President of the U.S., 1989-1993; Former Republican Rep. (TX)
US troops to Somalia to alleviate starvation
Eleven days after two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down over Mogadishu, killing 18 and creating the gruesome spectacle of warlords dragging American soldiers through the streets,
McCain, who had already been agitating for the troops to come home, did just what he'd criticized Democrats for doing two decades earlier--tried to cut off funding to precipitate a withdrawal. The U.S. troop presence, which began under President
George H. W. Bush, was initially sent to alleviate an acute starvation crisis brought on by political chaos. But under Clinton the mission had crept to rooting out warlords and providing security. McCain was having none of it: "Our mission is
Somali was to feed a million starving who needed to be fed. It was not an open-ended commitment. It was not a commission of nation building, not warlord hunting, or any of the other extraneous activities which we seem to have been engaged in."
On Jan.5, I announced that I'd temporarily continue Pres. Bush's policy of intercepting & returning Haitians who were trying to reach the US by boat, a policy I had strongly criticized during the election. After Haiti's elected president, Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, was overthrown by Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras in 1991, [many refugees fled].
When the Bush administration, which appeared to be more sympathetic to Cedras than I was, began to return the refugees, there were loud protests from the human rights
community. I wanted to make it easier for Haitians to seek and obtain political asylum in the US, but was concerned that large numbers of them would perish in trying to get here, as about 400 had done just a week earlier. So, I said that, instead of
taking in all the Haitians who could survive the voyage to America, we would beef up our official presence in Haiti and speed up asylum claims there. In the meantime, for safety reasons, we would continue to stop the boats and return the passengers.
Made deals with Gorbachev’s USSR, then Yeltsin’s Russia
A series of summits with Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev resulted in the signing of treaties on arms reductions and agreements on other issues. As communist governments collapsed in Eastern Europe, Bush became to some degree a bystander,
watching as nations redefined their futures. In August 1991, only weeks after Bush and Gorbachev had signed a strategic-arms--reduction treaty in Moscow, the Soviet president was nearly ousted in an attempted coup. Thanks to Boris Yeltsin’s
resistance to the coup, Gorbachev was able to return to power, however briefly. When, in December 1991, the Soviet Union dissolved into a loose confederation of independent republics and several unaffiliated states, Bush quickly recognized the new
states and sought a rapprochement with Yeltsin, now president of Russia. In the spring of 1992 Bush and Yeltsin agreed to substantial cuts in nuclear weapons.
Source: Grolier’s Encyclopedia on-line: “The Presidency”
Dec 25, 2000
Supported 1990 South Africa sanctions
In 1990, Bush met separately with South Africa’s reform-minded president, F. W. de Klerk, and with the newly freed black nationalist leader Nelson Mandela. By supporting sanctions against the South African government,
Bush appeared to help speed the dismantling of its system of racial separation. His administration lifted the sanctions in 1991 after concluding that the requirements imposed by Congress had been met.
Source: Grolier Encyclopedia on-line, “The Presidency”
Dec 25, 2000
Clinton promised to overturn "immoral" Haiti policy
Clinton's handling of Haiti involved many policy reversals that culminated with the Carter mission. One GOP critic said the "mess in Haiti was caused by Clinton running off at the mouth during the last election, by criticizing in an irresponsible manner
President Bush's handling of the situation." While that statement has a partisan ring to it, the fact is that prior to Carter's dealing with Cedras, Clinton did not have Democratic support for an invasion of Haiti.
There certainly are those who will
claim that Clinton's approach to Haiti eventually worked, since Cedras was ousted and Aristide returned to power. [Overall], Clinton would have considered Haiti a foreign policy victory.
Clinton the campaigner had promised that he would change the
policy of the Bush administration relative to the immigration of Haiti. Clinton characterized the Bush plan as immoral. The Haitians took Clinton at his word. A boatload of 400 Haitians set off on a journey to freedom in the US. They died in the attempt.
Tiananmen: deplored crackdown but maintained communication
After China’s rulers brutally crushed massive student demonstrations in the spring of 1989, Bush-who knew the aging leaders personally-deplored the crackdown but maintained communication with the leadership.
His stance angered human rights activists and appeared to have no effects on China’s policy toward internal dissent.
Source: Grolier Encyclopedia on-line, “The Presidency”
Dec 25, 2000
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