Covert Action Quarterly 44
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tf~ ~- - -,...:- •. hen George Bush sent troops to Somalia, he The ego factor. The intervention came during Bush's lame declared that they were "doing God's work." duckdom. The born-to-rule silver spoon-suckled Yalie had W The media, by and large has accepted and just been beaten by some philandering hick from Arkansa,q. promulgated the fiction that the intervention is yet another Bush, a bored, depressed, moody, soon-to-be has-been com exr.mple of U.S. benevolence. History and healthy skepticism plained to the press that he had nothing left to do but walk the suggest that there are other factors at work: dog. Suddenly. with the decision to send troops, the media Bolster the military. Somalia, noted Colin Powell, "was a followed his every word, and the Joint Chiefs were competing paid political advertisement" for the Pentagon budget. Faced with Allied Van Lines for office access. wi h growing irrelevance and deep cuts, the bloated military OU. In 1991, a World Bank-coordinated report ranked wa~ reportedly delighted to branch into ''benign" inteJVention. Somalia and Sudan at the top of its list of prospective com Crude economic gain. Since 1985, the U.S. has been mercial oil producing nations in Africa. Five, mostly U.S.· number one in arms sales to Somalia-and worldwide. A large based oil companies, have land concessions and exploratory deployment b good for sales, good for R&D, and good for a rights covering more than half of Somalia's territory and are sagging economy in general. potentially worth billions of dollars. Conoco, the largest lease Future strategic asset. Until it was chased out of Somalia holder, actively assisted Operation Restore I lope, even lend· by tnternal strife and changing priorities, the U.S. ran a major ing the Pentagon its corporate compound as military air and naval base in Berbera. With one of the biggest runways headquarters. "The oil companies," a former diplomat told the in Africa, the base is strategically placed on the Gulf of Eden Toronto Globe and Mail, "are eager to get a new government near the Middle East oil-producing countries. A small U.S. established in Somalia, because they probably will be unable force left behind could serve as a rapid deployment and to insure their drilling operations until the country is stable." communications base in future regional actions. The humanitarian intervention precedent. Who could Install a submissive government. While the end of the object, in the face of horrific images ofskeletal children dying Cd d War certainly diminished the strategic importance of by the thousands, to launching a rescue mission'/ That the U.S. Somalia, the U.S. would no doubt prefer a government that is had sat back for years while the tragedy developed (and is sy•npathetic to its interests or at least dependent on its support now developing in Sudan and elsewhere) is ignored. Given fo r survival. the opportunity to send the Marines cloaked in kindness. U.S. Undermine separatism. Without a stable central govern· planners established a crucial precedent. Now, any time the ment, the separatist movement in northern Somalia, which the U.S. government decides that "humanitarian intervention" is U.S. opposes, is likely to grow. useful, it has established its right to act-without consulting Oppose Islamic fundamentalism. National security the U.S. congress or people, and wi thout an invitation from analysts view rising Islamic fundamentalism as a threat to the affected population or its governing mechanisms. The U S. interests. "If the fundamentalists sweep through precedent exploits the tragedy without offering a political Sc malia," noted Osman Hassan Ali, Somali oilman and clmc: solution and sets up a Marines-or-nothing dynamic. It should as' ociate of regional leader General Mohamed Farah Aidid, not be forgotten that U.S. manipulation of the Horn of Africa "their next targets will be Ethiopia and Kenya. I fit's contained during the Cold War helped precipitate the current crisis. in Somalia, that can be stopped." Increase U.S. control of U.N. By drawing the U.N. into n this issue of CovertAction Quarterly. the weapon of th ~ follow-up role. the U.S. consolidates its ability to use that "humanitarian intervention~ is explored by Alex de Waal body as a foreign policy arm and a convenient surrogate. I and Rakiya Omaar. Their principled stand against Africa Watch's support for military intervention cost them their jobs. Nor is Somalia the first time that private organizations, de Publishers: Ellen Ray, William Schaap, Louis Wolf spite some important work, have accepted the U.S. govern Director of Research: Louis Wolf ment's frame of debate. Before the Gulf War, a phony Iraqi Staff: Jonathan Brier, Michael Hahn, atrocity story, concocted by a Kuwaiti-employed PR firm to Margaret Hanzimanolis, Faith Holsaert, rouse war fever, was widely believed. (Seep. 19.) Bill Montross, Barbara Neuwirth, Jane Teller The manipulation of public opinion on Somalia and the Gulf War reveals the collaborative relationship among lob· Photography consultant: Dolores Neuman byists, public relations agencies, policy planners and, in the Editor: Terry Allen case of Somalia, some private aid organization~. The articles featured in this issue make clear that Clinton's CovertActlon Quarterly. 1500 Massachusetts Ave., NW. proposed reforms on lobbyists and influence peddlers are /1732, Washington, DC 20005, (202) 331-9763, ·9751(fax) . CovertActlon Quarterly. Number 44, Spring 1993. Published superficial and riddled with loopholes. The intervention in quarterly, by Covert Action Publications, I no .. a District of Somalia illustrates how the U.S. takes a complex problem, Columbia Nonprofit Corporation, copyright ~1993. Indexed severs it from its political, historical, cultural and economic by Affemative Press Index, University Microfilms, ISSN 0275· 309X. All rights reserved. roots and, with the help of a tame press and massive spin control, markels it like a grade-B movie. Ca••eat emptor. • 2 CovertAction Number43 CovertAction Q U A R T E R L Y So~alia: Adding ~ Sc>m81 lia~ .w~s " '<triliol run to test 'putill~'r!§i>Onise Omaar, ·Africa Watch fOr and de Wul examine pdvjlte Qnd governmentrelief ifforts and' show a b~QJY· of failure to the political ancfeconomlc. needs of ~s..... ~~ FEATURE The Power of Clout: How PR, Lobbying, and Special Interests Buy Influence Clinton Cabinet: Affirmative Action Burson-Marsteller for the Ethically Challenged Poisons the Grassroots ... ....•:::;,..• . 0 oug Vaug han 12 ,.. ' John Dillon 34 ';'!/ Clinton promised to end special interest Global PR firms aim their vast resources at Influence. But his appointees Federico Peria, small grassroots struggles around the world. In Vermont, with big budgets, infiltrators, and ~u..,.-..:,. 11 m Wirth, Ron Brown, and Lloyd Bentsen are 1 dirty tricks, they fought farmers and activists. (.);~ 1 smeared with the political dirt dug up to build L.....;... ·LJ · the boondoggle Denver airport. BCCI: Bank of the CIA Public Relationships: Jack Calhoun 40 Hill & Knowlton, Robert Gray, and the CIA BCCI made itself very useful to th e CIA and vice versa. The complex web of BCCI con Johan Carlisle 19 ' tinues to unravel with more felons, interna PR giant H&K flecked for dictators and tional arms dealers, and Agency assets mopped up corporate messes from Bhopal to revealed in the threads. Three Mile Island. Its former D.C. head, Robert Gray, gathered information for Intel· ligence agencies and helped the CIA sway public opinion. Marketing the Religious Right's Anti-Gay Agenda Chip Berlet 46 The Great Global Greenwash: The Religious Right has jumped on the issue PR, Pax Trilateral, and the Rio Summit of gays In the military. Using Internal memos, Berlet traces the anti-gay campaign and shows I ·o ~ ~~ Joyce Nelson 26 the Right's plan to profit from gay bashing. • Faced with opposition from the environmental movement, corporations organized. Co-opting ~~ the Rio Summit, and creating bogus com· Clinton: New Era, ~~n~ munity groups, the polluting transnalionals strategized with spindoctors at Burson· Same Old National Security .__ ____. Marsteller to undermine environmentalists. Trond Jacobsen 48 Clinton's statements and appointments of recycled cold warriors reveal his commitment cover: Diego Rivera. mural, 1926. Ministry of Education. to the national security state. The National Wexico City. Clout quote: Jeff Blmbaum. January 1993. Security Education Act will supply the crop of 0011er: Edward Brodner ~essenti al intelligence experts and operatives. CovertAction 3 .. ' Somalia: Adding IJHumanitarian Intervention" to the U.S. Arsenal AJex de Waal and Rakiya Omaar S omalia has no elephants; yet it became 011e ofAfrica's largest exporters of ivory. With no mineral deposits, it exported precious stones. Cattle and camels were herded over all its borders, sailed across the Red Sea to Yemen, and traded to the huge markets around the Gulf Somalia became a major arms emporium. It also became a bottomless pit into which aid donors poured their money, asking . for virtually no accountabilitlj and tuming a blind eye to flagrant abuse. Those in the international community contemplating how to reconstntct Somalia should bear this in mind: The country is no aid virgin, and during the 1980s, aid was part of the problem, not part of the solution. E mer;gency humanitarian need has become a sideshow for Somalia. The famine, already on the pa.th to recovery, is confined to a few dwindling pock£ts. The military relief program, whose title "Operation Restore Hope" brings an ironic smile to Somali faces, addresses chiefly the Westem public's need to salve conscience. The central concem of many Soma/is-changing the patltological political/economic stntcture that has driven their cotmtry to ntin-remains well off the agenda of the ocawying forces. 4 CovertActlon Number44 he United States military occupation of parts of Thus, when the United Nations Security Council debated T Somalia is an exercise in philanthropic imperialism.