National Security Advisor Anthony Lake, at a May 5, 1994, briefing on Presidential Decision Directive 25, the Clinton Administration’s new blueprint for reforming US forces’ participation in multinational peacekeeping operations.
The President on the C-17
“The C-17’s capabilities are crucial to the Air Force’s ability to deliver and sustain forces in support of theater commanders.”
President Bill Clinton, in a May 23, 1994, letter to members of the House of Representatives urging them to authorize procurement of six C-17s in Fiscal 1995.
They Will Bury Us “The Russian Far East-with its dying industry, enfeebled army, and tiny population-receives a stab in the back in the form of [Russo-Chinese] agreements that work in favor of [Chinese seeking] to enter Russia. . . . The Russian Far East has been flooded by commercial people, overnight traders, the unemployed, Mafia types, and . . . a rabble that makes our bums and beggars seem to be aristocrats. . . . China’s official ideology still regards the Russian Far East as Chinese territory seized under the czarist-imposed unequal treaties. The population of the Russian Far East is little more than seven million, while China’s northeast is inhabited by over 100 million. On some bright morning, our people will wake up to the realization that our guests outnumber us.”
From an article in the Moscow weekly Literaturnaya Gazeta, as translated and quoted by Brophy O’Donnell in the May 13, 1994, Baltimore Sun.
What’s That Cracking Sound “The ability to maintain a worldwide intelligence community that gets the job done for national decision-makers and for all commanders is very much on thin ice right now.”
CIA Director R. James Woolsey, in April 28, 1994, remarks to the Defense Writers Group in Washington, D. C., regarding the effect of the Administration’s plan for a five-year, $14 billion cut in the national intelligence budget and pressure in Congress for even greater reductions.
“Environmental Security” “To ensure [that] US military installations do not create environmental devastation [of the kind] that plagues Russia, the former Soviet Union, and eastern Europe, the US must anticipate new, more comprehensive regulations and more rigorous enforcement of all regulations.”
Sherri W. Goodman, deputy under secretary of defense for Environmental Security, in March 1, 1994, testimony to the Military Installations and Facilities Subcommittee, House Armed Services Committee.
Where Are the Bombers “The committee remains concerned that the number of long-range bombers programmed in the [Defense] Department’s force plan [is] inadequate to support requirements for two major regional contingencies.”
A House Armed Services Committee statement, May 6, 1994, summarizing conclusions underlying the Fiscal 1995 Defense Authorization Act.
Maybe, Maybe Not “The military services have averaged more than 1,500 sexual harassment complaints annually during the past couple of years. Most of them-about 800 a year in 1992 and 1993-have been substantiated. . . . Do these numbers suggest a pervasive problem? Frankly, I do not know. On the one hand, only a small proportion of the 200,000 women on active duty have registered formal complaints. On the other hand, survey data suggest that a very high percentage of military women have experienced sexual harassment.”
Edwin Dorn, assistant secretary of defense for Personnel and Readiness, in March 9, 1994, testimony to the House Armed Services Committee regarding sexual harassment in the armed forces.
The Wages of Sin “$8,500.00 on 10/08/92
1,700.00 on 10/13/92
7,000.00 on 10/13/92
9,600.00 on 10/18/92
8,600.00 on 10/22/92
8,700.00 on 10/30/92
9,400.00 on 11/10/92
5,000.00 on 11/16/92
Total: $58,500. . . .
“$8,500.00 on 10/08/92
9,200.00 on 10/13/92
7,300.00 on 10/30/92
3,200.00 on 11/16/92
Total: $28,200. . . .”
FBI Agent Leslie G. Wiser, Jr., in the February 21, 1994, arrest warrant for CIA turncoat Aldrich H. Ames. The figures show amounts “exclusive of his salary deposits” deposited over a six-week period into two accounts held by Ames and his wife.
From Here to Paternity “At the time I was appointed secretary, there were some media articles proclaiming that I was the ‘father of stealth.’ . . . I did play a very important role [in the 1970s] in energizing the government to move vigorously forward in this field, but I believed then and I believe now that Ben Rich provided the intellectual and the spiritual leadership and that the title ‘father of stealth’ really belongs to Ben.”
Secretary of Defense William J. Perry, referring to former Lockheed executive and F-117 program manager Ben Rich, in a May 5, 1994, speech to the Global Air and Space 1994 International Forum, Arlington, Va.