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Have you seen this on dear Jesse? Propaganda?
frontpagemag.com
Hanoi Jesse?
by Chris Weinkopf
FrontPagemag.com | May 7, 1999
JESSE JACKSON IS A TRAITOR. In 1984, at the height of the Cold War, he visited Cuba and paid tribute to its thuggish dictator, Fidel Castro. Of the regime that once pointed nuclear missiles at the United States, he proclaimed, "Long live Cuba!" Of the intransigent despot who made it possible, he declared, "Long live President Castro!" There’s a strong case to be made against Jesse Jackson’s loyalty and patriotism, but his successful efforts to liberate three American POWs in Yugoslavia are not part of it.
This time around, Jackson made no bold pronouncements in support of America’s enemies. His only crimes were praying with a despot, questioning Bill Clinton’s foreign policy, and freeing three American GIs—which has caused an inexplicable rage in op/ed pages nationwide.
Washington Post columnist Michael Kelly, who usually saves such disgust for Bill Clinton and Al Gore, awarded Jackson with a "Sidney," the prize for "the most revolting spectacle in the field of politics and/or governance." Kelly charges Jackson with "undermining his nation during a time of war" and "giving aid and comfort to the enemy," evoking memories of Jane Fonda’s infamous trip to Hanoi during the Vietnam War, where she posed for a photograph atop a downed U.S. plane, grinning from ear to ear, wearing a Viet Minh helmet.
Kelly never explains how Jackson’s trip undercut U.S. policy or helped Slobodan Milosevic, but Rep. Floyd Spence, (R., S.C.) chairman of the House Armed Service Committee, tried on Evans, Novak, Hunt & Shields. It gave a "diplomatic victory" to Milosevic, he says, because the "world is going to look upon him in a different way, to some extent, by releasing the prisoners in this way."
Rep. Spence must have wished that the POWs would remain in captivity forever, or at least until the war ended, or Milosevic died, because, by his logic, any release before then would have won Milosevic a symbolic victory. Public opinion is fickle, but it’s unlikely that Milosevic could erase his reputation as a mass murderer through one friendly gesture. Saddam Hussein tried this strategy in 1990, when he freed some 700 foreign women and children "human shields," and it didn’t do much to boost his poll numbers. Rep. Spence, however, seems to believe that the freedom of three American servicemen is not worth the cost of giving fifteen seconds’ positive press to Slobodan Milosevic.
Or to Jesse Jackson. The Washington Times derides the entire mission out of fear that it could put Jackson in line for a Nobel Peace Prize. Its editorial page notes that "Mr. Jackson is the champion at this sort of thing—brokering deals that accomplish the aggrandizement of Mr. Jackson." True enough; his visit to Belgrade was a shameless exercise in self-promotion, culminating in his joining the POWs in a scripted rendition of "free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, I’m free at last." When calling the soldiers’ parents, he made sure to speak first before passing on the receiver, and in delivering Milosevic’s letter to President Clinton, he chose the most self-serving method possible—a public visit to the White House. None of Jackson’s egotistical motives, however, takes away from the unalloyed good they yielded—freedom for three patriots.
Nor do his words, which many Jackson detractors claim are too conciliatory toward Serbia, too derogatory toward the nations allied against it. The editors of the New York Post complain that "since undertaking his ‘peace’ mission, Jackson has reserved his criticism exclusively for NATO." Weekly Standard editor William Kristol goes a step further, alleging that Jackson, in a post-Belgrade interview with Larry King, made "the case for Milosevic." But in that interview, which took place the night before the Post published its editorial, Jackson said Milosevic has a "deplorable" record on Kosovo, comparing the tyrant to the Egyptian pharaoh who enslaved the Jews. In Belgrade, according to Jackson’s own account, he warned Milosevic to be careful, because the U.S. "did not let Stalin push us around in ’48 and we did not let Brezhnev do it in ’68." If Jackson wants to make the case for Milosevic, he needs to choose his comparisons more carefully.
His choice of prayer partners, however, is perfectly sound. The Associated Press reports that some critics believe Jackson "coddled Milosevic by praying with him." If so, they should address their complaints to the Reverend’s Boss. Jackson told CNN that he takes seriously the Bible’s commandment about loving one’s enemies. "That’s what I do for a living," he said, "pray for sinners." Besides, getting Milosevic, a life-long Marxist, to pray at all is itself an impressive feat—he certainly could use some divine inspiration.
The most serious charge against Jackson is that he has compromised national security by calling for a pause in the allied bombing. But if rejecting the Clinton Administration’s Kosovo policy is treasonous, then the 213 (mostly Republican) members of Congress who voted against it will need to join Jackson on the gallows. Few Americans outside of Washington disagree with Jackson that, so far, "there’s no correlation" between the bombing campaign and "the desired results"—an end to ethnic cleansing, a repatriation of refugees, and a multinational peace-keeping force. Hawks think the answer is to step up the air raids and deploy ground forces; doves like Jackson propose negotiations. They are unanimous, however, in their ultimate ends, and in their analysis of the Administration’s disastrously ineffective low-risk, low-intensity game plan.
The quagmire in Kosovo has produced one shining moment—the return of Staff Sgts. Christopher Stone and Andrew Ramirez and Specialist Stephen Gonzalez. That’s a cause for celebration, even if the credit goes to Jesse Jackson.
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