Lawmakers urged to use "NATO" money for human needs

By Tim Wheeler

This article was reprinted from the April 25, 1998 issue of the People's Weekly World. For subscription information see below. All rights reserved - may be used with PWW credits.

John Isaacs, Council for a Livable World president, assailed the drive to expand NATO, warning that pushing the Cold War alliance near the Russian border will undermine nuclear arms reduction.

"The most important task is to reduce nuclear weapons of both Russia and the United States," he told the World in a telephone interview on Earth Day, "NATO expansion is likely to encourage Russia to keep their arsenals."

Isaacs cited a recent poll by the Pew Research Center showing public support for NATO expansion eroding dramatically from 63 percent last September to only 49 percent today. "The support for an expanded NATO has declined but opposition has not increased," he said, citing the polls finding that most of the shift has been to the undecided category. "But we are working to mobilize the opposition," he said.

Gordon Clark, executive director of Peace Action, said his group is part of a broad alliance of organizations working to mobilize opposition to NATO expansion. "The polls show that people are beginning to pick up on this issue and see NATO expansion as a threat to peace," he told the World.

Full-page ads in newspapers and 30-second radio commercials across the country are warning that expanding NATO nearer to the Russian border will increase the risks of war and cost U.S. taxpayers many billions of dollars.

The ads, sponsored by Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, come on the eve of renewed Senate debate on the proposal to add Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary to the cold-war alliance. The ads offer readers the chance to send their senators a fax by calling toll free the "No-to- NATO-Expansion Hotline." (1-877-NO-NATO-3).

The text of the fax message points out that former U.S. ambassadors to the Soviet Union, Jack Matlock and Arthur Hartman as well as former CIA Director Stansfield Turner are opposed to NATO expansion. It brands NATO as an alliance against "enemies that no longer exist" and warns that expansion will "alienate Russia" and increase the risk of war. "I'd rather see my money spent for education, health care and the environment. Please vote against NATO expansion," the fax message concludes.

Among the business executives spearheading the campaign is Ben Cohen, chairman of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream. Gary Ferdman, executive director of the business group, said "Ben's belief is that NATO expansion will soak up billions of taxpayer dollars that could be better spent on our domestic agenda, such as education."

"Hey, let's scare the Russians!" is the blazing headline on a full-page ad sponsored by the group that appeared Monday in the New York Times. Sarcastically, the ad suggests that pushing the NATO near the borders of Russia will make the Russian people "feel more secure ... Its the same feeling of peace and security Americans would feel if Russia were in a military alliance with Canada and Mexico, armed to the teeth, and excluding the United States. We'd all sleep better then, right?"

The ad warns that in response to the NATO expansion, the Russian government, which controls 21,000 nuclear weapons, has already delayed ratification procedures for the START II Treaty which would eliminate many U.S. and Russian nuclear warheads. "This unfriendly expansion has already caused the Russians to step back from their promise not to be the first to use nuclear weapons," the ad states. "NATO expansion poses serious threats to peace. Why is the Senate rushing to act with limited debate?"

NATO expansion is a "$60 billion boondoggle" for the six largest U.S. defense contractors, the ad continues. These arms profiteers have already spent $51 million lobbying for NATO expansion in hopes of selling billions in weaponry for "modernizing the Czech, Polish and Hungarian armies." The Congressional Budget Office conservatively estimates this part of NATO expansion will cost U.S. taxpayers $60 billion, the ad charges. "There are at least nine more candidates for NATO membership. Equipping them will cost billions and billions more."

For their own reasons, some ultra-rightists have also spoken out against NATO expansion, joining with liberal foes of NATO expansion in "electronic town meetings" on radio talk shows in more than 20 cities. But the "Godfather" of the right-wing extremists in the Senate, Foreign Relations Chair Jesse Helms (R-NC) was persuaded by his good friend, Sec. of State Madeleine Albright, to drop his objections and join enthusiastically in the NATO expansion drive.

Observers expect Senate debate on the measure soon. It will take a two-thirds majority - 67 of 100 senators - to approve NATO expansion. New Hampshire Sen. Robert C. Smith, a Republican who opposes the expansion, said nearly three dozen senators must be converted to block the NATO expansion.