INSIDE
SOURCES
Rumors
of massive troop movements and the news, whispered in military
circles, that Patriot missile batteries are slated to be
moved to Israel, would seem to confirm the
prediction I made in this space just the other day:
that Iraq is the incoming administration's first and foremost
candidate for US military intervention. Naturally, the US
military is denying everything, but according to WorldNetDaily
"the 69th Air Defense Brigade – a two-battalion
Patriot missile brigade – is going through the process
of deploying overseas, meaning leaving Europe, and they're
going to Israel." This inside source goes on to say that
"It
seems that the European Command is saying,'Once the 69th
is deployed, this will send a signal to all terrorists …
that the U.S. is definitely taking sides in a fight [in
the Middle East] that all sides now admit is a war.'" Furthermore,
US troops stationed in Europe and now being deployed to
Grafenwoehr, a massive training base in Germany, are "taking
with them more than just enough stuff for a weekender. They're
taking contamination outfits, protection gear, all of it
– lock, stock and barrel."
WILD
CARDS
As
Dubya raises his hand to take the oath of office, will a
rain of missiles (perhaps loaded with "depleted" uranium)
come crashing down on the heads of the Iraqi people? I wouldn't
be surprised in the least: it would, after all, be a fitting
inaugural backdrop – kind of like a fireworks display
– for an administration that telegraphed
its intentions well before January 20. And now that
he is about to take office, Dubya
is hinting heavily that something a bit more definite
(and deadly) than "re-energizing sanctions" may be in the
works. In an interview with Reuters, he pooh-poohs the idea
that countries like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, both of which
agitated for an increase in oil prices, are to blame for
America's growing energy crisis – oh no, certainly
not. The blame – surprise, surprise! – must all
go to Saddam Hussein: "I think it's too complicated to blame
our friends. For example, one of the real wild cards in
the world today is Saddam Hussein. He controls a lot of
the output of oil and he is certainly not our friend. To
the extent that prices are unstable, there are some who
can affect the price who aren't friends of ours." Iraq,
he said, could have a decisive effect on the price of oil,
all by itself, by continuing to withhold supplies from the
world market. The irony
is that Dubya's
comments drove up the price of oil more than Saddam
could ever hope to on the strength of a single utterance.
THE
FOREIGN POLICY PRESIDENT (VERSION 2)
During
the campaign, Dubya vied with Gore in a contest to prove
who would be tougher on Iraq, and it wasn't just bluster.
Would the new President use force to "solve" the Iraq question
once and for all? Asked this question in an interview
with Reuters, Dubya replied: "If he crosses the line,
the answer's yes. If we catch him developing weapons of
mass destruction, the answer's yes." He's not even the President
yet, and already Dubya is drawing a "line in the sand."
Can Desert Storm II be far behind? Remember how all those
"isolationist" Republicans and their intellectual fellow
travelers among the right-wing punditi solemnly assured
us that good ol' Dubya would get us out of Kosovo, and concentrate
on the domestic economic and cultural issues that require
his immediate attention? Yet, already, it seems, buttressed
by Team Bush, including such military-corporate heavyweights
as Colin
Powell and Dick Cheney, he seems intent on following
in his father's footsteps, aspiring to be the Foreign Policy
President of the new millennium.
BROKEN
PROMISES
Speaking
of Team Bush, did anybody notice – during the softball
"questioning" of the secretary-of-state designate –
how quickly Powell backed away from the Bushian campaign
promise to get our troops out of the Balkan quagmire? Check
out the transcript of Powell's testimony – a rambling
and embarrassingly pretentious riff on everything from the
wonders of the Internet to the role of the US as the "motive
force" of global "democracy." Whereas once we were told,
by Condolezza Rice and a number of well-meaning but self-deluded
conservative columnists, that all we had to do was put Dubya
in the White House, and Camp
Bondsteel would soon be history, now the Republican
administration is singing a far different tune. During the
Senatorial love-fest staged in place of real confirmation
hearings, Powell reiterated the famous "Powell
Doctrine" – but leaving out the one key element
of it that requires all military interventions be in the
national interest. A telling omission. He also testified
that "President-elect Bush has promised to look closely
at our commitments in the Balkans, with the hope of reducing
our troop levels there over time and in consultation with
our allies." The word "withdrawal" did not pass the General's
lips, not even as a goal to be reached sometime in the far
distant future. Instead, in view of Dubya's
most recent pronouncement on the subject, the whole
campaign promise has been downgraded to a mere "reduction."
STAGING
GROUND
How
much of a reduction , it seems, is largely, up to
our European allies, who were in a panic over Bush's earlier
statements and those of his advisors. Doubtless they are
reassured that, no matter who sits in the Oval Office, Uncle
Sam isn't going to hightail it out of there any time soon.
The usefulness of the Balkans, in military and political
terms, is too great, and I for one never took seriously
the idea that the Republicans would give up Clinton's conquests
so easily: especially in view of their special plans for
the Middle East. The increasing vulnerability of US forces
on the Arabian peninsula, and throughout the region, gives
the Balkans a new strategic significance as the closest
staging ground for grand-scale military operations in Iraq
and environs.
THIS
JUST IN
Another
fitting memorial to the tenth anniversary of the Gulf war
– aside from another Bush beating the tom-toms for
war with Iraq and the whole Arab world – is the news
that the Kuwaiti "Constitutional Court" refused
to even hear a case in which Kuwaiti women were suing
to get the right to vote. While Kuwait's 1962 constitution
grants equal rights to men and women, a law was enacted
the same year barring women from voting or running for office.
As American women – officers and soldiers – risk
their lives, once again, safeguarding the Emir of Kuwait,
let them wonder what kind of "democracy" they are risking
their lives for.
GLOATING
IS FUN
This
being the special "I-told-you-so" edition of "Behind the
Headlines," I really wanted to delve into Balkan developments
a bit more deeply, particularly the emergence of Yugoslav
President Vojislav Kostunica as a formidable counterpoint
to US domination of the region. Alas, my deadline looms,
and a few lines of gloating will have to suffice. My prediction
that the new Yugoslav President would give no quarter to
the NATO-crats turned out to be right on the money: His
refusal to even meet with the odious Carla Del Ponte
is a sharp and long overdue slap in the face to the "humanitarian"
warmongers who launched a murderous assault on his nation.
The only possible response is: "Bravo!"
GOD
WILLING
I
love how Aleksandar Popovic, the deputy president of Kostunica's
Democratic Party of Serbia, put it: according to a Reuters
report, he said Ms. Del Ponte "did not have the stature
to expect a meeting with the president as a matter of course,
according to local media. 'Mr. Kostunica can receive presidents
of state, prime ministers and Madame del Ponte is neither
one nor the other. She is not even a foreign minister of
a country or an ambassador who brings accreditations,' Popovic
told B92 radio." That's telling her! Far from being an impractical
idealist, a woolly-headed dreamer somewhat distanced from
the rough-and-tumble world of political struggle, Kostunica
turned out to be a fighter who will not be told whom to
meet with, and whom
not to meet with, by anyone: not La Del Ponte,
not Zoran Djindic, not the US State Department. Here is
a man who is virtually a towering figure compared to the
pygmies who presently inhabit the world stage, a true patriot
who puts the independence of Serbia first. We should have
such politicians, if only God were willing.
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