"Spanish Foreign Minister Javier Solana's selections as North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) new Secretary-General has surprised not just a few even among his fellow citizens. He is too much the radical academic for the position associated more with the establishment type of personality. Solana, a Socialist, has had over two decades of academic and political experience. As NATO president Solana's most difficult task is the reconstruction of Bosnia. The next is NATO's expansion to Eastern Europe.
"Even Spaniards were a bit taken aback when the name of Spanish Foreign Minister Javier Solana began to circulate as a possible candidate to be the next secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
"Although a brilliant diplomat, Solana, 53, just didn't fit the usual profile for secretaries-general, which have tended to be rock-solid establishment types from northern Europe, like Lord Carrington or retired general Manfred Worner.
"The bespectacled and bearded Solana is a southerner, a Socialist, a former student radical, and a senior minister in a government which had opted to stay out of the alliance's military command. But after the resignation of Belgium's Willy Claes in October, other candidates were found wanting, and Solana surfaced as a compromise.
"Solana's candidacy caused problems at home, however. Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez, after 13 years in power, is beset with political and financial scandals. Facing general elections next March, he had indicated he might not run. And with recent opinion polls showing the ruling Socialists far behind their conservative rivals, the party was hoping that a new face such as Solana's might just boost the party in the polls.
"Solana had been in the Gonzalez cabinet since the Socialists first came to power in 1982, was well-known and respected by the electorate, and equally important, was untainted by the improprieties which had brought down many of his colleagues over the past several years.
"As the Socialists wrung their hands over whether to offer up one of their own for the high-profile NATO job or keep him home on the chance he might make a difference on election day, consensus in Brussels began to grow behind Solana. But Madrid said they would not put Solana's name up unless the Americans gave him their unqualified and public support.
"Solana would be a candidate who would please many of the partners," said Italian Foreign Minister Susanna Agnelli. "But it is up to the Americans to decide who will be NATO secretary-general." Then Solana got the boost he needed. Just a week before the alliance foreign ministers were to discuss the secretary-general's post, Solana skillfully brokered a last minute deal on the wording of the final declaration of the Euro-Mediterranean conference in Barcelona.
"At issue were the references to terrorism, with Israel and Syria at loggerheads. As the quarrel threatened to scuttle the two days of talks, Solana came up with new phrasing which pleased both parties and saved the day.
"It was a personal success for Mr. Solana, who carried out the negotiations brilliantly," French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette told reporters.
"Born in 1942 to a Madrid family with liberal and republican leanings, Solana has spent his life in the world of academia and politics, which he entered more than two decades ago by joining the underground Socialist Youth movement. Solana studied at the prestigious El Pilar school in Madrid and went on to major in physics at the Universidad Complutense. His academic career was briefly interrupted when he was expelled for membership in an anti-Franco movement, but he then carried on his studies in Britain.
"In the late 1960s, Solana was a Fulbright scholar in the United States where he obtained his doctorate degree in physics. He then returned to teach at a Madrid
university where he was again kicked out for political reasons.
"In the 1970s, Solana moved up the ranks of the Socialist Party, and when they won the 1982 general elections, he was appointed culture minister. He held that post until 1985 when Gonzalez named him government spokesman, and three years later he took over the education and science portfolio.
"In 1992, Gonzalez tapped him for the foreign ministry job where he has helped advance Spain and Spanish interests on the international stage.
"And as NATO secretary-general, Solana will need all his formidable skills to guide the alliance through its tricky task in Bosnia and the equally difficult job of expanding the organization to the east.
"In remarks on taking up the post in December, Solana said "NATO's role is crucial, especially now when the security landscape of Europe is being redefined."
"Benjamin Jones is EUROPE's Madrid correspondent."
16 comments:
To Anonymous (9:53 PM) - from your post a couple of days ago and a few threads ago . . .
Re: "the proposed North American Union" - where you were left wondering whether it is "a myth or an urban legend" and are "not sure what to believe"
From WEBWIRE (October 09, 2007)
Speaking on last night's Larry King show, former Mexican President Vicente Fox confirmed every assertion made by Jerome Corsi in his new book, New York Times bestseller "The Late Great U.S.A: The Coming Merger with Mexico and Canada" Not only did Fox admit that he and George W. Bush have "agreed" to create a common currency, the Amero, he contended that a North American Union is "inevitable" That’s something that Jerry Corsi takes issue with while applauding Fox’s openness on national television.
"At last we have public confirmation of the pernicious secret activity that’s been going on towards merging Mexico, Canada and the United States" declares Corsi.
WORD GAMES
To find something when doing a web search, you have to get everything perfect or the result may be denial that what you are looking for exists. Politicians are programmed in the same way. You have to get your question just right to get an honest answer.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=82696
Obama economic adviser was socialist party member?
"...At the 2003 convention, Bonior laid out his plan for a North American Parliamentary Union, according to a DSA transcript of the event. ..."
Got it? It's not North American Union. It's North American Parliamentary Union."
Dorothy
There is nothing like Orwellian double speak -
DouginMI
Hi Dorothy,
Re: WORD GAMES
I have read that somethimes one letter is deliberately changed in order to prevent the "uninitiated" from accessing a message on the internet.
Interesting on the DSA -- I think it may be a relatively small group. I visited the website and realized with a thud that I could walk in and probably half would greet me with "hi,Connie."
I first met Dave Bonior when he was an incoming state representative. I had lunch with him and two others on his first day at the Michigan House of Representatives. I believe he told us he had once been a history teacher. Seemed like a very pleasant person then. John Conyers and Marianne Mahaffey I knew since 1968. Well, it has been said that Detroit is America's largest small town . . .
Constance
Interesting on the DSA. I believe it may be relatively young as an organization -- or relatively small -- probably a caucus within the Michigan Democratic Party, much like the old "Liberal Conference" of the old 17th District Democratic Party. Marianne Mahaffey, John Conyers, and so many others were active in it. I used to belong and some of them gave me support when I was faced with potential ridicule of my work. See my article on Marianne Mahaffey. I met Dave Bonior his first day as a freshman State Representative elect in Lansing in the fall of 1970. I was invited to be part of a small luncheon to meet him. He told us he had been a history teacher before beginning his political life. He is not the worst person I have ever met, but given the way NAFTA raped Michigan labor, I don't know how he could ever support the "North American Parliamentary Union" better known as "North American Union." Anyway,life takes interesting turns and twists.
Constance
Sorry about the double post -- thought only the first sentence had made it up and I had to rewrite!
Constance
DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA
Not that small Constance.
http://www.dsausa.org/dsa.html
http://www.dsausa.org/ydsupdate/index.html
http://www.dsausa.org/international/index.html
DSA is the largest US affiliate of the Socialist International (SI), the worldwide organization of 140 socialist, social democratic and labor parties. The SI has the distinction of being the largest political organization in the world.
We actively work to maintain our relationship with our sister organisations in the Socialist International. On this page you will find information on DSA’s international positions and events.
Dorothy
DSA
My first contact with members of the group was as an audience member at a Phil Donahue television show. My mom knew that I was interested in the ERA, and as a favor when she heard Donohue was having Steinem on as a guest, she called and got tickets for her, my friend and me to be in the audience. My mother was never up to speed on what I was involved with.
I look like a very ordinary person, and when Donahue called on comments from the audience he was prepared to hear someone gushing over Steinem and other guests who were celebrating the tenth anniversary of MS magazine. Only I had background on some of the guests. I had proof from their magazine that Gloria Steinem and Ed Asner were both involved with Democratic Socialists of America.
Donahue was taken aback by my comments, but the show went on.
After the show my mother who still had no clue said I should go up so that she could take my picture with Asner. I had to tell her this was not the time.
Dorothy
GLORIA STEINEM
I should add that according to her autobiography, her family had involvement with the Theosophical Society. It was also pretty well known by some that she was involved with the CIA.
Anyone interested can find information on these links by doing a web search.
History is really interesting.
Dorothy
THEOSOPHISTS
While looking to verify there are links to the posted information on Steinem, I came across this link which gives the names of well known individuals connected to the Theosophical Society.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=82696
Dorothy
Dorothy:
Fascinating research on Gloria. I had no idea she was involved with the CIA.
GLORIA STEINEM AND THE CIA
Great contribution on DSA and Gloria Steinem, Dorothy.
The following excerpt from a pro-Steinem biography details Gloria Steinam's involvement with the CIA.
.....Still, with the help of some stingy financial aid, there was enough money to send Steinem and her older sister to Smith, the Ivy League women's college. Gloria Steinem graduated in 1955. She spent a year of post graduate study in India in 1957, supported by the Chester Bowles Fellowship and some freelance writing. She had some trouble finding serious employment in the United States on her return. For a while, she worked for something called the Independent Research Service, which distributed CIA money to American students so that they could attend Communist youth festivals in Europe and, presumably, persuade the other participants of the errors of their ways.
http://www.johnreilly.info/lgs.htm
Also:
"In May 1975, Redstockings, a radical feminist group, raised the question of whether Steinem had continuing ties with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Though she admitted work for a CIA-financed foundation in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Steinem denied any further involvement. Steinem was also a member of Democratic Socialists of America.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Steinem
What of the patriotic volunteers? Gloria Steinem, the future feminist, has acknowledged that she worked for a CIA front, the amusingly named Independent Service for Information, whose purpose was to undermine a Soviet-bloc youth festival in Vienna. Tom Dooley, the celebrated humanitarian doctor in 1950s Vietnam, had no issues with his CIA cash, Wilford reports.
http://tinyurl.com/63r6lo
Apparently, Steinem wasn't happy about the embarrassing publicity that Random House was going to give her re: her CIA involvement in a book entitled FEMINIST REVOLUTION (edited by members of Redstockings) and she threatened to sue:
That afternoon, an unannounced visitor appeared in the citadel of the free
press. A presumably angry Gloria Steinem asked to see Random House president
Robert Bernstein. She was there to hand-deliver a letter from her attorney
threatening to sue for libel unless the chapter on the CIA was removed from
the book.
No one knows what Steinem and Bernstein said in their private meeting, and it
may have been just coincidence that, within weeks Random House was blitzed
with similar threats from other people and groups mentioned in the CIA
chapter: Clay Felker, Women's Action AlIiance, Warner Communications, Franklin
Thomas, the Overseas Education Fund of the League of Women Voters, and
Katherine Graham. But, in any case, publication of Feminist Revolution was
delayed nearly 3 years; the printing run was cut to 12,500, despite 13,000
advance orders; and when the book was finally released last month, the chapter
on Gloria Steinem and the CIA had been deleted in its entirety. Somehow, the
word "abridged" on the cover fails to answer the question: What happened?
On March 21st, of this year, 6 weeks after Feminist Revolution was finally
published, 5 members of Redstockings held a press conference to argue that
their book would be better described as "censored." Katie Sarachild, Colette
Price, Carol Hanisch, Sherry Lipsky, and Jane Barry said that at first they
had been astonished that Random House caved into pressure to ax the chapter.
But they also laid the blame on Steinem and her associates for using "libel"
claims to stifle debate within the women's movement and to suppress
embarrassing information about themselves. Price pointed out that the Zenger
trial, which launched the American tradition of freedom of the press, was a libel case.
http://tinyurl.com/6n5unx
So much for "liberation," right?
Wow! That was one that must have grown and/or emerged in the Detroit area in the years I was on the book -- I must confess it is new to me, although I was personally acquainted with several of the Detroit names listed when I googled it . . . Thanks, I think!
Constance
I once was invited to a party where Gloria Steinem was a star guest. I did not shake her hands nor go to meet her -- she struck me as arrogant. In researching the New Age Movement, I quickly learned of her Theosophical Society family history.
Constance
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