R.P. Dua
THE U.S. Administration of today seems to have perfected in the art of being in the news. It is a moot point whether it is a culmination of the Administration's mindset or a harrowing impact of L'affaire Lewinsky. As the biased and jaundiced mindset was amply in evidence even before the sordid affair burst in the open, it is more likely a combination of the two. In the perspective of code of international relations the arrogance and arbitrariness of American action are hard to comprehend, even more difficult to explain. Its attacks on targets in Iraq at will is a classic case of the US Administration becoming a law unto itself. The Iraqi hapless population suffer untold miseries possibly because the US President does not like the face of Saddam Hussain and wants him out of the way.

The UK has been an unflinching partner and supporter in this US adventure. And how does the US reward its tail-wagging ally? By declaring a banana war on it and other members of the European Union. The US is taking the UK and other EU countries to task for their standing up for the interests of the poor and famished banana growers in Africa and the Caribbean. It wants the EU countries to stop giving any preferential treatment to bananas from these countries, throw to the wolves of poverty and hunger the subsistence-level banana growers in these countries and go in for plump and super-size bananas grown in the US multinationals' owned banana plantations in Latin America. So much for the practices and concerns of this self-proclaimed Champion of Human Rights.

In a bold and imaginative move and in what seems like a revival of its global role the Indian High Commission in London came out with a statement cautioning the protagonist of this trade war against its perils and serious consequences in case of its prolongation. Alongside its facade of Human Rights the U.S. also loves to wield the whip of the 'Rule of Law' to beat its perceived opponents with. It is baffling that the US duplicity in this domain can exceed all limits when it comes to its application involving its own citizens vis-a-vis foreign nationals. The Europeans are peeved at the acquittal in a court-martial of the U.S. marine pilot Richard Ashby accused of killing 20 Europeans in the Italian Alps in the course of a training flight. Prompted by this miscarriage of justice a demand has been made in some European circles that the treaty which allows the U.S. to try in a court martial, its soldiers accused of committing crimes abroad should be reviewed. In a telling comment on this acquittal a German daily said, "the military jury has not done the American army or justice system any favours with its latest decision."

The US proclivity to take its European allies for granted stands in sharp and glaring contrast to its indulgence to China. According to reports leaked to the New York Times by Administration officials, China made rapid strides in developing and perfecting miniaturised nuclear warheads comparable to the best and latest in the US armoury through secrets stolen from US National Laboratory in Los Alamos. China worked diligently but quitely on these stolen secrets before the US could realise the magnitude of Chinese achievements in this field.

There is also a belief in the well-informed US circles that Beijing is continuing to steal secrets from US nuclear labs. It is also accepted that this piracy was facilitated by the US administrations' blind spot for China. Instead of sitting up and taking counter-measures attempts were made to under-play the espionage issue for perceived policy reasons : The Chinese espionage activities are overlooked and condoned in the interest of a "strategic partnership with the Chinese". Scant regard, if any, is being paid to the immense damage that this indulgence could cause to long-term US security interests.

The indulgence does not stop here. It was taken to its logical end. Shri Notra Trulock, the US Energy Departments Chief of Intelligence was punished by being removed from his post for appearing as a star witness before a select Congressional Committee. The story of US appeasement of China extends to other important areas like trade. It was one of the main plants in Bill Clinton's 1992 Presidential election campaign that the grant of Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to China should be linked with its Human Rights record. The US President has not only reneged on that but in a complete volte face decided to de-link the two issues completely. A country like India is pressurised at any available opportunity for correcting a small trade surplus that it enjoys in its bilateral trade with the US. China on the other hand is treated with a kid glove. China in its trade with US has been consistently running an average yearly trade surplus of US $ 50 billion; the 1998 trade surplus being of the order of US $58 billion. The US does made occasional noises at this huge trade surplus which does not bother the Chinese, much fully aware as they are of the US proclivities. Meanwhile Chinese products continue to flood the US markets on an ever-increasing scale. The flooding of the US Markets by Chinese products is to be seen to be believed.