FOREIGN POLICY -- BUSH BUMBLED ON THE BALKANS
RHETORIC: "[Discussing the Balkans] I think it ought to be one of our
priorities to work with our European friends to convince them to put
troops on the ground."
REALITY: The Europeans are on the ground in the Balkans. European forces
make up the vast majority of the peacekeeping forces in Bosnia and
Kosovo. "The U.S. effort in the Balkans - involving less than 20 percent
than the total number of troops and about 10 percent of the economic aid
cost - is neither large nor inappropriate." At its height, KFOR - the
NATO-led Kosovo force -reached its full strength of 50,000 men and
women, "nearly 42,500 troops from over 30 countries are deployed in
Kosovo and another 7,500 provide rear support through contingents based
in the Former Yugoslav Republic." [www.brook.edu The United States and
the Balkans; www.kforonline.com]
FOREIGN POLICY -- BUSH WAFFLED ON KOSOVO
RHETORIC: "I thought the president made the right decision in joining
NATO and bombing Serbia. I supported him when they did so."
REALITY: Bush Commented on Kosovo After Rivals Did. Bush did not speak
out on Kosovo until the day after his GOP presidential rivals had and,
according to the Austin American-Statesman, "it took more than one
attempt by reporters to get Bush to respond to questions about the
bombing." [Austin American-Statesman, 3/26/99]
Bush "Crapped Out" on Life-and-Death Kosovo Stance. According to Boston
Globe columnist Nyhan, "George W. crapped out big time on Kosovo,
waffling, weaving, dodging, and ducking, never taking a position on a
life?and?death national issue till the matter was decided." [Boston
Globe, 9/1/99]
Bush "Failed" the Kosovo Test. "We've just seen him on the question of
Kosovo, where it seems to me he failed the test. ... He didn't step up.
[He] put his head in the sand," said reporter Carl Bernstein. [CNBC,
"Hardball" 6/8/99]
FOREIGN POLICY --GUNS -- BUSH WAFFLED ON TRIGGER LOCKS
RHETORIC: "There's a lot of talk about trigger locks being on guns sold
in the future. I support that."
REALITY: Bush Waffled on Trigger Locks. When asked in 1999, if he was in
support of mandatory safety locks, Bush said, "No, I'm not, I'm for
voluntary safety locks on guns." In March of 2000, Bush said he would
not push for trigger lock legislation, but would sign it if it passed.
[Washington Post, 3/3/00;ABC, "Good Morning America," 5/10/99]
Bush Let Trigger Locks Bill Die in Texas. When Bush was asked, "when
two bills were introduced in the Texas legislature to require the sale
of child safety locks with newly purchased handguns, and you never
addressed the issue with the legislature, and both bills died. If you
support it, why did that happen?" Bush said, "Because those bills had no
votes in committee." When asked again if he supported the bills, Bush
said, "I wasn't even aware of those bills because they never even got
out of committee." [NBC, "Today Show," 5/12/00]
FOREIGN POLICY -- BUSH SAID AFRICA NOT IN OUR STRATEGIC INTERESTS
RHETORIC: "Africa is important and we've got to do a lot of work in
Africa to promote democracy and trade."
REALITY: Bush Has Ignored Africa. Bush has said, "While Africa may be
important, it doesn't fit into the national strategic interests, as far
as I can see them." When Bush was asked for his vision of the U.S.
national interests, he named every continent except Africa. According to
Time magazine, "[Bush] focused exclusively on big ticket issues ... Huge
chunks of the globe -- Africa and Latin America, for example -- were not
addressed at all." [Time, 12/6/99; PBS "News Hour," 2/16/00; Toronto
Star, 2/16/00]
FOREIGN POLICY -- CORRUPTION IN RUSSIA
RHETORIC: "I think a lot of times we just spend aid, say we feel better
about it and it ends up being spent the wrong way. And there's some
pretty egregious examples, like Russia where we had loans that end up in
the pockets of powerful people and didn't help the nation."
REALITY: Al Gore Has Helped Protect Americans from Nuclear Weapons, and
Promote Economic and Political Reform. Immediately upon taking office,
the current Administration moved quickly to seize the historic
opportunity to end global superpower competition and help Russia become
a market democracy. None of the nightmare scenarios predicted in the
early '90s have come true: there have been no "loose nukes," no new
Russian empire, no extremists or communists taking the reigns of power,
and no societal implosions. On the contrary, the Administration's
policies have helped safeguard Americans from the former Soviet nuclear
arsenal and have helped Russia transform itself to a market democracy.
The Administration helped deactivate more than 5,000 nuclear warheads
from the former Soviet Union. Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan - which
were all "born nuclear" - are now nuclear free. Russia is also
transforming itself to an electoral democracy, as evidenced by the
parliamentary elections in 1999 and 1995 and the presidential elections
in 1996 and 2000. The Administration has promoted the rule of law,
private property, privatization, and the growth of civil society. There
are now more than 65,000 NGOs in Russia - in 1989, there were none.
Today, there are upwards of 900,000 small businesses in Russia - in
1991, the small business sector was virtually non-existent. The
Administration has also worked with Russian law enforcement to fight
crime and corruption. [White House Release 6/26/2000]
Cheney's Company Benefited From Loans to Russia; Cheney Praised Loans as
"Exactly the Type of Project We Should Be Encouraging." "Dallas-based
Halliburton Co. will use $ 292 million in loan guarantees for Tyumen
Oil's portion of Samotlor, one of the world's largest oil fields with
proven reserves of approximately 4 billion barrels, in an estimated
three-year project scheduled to begin in May. Tyumen Oil is also getting
about $ 140 million in syndicated bank loans for the project. Tyumen's
goal is to maintain production of the portion of the field it controls
at 350,000 barrels per day. Modernizing this important oil reserve with
Western technology will make Halliburton a leading provider of petroleum
services in Russia. "Halliburton Chairman and CEO Dick Cheney, a former
US defense secretary, emphasized the broader implications of the
approval of the loan guarantees. 'This is exactly the type of project we
should be encouraging if Russia is to succeed in reforming its economy,'
Cheney said. 'We at Halliburton appreciate the support of the
Export-Import Bank and look forward to beginning work on this important
project.'" [PR Newswire 4/6/2000]
FOREIGN POLICY -- HAITI
RHETORIC: "I wouldn't have sent troops to Haiti. I didn't think it was a
mission worthwhile. It was a nation-building mission and it wasn't very
successful. It cost us billions, a couple billion dollars and I'm not so
sure democracy is any better off in Haiti than it was before.
REALITY: James Baker, President Bush's Secretary of State, considered
the restoration of democracy in Haiti in the U.S. national interest.
Baker was determined to restore Aristide's democratically-elected
government, and called the military coup that overthrew Aristide, a
"test" for the hemisphere, and declared "this coup must not and will not
succeed." The Bush Administration left office with the Haitian military
still in power, leaving the current Administration to inherit this
problem. In 1993, U.S. diplomacy, backed by military force, helped
restore democracy to Haiti. Had the Administration ignored the military
takeover of the island, it would have dealt a blow to democracy in this
hemisphere and risked a major refugee crisis off U.S. shores. The
Administration deployed more than 20,000 troops to Haiti as part of a
multi-national force made up of 30 nations. The force dismantled the
regime and the paramilitary organizations, and made the streets of
Port-au-Prince safe in a matter of months. The military presence paved
the way for three rounds of national elections, culminating in the
internationally monitored free and fair election of President Prreview in
December 1995. This was the first democratic transition of power from
one president to another in Haiti's history. In March 1995, the
multi-national force turned over peacekeeping operations to the U.N.
Today, there are only 34 U.S. troops assigned to Haiti, and although
problems remain, democracy is taking root. [Department of State,
"Statement by the Hon. James A. Baker III to the OAS Meeting of Foreign
Ministers on The Situation in Haiti," Oct. 2, 1991, pp. 1, 3. Rise to
Globalism, by Ambrose and Brinkley, 417-18,
FOREIGN POLICY -- IRAQ COALITION
RHETORIC: "The coalition against Saddam has fallen apart -- or it's
unraveling, let's put it that way."
REALITY: The Administration Has Contained Saddam and Worked to See Him
Out of Power. President Bush made the decision to leave Saddam Hussein
in power in the aftermath of the Gulf War. That decision has forced the
Clinton-Gore Administration to contend with Saddam Hussein on various
fronts. The Administration has kept Saddam boxed in by retaliating
against him with air-strikes, using military force to downgrade his
weapons programs, and using American influence in international
organizations to keep him isolated. In 1993, the U.S. destroyed Baghdad
intelligence headquarters in retaliation for Iraq's assassination plot
against President Bush. In 1994, the U.S. deployed nearly 30,000 U.S.
troops to the Gulf in response to Saddam's renewed threat to invade
Kuwait. In 1996, the U.S. responded to Iraq's aggression against the
Kurds by launching Operation Desert Strike and expanding the southern No
Fly Zone. In 1998, the Administration signed into law the Iraq
Liberation Act, and in 1999, the President signed Presidential Directive
99-13 to provide assistance to Iraqi opposition groups. In 1998, the
U.S. launched Operation Desert Fox, a 4-day assault on Iraqi weapons of
mass destruction, air defenses and regime protection forces that
successfully downgraded Iraq's conventional and unconventional arsenal
and diminished the Iraqi threat to the region. The U.S. continues to
work with international partners to enforce UN Sanctions and to patrol
the No Fly Zone. [White House Release, 6/26/00]
Hussein Was More In Control a Year After the War than He Was Before the
War. "After the fighting stopped in 1991, the U.S. expected the Iraqi
people to revolt and overthrow Saddam. But "Hussein put down the Kurd
and Shi'a revolt with brutal and bloody efficiency. The American-led
coalition . . . watched as Iraqi helicopter gunships and artillery
devastated the rebels . . . . Within a year of Desert Storm, Baghdad had
managed to repair much of the destruction, the rebels were crushed, Iraq
was intact, Hussein was apparently more firmly in control than before
the war . . . [O]ver the next year the United States stood supinely
aside as Iraq committed acts of aggression against the Kurds and Shi'a .
. . ." [Rise to Globalism by Stephen Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley, p. 396-97]
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