Helmut Kohl Quotes
For me it is completely clear that our air bases in Germany would be available to the Americans.
Kohl, Helmut. "Statement on the Gulf Crisis." Bulletin des Presse- und Informationsamtes der Bundesregierung, Jan. 1991.
In a NATO military operation, there is one NATO Supreme Commander but each nation has a minister for NATO. All significant decisions must be consented to be this group. But each of those is a representative of a different political government. Clark was masterful at this diplomatic side of the war just as Dwight Eisenhower was in WWII. Eisenhower had bigger egos to content with—Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, De Gaulle, but Clark had many more counties who could each veto actions.
The 21st century perception of Pakistani leaders was not new. The same delusional view of the nation’s importance was held by the founder of Pakistan from the start of nation. The perception of American leaders has been on both sides of this question at different times. The reality is that Pakistan and the United States have both profited from the relationship, but there is constant reevaluation in both nations as to whether the price that is paid for the relationship is worth the cost.
Some people believe that the United States pressured Pakistan to enable America to support the Mujahideen in their effort to fight the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. Actually the President (and virtual dictator) of Pakistan wanted aid from America and was offering bases. America did not want bases but did want a platform for arming and training the Mujahideen, Pakistan allowed us to use Pakistan as a platform. We increased our foreign aid to Pakistan by 500 percent. There was no arm twisting.
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl was a German statesman and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 (of West Germany, 1982–1990; and of reunified Germany, 1990–1998) and as chairman of the CDU from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longest of any German Chancellor since Otto von Bismarck, and oversaw the end of the Cold War, the German reunification and the creation of the European Union.
