Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Clinton tries to allay defense worries Date: Thu, 29 Oct 92 14:38:17 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION;DECISION '92: NATIONAL SECURITY \HD Clinton tries to allay defense worries \BY Rowan Scarborough \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES Bill Clinton's portrayal of himself as a "different kind of Democrat" is perhaps best illustrated by his speeches on national security issues. While Republicans remain skeptical, Mr. Clinton tells voters he will maintain a robust military and will flex America's muscle overseas if necessary. The Defense Department will not become a cash cow for liberal social programs, he vows. "There are those, some in my party, who see defense cuts as largely a piggy bank to fund domestic wish lists, with our defense structures and missions as a mere afterthought rather than a starting premise," he said in a speech this summer in which he underscored his desire to distance himself from anti-defense liberals. "This policy would also weaken our technological superiority and the quality and morale of our superb personnel." Unlike President Bush, who has a record of supporting the Pentagon and confronting adversaries overseas, Mr. Clinton has virtually no foreign policy experience. Some conservatives suggest that his remark that the most publicized weapon of the Persian Gulf war, the Patriot anti-missile missile, goes down chimneys shows he did not pay close attention to the nation's biggest conflict since the Vietnam War. "I don't think he really knows what he's going to do on foreign policy and defense," said Kim Holmes, a military expert at the Heritage Foundation. The Democratic presidential nominee's five-year defense plan is essentially the work of Congress' Armed Services Committee chairmen, Sen. Sam Nunn, Georgia Democrat, and Rep. Les Aspin, Wisconsin Democrat. Mr. Clinton's campaign also is relying on position papers from the offices of more liberal Democrats, such as Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, an avid critic of President Reagan's military buildup. But Mr. Clinton has praised that buildup as a major factor in winning the Cold War. That victory, while cited frequently by Mr. Bush, has moved national security to a lower campaign rung as voters demand answers on economic issues. Mr. Clinton has given few major speeches on defense or foreign policy but has laid out a basic defense spending plan. He plays down differences with the Bush budget by saying the $60 billion more he would cut over five years is only an extra 5 percent reduction. Yearly defense spending now is $270 billion. "I'm not sure how different a Clinton administration would be," said Doug Bandow, a defense analyst at the Cato Institute. "Bill Clinton has talked about cutting the military more, but he is not talking about cutting back the military around the world sharply." Mr. Bush would continue a 25 percent force reduction recommended by Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A Clinton Pentagon would cut 200,000 more active-duty personnel, gut the Strategic Defense Initiative and bring home all but 100,000 troops from Europe. Mr. Bush wants to keep 150,000 there to support the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Unlike Mr. Bush, the Democrat would allow openly homosexual men and women to serve in the military. "The $60 billion cut really hurts our military capability," Mr. Holmes said. "It would undoubtedly cut too quickly. It also would probably hurt the economy. By moving down quickly, we would not only find ourselves too weak to deal with an international crisis, but also hurt the advanced technology base that allowed us to win in the Persian Gulf with relatively few casualties." Independent candidate Ross Perot has indicated he would reduce defense spending by $20 billion less than Mr. Clinton would but would pull virtually all troops out of Europe. A Clinton national security team would draw from a large pool of Carter administration officials, advisers to Michael Dukakis and members of the moderate Democratic Leadership Council. Candidates for defense secretary include Mr. Aspin, a former Pentagon analyst who delights in issuing papers on how the military should be run; Rep. David McCurdy, Oklahoma Democrat and member of the Armed Services Committee; and R. James Woolsey Jr., undersecretary of the Navy under President Carter and an arms-control negotiator for Mr. Bush. "It strikes me, if you look at the people around Clinton, I don't see a dramatic divergence from Bush," Mr. Bandow said. "It's certainly not the retrenchment you see in the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party." Republicans say Mr. Cheney would like to be secretary of state in a second Bush administration. He might be succeeded as defense secretary by acting Navy Secretary Sean O'Keefe, a member of Mr. Cheney's inner circle and, as Pentagon comptroller, an architect of the post-Cold War reduction plan. Mr. Clinton's foreign policy advisers come from two distinct groups: top Carter appointees, such as former Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher, and more conservative figures, such as Reagan arms-control adviser Paul Nitze and Penn Kemble of Freedom House. Mr. Christopher's name is the one most often mentioned for secretary of state. Rep. Lee Hamilton, the Indiana Democrat in line to take over the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has also been the subject of speculation. Others likely to receive high posts are Michael Mandelbaum, a Clinton adviser from the Council on Foreign Relations; Richard Holbrooke, assistant secretary of state for East Asia under Mr. Carter; Thomas Pickering, the former ambassador to the United Nations who helped mold the coalition against Iraq; and Anthony Lake, chief of policy planning in Mr. Carter's State Department. Mr. Clinton's and Mr. Bush's foreign policy declarations seem to echo each other, reflecting the narrow gap between the major parties without the Soviet threat. But there will likely be one important difference. Bush aides say the president has sought a "balanced approach" to dealing with Arabs and Israelis. At times, Mr. Bush's hard-line approach toward Israel's Likud Party strained relations with American Jews. Mr. Clinton, continuing the Democratic Party's close ties to the Israel lobby in Washington, would likely seek closer ties to Tel Aviv. The Democratic nominee has said he would continue the Arab-Israeli peace talks under the current terms. But perhaps the most dramatic difference in a Clinton administration would be on trade, which many experts see as a growing component of foreign and security policy. Mr. Clinton has hinted he would take a tougher stand toward Japan and China. He says Mr. Bush has coddled China's leaders. The U.S. intelligence community - the CIA and various civilian and military intelligence agencies - is expected to face post-Soviet restructuring under whoever wins. CIA Director Robert Gates, with vast experience in policy-making and intelligence management, is certain to remain under Mr. Bush. But Mr. Gates, after his stormy confirmation hearings last year, can expect to be replaced by Mr. Clinton because of opposition from congressional Democrats, political analysts say. His successor would likely be Mr. McCurdy, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, or retired Army Lt. Gen. William Odom. Gen. Odom, a White House national security aide to Mr. Carter, was director of the National Security Agency during the Reagan years. He has endorsed Mr. Clinton. Other candidates for the CIA post include David Aaron, deputy national security adviser in the Carter administration, and retired Adm. Bobby Ray Inman, who has held the posts of deputy CIA director and NSA director. * Bill Gertz and Warren Strobel contributed to this report. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM