Interest'
Bob Herbert's column in the April 21 New York Times reviewed the sordid record of (Reagan) Secretary of State George Shultz and his Bechtel Corp. "Oh, how he wanted this war," writes Herbert, pointing to the fact that Shultz chairs the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, and his September op-ed in the Times calling for "immediate military action" and a "multilateral effort to rebuild Iraq." "Gee," writes Herbert, "I wonder which company he thought might lead that effort?" pointing to the "grotesque conflict of interest engaged in by corporate titans and their government cronies who were pushing young American men and women into the flames of a war that ultimately would pour billions of dollars into a very select group of corporate coffers."
Herbert points to a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) demanding an explanation of the closed, secret process of handing out the spoils of war. The bill, co-sponsored by Susan Collins, Hillary Clinton, Robert Byrd, and Joe Lieberman, is called the "Sunshine in Iraq Reconstruction Contracting Act of 2003."
Perle Still Under Attack for Conflict of Interest
In a carefully worded April 20 editorial, the Washington Post and those it represents make clear that they aren't necessarily finished with Defense Policy Board member and former Board chairman Richard Perle, and his ilk. Entitled "A Case for Disclosure," the editorial reveals that official Washington is littered with "Special Government Employees" like Perle, including outside consultants, temporary employees and part-time advisory committees who are not forced to make adequate disclosure of their interests, holdings, affiliations, and other clients.
The editorial points out that Perle has "numerous business interests touching on the Defense Department," some revealed and some not, and proceeds to detail just a few of these. The editorial coyly continues, "Our point isn't that such dual roles are impermissible or inherently unethical. It's just that the public ought to know about them and be able to judge for itself whether they pose a problem." After all, concludes the editorial, we did this for the Clinton Administration. "The same argument holds true today."
Army Secretary Resigns Over Doctrinal Differences
The April 25 resignation of Secretary of the Army Thomas White ends a troubled two-year tenure, marked by White's disagreements with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and White's own past as a top official at Enron haunting him after Enron's collapse. White's sharpest disagreement with Rumsfeld came last year, when he vigorously lobbied for production of the Crusader artillery gun, almost right up until the moment that Rumsfeld cancelled it. At the time of the Crusader controversy, White was answering questions in front of Congressional committees regarding Enron's accounting practices, which he claimed he knew nothing about. White apparently got into trouble with Rumsfeld again, in February, this time over Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki's statements that the occupation of Iraq would require several hundred thousand troops, which estimate was rejected by both Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz as "wildly exaggerated." When asked at a Congressional hearing about Shinseki's statement, White called him "a very experienced officer."
Shinseki himself has long been in Rumsfeld's doghouse, as indicated by Rumsfeld's announced choice last year of Gen. John Keane, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army, to replace him when he retires in June. Keane, however, has reportedly decided to retire, rather than take the top post, leaving what the Los Angeles Times characterizes as a leadership vacuum at the top of the Army. No new nominees have been announced for either of the top two posts.
Congressman Rahall Rips Charges of Syrian WMD as Unfounded
Charges that Syria is developing a weapons of mass destruction program are "absolutely false ... ridiculous" and come exclusively from Israel, said Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W. Va.) after meetings with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus. Rahall, in an interview with NPR radio April 22, said that the meetings he held that included Republican Rep. Darryl Issa (R-Calif.) in Damascus with Assad, were extremely positive.
Asked about charges coming from the Administration that Syria hid Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, Rahall said: "An absolutely false, ridiculous and, no way. First it must be remembered, that this was an Israeli report. I, myself, have not seen it confirmed by any American intelligence reports. The President [Assad] said it is silly for us to accept Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons or WMD. Why would we do that? We absolutely have not done that." Rahall said that once the Administration figures out that the allegations are false, then "probably the rhetoric that is coming out from the Pentagon will perhaps cool down."
Assad is in "almost daily" touch with the British, to work out a diplomatic solution. Rahall said that Colin Powell will have a very successful trip (but didn't name a specific date).
On whether Powell is "satisfied" with Rahall and Issa's talks with Assad, Rahall said, "I imagine the Syrians are getting the message, because President Bush said it himself, yesterday, after fully cognizant of our meeting with Assad. So, I think Powell will have a very good meeting with the Syrian President. The State Department was aware ahead of time of our going to meet President Assad, and actually approved of our meeting beforehand through Rep. Issa."
Rahall said he thanked Assad for the help that Syria has given the U.S. in the war against terrorism, especially against al-Qaeda, which "Powell himself said this has saved American lives." He also added that Syria has a list of some hundreds of Iraqi leaders who are war criminals by Syrian law, and this goes far beyond the "deck of cards" that the Pentagon passes around.
In fact, President Bush himself, in his interview with NBC's Tom Brokaw aired April 25, commented that Syria seemed to be doing better in cooperating with the U.S., and seemed to be showing more interest in such cooperation.
Grass Roots Resistance Growing to Ashcroft Police State
The Washington Post highlights the growing grass roots resistance to Attorney General John Ashcroft's police state measures and his Patriot Act, in its front-page feature on April 21. So far 89 municipalities and cities have passed local laws and resolutions ordering local law enforcement officials to not cooperate with Federal agencies, if it means violating individuals' Constitutional rights. Another dozen cities and towns are in the process of passing similar measures, and a statewide resolution is expected to soon pass the legislature in Hawaii. The Post reported, "Across the country, citizens have been forming Bill of Rights defense committees to fight what they consider the most egregious curbs on liberties contained in the Patriot Act."
Earlier this month, Reps. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) and John Conyers (D-Mich.) sent a joint 18-page letter to Ashcroft, challenging the Justice Department's use of "national security letters" to force businesses to hand over records, and demanding an accounting of how the DOJ has been implementing the Patriot Act. The leak, earlier this year, of a draft of "Patriot II" with even more egregious violations of Constitutional rights, has triggered further protests, the Post reported. Of course, the Post failed to mention that Lyndon LaRouche has been leading the fight against the Ashcroft Nazi police-state drive since January 2001, or that LaRouche's Presidential campaign committee issued a mass-circulation leaflet recently, attacking Patriot II as the "Himmler II Act."
Ashcroft Claims Right for Indefinite Detention
The Federal government has the right to detain illegal immigrants indefinitely if the government considers that they pose a threat to national security, Attorney General John Ashcroft said in a 19-page memo provided to the Department of Homeland Security, the Washington Times reported on April 25.
The case involved an undocumented Haitian refugee who was seeking asylum in the U.S. last October. Claiming that to release the man from jail could spark an influx of Haitians trying to immigrate into the United States, Ashcroft said "such national security considerations clearly constitute a reasonable foundation for the exercise of my discretion to deny release on bond."
Wall Street Angry at Bush Damage to U.S. Trade
A well-placed Washington source told EIR last week that George W. Bush is encountering unexpected lack of enthusiasm from U.S. businesses that depend on globalization for their income. This phenomenon has already begun to worry some of those around Karl Rove, who is responsible for Bush's re-election, forcing them to relook at the importance of the moderate, traditional Republicans.
In the April 20 Washington Post, Will Hutton, a journalist with the London Observer, details the damage that can be done by a "small but highly visible boycott movement" mostly in Europe, but also in Asia and the Middle East, that has the potential of leading to "ugly economic consequences" for America. The London office of an advertising firm wrote a memo to its big American clients telling them to play down their American ownership, and "the flag," or face potential boycott. The memo was leaked to the Daily Telegraph. Big companies are more dependent on foreign sales than Americans realize: Coca Cola makes 68% of its sales outside North America; McDonald's makes 54% of its sales overseas; Intel has 68% foreign sales, and IBM 60%.
Fight Over Bush Tax Cut Breaks into the Open
Reflecting the growing split in both the Democratic and Republican Parties, over strategic and economic policies, numerous articles and statements appeared over the past week reporting on the opposition to President Bush's huge tax cut proposal.
*The Washington Post's lead editorial April 21, "Take the Money and Run," pushes Bush to accept the Senate-backed $350-billion new tax cut, and not make a big fight over deeper cuts, which the public don't seem to want, and which will have no positive impact on the economy before the November 2004 elections. Heavy-handed tactics by the Wall Street-financed Club for Growth, "bludgeoning" key Republican Senators, the Post warns, could backfire, costing Bush re-election.
*Accompanying news articles in the same edition of the Post report that in the more "conservative" House as well, at least 15 Republican Representatives have now come out against the Bush tax-cut package, and the number is slowly growing. They are panicking at the ballooning budget deficit, as well they ought. For only the first half of Fiscal Year 2003 (October 2002 through March 2003), there was a deficit of $251 billion!
*Treasury Secretary John Snow, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal April 21, offered to delay the phase-in of the $550 billion in tax cuts, suggesting he would settle for half of the dividend tax break proposed for this year, if Congress agreed to eliminate the tax entirely over the rest of the decade. Also, he suggested delaying the reduction in the individual tax rate.
*Syndicated pundit Robert Novak profiled Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's trouble with the White House, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), over his deal with Republican Senators. Charles Grassley (Iowa), Olympia Snowe (Maine), and George Voinovich (Ohio), to put a $350-billion cap on the tax cuts. Graham, who led the failed 1997 coup against then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and, uncharacteristically, Blunt, told colleagues that Frist committed a "major transgression," Novak writes, "that must be corrected and cannot be repeated." Graham warned that it's either the $550-billion tax cut, "or we'll have no bill at all." Frist made the Senate deal, after endorsing the House's $550-billion tax cutand without notifying the White House, House GOP leaders or even members of his own Senate leadership.
* "We're in no mood to listen" to Bush's emissaries peddling tax cuts, said Maine State Rep. Peter Mills (R), a fiscal conservative, who expects more shrinkage and pain with the next tax cut. "Nobody in Washington," he warned, "is thinking deeply about the future."
Supreme Court To Review Texas Death Row Case
The Supreme Court will review the Texas Death Row case of Delma Banks, after the Court intervened in March, at the last minute, to stay his execution. Banks, who came within 10 minutes of being executed March 12, was granted an appeal April 22 by the High Court, without comment or recorded dissent. The Banks case attracted attention when former FBI director William Sessions, along with two former judges and a former Federal prosecutor, filed an amicus curiae brief urging the court to spare Banks's life, and to hear his case, based on "uncured constitutional errors" in his trial and in the hearing that led to his death sentence.
Banks, who is black, and has proclaimed his innocence, was convicted by an all-white jury of murdering a white man. However, the court declined to hear that aspect of the case, and will instead limit itself to his claims of prosecutorial misconduct and inadequate counsel. A victory on either issue would leave his conviction intact, but spare him the death penalty. His only hope of reversing his conviction and establishing his innocence relates to a third, somewhat arcane claim, concerning suppression of evidence at his trial. A favorable ruling would give Banks a shot at a new trial.
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