Richard Lugar's pique with Jesse Helms, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is no secret. But now he wants to circumvent not just Helms but Madeleine Albright, secretary of state, as well. THE WEEKLY STANDARD has obtained a lengthy confidential memo Lugar recently sent to Sandy Berger, Bill Clinton's national security adviser, laying out a strategy for securing Senate ratification of NATO enlargement. Lugar's message to Berger? Don't count on Helms, or Albright, to lead the enlargement campaign -- let's you and me run the country's foreign policy.
First, Lugar proposes convening a "Resolution of Ratification Working Group" that he, conveniently, would chair. Next, he proposes writing a series of " Dear Colleague" letters to other senators making the case for ratification. The "Dear Colleague" campaign, writes Lugar, "is likely to have more of an impact on members than the hearing process" -- a process that would be chaired by none other than Lugar's nemesis, Helms. Lugar also proposes that he lead one or two fact-finding trips to NATO headquarters for wavering senators.
Lugar suggests that President Clinton needs to demonstrate that NATO enlargement is "one of his highest priorities" through "active personal involvement." He can do this by appointing the national security adviser -- Berger -- as the "'point' man, the 'quarterback,' of the enlargement campaign. " The State Department, writes Lugar, "would likely resist such an effort," but centralizing the enlargement campaign in the White House and the NSC "is the only way to succeed!" Take that, Madeleine.
Lugar's memo contains numerous other recommendations, including the appointment of a pro-enlargement Committee of Notables -- he suggests Bob Dole, James Baker, Warren Christopher, William Perry, and Henry Kissinger -- as well as White House events, White House/State Department "blast faxes," and the commissioning of public-opinion polls. Pretty impressive stuff. As an encore, maybe Lugar should apply for a job at the White House.