EDITORrnThomas FlemingrnMANAGING EDITORrnTheodore PappasrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, ]r.rnASSISTANT EDITORrnChristine HaynesrnART DIRECTORrnAnna Mycek-WodeckirnCONTRIBUTING EDITORSrnJohn W. Aldridge, Harold O.].rnBrown, Katherine Dalton, SamuelrnFrancis, George Garrett,rnE. Christian Kopff, Clyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrn]anet Scott Barlow, Bill Kauffman,rnJohn Shelton Reed, Momcilo Selic,rnDavid R. SlavittrnEDITORIAL SECRETARYrnLeann DobbsrnPUBLISHERrnAllan C. CarlsonrnPUBLICATION DIRECTORrnGuy C. ReffettrnCOMPOSITION MANAGERrnAnita FedorarnCIRCULATION MANAGERrnRochelle FrankrnA publication of The Rockford Institute.rnEditorial and Advertising Offices:rn9?4 North Main Street, Rockford, IL 61103.rnEditorral Phone: (815)964-5054.rnAdvertising Phone: (815) 964-5811.rnSubscription Department: P.O. Box 800,rnMount Morris, IL 61054. Call 1-800-877-5459.rnFor information on advertising m Chronicles,rnplease call Rochelle Frarrk at (815) 964-5811.rnU.S.A. Newsstaird Distribution bv Eastern NewsrnDistributors, Inc., 1150 Cleveland Road,rnSandu.sky,OIl 44870.rnCop right © 1995 h The Rockford Institute.rnAll rights reserved.rnChronickfi (ISSN 0887-5751) is publtshedrnmonthly for S28 per ear by The RockfordrnInstrtute, 934 North Main Street, Rockford,rnIL 61103-7061. Second-class postage paidrnat Rockford, IL and additional mailing offices,rnPOSTMASTER: Send address changes tornChronicles, P.O. Box 800, Mount Morns,rnIL 61054rnThe iews expressed in Chronicles are thernauthors’ alone and do not necessarily reflectrnthe views of The Rockford Institute or of itsrndirectors. Un.solicitcd manuscripts cannot bernreturned unless aeconrpanied bv a self-addressedrnstamped envelope.rnChnpniciesrnVol, I”. No. 12 December 199;rnPrinted in the United St.itcs of AmericarnCULTURAL REVOLUTIONSrnT H E A N S W E R IS.- Mohammed FarrahrnAidid, The question is; Who is thernlatest Hitler? Yes, American policy inrnSomalia is a kind of jeopardy game, arnlose-lose situation in which either thernU.N. policy of coloring the globe bluernwill succeed or American liyes will havernbeen sacrificed for the sole purpose of reyealingrnBill Clinton as a chump.rnWhat do we really know about thisrn”evil wadord”? He was, apparently, givenrnmilitary training in the Soviet Unionrnand in Italy, yvhere his instructors spokernwell of him. After spending years in jailrnunder the previous evil dictator, he wasrnset free to sere as ambassador to Indiarnand chief of armed forces. When oppositionrnto the dictatorship mounted,rnAidid was tapped to lead the rebellion,rnand he naturally assumed that he wouldrnemerge as the George Washington orrnMao Tse-tung of his country. Havingrnthe most to lose, he was the least likely torncollaborate with a U.N. takeo’er of Somalia.rnHis rivals, on the other hand,rncould only improve their position.rnSince the above is derived from a cursoryrninspection of American newspapers,rnit could all be wTong. Unfortunately,rnthe Somalia campaign is a media war, arnvideo game in which pictures of starvingrnSomali children compete against picturesrnof American soldiers being draggedrnthrough the streets. What makes thisrnexercise in “telescopic philanthropy” sornsinister is the fact that for decades Somaliansrnhave been receiving internationalrnrelief assistance by the bucketsrnfull, and the only effect has been to renderrnthem ever more dependent on Westernrnaid, less able to solve their problemsrnof overpopulation and famine. The olderrncolonialism was ruthless but advancedrnwhat used to be called civilization. Ourrnneocolonialism is even more ruthless becauserntoday the only object is a NewrnWodd Order that is the principal enemyrnof civilization.rnIt is not as if we have not beenrnthrough all this before, in Vietnam.rnWhen Clinton and Aspin defendedrntheir decision not to send the extrarnequipment requested by American officersrnon the ground, it was the same oldrnargument of Johnson and McNamara:rnthey did not want to jeopardize diplomaticrnnegotiations. And even after decidingrnto call the whole thing off, thernPresident could not make up his mindrneither to withdraw or to cancel thern”Wanted Dead or Alive” order that hadrnbeen put out on General Aidid, the manrnwe were now going to negotiate with.rnThe U.N. finally had to take that step,rnbut only after Aidid came out of hidingrnto hold a press conference. Only a Russianrncliche can sum up the President’srnweakness and ignorance: “The only lessonrnhistory teaches is that no one everrnlearns anything from history.” WithrnClinton’s education, history means lastrnyyeek, and he cannot even rememberrnthat far back. As we go to press, ourrnRhodes Scholar President has ordered arnblockade of Haiti.rn—Thomas FlemingrnWiLSONIAN MEDDLING in woddrnaffairs produces a corollary that otherrnnations must abhor. American citizensrnnot only take an active and sympatheticrninterest in the welfare of the “old country”rn—whether England or Poland orrnHaiti—they also insist on instructing thernuneducated folk who stayed home onrnhow to conduct their affairs in accordrnwith the highest ideals of Americanrndemocracy. This produces anomalies inrnforeign policy that, as usual, Jews exemplifyrnin a striking way.rnSpecifically, Jewish Americans, particularlyrnon the left, undertake to instructrnsuccessive Israeli governments onrnhow to make peace with the Arab states,rnwhat to say to the PLO, and when andrnwhere to show that sterling trait ofrnrationality when sorting out the irrationalrnaffairs of the Middle East. If 1rnwere the Israeli cabinet, whether on thernleft or on the right, I would cursernColumbus. Here these overseas pressurerngroups presume to dictate policy, butrnthen never undertake to bear its consequences.rnDon’t get me WTong. Voluntary actionrnis as American as bagels and creamrncheese, or pizza and beer. There is nothingrnodd about strong Jewish-AiTierieanrnconcern for the future of Israel, a countryrnunder siege for neady a half-centuryrnnow. The PACs under Jewish sponsorshiprnconcerned with Near and MiddlernEastern matters and those (also underrnJewish sponsorship) with strong interestsrnin public policy at home together constituterna formidable Jewish political presencernin Washington, and in New Yorkrn4/CHRONICLESrnrnrn