PART FIFTY SEVEN: A TERRIBLE MISTAKE
PART FIFTY SEVEN: A TERRIBLE MISTAKE
To set the scene in the Baltic’s, we first get an idea of what the political fallout is in the US and NATO after the Romanian debacle of 1994
Some new names in this update
German Green Party Leader Joschka Fischer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joschka_Fischer
German SDP leader Rudolf Scharping
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Scharping
UIS Presidential Candidate Vladimir Putin in an interview with the BBC on August 1, 2011.
Discussing the events leading up to the Vance-Carrington Plan that ended the Latvian Civil War in 1994.
BBC: By the summer of 1994 it was looking like there was a true reform movement taking control of the UIS. Many in the West have criticized President Kerrey and Prime Minister Major for not sending an olive branch out to the leaders of the reform movement like UIS Prime Minister Yuri Luzhkov and Russian Prime Minister Gennady Burbulis-
Putin: There never was a serious reformist movement. Luzhkov was a bumbling idiot and Burbulis was an opportunist. And the fact that Luzhkov emerged as de facto President of the UIS didn’t change the fact that he had no real power.
BBC: But if that were true why was their a virtual media blackout in the UIS on Zhirinovsky? Many in the West commented on how little airtime Vladimir Zhirinovsky was getting during the summer of 1994. Wouldn’t that indicate that the Liberal Democratic Party no longer had a stranglehold on the media?
Putin: The reason there was a media blackout on Zhirinovsky was because the man who was in controlled of the media, Vice President Zavidiya, was angry at Zhirinovsky for agreeing to free market reforms. So he decided to take his toys and go home like a spoiled child.
BBC: And the military junta that you claim was really in control allowed this to happen?
Putin: It actually worked in our favor. General Lebed and General Vladimir Kostylev both recognized that the military was still badly overcommitted. They began to put out fires wherever they burned with the hope of ending as many conflicts as possible so the UIS could focus on Chechnya and the growing lawlessness of Central Asia. Had Zhirinovsky been allowed to speak freely on television it would have made their job impossible. It would have been like trying to put out a fire with a can of gasoline.
Excerpts from the book “A Diplomat’s Life: An Autobiography of Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher”
Published by Hyperion © 2003
Chapter IX: Backed Into A Corner
I turned off the television in disgust. I should have seen this coming, in hindsight it was obvious. There was no way the Romanian opposition would sit quietly while General
Victor Stănculescu destroyed Romanian democracy. Especially since the Russians were more than willing to exploit our mistake. The sight of our one true ally in Romania, Emil Constantinescu, shaking hands with Hungarian Republic of Szeklerland President Gyorgy Frunda and UIS President Yuri Luzhkov was more than I could bear. That should have been President Kerrey. That should have been us.
“We really screwed this up,” I thought to myself, “and now all we are left with is a Communist era military dictator.”
President Luzhkov’s trip to Moldova was an undeniable success for the UIS. Emil Constantinescu announced that the UIS government would continue to withhold recognition of the military dictatorship and that they had reached a permanent peace between the “Romanian government in exile” and the Hungarian Republic of Szeklerland. Szeklerland would give up its official bid for independence and Romania was guaranteeing the autonomy of Szeklerland in a unified Romania that “guaranteed the rights of all citizens.” Frunda would return Arad and much of the southern regions of Szeklerland back to Romania, and both sides agreed to allow the Russian military full access to the E-671 highway.
“Damn,” I mumbled under my breath, “they got the only thing that mattered to them: a stinking road.”
I knew we were now backed into a corner. We had little choice but to continue to support Victor Stănculescu; he was the only person left who was opposed to Russia now. But in the two weeks since he took over the country he arrested thousands of Romanians in a display of brazenness that would have shocked even Ceaușescu. Hundreds of Romanian politicians were now seeking refuge in Bulgaria. We had created a monster and now we had to figure out how to contain it.
German Chancellor defeated in Federal Elections; Scharping to be sworn in as new Chancellor of Germany
The Scotsman
October 17, 1994
In one of the most shocking political upsets in German history, longstanding German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and the Christian Democratic Union of Germany were defeated in federal elections yesterday by the slimmest of margins. Although there had been grumblings across Germany about his hard nosed approach to dealing with the UIS, it still was a shock to many in Germany as voters ousted the generally popular leader. Kohl’s party captured 249 seats, just three shy of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. However, the Green Party/Alliance ’90 coalition surprised many Germans by picking up a shocking 81 seats. Although the Green Party has never shown an interest in forming a Red-Green coalition with the SDP in the past, SDP leader Rudolf Scharping has indicated that the Green Party/Alliance ’90 has switched gears and will form a coalition government.
“We are at a unique time in German history,” commented Green Party politician Joschka Fischer, “we cannot be the Germany of old, challenging our neighbors and threatening them. We must stand for peace and democracy, not only for Germans, but for everyone.”
MSNBC interview with Walter Mondale, Former U.S. Secretary of State
July 16, 2008
MSNBC: Many Democrats, including you, were critical of President Kerrey’s decision to back the Romanian military during their coup in 1994. Republicans also were critical of the move, criticizing the fact that the United States was supporting an unrepentant former communist general. In hindsight do you still think the President made a “terrible mistake” as you famously said in 1994?
Mondale: Yes. It was a mistake then and it is a mistake now. And it cost the Democrats tremendously. After the midterm elections we lost fifty-nine seats in the House and thirteen seats in the Senate! And it wasn’t just the number of seats we lost, it was who we lost. Rick Santorum defeated Harris Wofford in Pennsylvania. Michael Huffington defeated Dianne Feinstein in California. Colin McMillan defeated Jeff Bingaman in New Mexico. Oliver North, the convicted felon, defeated Chuck Robb in Virginia. Even Edward Kennedy lost one of the safest Democratic Senate seats in the country when he was upset by Mitt Romney. You know things have gotten bad for Democrats when you lose to Mitt Romney.
MSNBC: Why did the Republicans score such a decisive win in 1994? It couldn’t all be because of Romania.
Mondale: No, it was the proposed health care reform that hurt him the most. But rather than rally his base, he alienated them by supporting a dictator in Romania over the leaders of the democracy movement. It was a cheap Nixon-esque move that shocked many Democrats. These Democrats were put off by that, and they decided to stay home on November 8th. It didn’t help that Stănculescu turned out to be an unrepentant communist. That just made Republican turnout even higher.
MSNBC: It looked like Kerrey was a lame duck on November 8, 1994. Most pundits assumed he would lose the election in 1996. But he was able to repackage himself and repair his relationship with his base. How did he pull that off?
Mondale: It was difficult. All across Europe America’s strongest allies against a resurgent UIS were falling. Germans made it abundantly clear in their elections in 1994 that they had little use for Kohl’s hard-line approach and sent him packing. President Kerrey realized that he had to be seen as part of the solution and not as part of the problem, while at the same time not being seen as rolling over against the Russians. Remember, this was a country that resembled Nazi Germany just two years prior. But he started looking at the long term picture, letting the Powell Doctrine do its part while also reaching out to moderate forces in the UIS. It was a very tricky tightrope, but it clearly was the strategy that was in our best interest. All he needed was an opportunity, and sure enough it came in December of 1994 when he received a call from Cyrus Vance.
