The recent air tragedy that caused the death of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and 34 other people has sent feelings of shock and sorrow rippling around the world. It also raises troubling questions about President Clinton’s reasons for sending troops and Mr. Brown’s entourage to the Balkans in the first place.
When Mr. Clinton first announced the inclusion of nearly 30,000 American troops in a Bosnian peace effort, he stated that it was his hope that the mission would last little more than a year. This, clearly, is not going to happen. Hundreds of years of ethnic hatred cannot be resolved in a year, a decade or a generation –not without a sincere desire on the part of all warring factions to live together. That sentiment simply does not exist in the mindset of any of the combatants.
The death of Secretary Brown, though accidental by all reliable accounts, was an unnecessary tragedy, as was the loss of every individual on board Mr. Brown’s plane. They simply should not have been sent there. It was foolhardy for the president to think the time was right for the building of an economic infrastructure in a fragmented country where running water and electricity are scarcities.
President Clinton’s foreign-policy adventures have been unfruitful at best; tragically heartbreaking at worst. Haiti is still a mess, with U.S. troops still required to maintain order in that nation. Israeli and Arab tensions are again on the rise, and the ordering of the 7th fleet to the Taiwan Straits is an accident looking for a place to happen.
It is hard not to question where Mr. Clinton’s loyalties lie. Is he more committed to the agenda of the UN and the proponents of a “one world order”? Or is he committed to what’s best for America but just hopelessly confused about what really is best for America?
For example, why is he willing to rattle sabers at China but unwilling to flex U.S. military muscle in Fidel Castro’s direction over the murder of four Cuban exiles?
It is time for concerned Americans to take a long hard look at their commander in chief and ask why he is willing to waste U.S. resources and lives to perpetuate a dream that he can save the world. It is time to ask ourselves if we really want America’s legacy to be one that says we have counted Gerry Adams, Yasser Arafat and Jean Bertrand-Aristide as our friends.
