Bill Clinton: “I wouldn't say they were reluctant. Let me say again, look at the position of the Canadians with their soldiers in…”

“I wouldn't say they were reluctant. Let me say again, look at the position of the Canadians with their soldiers in Srebrenica surrounded by Serbs. They're in a different position. The French, the British, the Spaniards, the Dutch--there are Europeans who have soldiers on the ground in relatively small numbers for the purpose of carrying out the United Nations missions. They are all legitimately concerned with the prospect of retaliation against their armed forces. And one of the things that we have really given a lot of thought to is what we can do to provide maximum protection to those people. They have bravely carried on in very difficult circumstances, as you know, for some time. And so we have talked about that. I think it's a real tribute to those who have forces there that they were so determined finally to try to stop the deterioration of conditions. I think they began to be worried that their forces would be perhaps at more risk if nothing was done. So I am grateful to them for their agreement for this position. And we're going to do the very best we can to make it work. Thank you.”