Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The Clinton Years Revisited


"As bad as the past eight years have been, it may be fruitful to remember what U.S. national security policy was like under Bill Clinton, as it is very possible that Washington will soon be returning to that gold standard for underachievement.....

In an astonishing testament to the resiliency of the Clinton era neocon-lites, several of the better-known examples have recently surfaced in Doha. Qatar hosts an annual conference called the U.S.-Islamic World Forum, which was just concluded, running from Feb. 16-18. This year, for the first time, there was a co-sponsor, the Saban Center of Washington's Brookings Institute. The Saban Center, far from an objective observer of the Middle East, is funded by Israeli-American billionaire Haim Saban, who said in a 2004 interview, "I'm a one-issue guy, and my issue is Israel." Saban is extremely close to the Clintons and is also reported to be the largest contributor to the Democratic National Committee. When Bill was in office, Saban and his wife slept in the Lincoln bedroom on a number of occasions. Like its founder, the Saban Center is Israel-centric in its policy analysis, sponsoring bilateral meetings in Jerusalem to discuss issues of common concern.

Saban is headed by Martin Indyk, who opened the U.S.-Islamic World conference. Other Doha speakers included Clinton alumni Madeleine Albright and Sandy Berger. It should be recalled that Indyk was born in England, became an Australian citizen, and eventually wound up in Washington as a full-time advocate for Israel, first as research director of AIPAC and then as the founder and first executive director of WINEP. In spite of his tenuous claim to American citizenship and possible concerns that his actual loyalty might not be to the United States, Indyk was naturalized by Congress in 1995 so that Bill Clinton could name him U.S. ambassador to Israel. Former Secretary of State Albright is famous for her judgment that the deaths of half a million Iraqi children due to U.S. enforced sanctions were "worth it."......"

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