Bill Clinton: “To all the people of Bosnia, let me say I look forward to being with you tomorrow in a land where the waste of war is…”

“To all the people of Bosnia, let me say I look forward to being with you tomorrow in a land where the waste of war is finally giving way to the promise of peace. As I visit with American peacekeeping forces stationed in Bosnia, I urge you to seize that promise, to turn the peace agreement signed one month ago from words into deeds. For nearly 4 years, the war that tore Bosnia apart dramatized your differences. But for all that divides you, so much more unites you. Of course you are proud to be Muslims or Croats or Serbs. But all of you are also citizens of Bosnia, bound together by marriage and culture, by language and work, by shared love in a place you all call home. I believe that deep down you all want the same things: To live and raise your families without fear, to make a better life for your children. If these desires are ever to become reality, there must be peace. The United States and countries all around the world have sent you the men and women of our Armed Forces to help safeguard the peace so many of you have wanted for so long. Our troops are well prepared and heavily armed, but they come in peace. Their mission is to supervise the withdrawal of your armies behind the agreed separation line, to help assure that war does not break out again, to create a more secure climate throughout Bosnia so that you can rebuild your towns and roads, your factories and shops, your parks and playgrounds.…”