Bill Clinton assumed the Presidency in 1993 with a full foreign policy plate. The humanitarian military mission in Somalia, the downward spiraling situation in Bosnia, sustained defiance by Saddam Hussein against United Nations sanctions on Iraq, political and economic chaos in the former Soviet Union that would soon lead to an unsuccessful coup attempt in October 1993, a soft United States economy and a worldwide economy recovering from a short but severe recession, the continued down-sizing of the United States military, and the continuing saga of the Middle East peace talks, were some of the major challenges facing his administration.
             Despite these significant world problems, the Clinton Administration 's initial emphasis was on strengthening the United States economy and on establishing a predominantly domestic agenda. In terms of the administration's foreign policy and national security interests, initially there was little departure from the previously stated goals of building democracy, promoting and maintaining peace, promoting economic growth and sustainable development, addressing global problems, and meeting urgent humanitarian needs. However, in order to accomplish these foreign policy goals, the Clinton Administration laid as its bedrock a proactive domestic agenda. The overall concern and top priority was to improve and restore the domestic strength of the United States through a number of internal and external measures which both directly and indirectly affected security assistance.
             In what is now referred to as the "Christopher Cable," President Clinton's Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, reiterated a previous policy encouraging United States embassies to actively assist United States marketing efforts overseas. This was interpreted to include aiding United States civilian defense contractors in the pursuit of direct commercial sales and foreign military sales of defense articles, services, a...