"What _We_ Can Do about the Drug Problem"
by President Bill Clinton and the editors of Scientology's "Freiheit" magazine[ Translator's comments in brackets -- Here's Bill Clinton's article for Scientology's "Freiheit" magazine, 2 pages. The primary reason it is posted here is because of denials that it existed at all, and that if it did, that it created any kind of endorsement by the President for Scientology. It is important that the different contexts and format be available for comparison so that the reader can make up his or her own mind as to whether President Clinton was actually lending his endorsement to a format which obviously favors Scientology. This magazine was distributed by Scientology in the courtroom in November 1997 in Germany. Before this article was printed in the German "Freiheit," it was also printed in the Swiss "Freiheit" and the French "Liberté," spanning a period of six months. ]
[This is a snip from the German issue of Freiheit.]
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
What we can do about the drug problem
[picture of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.]
An article from BILL CLINTON,
President of the United States of America,
exclusive for FREIHEIT[Next to a picture of CLINTON]
Since the 1980s, in the primary issues of FREIHEIT in the United States, as well has in numerous special issues the problem has been investigated of legal and illegal drugs in America and that has been reported in the ongoing series "The Drugging of America." Huge sums of money are expended in the "war against drugs." But the bitter reality of the people who have been destroyed by drug misuse requires that we look for effective solutions to the problem. And we have found the most effective solutions in the programs which are conducted and supported by the Scientology Church. In order to initiate the discussion about the decrease of drug distribution, FREIHEIT has recently asked a number of leading American politicians to present their personal view on this vital problem.The following article was put at FREIHEIT's disposal by President Clinton and was originally published in the U.S. edition of November 1996. Although Germany and the USA differ in various views, they are the same in the effects of drugs on society throughout the entire world, they are the same on illiteracy, the rising crime rate and irresponsibility. Therefore we also share the views of President Clinton with our German readers.
[The above was from the German Freiheit. The following is from the Swiss issue of Freiheit:]
*******Begin White on dark printing***********
- VIEWPOINT -What we can do regarding the drug problem
Exclusive for Freiheit
*******Ende White on dark printing***********
[passportpicture BC, no white house]FROM BILL CLINTON
President of the United States of America
Special article for "Freiheit"Since the 1980s, the American main issue of FREIHEIT (Freedom) has been researching and reporting on the problem of legal and illegal drugs in articles like "America on Drugs" and numerous others.
Huge sums have been expended on the "War against Drugs." The bitter reality of life, which is destroyed from the misuse of drugs, forces us to look for effective solutions. Effective solutions can [be] found in the programs which are promoted by the Scientology Church.
The following article was put at FREIHEIT's disposal by President Clinton for the purpose of expressing his views on this central theme. The article , which was first published in the U.S. edition FREEDOM in November 1996, appears here for the first time in German for FREIHEIT's readers in Switzerland.
Then it starts with: Drugs are as much a threat to our security as any outside enemy is today...[The above was the Swiss introduction. Next is the President's contribution to Scientology, and below the next set of comments are the President's words as he addressed them to General McCaffrey.]
---
Drugs are as much a threat to our security as any outside enemy is today. They are a leading cause of crime and violence. They add literally billions of dollars to health care costs every year. There is a new CDC report that says that drugs are the cause of at least half of all the new HIV infections in the United States. And drugs are imperiling our nation's most precious resource, our children.
As I said in the State of the Union, if we ever expect to reduce crime and violence in our country to the low level that would make it the exception rather than the rule, we have to reduce the drug problem. We know it is a difficult battle. We know that overall drug use and crime are down in every segment of our society except one - our young people. And that makes the battle more difficult and more important.
The glamorization of drugs and violence is a big reason for this. That's why I worked so hard for the V-chip and the television rating system. That's why we need to stop the glorification of drugs in our popular culture. And for those who say we should throw in the towel and just make drugs legal I say, not on my watch. That would be a mistake.
Over the last two decades we have made significant progress in this effort. Just in 1979, more than 22 million Americans used illegal drugs. Five million used cocaine. Today less than 12 million Americans are regular drug users, and the number of cocaine users has dropped 30 percent in the past three years. But the problem is still too great, and again, it is perplexing and troubling as it affects our juvenile population.
In the last three years we have tried to take many concrete steps to protect our children and their future. We're working to get hard-core drug users off the street, to make sure they can't commit crimes, and to get them into treatment. We're bringing prevention to our schools by teaching our children that drugs are wrong, illegal, and dangerous. We've put more police on the street, and that is a major cause of the decline in the crime rate.
Earlier this year I signed a directive requiring drug testing of federal arrestees. We are doing all we can to stop drugs at their source, before they get to our borders.
But I know that we have to do more - as does Barry McCaffrey, the Director of National Drug Control Policy. There's no one more capable to lead this effort than General McCaffrey. He has always taken a comprehensive view towards problem solving, and he knows that our efforts in the struggle against drugs will require a combination of treatment, prevention, education, enforcement and interdiction.
But he cannot do it alone.
He's going to need a larger force than he has ever commanded before indeed, a larger force than he and his colleagues who have come from the Pentagon to join him today have ever commanded before. He's going to need every American doing his or her part if we are going to succeed.
It means with our families, with parents talking firmly and clearly with their children; with our communities, our houses of worship, our schools, our employers, our national and community groups. We must ensure that our parents, our teachers and all Americans send a strong message to our children that drugs are wrong, drugs are illegal and drugs can kill you. The fight against drugs must, in the end, be a citizens campaign because every citizen has a direct stake in the outcome.
As I have said many times in different contexts, when we are divided as a country we defeat ourselves, but when America is united we never lose. I believe we can be united in this cause, and I believe we can win this great enduring struggle for our character, our soul, and the future of our children.
FREIHEIT 49
[In order to fully appeciate the layout of the article, a scan is provided in which you can see the fact that President Clinton's speech is overshadowed by the words of the Scientology editors.
Scan of original German 1
Scan of original German 2
As of June 21, 2000, proof that the above was actually the words of Clinton can be seen if you go to http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/1996/3/6/2.text.1 It can be seen that the above article was specially tailored for an "exclusive" article for Freiheit magazine from a presidential speech available at that url, and cited here as a publicly available government document. There has been unsubstantiated speculation as to whether Freiheit was authorized to use the President's words in connection with its promotion of Scientology's drug program (for which Scientology charges more than a thousand dollars and which has never been proven to work), but due to lack of any proof to the contrary and unless President Clinton tells us otherwise, no evidence has been found which would refute Freiheit's "exclusive" claim about this article. In addition, it has been stated, erroneously, that the article was written exclusively for Freiheit by Clinton, but that is obviously not the case.
Comment -- it's strange how a little fundamentalist Christian church in New York can lose its tax exemption for printing a negative comment about President Clinton during an election. It's also odd that when Scientology Hamburg had construction permit difficulties with the city of Hamburg last December, the U.S. State Department intervened on Scientology's behalf (See http://cisar.org/991227d.htm.) But an obviously public endorsement for Scientology, like the above, using his picture, name and the capitol of the United States has gone unnoticed.]
Source of the following: http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/1996/3/6/2.text.1
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release March 6, 1996
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT SWEARING-IN CEREMONY FOR
GENERAL BARRY MCCAFFREY
AS DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY
The Roosevelt Room
10:45 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Justice Ginsburg. I want to
say a special word of welcome to Mrs. Jill McCaffrey, and to all of
General McCaffrey's family who are here. To Attorney General Reno
and Secretary Shalala, and our FBI Director Louis Freeh. To
Senator Biden and Congressman Zeliff, and to all the distinguished
members of the government and the military who are here.
I would like to begin with a simple and heartfelt thank
you to General McCaffrey for accepting this call to lead our
nation's battle against drugs. Service to our country runs in his
family. In fact, we have three generations of McCaffrey service in
attendance here today, as you saw standing with me.
The General's father, Bill McCaffrey, who is here with
his wife Mary, is a retired Lt. General who saw combat in World War
II, Korea, and Vietnam. Two of his three children are pursuing
careers in the military. His son, who is also here, drove all night
from Fort Bragg, which is a testimony to the fact, General, that the
physical training is still adequate to the task. (Laughter.) He is
an Army Captain stationed at Fort Polk in Louisiana. His daughter,
Tara, is an Army National Guard nurse. His other daughter, Amy, is
a graduate student at Central Washington College.
The McCaffrey family is a shining example of what is
right with America. We are fortunate to have their service and
their presence here today.
General McCaffrey has faced down many threats to
America's security, from guerrilla warfare in the jungles of Vietnam
to the unprecedented ground war in the sands of Desert Storm. Now
he faces a more insidious, but no less formidable enemy in illegal
drugs.
Drugs are as much a threat to our security as any
outside enemy is today. They are a leading cause of crime and
violence. They add literally billions of dollars to health care
costs every year. There is a new CDC report that says that drugs
are the cause of at least half -- one half -- of all the new HIV
infections in the United States. And drugs are imperiling our
nation's most precious resource, our children.
As I said in the State of the Union, if we ever expect
to reduce crime and violence in our country to the low level that
would make it the exception rather than the rule, we have to reduce
the drug problem. We know it is a difficult battle. We know that
overall drug use and crime are down in every segment of our society
except one -- our young people. And that makes the battle more
difficult and more important.
The glamorization of drugs and violence is a big reason
for this. That's why I worked so hard for the V-chip and the
television rating system. That's why we need to stop the
glorification of drugs in our popular culture. And for those who say
we should throw in the towel and just make drugs legal, I say, not
on my watch. I don't believe in that. That would be a mistake.
Over the last two decades we have made significant
progress in this effort. Just in 1979, more than 22 million
Americans used illegal drugs. Five million used cocaine. Today
less than 12 million Americans are regular drug users, and the
number of cocaine users has dropped 30 percent in the past three
years. But the problem is still too great, and I say again, it is
perplexing and troubling as it affects our juvenile population.
Drug use among people 18 to 34 is down. Casual drug use among
people under 18 is up. That may be why the crime rate is down
overall in our country, but random violence among people under 18 --
our children and our future -- is still up.
Tomorrow General McCaffrey and I will have the
opportunity to address this, along with others in the
administration, at our National Conference on Youth and Violence.
And this is a good way to kick it off, with his service.
In the last three years we have tried to take many
concrete steps to protect our children and their future. We're
working to get hard-core drug users off the street, to make sure
they can't commit crimes, and to get them into treatment. We're
bringing drug prevention to our schools by teaching our children
that drugs are wrong, illegal, and dangerous. We've put more police
on the street, and that is a major cause of the decline in the crime
rate.
Two months ago I signed a directive requiring drug
testing of federal arrestees. We are doing all we can to stop drugs
at their source, before they get to our borders. Just yesterday our
U.S. Customs officials began seizing all imports of the sedative
Rohypnol, which has been associated of late with date rape.
But General McCaffrey and all of us know that we have
to do more. We have to do much more. There's no one more capable
to lead this effort than Barry McCaffrey. He is America's most
highly decorated combat veteran. He earned two Distinguished
Service Cross Awards for extraordinary valor in Vietnam. He also
earned two Silver Stars for heroism and three Purple Hearts. He
served two tours in Vietnam, where he was severely wounded by enemy
gunfire. He led the now famous left hook maneuver that crushed the
Iraqi army in Desert Storm. And for the last two years he's been on
the front lines of our efforts to stop drugs at their source in his
role as Commander in Chief of the United States Southern Command
based in Panama.
As part of our counter-narcotics team, he displayed
decisive leadership in strengthening the efforts in Latin America,
including forming one of the most successful international
coalitions against drugs that has ever existed in that region. In
addition to his heroism on the battlefield, General McCaffrey has
distinguished himself as a man of ideas -- a brilliant man of ideas,
especially the one that Justice Ginsburg thought so much of that she
mentioned a few moments ago.
He has always taken a comprehensive view towards
problem solving, and he knows that our efforts in the struggle
against drugs will require a combination of treatment, prevention,
education, enforcement and interdiction. Teamwork and coalition
building are not just words to him, he has done it. Teamwork and
coalition building literally saved his life and the lives of his
soldiers. There is no doubt that he has the talent, the courage and
the vision to take up this fight.
But he cannot do it alone. As I said in the State of
the Union, he's going to need a larger force than he has ever
commanded before -- indeed, a larger force than he and his
colleagues who have come from the Pentagon to join him today have
ever commanded before. He's going to need every American doing his
or her part if we are going to succeed. It means that we have to
begin with parents talking firmly and clearly with their children;
with our communities, our houses of worship, our schools,
our employers, our national and community groups. The fight against
drugs must, in the end, be a citizens campaign because every citizen
has a direct stake in the outcome.
General, I want you to have the tools you need. For
the last three years I have challenged Congress to do its part. In
each of those years Congress has appropriated less than I asked for
counter-narcotics efforts in the Department of Defense and other
agencies. America must never send its troops into battle without
adequate resources to get the job done.
That's why, today, I am directing General McCaffrey to
take the first step to make sure that we are adequately armed to
fight this battle. As your first act of duty I direct you to
prepare a plan to amend the 1996 Fiscal Year budget through
reallocating $250 million from the Department of Defense budget so
that it can be added to our counter-narcotics efforts. I will
submit the plan to Congress this month. I'm also directing you to
examine the Fiscal Year '97 budget to determine if a similar
reallocation is needed.
We have to get after this. We have to get General
McCaffrey off to a good start. I believe that he will get our
country off to a good start. Our national security, the well-being
of our children are at stake. We can create a safer, more drug-free
society. We can do this if we work together.
As I have said many times in different contexts, when
we are divided as a country we defeat ourselves, but when America is
united we never lose. I believe Barry McCaffrey will help to unite
America, and I believe he will help us to win this great and
enduring struggle for our character, our soul, and the future of our
children.
Thank you again, General McCaffrey, for laying down
your four stars to reach for the stars. We appreciate you. Your
country is grateful. And I ask you now to come and say what's on
your mind. (Applause.)
GENERAL MCCAFFREY: Mr. President, thank you for those
enormously moving words. I must tell you bluntly that although, as
you know, it was very painful for me to leave the U.S. Army, which
I've been part of since age 17, some 36 years ago I took the first
oath of office on the plains at West Point -- I am proud to be part
of this effort and proud to serve in your administration, dealing
with these enormous threats to the American people.
And I also need to tell you that this is probably the
best day of my mother's life. (Laughter.) You know, you give up
trying to impress your wife after a few years. (Laughter.) They
know only too much about you. But mother finally knew I was doing
okay when a year ago I was decorated by the French government with a
high honor, which is a great source of pride to me, over in the
French Embassy here in Washington. And I must admit, though, the
Ambassador kissed me on both cheeks during that presentation.
(Laughter.) I think we've now gotten a step up from that.
I do thank you, and I will give you every amount of
energy and good judgment and cooperation with your officers of
government that I can muster.
Justice Ginsburg, thank you. It was a tremendous honor
for you -- to have you participate in the ceremony, officiate and
administer the oath of office, and it adds a note of legitimacy to
underscore that we understand that this struggle has to be carried
out with absolute respect for the law and an understanding on our
own constitutional liberties that make us the great democracy we
are. So I thank you for being here.
I'd really be remiss if I didn't note the leadership
role that Congress has played. The President has already announced
that this war has been going on a long time. There's been a lot of
creative energy. And certainly, Senator Biden, sir, you and your
colleagues on the committee -- Senator Hatch, in particular --
played an enormous role in putting together not only the office
which I now am charged with running, but also understanding the
dilemma and providing the leadership required. And I thank you for
being here in particular.
Congressman Zeliff and Congressman Rangel just came by
to make a special visit to the White House, which I very much
appreciate. The two of you have played an enormously important
role, and I look forward to your wisdom and your cooperation in this
effort. The President told me there would be no time out for a year
from this effort. This is a bipartisan issue and I look forward to
working in cooperation with you.
Secretary and Attorney General Reno, I thank you for
being here. And some of the senior officials of law enforcement of
our government -- Judge Freeh, thank you for your presence; and, in
particular, Director Constantine -- Administrator Constantine. A
tremendous police officer, a man of great integrity and good
judgement, and I appreciate your presence here today. Under
Secretary of the Army Joe Reeder, a friend, I thank you for
participating today also.
Let me also, if I may note, that this is going to be
not my struggle, but our struggle. The President has told me to
work in cooperation with the senior office of government, and I
particularly appreciate Secretary Shalala being here. And from
State, Timothy Worth, I thank you, sir. You've been a great friend
and mentor and you've been a great architect of this international
coalition that we've worked on. Your presence means a lot to us.
I don't see Under Secretary Walt Slocombe, a good
friend, who has been such an important part of the defense effort.
And, certainly, Admiral Bob Kramek, the absolutely brilliant
Commandant of the Coast Guard who has been the interdiction
coordinator and has done a lot of the work in building our current
Andean Ridge and Caribbean strategies. I thank you, Bob, for being
here today.
Let me also thank some of the White House team that put
all this together. Leon Panetta, sir, you have pulled together all
the assets we needed to get me launched, and I thank you for your
support. Mack McLarty, you've been such a tremendous influence in
the Latin American region in general. I thank you for your
friendship. Dick Clark, Rahm Emanuel, Tracy Thorton, Elaine
Kamarck, Jack Quinn, Kitty Higgins -- all of you who have come
together to assemble the tools we think we needed to do our job.
There are three very important distinguished guests
here today. Vic Oboyskie, Bob Scully and Jim Pasco represent the
thousands of police officers and officials across the nation. This
whole effort in the drug menace clearly includes absolute support
and respect for the law and the police officials who are charged
with enforcing it. And so I appreciate your presence today and look
forward to working with you.
Two final names, if you'll allow me to mention them --
John van Alstyne, Major General of the United States Army and our
Joint Staff; my Chief of Staff during the Gulf War, personal friend,
remarkable human being Colonel Mick Zais -- I thank you both for
being here also.
And then, finally, Janet Crist -- and I won't go
through the whole team of the Office of National Drug Control
Policy, but Janet's come over from the State Department, Mr.
President, to act as chief of staff and help get us and me
organized.
I think I don't need to really talk at any length. Let
me just underscore -- I told the President that the one thing I was
sure I could bring to the table in this whole effort was optimism.
I think one of the challenges that we all face as Americans or as
those of us who are privileged to be officers of government, one of
the challenges is to understand that we can deal with this problem.
Now, I say that not as an expert on the drug issues,
but as a member of the Armed Forces that watched us go through a
decade of agony in the '70s, when we were overwhelmed by problems of
alcohol abuse and illegal drugs and the effect it had on our health,
our discipline, our spirit -- our spirit, our physical conditioning.
It was a nightmare -- the violence it engendered. And it took us a
better part of seven years to come to grips with that.
The analogy to American society is imperfect. The
tools we have in the Armed Forces, in many cases, are clearly
inappropriate for our free society. But the beautiful young men and
women that we serve with in uniform are the sons and daughters that
come from around this country. So I just go into saying that
there's a chance here, it seems to me, to maintain the momentum that
many of you here as guests have already established. And I really
look forward to being your partner and your servant in this effort.
Mr. President, thank you very much for this great
honor. (Applause.)
END 11:02 A.M. EST