Was it a Freudian slip? Was it a gaffe? Or was it President Clinton
finally being honest about something for the first time in his life?
I refer to the statement he made yesterday with regard to the Panama
Canal transfer to a group of reporters in the Oval Office before leaving
for the West Coast.
In case you missed it elsewhere, the quote I am about to give you
from Clinton was recorded, albeit buried, in an Associated Press
story.
Here it is, folks. Hold on to your hats -- especially all of you
people who scoffed when I began telling you three years ago that the
Communist Chinese were taking over the Panama Canal.
"I think the Chinese will in fact be bending over backwards to make
sure that they run it in a competent and able and fair manner," Clinton
said. That's verbatim. Those are his words, not mine. Clinton, who has
until now denied that the Chinese were to take control of the strategic
canal, admitted it publicly.
And, as if to underline his admission and seemingly to ensure there
could be no misunderstanding of his words, Clinton elaborated. According
to the AP story, he compared the operation of the canal to China's
campaign to win admission to the World Trade Organization, which sets
the rules for global trade.
"They'll want to demonstrate to a distant part of the world that they
can be a responsible partner," the president said. "And I would be very
surprised if any adverse consequences flowed from the Chinese running
the canal."
Oh, absolutely. Responsible. Partner. Competent. Fair. Those are all
words I readily associate in my mind with the totalitarian government in
Beijing. Don't you?
Well, there you have it, folks. Goodbye Panama Canal. The Bamboo
Curtain just moved into the Western Hemisphere -- officially, that is.
After all, I gave you this history long ago. I told you about the
fact that a Chinese government company -- a front for the military --
Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., was to begin operation of the ports on both ends
of the strategic waterway Jan. 1. It has been the Clinton administration
and its many apologists in Congress and the press who have laughed,
ridiculed the idea. Chinese military shill Alexander Haig suggested I
should be jailed for making such accusations.
And now the truth has finally come out through an unusually candid
admission by Clinton. He is telling us now what has been obvious to
anyone familiar with the transfer of the canal. He is admitting what
former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Thomas Moorer
stated
in our pages some time back.
Clinton says we can rely on the good intentions of the Chinese to
maintain access to the canal. Doesn't that reassure you? The Chinese,
who, as we speak, are rounding up tens of thousands of religious
dissidents and interning them, threatening to attack Taiwan and working
overtime on developing military technology that could only be used to
attack the United States, should be trusted on this Panama Canal deal
because it's a chance for them to show how responsible they really are.
This is nuts!
When are the American people going to wake up? Clinton is so
embarrassed by this deal on the canal that he is not even going to
attend the transfer ceremonies. Why? If he doesn't have any second
thoughts and believes giving away the Panama Canal to a hostile foreign
power is still a good idea, why not go wave the flag next month at the
ceremony?
The answer, of course, is simple: It's not a good idea. It's not good
politics. Clinton knows what he is doing and has been hiding the truth
since the beginning. As is his character, he does not want to be held
responsible. Nor does he want Al Gore and his political party to pay a
price for this move.
If ever there was a time -- an opportunity -- to pressure the
politicians to reverse what will someday be judged a historic blunder,
it is now. If you really have the guts to stop this thing, America, wake
up and take action now. You won't have to risk your life to write a
letter to your senators and representatives in Washington or fill out a simple online
petition today.
Your kids, however, may someday pay for our mistakes with their blood if
you sit silent through this official treachery.