Progress Party boss Carl I Hagen thinks Bill Clinton should take over as NATO boss. PHOTO: KNUT FALCH/SCANPIX
Posted on 06/17/2003 3:02:59 PM PDT by yankeedame
Tuesday 17 June 2003 Updated: 16 Jun, 11:17 (GMT+1)
AFTENPOSTEN
(English frontpage)
Hagen wants Clinton to head NATO
One of Norway's most highly profiled and right-wing politicians, Carl I Hagen, is urging the nomination of former US President Bill Clinton as new NATO boss. Norwegian officials have given up hopes that their own defense minister, Kristin Krohn Devold, will get the job.
Progress Party boss Carl I Hagen thinks Bill Clinton should take over as NATO boss. PHOTO: KNUT FALCH/SCANPIX
Hagen, who heads Norway's Progress Party, told newspaper Aftenposten Monday that NATO's new leader should have international authority, respect and experience. He thinks Clinton, therefore, is the perfect choice.
"There are plenty of people who can be leader of a secretariat in Brussels, but that's not what NATO needs right now," Hagen told Aftenposten, adding that he thinks NATO needs a "political heavyweight" to succeed Lord Robertson as general secretary.
"NATO is in a very difficult situation, with a deep conflict between the US and the major EU countries Germany and France," Hagen said. The new general secretary, he said, must be able to bring NATO members together again.
Clinton, he notes, "has good and close contact with many of Europe's leaders, and he enjoys considerable respect. He can be the bridge-builder the alliance needs."
Hagen added that it's especially important for Norway that the conflict within NATO be eased. "Therefore Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik should propose Bill Clinton as a candidate," he said.
Devold's waning prospects He denied his proposal was meant to undermine Bondevik's own efforts to push Norwegian Defense Minister Kristin Krohn Devold's candidacy. "If NATO decides the alliance should have a general secretary who will first and foremost be a secretariat leader, I haven't said she's unqualified," he said.
Hagen also said he thinks it would be difficult for US President George W Bush to oppose Clinton if a majority of European countries want him.
Devold's informal candidacy, meanwhile, doesn't appear to have generated much support from other European leaders. One source told Aftenposten that while Devold is viewed as a having done a good job for Norway, "no one has said, 'yeah, this is the candidate we need.'"
Other strikes against her are her relatively limited international experience and the fact that Norway, while a member of NATO, is not a member of the EU.
===============================================
Aftenposten's Norwegian reporter: Ole Mathismoen
Aftenposten English Web Desk: Nina Berglund
Clinton and Blair tried to turn NATO into the Fabian Socialist dream of an "Atlantic Union," with the aggressive intervention in the Serbian civil war in Kosovo. I fear that the Norwegians are a bit naive as to European power politics. They certainly do not understand such consummate evil as Clinton represents.
The idea of putting a draft dodger, who hates the military, in charge of a military alliance, would of course turn that alliance into a joke. But, again, I do not think that the Norwegians have a clue as to the Bill Clinton we all came to know so well.
William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site
Hillary Clinton Attacks Bush, U.S. Intelligence Services in Overseas Interview
International News Analysis ^ | June 17, 2003 | Toby Westerman
"I know my husband received the same intelligence information [during his presidency as did Bush]." Clinton asserted that "the real question is have we obtained accurate information, or have the findings been altered for military or political purposes?"
Clinton also urged greater interdependence between Europe and the U.S., stating that America should seek "a secure and solid foundation" for relations with Europe, instead of "relying only upon our [U.S.] military strength."
Praising her husband's close relationship with European leaders during his period in office, Clinton declared that "for eight years we were on the right course to a globalized and integrated world - which is coming, one way or the other."
In the Der Spiegel interview, Clinton asserted that her husband sought to pass "effective laws" and proposed "more money" to carry out the struggle against terror, but "the Republicans prevented" measures from becoming enacted.
There MUST be a law against the mainstream AMERICAN press continuing to cover up the Clintons' role in weakening our national security and ignoring the growing terrorism threat? Slander? Fraud? The above isn't an article, it's a free campaign ad in a foreign paper.
Well, if that's what a right wing Euro politician thinks is appropriate, I've got to really wonder what a LEFT wing politician would suggest!
Yeah, I see what he's saying. Bush has never stood up to Europe on anything, including Kyoto, the ICC, Iraq, or anything else.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.