Anatomy of the Clinton visit to Athens (Part 1)

Nikos Raptis

Can a rather routine visit of a US President to a small country be so important to deserve an "anatomy"? I think that an analysis of the events and the behaviors of the participants in these events before, during, and after the Clinton visit to Athens, on November 19, 1999, could be very instructive (especially for the ordinary Americans). I ask the readers of this Commentary to have the patience to read it in its entirety.

[Sysop Note: The commentary was much too long to send and thus this is only the first 20% of it, or so. For the rest...go to http://www.zmag.org/raptisclinton.htm ]

In the twentieth century the Greek people have experienced the "influence" of various foreign powers. A fascist dictatorship by a British-supported king (1936-41) was followed by Nazi occupation (1941-44). A few weeks after the Nazis left, the British occupied the country until 1947.That year the US snatched the baton and American "influence" in Greece began and continues to this day. From 1967 to 1974 the American "influence" took the form of a brutal dictatorship, carried out for the sake of the US by a colonel's junta. Inevitably, this long experience of (mainly Anglo-Saxon) foreign domination enabled the Greek population (of 10 million) to understand quite well how the world operates under the US domination. For example, the Greek population could not accept Nato's (US's) "humanitarian" justification for bombing Yugoslavia. Two surveys conducted 25 days into the air attack showed that Greeks were 96% to 98.6% against the bombing and 1.3% in favor. In fact, the bombing of Yugoslavia pushed to new heights the deeply rooted anti-Americanism of the Greek population. (Of course, for the Greeks 'Americanism' refers to the America of the economic-political elites not the American population.)

Only three US Presidents have ever visited Greece; Dwight D. Eisenhower, in 1959 (among cheering crowds in the streets of Athens), George Bush, in 1991 (with the streets of Athens deserted, as no demonstrations were allowed), and Bill Clinton, in 1999.

The participants in the events that surrounded the Clinton visit were: Clinton (as the titular head of the dominant world power), the Greek governing elite with Prime Minister Costas Simitis in the lead (as the local caretakers of the US), and the Greek population. For the US and Simitis the Greek population was (and is) the enemy.

 The Events Before the Visit

The announcement of the planned two days long (November 13 -15,1999) Clinton visit to Athens brought about the first reactions by the Greek population early in October, almost a month and a half before the visit.

On October 4, "an obscure group named 'Filiki Etairia' (Friendly Society) claimed responsibility for a fire bomb attack on a McDonald's fast-food outlet in the western Athenian suburb of Egaleo. Nobody was hurt and the restaurant sustained only minor damage" (Kathimerini, English Edition, Oct. 5, '99).

A few days later, 32 organizations of the Left propose the creation of the LEFT INITIATIVE AGAINST THE CLINTON VISIT. Among the organizations there are five organizations of the Turkish (!) and Kurdish (!) Left (not quite a surprise at this level of rationality of the radical sectors of the Greeks, the Turks, and the Kurds). On October 11 the creation of a country-wide INITIATIVE is announced.

The Clinton people, sensing the coming "troublesome" reaction of the Greeks to the Clinton visit (or better, knowing that there was going to be such a reaction on the basis of the inevitable CIA-compiled 'psychological profile' of the Greeks) invited Michalis Chrisohoidis, the Greek Public Order Minister (the civilian head of the police), to visit Washington. Chrisohoidis, a young Greek politician with a slight JFK resemblance, met with the director of the FBI, Louis Freeh, the director of the CIA, George Tenet (a Greek-American!), Janet Reno, Thomas Pickering, and Michael Sheehan of the State Department. The assessment of Chrisohoidis by the Clinton people, as expressed by Sheehan, was: "We have faith in Mr. Chrisohoidis..." The events that followed and the "work" of Chrisohoidis (see below) proved that the faith of the Clinton People in him was well-founded.

For the Clinton people and for Simitis the date and the duration of the visit was of great importance. The journalist Tom Ellis on October 20 reported from Washington, D.C.: Hillary Clinton's "previous engagements did not permit her to be in Greece on November 22-24" (hence the date November 13-15 for the visit). "In her campaign for the New York Senate race, Mrs. Clinton has her own political agenda for the trip to Greece. She would like to travel with the influential Greek-Americans accompanying Clinton on his Flight from Washington, and believes that the visit will help her campaign". (Kathim.Engl.Edi., Oct. 20, '99, p.3) Also, for the Clinton people prohibitive was the date of November 17, the date of the 1973 student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic and the massacre that followed it during the colonel's junta. Because of the annual November 17 commemoration of the uprising, through a huge demonstration and a march of tens of thousands in front of the US Embassy, Clinton could not risk to be in Athens on that day. This march has been taking place for 26 years. The basic slogan shouted during these marches is the "Foniades" ("Murderers") slogan.

(Note: The colloquial Greek word "fonias"-rhymes with "ninjas",plural: "foniades"- means "murderer", and "specifically implies stealth and motive and premeditation and therefore full moral responsibility" (according to Webster's 10th). The slogan "FONIADES TON LAON AMERIKANOI" means "The Murderers of Peoples (are) the Americans", the uncomfortable syntax being necessary to attain the proper (musical) rhythm when the slogan is shouted. (Again, the Americans refers to the American elites.) This slogan has been heard with remarkable frequency on Greek streets since the early 60s.

As we shall see, later on, the date of the visit had a new importance for Clinton and for Simitis. For Bill Clinton the duration of the visit was meant to be adequate enough to allow him to speak at the Pnyx, the site where Pericles, et al used to orate in classical Athens. (See Commentary of November 7, '99.) Finally, for Simitis the longer the stay of Clinton (the ruler) in Athens, the greater the prestige of Simitis as a Prime Minister of Greece.

Yet, Simitis and the rest of the Greek elites found themselves in a very difficult situation. On the one hand they had to be "agreeable" (or better, to be obedient) to Clinton and on the other hand they had to deal with the Greek population who in their overwhelming majority were against the Clinton visit and were preparing to resist it by any (peaceful) means; demonstrations, e.t.c. One should not forget that Clinton's "humanitarian" bombing of Yugoslavia was still fresh in the collective memory of the Greek population. Also, Simitis had an additional burden; the national Parliamentary elections were only a few months away (possibly in March, of 2000) and he was obliged to not ignore the traditional anti-Americanism of the Greek population and their resistance to the Clinton visit and keep a democratic facade by not prohibiting demonstrations, marches, e.t.c., if he wanted to be reelected as Prime Minister.

Already, the organizing of the resistance had spread to most of the cities and towns of the country. Even in the mainstream press one could read headlines and text such as: While "waiting for Clinton" (read Godot) "we invite the Greeks to let their imagination unrestrained" to resist the Clinton visit. (One proposal was to decorate all the lamp posts along the route of the Clinton motorcade from the airport to his hotel with inflated condoms). Or phrases such as: "For reasons of personal dignity give (Clinton) hell while he is in Athens..." and "let us greet Clinton not as vassals but as humans with self-respect".

Also, it was announced that on November 8, '99 a "trial" was to be held at Syntagma Square (the historic center of Athens) to try Clinton (and his gang) for "crimes against humanity" (Kosovo,e.t.c.) which was to be followed by a march to the US Embassy to hand the verdict of the court. The text of the indictment had already been composed by a team of distinguished lawyers and jurists.

Meanwhile, Chrisohoidis' boys, the top dogs of the Greek Police, stayed awake for many nights trying to plan the actions of the Police in order to contain the angry resistance of the Greeks against the Clinton visit. The policy was to keep any demonstrators one kilometer (0.62 miles) away from Clinton. It was estimated that more than 10,000 (ten thousand) policemen were to be deployed to contain the Greeks during the Clinton visit. Also, it was reported that after November 1st the US security personnel would start arriving in Greece to "collaborate" with their Greek counterparts in this containment.