-Caveat Lector- Via http://www.brookings.org/views/op-ed/haass/19990413.htm So Is It Yes or No? The New York Times, April 13, 1999 By Richard N. Haass, Director, Foreign Policy Studies ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Increasingly it seems that the Clinton Administration's foreign policy is intended to minimize risks rather than maximize results. The result is bad politics and bad policy. Take the debate about ground troops in Kosovo. After weeks of ruling out their use, the Clinton Administration is now sending mixed messages. On Sunday, Administration officials, including Gen. Henry Shelton, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, suggested that plans for ground troops exist and could be taken off the shelf at any time. Yesterday, Defense Secretary William Cohen said that the air attacks are increasingly effective, while reiterating General Shelton's comments about ground troops. What's going on here? It seems as if foreign policy is being driven by public opinion. News photos of suffering Albanian refugees have had an enormous impact on the American people; opinion polls indicate that about half of them now favor sending ground forces into Kosovo. But the Administration also seems to have no confidence that popular support would survive the first casualties. This is no way to make foreign policy -- or win a war. It is one thing to rule out ground troops because they are not needed. It is something else again to reject them out of fear that the American people will not back their use. Indeed, history suggests that Americans will support using ground troops, even after the country suffers casualties. The public even supported the Vietnam War for more than a decade despite the horrible costs. And it was prepared to shed far more blood than proved necessary in the Persian Gulf war. The Clinton Administration must stop making vague pronouncements and clearly state that ground troops might be necessary in Kosovo. Certainly, such troops will be needed to protect the Kosovo refugees if they are to return home. But the troops may be needed much earlier if the Yugoslav Government refuses to withdraw from Kosovo. Alas, the Administration's handling of this issue is not an exception. Much the same pattern can be seen in its China policy, for example. President Clinton has long supported an expansion of economic ties to China, but he balked at signing a trade agreement last week that would have allowed Beijing to join the World Trade Organization. This, even though China's Prime Minister, Zhu Rongji, agreed to significant concessions that went far beyond what the Administration itself had predicted. President Clinton clearly feared a confrontation with members of Congress and many domestic interests who are arrayed against closer United States links to China. The price for such timidity is high. The United States lost a chance to expand into one of the world's largest and fastest growing markets. And we lost a chance to force China to play by the rules of the world economy. The literature on leadership is filled with the need for executives to listen. But there is such a thing as too much listening, especially when it comes to fundamental questions of direction. At times leaders have to get out in front, to persuade people to accept what they are not yet comfortable with. In foreign policy as in all else, nothing ventured, nothing gained -- and, increasingly, much lost. Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Note: The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and should not be attributed to the staff, officers or trustees of the Brookings Institution. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A<>E<>R The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority. -Thomas Huxley + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
