-Caveat Lector-
>From the SundayHerald (UK)
Stray bombs raise doubts over Nato's military strength
By David Wragg
Publication Date: May 23 1999
THE Nato bomb which missed a Serb barracks and struck a hospital's
maternity wing may be an indication of the way in which the war in
the Balkans is evolving. Hardly a week goes by without a bomb or
missile missing its target and killing civilians. Neutral Sweden and
Switzerland have now been added to the countries angered by
accidental damage to an embassy or a diplomatic residence.
Operations over the former Yugoslavia have highlighted a growing
shortage of ammunition, most marked among the so-called "smart"
munitions - those which should guarantee accuracy. Collateral damage
has been a real problem throughout due to poor weather and the desire
to avoid Nato losses, which has forced aircraft to aim from the
relatively high altitude of 15,000ft.
Now there are questions over the Boeing AH-64 Apache attack
helicopters. Supposedly one of the most potent weapons systems
available, and essential if ground forces are to be dep loyed, it
cannot carry a full warload at 10,000ft to fly over Yugoslavia's
mountains. More than 60 of these aircraft are on order for the
British Army.
The United States Air Force has received emergency funding to convert
92 air-launched cruise missiles from nuclear to conventional
warheads, to replace those already expended in the campaign, at a
cost of $5.1 million. The USAF is pressing for the work to be speeded
up and demanding similar treatment for another 230 missiles. The
Royal Navy also wants quicker deliveries of its submarine-launched
Tomahawk cruise missiles, which have been fired more quickly than can
be replaced by deliveries of two a month.
On Monday, in The Herald, Ian Bruce drew attention to the Ministry of
Defence's request to Saudi Arabia for the "loan" of 1,000lb bombs
supplied under the terms of the Al Yamamah arms contract.
The growing shortage of muni tions exposes the weaknesses of many
Nato powers. Successive defence budget cuts - with that for the UK
being cut by the equivalent of £6 billion to £22bn in real terms
since 1990 - have undermined effectiveness. Rather than cut units and
manpower, hidden cuts such as ammunition procurement have been an
easy option.
The problem arises because of the high cost of smart wea pons. A
cruise missile costs upwards of £650,000, with the Royal Navy
spending £150 million on 65 Tomahawk cruise missiles and the
expensive conversion of an initial four nuclear submarines to carry
these.
Suppliers are cagey about discussing prices, but a typical "dumb"
bomb could cost between £5000 and £20,000, depending on size and type
of explosives, with a laser-guided weapon costing more than double
that.
There have been undeclared cuts in capability. It was known that the
Royal Navy would keep just two of its three Invincible-class aircraft
carriers operational, but the two Sea Harrier squadrons were cut from
eight aircraft to seven without ann ouncement or debate.
Operationally, this means just three pairs of aircraft are available
at any one time, with one held in reserve.
With Illustrious in the Gulf, Invincible in the Adriatic, and Ark
Royal starting a two-year refit at Rosyth, the carrier force is under
strain.
Nato membership of former Warsaw Pact countries, Poland, Hungary and
the Czech Republic, has simply added forces short of up-to-date
equipment, having been cut off from Russian supplies for some years.
Nato needs to help these nations to re-equip and retrain to Nato
standards.
The alliance is now in the embarrassing position of failing to cope
with a regional conflict. There have always been differences in
commitment amongst the partners, with Denmark and Belgium seldom
meeting Nato expectations, while France was also outside the command
structure for many years.
What is worrying is the revelation that Nato is now far weaker than
had been supposed, with potentially disastrous consequences for any
war on the ground.
>From TheNewAustralian
www.newaus.com.au
US
Report
Telling it like it is<Picture>The New Australian
Deconstructing Clinton
with the Pinocchio test
By James Henry
No. 120, 24-30 May 1999
Deconstructing Clinton is a lot easier than parsing sentences.
Language has its own structure and rules, what we call grammar and
syntax. It is these things that allow us to communicate efficiently
with each other, even when we are not schooled in the rules of
language. But in Clinton's post-modernist world there are no rules
because there is no reality. Existence is a matter of opinion and
reality is what I think it ought to be. In such a world facts are
fiction and fiction is reality with each reality being as good as any
other. Hence whatever I say happened even if it didn't happen because
reality is subjective.
But if reality is subjective what of morality? Simple. Morality is
whatever I say it is. This leads to the ultimate in relativism in
which even suttee (the ancient Hindu practice of throwing women on
the funeral pyres of their dead husbands) becomes as moral as wearing
black as a symbol of mourning. The only morality that is not to
tolerated consists of Christian-Judeo values. Such a world makes
Wonderland look like a rationalist's paradise.
Unfortunately, this kind of nonsense is what passes through our
universities, mocking their traditions, ridiculing their history and
subverting their integrity. From there it gradually percolates
through society where it is promoted and defended by intellectual
imposters until its corrosive effect can be found in good ol' Bill
Clinton who can deconstruct language by redefining "is" and asking
the meaning of "alone". Who can brazenly tell lies to the public
because to him they are not lies because lies can have no meaning
where the truth cannot exist. In this world the Constitution does not
mean what it says because the text has no meaning other than that
anyone cares to attach to it.
But underneath it all, Clinton knows that he is an intellectual and
moral sham and that there are moral absolutes. Polygraphs can be used
to detect lying because the truth does exist. Trying to conceal lies
involves tension and inner conflict. It is these things that expose
the liar. But if reality is only a social construct, a figment of the
imagination in which truth has no meaning, how can lies be detected?
But now we have nature on our side with the Pinocchio test. Yes, the
nose does expand and become itchy when we lie, or at least tell
serious lies. Why? Because that inner tension and conflict caused by
trying to maintain the pretence is causing a physical reaction. It is
saying you are lying. That there is an objective reality and you
cannot successfully deny it.
Reality always makes itself felt — even in the form of the
President's nose growing when he lied to a jury and held the law in
contempt. The reality of this man, his presidency, his legacy, his
treason, is so awful, so morally damning that it is likely to leave
an indelible stain on the nation's body politic. Why did the American
people surrender their inherent decency and common sense to this
creature? The principle reason, I believe, is because they have
become imbued with the false notion that morality, integrity, courage
and a sense of honor are private matters that have no bearing on
character or matters of leadership.
But the cry from the Clinton cheer squad that these things are
private was merely a device to hide from the public the awful fact
that he was bereft of any of these virtues. For this the Republic
will pay a heavy price. As Teddy Roosevelt put it a great many years
ago:
"We cannot expect our republic to endure permanently if we do not
demand honesty in our public officials....Liar is just as ugly a word
as thief, because it implies the presence of just as ugly a sin....If
a man...perjures himself or suborns perjury, he is guilty under the
statute law. Under the higher law, under the great law of morality
and righteousness, he is precisely as guilty if, instead of lying in
a court, he lies in a newspaper or on the stump; and in all
probability, the evil effects of his conduct are infinitely more
widespread and more pernicious."
The New Australian
-
<Picture>Looking Out
Peter Zhang's
Column
Clinton, blackmail and Beijing's political profiles
The New Australian
No. 120, 24-30 May 1999
Writing on Sino-American affairs in the current situation makes me
acutely aware of how little of what I hear can be substantiated. It
is for this reason that I have chosen to keep much of what I have
been told confidential. However, there are times when what at first
appear to be baseless, if not bizarre, rumours turn out to have a
great deal of credibility. How many Americans would have believed
that their president would literally sell his countries secrets to a
potential enemy. And yet this has happened. Even now, despite the
overwhelming evidence, many still refuse to accept what he has done,
including some of his political enemies. No president could be so
venal in his actions and contemptuous of the American people's
security. This is wishful thinking.
Several things need to be understood. It is true that there have been
misunderstandings between American and Beijing in the past. This is
only to be expected given the latter's inability to fully understand
how democratic states function. But to draw on this to rationalise
Clinton's behaviour on the grounds that the two parties have misread
each other's intentions is to rationalise his behaviour. This simply
will not do. There was no misunderstanding. I can assure readers that
Chinese officials understood the nature of the arrangements. After
all, it was they who laid down the conditions which, in plain
language, amounted to walking away with America's military secrets.
It matters not who was first to initiate contact as no move would
have been made unless both parties were sure that there was common
ground.
This brings us to the bombing of China's Belgrade embassy. Regardless
of what some Washington 'insiders' evidently think, Beijing does not
believe it was deliberate or some kind of payback by the CIA. Though
put out at first, the regime quickly came to welcome the bombing as
an excuse to whip up anti-American feeling and crackdown on pro-
democracy activists. Remember, this is a state that still tortures
its opponents and carries out summary executions as a matter of
course. The lives of others have always been given little regard by
despots and the present rulers are basically no different. It was
made clear in private conversations that the bombing is considered a
political gift of considerable proportions. And as the British say:
"Never look a gift horse in the mouth." So though the popular outrage
is real, official protestations are to be taken with a barrel of
salt.
The extent to which Beijing still pulls Clinton's strings can be
gauged somewhat from his grovelling apologies. That an apology was in
order is beyond dispute. But for any leader, especially the leader of
the world's only super power, to virtually prostrate himself before
these arrogant mandarins should give many Americans serious pause for
thought. This was not a case of cowardice — there is much, much more
to it than that. Let me remind you that Clinton made four abject
apologies to Beijing in addition to those made by Albright and Cohen
when one was sufficient. This was a humiliating display of Beijing's
influence over Clinton and has been remarked upon in other Asian
capitals.
So, as you Americans say, what gives? This raises the very ugly word
blackmail. A couple of months ago I made a reference to audio and
video tapes in Beijing safes. This was not a figure of speech nor was
it idle gossip. There are those in Beijing who strongly suspected
that the regime holds incriminating evidence on Clinton. His kow
towing only served to transform those suspicions into a conviction. I
must confess that the information that was passed on to me (without
supporting evidence) emphatically states that the threat of blackmail
has been applied. Furthermore, it is not just Clinton.
I revealed (No. 118, 10- 16 May 1999) that officials had confided in
me that Clinton had appointed Reno has his 'gatekeeper' with
instructions to block investigations into Chinese spying activities,
not to mention his campaign funding allegations. What is important is
that Chinese officials know and that believe Clinton is blackmailing
Reno. I'm absolutely sure that they did not come by this information
via Clinton. This is where it seems to get bizarre. Sometime ago I
was told that Reno was a very active lesbian with a taste for a
certain kind of female and that a well-known organised crime figure
exploited this (how should I put it?) weakness by arranging a 'party'
for her. The resulting activities were then videotaped. An official
assures me that Clinton has a copy but couldn't say whether Beijing
had also been supplied.
It seems that this knowledge strengthened Beijing's confidence that
it would be granted sufficient protection by Reno's Justice
Department to continue its espionage activities. Of course it is not
just Reno, the rot now permeates a great many agencies. There is
nothing, so it would appear, that escapes corruption once Clinton
comes in contact with it. But we must not overlook the role that
ideology still plays in this squalid affair. The regime has a dossier
on every American Senator and Congressman. Everyone of them has been
politically profiled. Beijing knows which ones will spring to
Clinton's defence, even in the present climate. One such man is
Democrat Rep. Henry A. Waxman of California. He claimed that there is
no evidence that the DNC or Clinton knew certain funds were illegal
and originated with Chinese intelligence. Readers will no doubt note
that he did not say no one knew, only that no one can prove, at least
at this stage, that anyone knew. He has obviously been taking
linguistic lessons from your president.
I raised Waxman because his political profile predicted his response.
He is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who are
committed to implementing the kind of policies that killed millions
of Chinese and Russians. To these people capitalism is evil and
America is the leading capitalist state. It follows that anything
that weakens America is to be welcomed if not actually defended.
Beijing's profiles are rarely wrong and that is why they are
perfectly happy with the likes of Waxman and Reno. But where does
that leave the American people?
The New Australian
A<>E<>R
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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