Liking Clinton

As you may know, former U.S. President Bill Clinton was in Istanbul over the weekend as the guest of Bilgi University.

In his speech, at Bilgi’s Santral Istanbul campus in Silahtarağa, to an audience of nearly 700 people consisting of students, academics and business representatives, the 42nd president of the United States went on a wide-ranging tour of the horizon and decorated it with stories from his days in the White House.

I read Clinton’s speech transcript from beginning to end. I underlined some sections, including the following lines: “Right after becoming president, I summoned my teams responsible of national security and economy. I told them, ‘From now on, we will come together often; because as the world is rapidly globalizing and interdependence is increasing, economy will become a part of national security.’ I said to them that ‘There are 10 countries that will determine the future of the 21st century’ and added, ‘let me tell you the first two countries we should start with: Turkey and Ukraine. What happens in these two countries will have a great effect on the future of the world.’”

I like Clinton. Of course, looking at the position Turkey has arrived at in world politics, what he means to say is: “Back then, I had foreseen today.” But reality is not “exactly” like he describes it. In that meeting that Clinton held after being elected president, he determined the new foreign trade policy in the United States and, more specifically, its exporting policies. The verdict was this: no matter where in the world big contracts happen, the White House will use all its influence to make sure the U.S. wins the bid.

This is what Clinton’s Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown told me. And Export-Import Bank President Rita Rodriguez. In a statement made by Brown in those days, he said “With the president, we determined 10 rising markets.” He added that he would visit each of these 10 countries, which were: Brazil, Poland, Saudi Arabia, India, Vietnam, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Ukraine and Turkey. Unfortunately, he could never come to Turkey. His visit, which was ultimately delayed, was initially planned for the beginning of 1996. The second time he was planning to come he died in a plane crash near Dubrovnik, Croatia. Brown’s immediate successor, Mickey Kantor, didn’t come, and it was Kantor’s successor, William Daley, who finally came. In 1998.

Let us return to Clinton’s speech. The 42nd President stated: “In that meeting that I had with my teams responsible of national security and the economy, I said ‘If things don’t improve in Pakistan, terrible things could happen.’”

I like Clinton, but some of the seeds of the chaotic situation that Afghanistan and Pakistan find themselves struggling in today were planted in his time. Let me explain:

In August 1994, Osama bin Laden declared that he had founded a “Hedjaz Islamic Republic” with Medina as its capital. As it is today, a very big part of the security of Saudi Arabia at that point was in the hands of the Americans. From their base in Dhahran, they could even spot a bird in the Saudi Arabian skies. In addition, there were four “Airborne Warning and Control System” satellites that were constantly over the Arabian Peninsula.

At that time, the Saudis made many efforts to obtain U.S. support to catch bin Laden. But this yielded no result. Bin Laden escaped to Afghanistan, and from there to Sudan, and then to Afghanistan again. Now he is hiding in the tribal areas of Pakistan.

And before I forget: meanwhile, the Americans managed to sell weaponry worth $30 billion to Saudi Arabia to provide better security! Just like the $75 billion weapons contract that was signed just recently.

Like I said: I like Clinton, but…


Editor’s Note: The quotes in this article, while accurately translated, could not be verified.