Melvin A. Goodman: The Secret History of Gen. Alexander Haig
[Melvin A. Goodman is national security and intelligence columnist for Truthout. He is senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and adjunct professor of government at Johns Hopkins University. His 42-year government career included service at the CIA, State Department, Defense Department and the US Army. His latest book is "Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA."]
The obituaries in the mainstream media failed to capture the full extent of the controversy and confrontation that marked Gen. Alexander M. Haig's political career in the White House during the Nixon administration and the State Department during the Reagan administration. In his memoir, Henry A. Kissinger praised Haig's role in 1973-1974 in "holding the government together" in the final days of the Nixon era. Kissinger was respectful of Haig because the general allowed the national security adviser to do as he pleased in his stewardship of foreign and national security policy.
Haig's hands-off attitude allowed Kissinger to unnecessarily and dangerously raise the nuclear alert status to Defense Condition III for the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis in an effort to deter the Soviets from any military intervention in the last days of the October War of 1973. But there was no Soviet intention to intervene, and our European allies - let alone Moscow - were particularly upset with the nuclear alert. Several of our NATO allies, including Germany, Spain and Italy, limited US access to their bases as a result of DefCon-III. Neither Haig nor Kissinger ever explained their rationale for the heightened nuclear alert - although they promised to do so....
Haig was a major player in the US failure to understand the role of international terrorism and to falsely blame the Soviet Union for the orchestration of terrorism. As the new secretary of state, Haig arrived at the State Department with strong anti-Soviet baggage, based in part on his belief that the Soviet Union was a primary source of support for international terrorism. There had been an attempt to assassinate Haig in Europe in June 1979, only four days before he stepped down as Supreme Allied Commander for Europe. The Soviets had nothing to do with the assassination attempt, but in his confirmation hearings on January 14, 1981, Haig charged the Soviets with orchestrating the attempt. On that same day, the Senate confirmed William Casey as director of the CIA by a vote of 95 to 0. From that point forward, Haig and Casey led an effort to portray Moscow as orchestrating terrorism "like a giant Wurlitzer organ."...
The obituaries pointed out that President Ronald Reagan's acceptance of Haig's offer to resign his post as secretary of state was a shock to the general, but they failed to note the reason for Reagan's acceptance. In his memoir, "Caveat: Realism, Reagan, and Foreign Policy," Haig claims that the United States sent the "strongest possible warnings" to Israel not to launch its war against Lebanon in 1982. There were no US warnings. In fact, Haig was one of a very few members of the Reagan administration to understand that the Israeli offensive was going to reach Beirut, the Lebanese capital, in violation of Israeli intentions not to threaten Arab capitals. As secretary of state, Haig was in a position to warn the Israelis against such a disastrous military adventure and its obvious consequences, but chose not to do so. Instead of issuing a "red light" against such a campaign, Haig merely issued a "yellow light" of caution regarding the clandestine arrangements between the Israelis and the Lebanese Maronite leaders. These arrangements led to the bloody conquest of Beirut, byzantine political alliances between Lebanese factions, the frustration and tragedy of the US Marine occupation, the Palestinian massacres at the Sabra and Shatila camps and the formation of Hezbollah. Lebanon has had no stability for the past three decades, and Israel continues to have a security problem on its northern frontier.
Haig's role in all of these events - DefCon-III; the handling of international terrorism; and the Israeli invasion of Lebanon - had unintended consequences that harmed the interests of the United States and delayed the process of diplomacy and negotiation. Like many of the neoconservatives who dominated the administration of President George W. Bush, Haig placed too much reliance on the use and threat of military force and relegated diplomacy to a back burner. This militarization of American national security and foreign policies has harmed US interests and raised the hidden costs of US involvement in the Cold War.
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The obituaries in the mainstream media failed to capture the full extent of the controversy and confrontation that marked Gen. Alexander M. Haig's political career in the White House during the Nixon administration and the State Department during the Reagan administration. In his memoir, Henry A. Kissinger praised Haig's role in 1973-1974 in "holding the government together" in the final days of the Nixon era. Kissinger was respectful of Haig because the general allowed the national security adviser to do as he pleased in his stewardship of foreign and national security policy.
Haig's hands-off attitude allowed Kissinger to unnecessarily and dangerously raise the nuclear alert status to Defense Condition III for the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis in an effort to deter the Soviets from any military intervention in the last days of the October War of 1973. But there was no Soviet intention to intervene, and our European allies - let alone Moscow - were particularly upset with the nuclear alert. Several of our NATO allies, including Germany, Spain and Italy, limited US access to their bases as a result of DefCon-III. Neither Haig nor Kissinger ever explained their rationale for the heightened nuclear alert - although they promised to do so....
Haig was a major player in the US failure to understand the role of international terrorism and to falsely blame the Soviet Union for the orchestration of terrorism. As the new secretary of state, Haig arrived at the State Department with strong anti-Soviet baggage, based in part on his belief that the Soviet Union was a primary source of support for international terrorism. There had been an attempt to assassinate Haig in Europe in June 1979, only four days before he stepped down as Supreme Allied Commander for Europe. The Soviets had nothing to do with the assassination attempt, but in his confirmation hearings on January 14, 1981, Haig charged the Soviets with orchestrating the attempt. On that same day, the Senate confirmed William Casey as director of the CIA by a vote of 95 to 0. From that point forward, Haig and Casey led an effort to portray Moscow as orchestrating terrorism "like a giant Wurlitzer organ."...
The obituaries pointed out that President Ronald Reagan's acceptance of Haig's offer to resign his post as secretary of state was a shock to the general, but they failed to note the reason for Reagan's acceptance. In his memoir, "Caveat: Realism, Reagan, and Foreign Policy," Haig claims that the United States sent the "strongest possible warnings" to Israel not to launch its war against Lebanon in 1982. There were no US warnings. In fact, Haig was one of a very few members of the Reagan administration to understand that the Israeli offensive was going to reach Beirut, the Lebanese capital, in violation of Israeli intentions not to threaten Arab capitals. As secretary of state, Haig was in a position to warn the Israelis against such a disastrous military adventure and its obvious consequences, but chose not to do so. Instead of issuing a "red light" against such a campaign, Haig merely issued a "yellow light" of caution regarding the clandestine arrangements between the Israelis and the Lebanese Maronite leaders. These arrangements led to the bloody conquest of Beirut, byzantine political alliances between Lebanese factions, the frustration and tragedy of the US Marine occupation, the Palestinian massacres at the Sabra and Shatila camps and the formation of Hezbollah. Lebanon has had no stability for the past three decades, and Israel continues to have a security problem on its northern frontier.
Haig's role in all of these events - DefCon-III; the handling of international terrorism; and the Israeli invasion of Lebanon - had unintended consequences that harmed the interests of the United States and delayed the process of diplomacy and negotiation. Like many of the neoconservatives who dominated the administration of President George W. Bush, Haig placed too much reliance on the use and threat of military force and relegated diplomacy to a back burner. This militarization of American national security and foreign policies has harmed US interests and raised the hidden costs of US involvement in the Cold War.