In my early twenties, the global cause dearest to my heart was Bosnia: A nascent democracy with a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural cosmopolitan population fighting for its very survival against savagery unleashed by those for whom the very idea of such a pluralist democratic society was anathema.
That such savagery was engineered by the rump remnants of communists and their patrons in a revanchist Moscow was not too shocking; far more jarring was the fact that the design to kill the idea of a pluralist Bosnia was amply helped by dithering bureaucrats of the European Union who drew upon the fecklessness of the then Clinton administration in Washington to enforce an arms embargo that allowed the already heavily armed former Yugoslav military to massacre the mostly unarmed civilians of Bosnia-Herzegovina at every opportunity.
Then came Bob to the rescue of Bosnia.
A Second World War veteran who almost lost his life fighting the Nazi war machine, Robert J “Bob” Dole knew a thing or two about the consequences of European appeasement. In a direct challenge to President Clinton and the vocal isolationist wing of his own party, he piloted through Congress the law that forbade American participation in the arms embargo and thus allowed, albeit slowly, for Bosnia’s scrappy defenders to protect their homes, families, communities and, indeed, their battered pluralist democracy.
Then he turned around to use his significant clout as the de facto leader of the opposition to push the Clinton administration to get over its love affair with appeasement-minded Western grandees like David Owen and Cyrus Vance, and instead push for NATO to do its job to stop the Balkan calamity before it become a Third World War.
The rest, as they say, is history. Bosnia survived, albeit in a tattered, wounded, decimated shape and continues rebuilding, though much work remains to be done for that country to sustain itself as the multi-ethnic, pluralist entity it aims to be. As for Bob Dole, he went on to his heavenly reward last week, his role as a saviour of Bosnian civilians in the 1990s largely overshadowed by his varied and many other accomplishments: Long time legislative leader, powerful United States senator, one-time Republican presidential nominee and wise old man of the party, star of a few television commercials, and fierce advocate of farmers, war veterans, and the disabled.
Yet, the identity he was most fond of was that of being the “man from Russell, Kansas.” A community of about 5,000 souls in the middle of a state that is in the middle of the country, Russel remained the touchstone of Dole’s life. Indeed, his sister had a home in Russell till her death just 10 years ago. A Republican who put a premium on party loyalty through thick and thin, Dole was a self-made man of humble beginnings who rarely forgot the role of commonsense or common decency in crafting public policy, traits that often ran in parallel to conservatism in the Kansas prairie he called home.
Thus, the very conservative Dole was a dogged champion of hunger alleviation programs, of civil rights at home and human rights abroad, and of civility in political discourse. Working on his 1996 presidential campaign, I well remember the soaring moment where, upon accepting the nomination of his party, he pointed to the doors of the San Diego convention center and bluntly told those party members who held prejudiced views that “tonight this hall belongs to the Party of Lincoln. And the exits which are clearly marked are for you to walk out of as I stand this ground without compromise.”
We lost despite the heroic efforts of our standard bearer who went on a multi-state 96-hour bus tour in the last 96 hours of the ’96 campaign showing a stamina that made far younger folks like yours truly envious. The very next day when Kansas’ favourite son congratulated his victorious opponent and assured the latter of full cooperation in continuing the business of governing the Republic, it was vintage Bob Dole putting country above party.
I had the privilege of meeting Senator Dole several times, before, during, and after that 1996 campaign. Even as he spent more and more time with his beloved wife Elizabeth in Washington DC, he made regular trips to his native Kansas, and was never too busy to answer letters from his home state.
Those who wonder why Bob Dole of Kansas was so instrumental in saving Bosnians, would find the answers in a small prairie town called Russell, a town where the underdog is still championed, where decency is still appreciated, and where commonsense isn’t considered entirely bizarre.
For me it was the honour of a lifetime to be associated with, albeit in a very modest capacity, the last political campaign of a great hero of democracy, Colonel Robert J Dole.
Esam Sohail is a college administrator and writes from the US. He can be reached at [email protected].
When Bosnia and Bob met
In my early twenties, the global cause dearest to my heart was Bosnia: A nascent democracy with a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural cosmopolitan population fighting for its very survival against savagery unleashed by those for whom the very idea of such a pluralist democratic society was anathema.
That such savagery was engineered by the rump remnants of communists and their patrons in a revanchist Moscow was not too shocking; far more jarring was the fact that the design to kill the idea of a pluralist Bosnia was amply helped by dithering bureaucrats of the European Union who drew upon the fecklessness of the then Clinton administration in Washington to enforce an arms embargo that allowed the already heavily armed former Yugoslav military to massacre the mostly unarmed civilians of Bosnia-Herzegovina at every opportunity.
Then came Bob to the rescue of Bosnia.
A Second World War veteran who almost lost his life fighting the Nazi war machine, Robert J “Bob” Dole knew a thing or two about the consequences of European appeasement. In a direct challenge to President Clinton and the vocal isolationist wing of his own party, he piloted through Congress the law that forbade American participation in the arms embargo and thus allowed, albeit slowly, for Bosnia’s scrappy defenders to protect their homes, families, communities and, indeed, their battered pluralist democracy.
Then he turned around to use his significant clout as the de facto leader of the opposition to push the Clinton administration to get over its love affair with appeasement-minded Western grandees like David Owen and Cyrus Vance, and instead push for NATO to do its job to stop the Balkan calamity before it become a Third World War.
The rest, as they say, is history. Bosnia survived, albeit in a tattered, wounded, decimated shape and continues rebuilding, though much work remains to be done for that country to sustain itself as the multi-ethnic, pluralist entity it aims to be. As for Bob Dole, he went on to his heavenly reward last week, his role as a saviour of Bosnian civilians in the 1990s largely overshadowed by his varied and many other accomplishments: Long time legislative leader, powerful United States senator, one-time Republican presidential nominee and wise old man of the party, star of a few television commercials, and fierce advocate of farmers, war veterans, and the disabled.
Yet, the identity he was most fond of was that of being the “man from Russell, Kansas.” A community of about 5,000 souls in the middle of a state that is in the middle of the country, Russel remained the touchstone of Dole’s life. Indeed, his sister had a home in Russell till her death just 10 years ago. A Republican who put a premium on party loyalty through thick and thin, Dole was a self-made man of humble beginnings who rarely forgot the role of commonsense or common decency in crafting public policy, traits that often ran in parallel to conservatism in the Kansas prairie he called home.
Thus, the very conservative Dole was a dogged champion of hunger alleviation programs, of civil rights at home and human rights abroad, and of civility in political discourse. Working on his 1996 presidential campaign, I well remember the soaring moment where, upon accepting the nomination of his party, he pointed to the doors of the San Diego convention center and bluntly told those party members who held prejudiced views that “tonight this hall belongs to the Party of Lincoln. And the exits which are clearly marked are for you to walk out of as I stand this ground without compromise.”
We lost despite the heroic efforts of our standard bearer who went on a multi-state 96-hour bus tour in the last 96 hours of the ’96 campaign showing a stamina that made far younger folks like yours truly envious. The very next day when Kansas’ favourite son congratulated his victorious opponent and assured the latter of full cooperation in continuing the business of governing the Republic, it was vintage Bob Dole putting country above party.
I had the privilege of meeting Senator Dole several times, before, during, and after that 1996 campaign. Even as he spent more and more time with his beloved wife Elizabeth in Washington DC, he made regular trips to his native Kansas, and was never too busy to answer letters from his home state.
Those who wonder why Bob Dole of Kansas was so instrumental in saving Bosnians, would find the answers in a small prairie town called Russell, a town where the underdog is still championed, where decency is still appreciated, and where commonsense isn’t considered entirely bizarre.
For me it was the honour of a lifetime to be associated with, albeit in a very modest capacity, the last political campaign of a great hero of democracy, Colonel Robert J Dole.
Esam Sohail is a college administrator and writes from the US. He can be reached at [email protected].