Imagine
our reaction if one of Dubyas advisers were arrested
in Moscow en route to attend President Putins inauguration.
The media would be churning out lurid tales of Russian depredations
with even greater frenzy than they do already. Imagine,
furthermore, that the man was being held without bail, on
the basis of an arrest warrant issued in Switzerland referring
to crimes allegedly committed in the United States. The
White House would announce the resumption of the Cold War
and a tripling of the Pentagon budget. We, on the other
hand, expect the Russians to keep their mouths shut and
endure every indignity we heap on them.
Pavel
Borodin was arrested at JFK Airport on his way to George
W. Bushs inauguration. He was a guest of Vincent Zenga,
a Florida telecommunications executive who had contributed
hefty sums to the Republican Party. Borodin is accused of
accepting bribes from two Swiss companies in return for
awarding them contracts to renovate the Kremlin. One would
have thought the Swiss had other things to worry about than
kickbacks in Moscow. Doubtless companies in Moscow pay off
whoever needs to be paid off to win contracts. In the United
States this strange practice is known as campaign contributions.
The
Russians recently dropped the investigation, claiming there
was no evidence of corruption. So why this unusual Swiss
zeal to get to the bottom of nefarious dealings?
Borodin
happens to be Secretary of the Belarussian-Russian Union,
the organization in charge of planning the merger of Belarus
and Russia. Clinton Administration officials denounced Belarus
President Alexander Lukashenko with hysteria bordering on
the Milosevic level. His sin cannot be that he is no democrat.
U.S. officials have nothing but nice things to say about
the assorted dictators of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Their Communist pedigrees are
more than outweighed by their eagerness to cooperate with
NATO as well as U.S. oil giants building pipelines. "Public
opinion" only matters when it comes to Belarus a
country that has resolutely refused to swallow its bitter
dose of IMF medicine. No one seriously doubts that the Belarussians
want nothing more than to be part of Russia. The United
States declared that it would never accept such a merger.
Americans know what Belarussians want better than they do
themselves.
It
is hard to believe the Clinton Administration did not orchestrate
Borodins arrest. As Borodins attorney, Alexander
Fishkin, put it: "The arrest warrant is issued on Jan.
10, he receives an invitation to the inauguration on Jan.
13 and a complaint is filed in New York for his arrest on
Jan. 17
It could be a coincidence, yes, but it looks
too strange to be a coincidence." The U.S. government
does not usually move so swiftly just to keep the Swiss
happy. Moreover, Bush must have been in on the scheme as
well, since the trap made use of a Republican contributor.
This
bipartisan U.S. contempt for international norms and constitutional
procedures was also on display in the Philippines. A democratically
elected leader was overthrown by a military in alliance
with a street mob, to secure the interests of business elites,
both local and international. Philippines President Joseph
Estrada enjoyed considerable popular support. He won the
1998 election with the largest vote total in Philippine
history. As an article in the International Herald Tribune
put it: "Right up until the overthrow, the polls showed
that the majority of Filipinos opposed Mr. Estradas
impeachment trial for corruption and abuse of power."
Congress impeached Estrada and the Senate tried him. By
a narrow majority, the senators voted to bar Estradas
bank records from being used at the trial. We are hardly
unfamiliar with such maneuvering. During the Clinton impeachment
drama the Presidents Democratic supporters tried all
manner of things to bring the proceedings to an end.
The
military overturned an election result and handed the Presidency
to Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo a bitter
political rival of Estradas. Business leaders and
foreign investors are well-satisfied. Mrs. Arroyo is a leading
member of the countrys elite. Her father had once
been President. She was a classmate of Bill Clintons
at Georgetown. "Financial markets rejoiced," according
to an AFP story. "Cheers and clapping erupted after
the opening bell sounded at the Philippine Stock Exchange
trading floor in the Makati financial district a bastion
of the anti-Estrada movement and buying began in earnest."
The United States government, which foams at the mouth about
Lukashenko, announced its delight that the crisis in Manila
was settled "in accordance with democratic and constitutional
procedures."
The
coup took place in the waning days of the Clinton era. Yet
Bush telephoned Arroyo to congratulate her. She invited
him to come to Manila later this year. He said it was a
"very good idea." No pressure on her evidently
to hold an early election. The IMF, needless to say, also
extended its congratulations to Mrs. Arroyo.
We
do not as yet know who was behind the murder of Laurent
Kabila. The New York Times story announcing his death
opened like this: "President Laurent Kabila of Congo,
who deposed one of Africas great dictators but then
brought his country into even worse disarray, was shot and
killed today." Kabila never deposed anyone. He was
hoisted into power by invading armies from Rwanda and Uganda,
both of which were heavily supported and financed by the
United States. Clinton had hailed Ugandan leader Yoweri
Museveni and Rwandas Paul Kagame as a new generation
of African leaders. What he meant was that they claimed
to believe the free market-free trade pap peddled by Washington
and the IMF. The Clinton administration thought Kabila would
join the merry band. He didnt. He wanted the Ugandans
and Rwandans to leave Congo. They had no intention of doing
so, preferring to plunder diamond mines and massacring the
locals. With U.S. encouragement they set out to topple Kabila.
Thus the "even worse disarray" referred to by
the Times. It is the New World Order. Those who dont
play by its rules end up in prison, overthrown or dead.
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