BY NAOMI CRAINE
Chalk up president Bill Clinton's recent trip to Russia as a fiasco for Washington. It was another sign that U.S. imperialism is operating from a position of weakness in the world today.

Clinton failed to achieve any of the major aims he announced for summit talks with Russian president Boris Yeltsin following the World War II commemorations in Moscow. The meeting opened a sharp debate and criticism of the White House in U.S. ruling-class circles.

One of Clinton's stated goals was to get Moscow to go along with Washington's campaign against Iran. Before the May 10 summit, Clinton said he would demand the Yeltsin government cancel a $1 billion deal to sell two nuclear reactors to Tehran. U.S. secretary of state Warren Christopher declared, "We will not be satisfied by anything other than the end of the nuclear program."

The Russian government refused to budge, however, on carrying through its contract with Iran. The only "concession" Clinton got was a pledge not to sell a separate piece of equipment to Tehran that was not part of the original sale and hadn't yet been finalized.

Yeltsin did agree that Moscow would take initial steps to join the Partnership for Peace, a cooperation plan between the NATO military alliance and former Warsaw Pact countries. But the Russian president reiterated his government's opposition to any expansion of NATO to Central and Eastern Europe, something Washington has pushed for.

Even Clinton's mild criticisms of the Russian government's war in Chechnya where, he said, "the civilian casualties and the prolongation of the fighting have troubled the rest of the world greatly," got a brush-off.

At a joint news conference with Clinton, Yeltsin compared the Chechens fighting for independence to the bombers of the federal building in Oklahoma City. Then he added, "There are no hostilities under way in Chechnya right now." The same day the press service for the Russian forces in Chechnya reported that Russian troops had killed 38 Chechen "militants." Just hours after Yeltsin's speech, five Russian helicopters attacked a Chechen village, firing rockets into farmhouses, according to Reuters.

Republican politicians sharply criticized the Clinton administration for its handling of the meeting with Yeltsin. Before Clinton left for Moscow, Sen. Robert Dole warned that the Senate would move to cut off aid to Russia if the nuclear deal with Iran were not canceled. "It would be almost immediate," he said.

Secretary of State Christopher replied that Washington shouldn't rock the boat and risk an unstable situation in Russia. "Every bit of aid we give them is in our interest," he said.

Commenting on the outcome of the summit, Republican senator Mitch McConnell said, "It is an embarrassment for the administration that the president went to Moscow to watch a parade at Yeltsin's behest and brought nothing home."

Clinton maintained that his trip was a success. "The people of the United States, the people of Russia, and the people of the world are safer today than they were two years ago and than they were before this last meeting between us occurred," Clinton said. White House officials rebuked McConnell, Dole, and other critics for not maintaining the traditions of "amicability" and not attacking the president publicly on foreign policy questions.

Some big-business spokespeople, such as the editors of the Washington Post, defended Clinton, who they said, "held up the American end in Russia." Many others took a sharply opposing view, though. In a column headlined "The Pushover Presidency," conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer said, "It is bad enough to have no clout in foreign policy. Why make a point of advertising it? The Russians have not just rejected American entreaties. They have been contemptuous of them."  
 
 
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