the 1972 election when George Bush was chairman of thernRNC. During Bush’s tenure, “The Croatian Ustashi becamernan integral part of the campaign structure of Republican politics,rnalong with several other Fascist organizations.”rnCroatian Americans are not the only source of funds. Rumorrnhas it that rich Muslim states have not been content withrnshipping money to Albania and arms to Bosnia, that they havernalso managed to buy into the American media and to makerncampaign contributions to American politicians. Not so longrnago, this was difficult. Fritz Mondale actually had to give backrna campaign contribution from an Arab-American group.rnWhat a nightmare. A politician who can’t take money is likernthe proverbial eunuch in a harem. But now, with Israel takingrnin Bosnian Muslim refugees and American Jewish groups comparingrnMr. Karadjic to Hitler, it is completely safe to wallow inrnArab oil money.rnWorst of all, a regime thatrnwhets its appetite forrnblood on Serbs, Iraqis, and Somalisrnhas already shown that it has nornreluctance about turning its gunsrnagainst its own citizens.rnThese things are very difficult to track down—and dangerousrneven to hint at. What seems to confirm the persistent storiesrnof the flow of Albanian money into the campaign chests ofrncertain prominent politicians is the undeniable and otherwiserninexplicable level of support for the Albanians in Kosovo, whornhave been practicing ethnic cleansing against the Serbs for 100rnyears. Clinton has threatened war, if the Serbs “invade” Kosovo,rneven though Kosovo is part of Serbia. Bob Dole, on the otherrnhand, is almost monomaniacal on the question, and when hernand his staff visit the region, I am told, the Senator refuses tornmeet with any Kosovo Serbs. It is simpler, apparently, to hearrnonly one side of the story.rnThere are also sources of Albanian money closer to home.rnAlbanian gangs have become expert in sophisticated burglaryrnof jewelry stores and other high-income businesses. One Albanianrnarrested in California said he was raising money for the Albanianrnlobby.rnJerry Brown is absolutely right that the American governmentrnis bought and sold by interest groups, and the most dangerousrnsector of public venality is the foreign lobbying that goesrnon, not just in trade policy but even in matters of war andrnpeace. So long as politicians are allowed to take bribes from foreignrngovernments under the guise of campaign contributionsrnfrom lobbyists and educational associations, American parentsrnhad better be prepared to send off their sons and daughters torndie for the Emir of Kuwait or the Emir of Bosnia.rnNot all bribery, however, is foreign. Domestic firms havernobvious stakes in imperialist policies. The end of the Cold Warrnwas a disaster for the war industry. The Republican Contractrnwith America calls for increases in “defense” spending and arnnew commitment to missile defense. In January, Senate Republicansrncalled for an end to defense cuts. A freeze in defensernspending will be fatal to any attempt to cut the budget (and thernGOP’s electoral strategy is heavily dependent upon budgetcutting),rnhence the scare language about unpreparedness—sornreminiscent of JFK’s nasty tactics in the 1960 election.rnThis spring, the New York Times ran a heartrending story tornarouse sympathy for lobbyists: “Republicans Rule Lobbyists’rnWorld With Iron Hand” using “strong-arm tactics that arernblunt even by Washington standards.” But as little as we sympathizernwith these victimized lobbyists, their current plight is arnclear indication of what really drives congressional budgets.rnLet us add it up; bribery from foreign and domestic sources,rnabject ignorance of history and foreign languages, self-servingrnpolitical gamesmanship; more simply—greed, stupidity, andrnlust for power—the basic elements of what Ceorge Bush calledrnthe New World Order. All that oilman George Bush reallyrnmeant to imply by his feckless phrase was that American powerrnwould be used to make the world safe for multinational businessrncorporations. Former CIA director Stansfield Turner almostrnsays as much in an article in Foreign Affairs (Fall ’91),rnwhere he argues that “economic strength should now be recognizedrnas a vital component of national security” and suggestsrnthat the American government should “provide economic intelligencernto specific American corporations.”rnThe tactics of the transnational business elites differ vastly inrndegree, but not in kind from the neighborhood mob’s efforts torncorner prostitution, gambling, and drugs. What does the localrnmob do, if some rival insists on acting independently? Thernfriends of Bugs Moran found out one St. Valentine’s Day herernin Chicago, when they were gunned down by the Capone mob.rnSo did Saddam Hussein. Republican Senator Richard Lugarrnnot only vigorously supported the Gulf War and is urging a repeatrnperformance, but he is one of many Republican senatorsrnwho favor extension of NATO protection to most or even all ofrnCentral and Eastern Europe. What Lugar fears most is whatrnhe calls “renationalization”—that is, the assertion of any nationalrnsovereignty that conflicts with American interests. Thisrnis now the primary role of NATO, according to the foreign ministerrnof Belgium: “To prevent at all costs… the rekindling of nationalismrnas a result of a renaissance of the nation-state,” andrnthis statement is quoted with approval by our own DeputyrnCommander in Chief, U.S. European Command.rnAmericans may think they pay taxes to support a huge defensernestablishment in order to defend the United States, butrnour own political and military leaders say the opposite is true:rnour main goal, apparently, is to deprive every other people inrnEurope of their right to self-government and self-determination,rnon the grounds that it is dangerous to the global economv.rnAnyone who loves his country and his people more than hernloves money constitutes a threat to the international order. Forrnthe giant oil and computer companies and media conglomerates,rnnationalism is necessarilv a dirty word, because nationsrnlike to have control of their own resources; some of them passrnprotectionist laws sheltering their own businesses from cutthroatrninternational competition; they may even have health,rnsafety, and environmental regulations that interfere with profits.rnThe way around these national barriers is through giganticrnlO/CHRONICLESrnrnrn