David Skaggs: “Bosnia is a profound tragedy, a political, a moral, a military, a human tragedy. The brutality and depravity of Serbian…”

“Bosnia is a profound tragedy, a political, a moral, a military, a human tragedy. The brutality and depravity of Serbian aggression not only murders innocent Bosnian civilians, it defies the ability of words to express our outrage and disgust. A vote to lift the embargo may look like a good way to register the moral outrage that we all feel. But sound national security policy requires a careful examination of the consequences, if we were to lift the embargo--and I do not believe we should. Specifically, there are at least four unintended consequences that we have to face up to if we take the step of unilaterally lifting the embargo: First, it would lead to a decision by UNPROFOR to depart Bosnia and so lead to the very dangerous involvement of United States ground troops to extract the international force. Britain and France have already made it clear what they would do. We have an obligation, which we have already acknowledged, to help with the withdrawal that would necessarily put U.S. forces at real risk. Second and perhaps most problematic, lifting the embargo would almost inevitably lead to an expansion of the conflict.”