Clinton's Chemical Weapons Power Play

Gaffney, Frank, Jr., The Washington Times (Washington, DC)

The Clinton administration is mounting a campaign against the leadership of the U.S. Senate that has all the subtlety of a Mafia hit.

The immediate object of its intimidation is Sen. Trent Lott, whose knees are at risk of being broken (figuratively, we must hope) unless he bends to the president's will. To do so, however, the majority leader would, in turn, have to "take out" the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Jesse Helms - and with him, the Senate's rules concerning the consideration of treaties and that institution's way of doing business more generally.

The administration is resorting to such tactics for a very simple reason: Mr. Helms is in a position indefinitely to bottle up a highly controversial treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Incredible though it may seem, Secretary of State-designate Madeleine Albright declared last week that ratification of this …

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Publication information: Article title: Clinton's Chemical Weapons Power Play. Contributors: Gaffney, Frank, Jr. - Author. Newspaper title: The Washington Times (Washington, DC). Publication date: January 14, 1997. Page number: 13. © 2009 The Washington Times LLC. COPYRIGHT 1997 Gale Group.

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