Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502240029
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: G3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DONALD E. NUECHTERLEIN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In addition, Sen. Jesse Helms, new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, surprised the White House by agreeing to support ratification of a Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with the Soviet Union, START-2. Helms has adopted a low profile since uttering bizarre statements just after the November elections.
Senate and House Republicans opposed Clinton's decision last fall to send U.S. troops to Haiti. Their view was that this country has no vital interest in Haiti and that the American public would not accept casualties. The precedent of Somalia loomed large in Republican minds.
Today, Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole says the troops did a good job in restoring order in Haiti, and the president made the right decision.
Even after the White House announced that 3,000 to 4,000 U.S. troops would remain in Haiti indefinitely as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force, Republicans did not object. The appointment of an American general as U.N. commander in Haiti obviously won over the Republicans.
On Mexico, Dole and House Speaker Newt Gingrich gave the president support when he initially asked Congress to support a $40 billion loan guarantee to prevent a collapse of the Mexican economy.
When Democratic and Republican lawmakers voiced their displeasure with a "bailout" for Mexico, Clinton courageously took matters into his own hands. With help from the International Monetary Fund and other governments, he put together a financial package that did not require congressional approval.
Dole and Gingrich again supported his action, even though opinion polls showed that 80 percent of Americans opposed it.
What is happening in Washington that makes bipartisanship on foreign policy suddenly desirable?
I suggest three reasons:
Political.
Republican leaders such as Dole and Gingrich desperately want their party to retain control of Congress in the 1996 elections. They shudder at giving Democrats grounds to charge that Republicans are acting irresponsibly with the nation's interests abroad. In addition, Dole is a presidential aspirant and must look presidential on foreign policy.
Economic.
The Mexican financial mess couldn't be ignored because, if left strictly to market forces, it could have led to a financial meltdown severely affecting the well-being of millions of Americans.
Strategic.
Sens. Helms and Dole, along with Richard Lugar, John Warner and others, understand that the most important foreign-security issue facing the United States is what will happen to Russia's Boris Yeltsin and his reform program.
Republicans know it is a U.S. vital interest to support Yeltsin's government with financial as well as political help so long as he continues on a moderate path.
Putting down the rebellion in Chechnya in brutal fashion is damaging to Yeltsin. But if the United States denounced him for handling a security problem in his own country, we might soon see a new nationalist, anti-West government in Moscow.
No Republican wants to precipitate such a crisis.
How long will an era of bipartisanship continue?
My guess is as long as Republicans think they gain more in public approval than they lose.
Another factor is what President Clinton does. If the president consults with Republicans on important foreign-policy issues, they are much more likely to give him support than if he goes it alone.
Donald Nuechterlein of Charlottesville is author of "America Recommitted; U.S. National Interests in a Restructured World."
by CNB