Clinton and Perot: Insider and Outsider; A Harder Look at Foreign Aid
Mar 15 '93
CLINTON AND PEROT: INSIDER AND OUTSIDER Republicans on Capitol Hill are developing a comforting view about Bill Clinton: The man elected to change Washington operates as an insider, just the way they do. There were no political converts when Clinton came calling last week, but there were lots of comments about his command of subjects at hand and willingness to listen. Even more important was the talk about his strategic sense. When asked whether the Democrats intended to package health care reform and deficit reduction together, for instance, Clinton said it had not yet been decided. Then he stunned some members by asking the direct political question that is usually reserved for the cloakroom: Would you vote against it if we did that? Would it be too big a package for you to swallow? Even in the touchy matter of spending cuts, Clinton displayed finesse in handling GOP challenges to trim more. Sen. John Warner, the Republican from Virginia, said the president was "careful and thorough, but, just as important, he was straightforward."
The same day Clinton courted the GOP and took part in House Republican leader Bob Michel's birthday party, Ross Perot received a less positive reception on Capitol Hill. In an appearance before a joint House and Senate panel looking for ways to streamline Congress, Perot said the public wants "details, not sound bites." But after Perot finished speaking, Sen. Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, had this to say: "You just gave us 45 minutes of sound bites and five minutes of details."
A HARDER LOOK AT FOREIGN AID Egypt and Israel, the two biggest recipients of American foreign aid, are worried about what they will get in the future--and for good reason. William Harrop, the U.S. ambassador in Tel Aviv, last week criticized Israel's "disappointing" pace of economic reform and said it may be difficult for Washington to maintain the $3 billion it provides in Israeli aid. The State Department quickly distanced itself from Harrop's remarks. But Secretary of State Warren Christopher recently told American Jewish leaders the same thing he told Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak--that after fiscal 1994, he can make no promises on aid levels. The question is likely to come up again next week, when Bill Clinton receives a visit from Yitzhak Rabin. The Israeli prime minister can argue that to cut aid to Israel and Egypt now would undermine the Mideast peace process.
Members of Congress also are taking a hard look. "The money pledged [to Egypt and Israel] after the Camp David Accords was never meant to be an entitlement," says Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate subcommittee that appropriates foreign aid. America's No. 1 security priority, he says, is helping to reform the former Soviet Union, which still has 20,000 nuclear warheads. That task takes money, Leahy adds, and no country's foreign aid should be deemed off-limits.
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AND
June 26, 1997
AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT CLINTON
We, the undersigned, believe that the current U.S.-led effort to expand NATO, the focus of the recent Helsinki and Paris Summits, is a policy error of historic proportions. We believe that NATO expansion will decrease allied security and unsettle European stability for the following reasons:
In Russia, NATO expansion, which continues to be opposed across the entire political spectrum, will strengthen the non-democratic opposition, undercut those who favor reform and cooperation with the West, bring the Russians to question the entire post-Cold War settlement, and galvanize resistance in the Duma to the START II and III treaties.
In Europe, NATO expansion will draw a new line of division between the "ins" and the "outs," foster instability, and ultimately diminish the sense of security of those countries which are not included;
In NATO, expansion, which the Alliance has indicated is open-ended, will inevitably degrade NATO's ability to carry out its primary mission and will involve U.S. security guarantees to countries with serious border and national minority problems, and unevenly developed systems of democratic government;
In the U.S., NATO expansion will trigger an extended debate over its indeterminate, but certainly high, cost and will call into question the U.S. commitment to the Alliance, traditionally and rightly regarded as a centerpiece of U.S. foreign policy.
Because of these serious objections, and in the absence of any reason for a rapid decision, we strongly urge that the NATO expansion process be suspended while alternative actions are pursued. These include:
opening the economic and political doors of the European Union to Central and Eastern Europe;
developing an enhanced Partnership for Peace program;
supporting a cooperative NATO-Russian relationship; and
continuing the arms reduction and transparency process, particularly with respect to nuclear weapons and materials, the major threat to U.S. security, and with respect to conventional military forces in Europe.
Russia does not now pose a threat to its western neighbors and the nations of Central and Eastern Europe are not in danger. For this reason, and the others cited above, we believe that NATO expansion is neither necessary nor desirable and that this ill-conceived policy can and should be put on hold.
SIGNED,
[positions included for unofficial identification purposes only]
Ambassador George Bunn (IIS Consulting Professor, Center for International Security and Arms Control, Stanford, University)
The Honorable Robert Bowie (Former Director, Policy Planning Staff, and Counselor, Department of State; former Deputy Director for Intelligence, C.I.A.)
Professor David Calleo (Director of European Studies, Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University)
Ambassador Richard T. Davies (Former Ambassador to Poland (1973-1978); Political Officer, NATO International Staff; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs)
Ambassador Jonathan Dean (Former Ambassador heading U.S. Delegation to NATO Warsaw Pact Negotiations on Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions; Deputy U.S. Negotiator, Four Power Agreement on Berlin; Adviser for International Security Issues, Union of Concerned Scientists)
Professor Paul Doty (Emeritus Director, Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University)
Susan Eisenhower (Chairman, Center for Political and Strategic Studies)
David M. Evans (Former Senior Adviser to Helsinki Commission (1990-1995); President, Integrated Strategies International)
Ambassador David Fischer (President, World Affairs Council of Northern California)
Ambassador Raymond Garthoff (Former Ambassador to Bulgaria (1977-1979); Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution)
Dr. Morton H. Halperin (Former National Security Council and Department of Defense Official)
Owen Harries (Editor, The National Interest)
Senator Gary Hart (U.S. Senator (1975-1987))
Ambassador Arthur Hartman (Former Ambassador to The Soviet Union (1981- 1987))
Senator Mark Hatfield (U.S. Senator (1967-1997))
Professor John P. Holdren (Chairman, National Academy of Sciences Committee on International Security and Arms Control; Professor, Harvard University)
The Honorable Townsend Hoopes (Former Undersecretary of the U.S. Air Force)
Senator Gordon Humphrey (U.S. Senator (1979-1991))
Senator Bennett Johnston (U.S. Senator (1972-1996))
Professor Carl Kaysen (Professor of Political Economy, Harvard University)
The Honorable Spurgeon Keeny (Former Deputy Director Arms Control and Disarmament Agency; Senior Staff Member, National Security Council; President, Arms Control Association)
Ambassador James Leonard (Former Assistant Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency; former Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations)
Dr. Edward Luttwak (Senior Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies)
Professor Michael Mandelbaum (Professor, Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University)
Ambassador Jack Matlock (Former Ambassador to the Soviet Union (1987- 1991))
The Honorable C. William Maynes (Former Editor, Foreign Policy; Former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations Affairs (1977-1980))
Ambassador Richard McCormack (Former Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs (1989-1991))
The Honorable David McGiffert (Assistant Secretary for International Security Affairs (1977-1981))
The Honorable Robert S. McNamara (Secretary of Defense (1961-1968); President of the World Bank (1968-1991))
Jack Mendelsohn (Former Senior Foreign Service Officer; Deputy Director, Arms Control Association)
Philip Merrill (Former NATO Assistant Secretary General)
Ambassador Paul H. Nitze (Former Special Adviser to President Reagan and Secretary of State Shultz for Arms Control; former Deputy Secretary of Defense; former
Secretary of the Navy)
Senator Sam Nunn (U.S. Senator (1972-1996))
Ambassador Herbert S. Okun (Ambassador to East Germany (1980-1983); Ambassador to the United Nations (1985-1989))
Professor W. K. H. Panofsky (Emeritus Professor, Stanford University)
Professor Richard Pipes (Director, East European and Soviet Affairs for National Security Council)
Lt. General Robert E. Pursley (ret.) (Lieutenant General, U.S. Air Force)
Professor George Rathjens (Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
The Honorable Stanley Resor (Former Secretary of the Army; Ambassador to the Mutual Balanced Force Reduction Negotiation)
The Honorable John B. Rhinelander (Former Legal Adviser to U.S. SALT I Delegation; Deputy Legal Adviser, Department of State)
The Honorable Marshall Shulman (Professor Emeritus, Columbia University)
Dr. John Steinbruner (Senior Fellow and former Director, Foreign Policy Studies, Brookings Institution)
Admiral Stansfield Turner (ret.) (Former Director of the C.I.A.)
Ambassador Richard Viets (Former Ambassador to Tanzania and Jordan)
The Honorable Paul Warnke (Former Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency; Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs)
Admiral James D. Watkins (ret.) (Former Secretary of Energy; former Chief of Naval Operations)
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