Wagging the Dog. . . Again

For the third time in the same year and in the same scandal, Bill Clinton engages the U.S. military in covering his sins.

by Rod D. Martin
August 21, 1998

This week, Bill Clinton -- for the third time in the same year and in the same scandal -- engaged the U.S. military in covering his sins.

On Thursday, U.S. Naval forces launched cruise missiles at alleged terrorist targets in Afghanistan and Sudan, just three days after Clinton's quasi-admission to the nation of his affair with Monica Lewinsky, a "mea culpa" that was more "tua" than "mea." The timing just happened to coincide with Lewinsky's repeat grand jury performance, in which she is said to have responded to Clinton's speech with the passion of a woman scorned.

The stated object of the mission, dubbed "Operation Infinite Reach," was laudable: to show terrorists -- and particularly Osama bin Laden -- that there is no safe haven, and that there are "no expendable U.S. targets."

But the real object was as transparent as it was familiar. We have, after all, been here before. In February, a White House reeling from the breaking of the Monica story ratcheted…