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Shortly after the summit, Mack McLarty resigned...
11:10 PM, Sunday, May 2, 2010
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Shortly after the summit, Mack McLarty resigned as my special envoy to the AmericasBy then my old friend had made more than forty trips to the region in the four years since he had taken the job and, in so doing, had sent an unmistakable message that the United States was committed to being a good neighbor
The month ended on two high notesI held a reception for members of Congress who had voted for the 1993 budget, including those who had lost their seats for doing so, to announce that the deficit had been completely eliminated for the first time since 1969It was a development that would have been unthinkable when I took office, and impossible without the hard vote for the economic plan in 1993On the last day of the month, the Senate voted, 8019, to approve another of my major prioritiesbringing Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic into NATO
In mid-May our efforts to ban nuclear testing were shaken when India conducted five underground testsTwo weeks later, Pakistan responded with six tests of its ownIndia claimed its nuclear weapons were needed as a deterrent to China; Pakistan said it was responding to IndiaPublic opinion in both nations strongly supported the possession of nuclear weapons, but it was a dangerous propositionFor one thing, our national security people were convinced that, unlike the United States and the Soviet Union in the Cold War, black balenciaga bag India and Pakistan knew little about each others nuclear capabilities and policies for using themAfter the Indian tests, I urged Pakistans prime minister Nawaz Sharif not to follow suit, but he couldnt resist the political pressure
I was deeply concerned about Indias decision, not only because I considered it so dangerous, but also because it set back my policy of improving Indo-Urelations and made it harder for me to secure Senate ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban TreatyFrance 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 imitation louis vuitton wallets 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 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 wholesale tiffany jewelry 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 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 chanel bag 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 chanel paper bag heri
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