Political Quotes

“as we reflect on whether to arm the Bosnians, there are some important questions that should guide our deliberations. This has been a frequently discussed option in Congress, as well as the constant request of the Bosnian Government for the past year. Bosnian Moslem forces have been outmatched by the stronger Serb forces, which benefited from most of the supplies left over from the former federal Yugoslav army. Some believe that the current arms embargo only reinforces that disparity. They also believe that arming the Bosnians would not only equalize the conflict, but would lead to the Serbs accepting a permanent cease-fire, if not a political settlement. On the other side, opponents of lifting the embargo--most of our European allies and Russia among them--would say that instead of 'leveling the playing field,' lifting the arms embargo would 'level the killing fields,' increasing the violence without coming any closer to a diplomatic solution. As it now stands, the Serbs control about 70 percent of the land in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and there has been very little resistance so far to the advancing Serb army. We have to ask ourselves if it is not too later for a newly armed resistance in Bosnia to take back any of this land, or bring any measurable success to the Bosnians, especially since other nations will inevitably come to the aid of the Serbs if we begin backing the Moslems militarily. Will the fighting and killing only escalate?…”