eXile on Clinton in Russia

Carl Remick carlremick at hotmail.com
Sun Jul 16 06:44:16 PDT 2000



>the eXile
>May 25-June 8, 2000
>Bubba Does Moscow
>
>[snip]
>
>Almost overnight, America went from being a nation deeply concerned
>about the treatment of each and every last Soviet dissident, to being a
>country totally indifferent to the fate of tens of millions of Russians who
>suffered violations of rights most Americans would consider inherent on a
>daily basis. It was this indifference that cost America the average
>Russian's faith in American values. This happened exclusively on Clinton's
>watch; when Bush left office, America was still the good guy in these
>parts.

The arguments here on the list that have been vigorously advanced in favor of lesser-of-two-evils support for the Democrats seem to me negated by the Russian people's experience alone. Of course, the Russians shouldn't feel singled out for abuse; when the definitive history of the Clinton years is written, I'm sure it will be entitled "Seduced and Abandoned."


>Without a doubt, the Clinton administration's biggest mistake with regard
>to relations with Russia was the war in Kosovo. The ramifications of that
>action are not obvious, but they will be more and more telling as time
>wears on. ... what was probably the worst thing about the Kosovo
>attack was that it convinced other countries around the world that it would
>only be able to protect itself against U.S. attack by owning its own
>nuclear weapons. As Williamson says, "Kosovo made it almost inevitable that
>other countries would try to acquire nuclear weapons from Russia. The
>attack made nuclear weapon ownership the standard for sovereignty." Having
>destroyed the rest of Russia's domestic industry through its economic
>programs, the Clinton administration almost singlehandedly revived the
>Russian military-industrial complex by creating markets for Russian weapons
>in third world countries spooked by the NATO action in Yugoslavia.

I have to agree that Clinton's wanton conduct in the military sphere poses more risks for the future than any of his other destructive actions, foreign or domestic. A front-page headline in the NY Times today reads: "Russia Is Pushing To Increase Share in Weapons Trade."

Carl ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com



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