Sunday, May 2, 2010 - France and the UK had already done so, but there... |
| France and the UK had already done so, but there was a growing sense of isolation and unilateralism in Congress, as evidenced by the failure of the fast-track legislation and the refusal to pay our UN dues or our contribution to the International Monetary FundThe IMF funding was especially importantWith an Asian financial crisis threatening to spread to fragile economies in other parts of the world, the IMF needed to be able to organize an aggressive and well-funded responseThe Congress was compromising the stability of the global economy
While the nuclear testing controversy was unfolding, I had to leave on another trip, to the annual G-8 summit being held in Birmingham, EnglandOn the way, I stopped in Germany for a meeting with Helmut Kohl at Sans Souci, the palace of Frederick the Great; for a celebration marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Berlin airlift; and for a public appearance with Kohl at a General Motors Opel plant in Eisenach, in the former East Germany
Kohl was in a tough fight for reelection, and my appearances with him beyond the airlift ceremonies raised a few questions, especially since his Social Democratic Party opponent, Gerhard Schroeder, was running on a platform that was a lot like what Tony Blair and I were advocatingHelmut had already served longer than any German chancellor except Bismarck, and he was behind in the pollsBut he had been Americas friend, and mine, and no matter how the election came out, his legacy was secure: a reunited Germany, a strong European Union, a partnership with democratic Russia, and German support for ending the Bosnian warBefore I left Germany, I also had a good talk with Schroeder, who had risen from modest hermes birkin bags beginnings to the summit of German politicsHe struck me as tough, smart, and clearheaded about what he wanted to doI wished him well, and told him that if he won I would do whatever I could to help him succeed
When I arrived in Birmingham, I saw that the city had undergone a remarkable revival and was much more beautiful than it had been when I first visited there almost thirty years earlierThe conference had a useful agenda, calling for international economic reforms; greater cooperation against drug trafficking, money laundering, and trafficking in women and children; and a specific alliance between the United States and the European Union against terrorismHowever important, it was overshadowed by unfolding world events: the Indian nuclear tests; the political and economic collapse of Indonesia; the stalled peace process in the Middle East; the looming prospect of war in Kosovo; and the coming referendum on the Good Friday accordWe condemned the Indian nuclear tests, reaffirmed our support for the Nuclear Nonproliferation and Comprehensive Test Ban treaties, and said we wanted a global treaty to stop the production of fissile materials for nuclear weaponsOn Indonesia, we urged both economic and political reforms, which seemed unlikely to occur because the countrys finances were in such a terrible mess that the necessary reforms would make life even harder for ordinary Indonesians in the short runWithin a couple of days, President Suharto resigned, but Indonesias problems did not leave with himThey would soon claim more of my timeNothing could be done on the Middle East for the moment, until the Israeli political situation was sorted out
In Kosovo, the southernmost province of balenciaga motorcycle bag Serbia, the majority of the people were Albanian Muslims who were chafing under Milosevics ruleAfter Serbian attacks on the Kosovars earlier in the year, the United Nations had placed an arms embargo on the former Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) and several nations had imposed economic sanctions on SerbiaA Contact Group consisting of the United States, Russia, and several European nations was working to defuse the crisisThe G-8 supported the Contact Groups efforts, but soon we would have to do more
Again, the only good news was in Northern IrelandMore than 90 percent of Sinn Fein party members had endorsed the Good Friday accordWith both John Hume and Gerry Adams working for it, a huge Catholic vote in favor of the agreement was certainProtestant opinion was more closely dividedAfter consulting with the parties, I decided not to go from Birmingham to Belfast to speak in person for the agreementI didnt want to give Ian Paisley any ammunition to attack me as an outsider telling the Northern Irish what to doInstead, Tony Blair and I met with reporters and did two lengthy television interviews with the BBC and CNN supporting the referendum
On May 20, two days before the vote, I also delivered a brief radio address to the people of Northern Ireland, pledging Americas support if they voted for a lasting peace for yourselves and your childrenThats exactly what they didThe Good Friday accord was approved by 71 percent of the people in Northern Ireland, including a solid majority of ProtestantsIn the Irish Republic, more than 90 percent of the people voted for itI was never more proud of my Irish heritage
After a stop in Geneva to urge the World Trade Organization to adopt a more replica louis vuitton wallet open decision-making process, take more account of labor and environmental conditions in trade negotiations, and listen to the representatives of ordinary citizens who felt left out of the global economy, I flew home to America, but not away from the worlds problems
That week, at the commencement ceremony of the UNaval Academy, I outlined an aggressive approach to deal with sophisticated global terrorist networks, including a plan to detect, deter, and defend against attacks on our power systems, water supplies, police, fire and medical services, air traffic control, financial services, telephone systems, and computer networks, and a concerted effort to prevent the spread and use of biological weapons and protect our people from themI proposed to strengthen the inspection system of the Biological Weapons Convention; vaccinate our armed forces against biological threats, especially anthrax; train more state and local officials and National Guard personnel to respond to biological attacks; upgrade our system of detection and warning; stockpile medicines and vaccines against the most likely biological attacks; and increase research and development to create the next generation of vaccines, medicines, and diagnostic tools
Over the previous several months I had become particularly worried about the prospect of a biological attack, perhaps with a weapon that had been genetically engineered to resist existing vaccines and medicinesThe previous December, at Renaissance Weekend, Hillary and I had arranged to have dinner with Craig Venter, a molecular biologist whose company was attempting to finish sequencing the human genomeI asked Craig about the possibility that genetic mapping balenciaga blue would permit terrorists to develop synthetic genes, reengineer existing viruses, or combine smallpox with another deadly virus to make it even more harmful
Craig said those things were possible and urged me to read Richard Prestons new novel, The Cobra Event, a thriller about a mad scientists efforts to reduce the worlds population by infecting New York City with a brainpox, a combination of smallpox and an insect virus that destroys nervesWhen I read the book I was surprised that Prestons acknowledgments included more than one hundred scientists, military and intelligence experts, and officials in my own administrationI urged several cabinet members and Speaker Gingrich to read it
We had begun working on the biological warfare issue in 1993, after the World Trade Center bombing made it clear that terrorism could strike at home, and a defector from Russia had told us that his country had huge stocks of anthrax, smallpox, Ebola, and other pathogens, and had continued to produce them even after the demise of the Soviet UnionIn response, the mandate of the Nunn-Lugar program was broadened to include cooperation with Russia on biological as well as nuclear weapons
After the sarin gas release in the Tokyo subway in 1995, the Counterterrorism Security Group (CSG), headed by National Security Council staffer Richard Clarke, began to focus more on planning defenses against chemical and biological attacksIn June 1995, I signed Presidential Decision Directive (PDD) 39 to allocate responsibilities among various government agencies for preventing and dealing with such attacks, and for reducing terrorists capabilities through covert action and aggressive efforts to capture terrorists omega speedmaster olympic special edition abro |
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