The Hen in the Foxhouse

Strategically, Secretary of State Colin Powell says he is no strategist. Obviously! If one examines the U.S.'s relationships in the Western Hemisphere, it becomes apparent that all of our presidents (not the State Department) understood that our national security was fundamentally based on having a stable and friendly hemisphere.

This policy was expressed in the Monroe Doctrine and was further articulated by Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt as we contemplated moving into other areas of the world. First and foremost, they understood that the United States must have a secure base before becoming involved in global excursions.

This fundamental strategic axiom has escaped our recent politicians, but hopefully not President George W. Bush. For some uncommon sense and unfathomable reasons, the president has allowed the Carter and Clinton appointees, in conjunction with some of the foreign service officers in the State Department, to emasculate the president's basic policies regarding Latin America.

When Bush took office, the expectation was that there would be a fundamental shift away from the failed Clinton-Carter policies; this expectation was not realized. Rather than cleaning out the Clinton-Carter leftist appointees, Condoleezza Rice brought in Bernie Aronson, John Maisto and John Rendon to continue the failed/non-existent policies of the Clinton administration.

The attempt to bring in Otto Reich as assistant secretary for Latin America was frustrated by the Senate, Chris Dodd and Teddy Kennedy in particular, as well as the liberal press.

In the meantime, Latin America was seriously failing. Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Haiti – and the list goes on. The Castro "mantra" of "sending drugs north and guns south" was again in full swing. The alleged pro-Communist crowd in Congress, led by Chris Dodd, was howling "human rights," the basis of the Carter policies in Latin America.

Bernie Aronson is still leading the Bush administration policy team for Latin America. He nominated John Maisto to be the NSC adviser to Condoleezza Rice. Aronson was Carter's speechwriter and the architect of Latin American policies after Elliot Abrams, a Reagan appointee, left. Joining this alleged leftist cabal in the White House is John Rendon, another Clintonite.

Is it any wonder that things are going so badly in this hemisphere? The combination of neglect and support for various alleged leftists and communists has resulted in our attention, aid and support going to Bosnia, Kosovo and other areas of the world instead of extending our unemployment insurance for our unemployed. The U.S must then take care of Latin America.

This strategic myopia will eventually cost this nation in blood and treasure. The anti-American terrorists have long realized the opportunity provided by our "soft underbelly," which has gotten even softer and more vulnerable under the Carter and Clinton administrations.

It is increasingly difficult for our friends in Central and South America to understand how the U.S. government can ignore the threat posed by terrorists, who can enter the United States legally or illegally. The slipshod control of both our southern and northern borders is an indication that both the State Department and INS are possibly assisting in our national suicide.

The obvious solution to this problem is to change the policies and the people who implement them. The president must change, as he did his economic team, the foreign policy team that is responsible for U.S. policy in Latin America. This would entail bringing in an entirely new team that is in sync with the president's announced policies toward Latin America.

The Carter and Clinton appointees at the NSC and in other agencies of the government must be purged and replaced with an entirely new team. Fundamental to this shift would be gaining control of the leftist group in the State Department. Also the contracts and contractors such as the Rendon Group, put in place by the Clinton appointees during the first six months of the Bush administration, should be replaced.

None of this would be easy, but it is critical to the national security of this country as we address the War against Terrorism.

It is realized that Iraq is the No. 1 priority, but it is believed that Bush is intelligent and far-seeing enough to now take the time to immediately remove these Carterites and Clintonites from their posts so his foreign policy for Latin America will not be seriously damaged by his failure to remove these saboteurs.

It is time for President Bush to "clean house" and appoint his team players, who will install the correct foreign policy for Latin America.

Excellent post. I was wondering who was behind this train wreck occuring south of our border.

This is worrying me a great deal.

I wonder if it has occurred to Wilson Lucon that Bush has no intention of deviating from the Clinton policies? What Carter and Clinton began, Bush will finish; we're almost 3 years now into Bush's presidency and it has become very, very clear that Bush is no different than Clinton when it comes to the globalists' agenda.

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