-Caveat Lector-
U.S. Drama Leaves The World Bewildered
Relief, Anger Felt As Airstrikes End
By Charles Trueheart
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, December 21, 1998; Page A24
PARIS, Dec. 20—A global audience today sought to make sense of
the bizarrely linked dramas emanating from Washington over the
weekend.
The provisional reaction was relief that the U.S. and British
airstrikes against Iraq had ended after four days, mixed with
lingering bitterness in many quarters that force had been used at all.
The coincidence of President Clinton's impeachment at the climax of
the second Persian Gulf air war only intensified the impression of the
lone global superpower operating under historic duress.
To the Journal de Dimanche, the only Sunday newspaper here in Paris,
the political struggle in Washington was nothing short of "pitiable,"
with the bombings in Iraq "only adding drama to the ridiculous."
To editor Alain Genestar, writing in a front-page editorial, "these
days have an air of decadence, of the end of something. Already it is
the end of an illusion born in the ruins of the Berlin Wall: that of a
world where America would be the example of modern democracy and the
guarantor of law. It is neither one nor the other."
Outside the United States, the personal failings and deceptions of
politicians are considered par for the course, so the spectacle of the
generally admired Clinton under attack for adultery and for trying to
hide it has been watched with persistent disbelief lately turned to
sadness and even anguish.
The vote in the House of Representatives on Saturday to impeach the
president was more evidence, in many foreign eyes, of a system gone
badly awry -- "the beginning of the loss of faith in the right course
of American politics," in the words of Shinichi Yoshida in the
Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun, or "an attempted constitutional coup
d'etat by the Republicans," in the words of the left-leaning British
newspaper the Observer.
At the same time, Clinton's decision to punish Saddam Hussein with a
bombing campaign was regarded as at best a geopolitical misjudgment
and at worst a cynical effort to rescue his faltering presidency.
Protesters in Paris Saturday called Clinton an "assassin," reflecting
not just popular opinion in France and elsewhere in Western Europe,
but echoing that in many capitals of Muslim countries.
The New Sunday Times of Malaysia, in an editorial, described the Iraqi
operation as "less to do with destroying the weapons of mass
destruction . . . than a last-ditch attempt to stall the impeachment
proceedings."
There was something about the combination of events besetting Clinton
that stoked a sense of pessimism about the U.S. president's future.
"It's time to show Bill the door and say hello to Gore," said a
flippant editorial in Britain's best-selling tabloid, Rupert Murdoch's
News of the World. Columnist Max Soliven of the Philippine Star
newspaper lashed out at the Republican-dominated Congress: "Stabbing
an American president and commander in the back while American
servicemen, sailors, aviators and marines are in the process of
engaging an enemy . . . is never forgiven."
Leaders found various ways to say they were happy the bombing was
over, while generally reserving comment on Clinton's domestic
political problems.
"What's most important is that the raids have ended and that there is
a cease-fire," said Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. British Prime
Minister Tony Blair, Clinton's partner in Operation Desert Fox, said
it was "not right" for him to comment on the impeachment proceedings.
France, Japan and Australia were among the countries whose governments
coupled their relief with renewed admonitions against Saddam Hussein
to become a better world citizen. "Any new provocations will not be
without consequences," said German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
One of the most stinging repudiations of the airstrikes came from Pope
John Paul II. "Not only do I feel profound sorrow for the Iraqi
people, but I am also bitter to see how often the hopes invested in
the power and validity of international law . . . are disappointed,"
the pope said in his weekly Angelus speech to pilgrims in St. Peter's
Square in Rome. "I say again: War has never been and will never be the
right way to solve problems between nations."
� Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
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