by Patrick J. Buchanan – March 12, 1998

This is risky business, and the “reforms” the IMF is imposing had better work. If they fail, and collapse follows, the United States is the villain at whom every Asian demagogue will point the finger — for the IMF is seen in Asia as an agent of U.S. economic imperialism…

The Clintonites are playing a dangerous game in Indonesia and courting an Asian nationalist backlash against America.
After phoning President Suharto repeatedly to demand he give up his cherished idea of a currency board to stabilize the rupiah, Bill Clinton sent Walter Mondale to read him the riot act. The International Monetary Fund then made the old general an offer he could not refuse: It told him his $40 billion bailout depended on his capitulation.