"Wag the Dog" Redux


By ordering a military strike against Iraq on the eve of the congressional debate on impeachment, Bill Clinton "has shown that he is willing to kill people and endanger the lives of U.S. servicemen as a political survival tactic," observes William Norman Grigg, Associate Director of the National Impeach Clinton A.C.T.I.O.N. Committee.

"In August, Mr. Clinton timed the cruise missile attacks on Sudan and Afghanistan to knock Monica Lewinsky's Grand Jury testimony from the headlines," Grigg observes. "Now, with the tide turning decisively against him among the so-called moderate Republicans in the House, and with public opinion polls showing that public support for impeachment is mounting, Mr. Clinton has decided that his only option is to launch another military distraction -- killing Iraqis, endangering American lives, and running the risk of war in the Middle East for the sole purpose of preserving his discredited presidency."

In his address to the nation, Bill Clinton insisted that the strike was intended to punish Saddam Hussein's refusal to cooperate with UN weapons inspectors. However, as Major Scott Ritter, a former member of the UN inspection team, has documented, the Clinton Administration ignored previous acts of defiance and concealment by Saddam, and acted to prevent effective inspections of sites suspected of hiding weapons of mass destruction. When Saddam unilaterally blocked UN inspections on August 3rd -- an action comparable to the supposed provocation for the December 16th strike -- Bill Clinton did nothing. This prompted Major Ritter to resign in protest of Bill Clinton's appeasement of Saddam.

As with the cruise missile strike in August, "The timing and motivation of this attack are utterly transparent, and the cynicism that inspired it is breathtaking," declares Grigg. Grigg is not alone in this assessment. Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) pointed out that "For this sort of thing � to come to a head on the eve of an impeachment vote is highly suspicious�. Anything is possible with this Administration." "Never underestimate a desperate President," added Rep. Gerald Solomon (R-NY). "What option is left for getting impeachment off the front page and maybe even postponed? And how else to explain the sudden appearance of a backbone that has been invisible up to now?" Former Clinton political advisor Dick Morris also said that the timing of the military strike suggested that the White House was following the "Wag the Dog" scenario by staging a politically motivated military sideshow.

"For someone who has expressed loathing for our military, and has overseen the decimation of our fighting capability, he is strangely eager to use it when it suits the demands of political spin control," states Grigg. "In the strike against Iraq, as with every other military venture during Clinton's watch, the President has ignored the Constitution and bypassed the Congress. Clearly he regards the military as his personal plaything -- a praetorian guard whose purpose is to protect his political position, rather than serve our national interest."

Ironically, Defense Secretary William Cohen, in the immediate aftermath of the attack, accused Saddam of "following a planned, systematic program of obstruction and delay." "This perfectly describes Bill Clinton's approach to defying the law and evading the consequences of his actions," notes Grigg. "William Jefferson Clinton is clearly a rogue president and a threat to both life and liberty, and Congress must impeach him and remove him from office.





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