CLINTON: WE CAN’T KILL EVERY POTENTIAL ADVERSARY
Posted April 7, 2003 thepeoplesvoice.org

by Dan Dvorak

Last night, ( April 3, 2003 ) my family and I had the ultimate experience when former President William Jefferson Clinton came to our small college town, Gainesville Florida and packed the O’Connell Center on the University of Florida Campus. Hundreds were turned away at the doors as the Center filled to capacity. My family made it in okay, I was the last person admitted and consider myself fortunate. No one could have predicted the response to his arrival and there has been much criticism of the venue and time selection. What was to be a College campus speech put on by UF turned into a magnet that brought people from South Florida and Georgia . What happened was that many of the College kids were locked out.  

The crowd was a good mix of people. Some old timers I recognized from Vietnam protests, but thousands of young people most born after Vietnam came to see and hear arguably the greatest president who ever lived.

And none were disappointed. He spoke for an hour avoiding direct reference to Bush and his policies saying “There will be ample time to debate how we got there and what we should do when its over.” But between the lines the stark differences between his successful administration and that of the destructive, immoral and illegal current appointed administration were obvious.

President Clinton brought with him a message of hope and peace, not only in words but in past deeds and specific plans for the future. “In an interdependent world, we can't kill, jail or occupy every potential adversary” he said. “We have to build a world with more partners and fewer enemies.” He touched on his successes in North Korea who he said, “…we made a deal” He says North Korea doesn't want a war with the US , they know they would be exterminated.” But he said, North Korea can't “grow food or supply itself the energy it needs to run its society” So president Clinton's administration made them a deal to scrap their weapons program and designs on nuclear power in exchange for guaranteed oil and food. This arrangement worked well until Bush put a stop to it, and of course North Korea went back to flexing its potential nuclear muscle.  

On Israel and Palestine , President Clinton said he's not worried. “They will have to make a deal. Neither is going away, their existence is interdependent and they simply cannot escape each other.” Ultimately they will make a deal, and eventually there will be peace. They were close once under his guidance, he spoke of a mid-East deal that would have brokered peace between Pakistanis and Israelis. It involved Israel giving back 97% of the land seized, retaining the 3% that had already been settled but giving an additional 3% of Israeli land that borders Palestine to make up for it. “Those who didn't want peace (who profit from war) caused the deal to fall through resulting in a new more militaristic Israeli administration.”

“The United States should support international bodies, adhere to international treaties and increase foreign aid (which the US is dead last of all industrial countries in giving), trade and debt relief.” The former President referred to these things as “cheap” in the scheme of things, compared to the alternatives. He continued to press his subliminal message that Bush’s policies are ludicrous by pointedly referring to international agreements abandon by Bush including the Kyoto accord on climate change, the international criminal court and the comprehensive test ban treaty.

“There is a grave danger in having a world that is interdependent but not integrated. Whether by trade or travel, by immigration or information technology, by shared cultural experiences or shared scientific endeavor, or shared vulnerabilities to terrorism, we simply cannot escape each other- like it or not our fates are bound up with one another.”

How much more logical can you get? Intelligence is a necessity in running a country, Seems like a no-brainer. Of course intelligence and logic are not exactly Bush’s strong suits. Unless running a country into the ground counts.

His speech not unlike the many he made as President resonated intelligence, concern and precise thought as he outlined the needs and plans for an integrated world,  so unlike the current commander in thief who’s vocabulary is stuck on four words, Saddam, 9-11, Iraq and terrorism as he laughs at us with his eyes. So different than we have been subjected to over the past 3 years he left the crowd yearning for a return of President Clinton and another chance for the good days of peace and prosperity. Never before were two Presidents more diametrically opposed than Clinton and Bush, truly the difference between good and evil.

© Copyright 2003 All rights reserved by Dan Dvorak