Washington.--One year into his administration, Bill Clinton finds himself a virtual hostage of the military-industrial complex. In case after case, when push has come to shove, he has given in to the entrenched power of the Pentagon, the CIA and the defense establishment.
The forced resignation of Defense Secretary Les Aspin and the nomination of his successor, Bobby Ray Inman, a retired admiral, amounted to a white flag from President Clinton -- his public surrender of control over military and intelligence policy.
Admiral Inman, a Republican, former director of the National Security Agency, former deputy director of the CIA and former arms contractor, embodies the forces that hold Mr. Clinton captive. When Admiral Inman accepted the nomination, he announced in the president's presence that he was doing so only after Mr. Clinton had assured him a free hand.
The admiral's assertion of power only President Clinton's year-long abdication of civilian authority over the military.
Last January, the president took advantage of a budget-cutting climate to diminish the military's share. But despite the tight fiscal atmosphere and the absence of a formidable enemy, the Pentagon retained $261 billion -- down from about $290 billion. The Pentagon's reproductive organs were still outperforming the government's civilian brain in policy skirmishes.
The next battle was over admitting homosexuals in the military. Here, the military fomented a controversy and forced Mr. Clinton compromise his initially principled policy. It was the first open revolt, and the president caved in -- instead of commanding the military to follow orders.
In the spring, the CIA and military advisers persuaded an initially hesitant Mr. Clinton to authorize the bombing of Baghdad to retaliate against Saddam Hussein's alleged role in an assassination plot against former President Bush. Although Mr. Bush had previously ordered hit teams to get the Iraqi leader, national-security advisers counseled the president that failure to after Mr. Hussein would show U.S. weakness. But what the bombing showed was Mr. Clinton's willingness to kill Iraqi civilians.
On Bosnia, candidate Clinton talked a tough, humanitarian line and received strong liberal backing for U.S. intervention to stop the carnage. But Gen. Colin Powell summed up the military consensus: ''We do deserts, not mountains.'' Mr. Clinton's moral resolve evaporated in the face of military opposition. The military may have had a point about the feasibility of intervention, but the president still looked bad backing down.
