Samuel Nunn: “I say to the Senator from Massachusetts that I think this is why we have a President and executive branch. I believe it…”

“I say to the Senator from Massachusetts that I think this is why we have a President and executive branch. I believe it is very difficult to legislate here on the floor of the Senate enough contingencies on a piece of legislation to take care of that situation. I think we have to do everything we can to urge the President to be as forceful as possible, to put forward the position that we are not going to sit by and let these people continue to have no way of defending themselves, without deciding yet what we do when our allies come back. I think we ought to put a complete strategy on the table, not simply bombing. That is part of a possible strategy, but it has to be much more complete. It has to involve the air campaign, the willingness to escalate the air campaign, the lifting of the arms embargo, perhaps selectively. This has never been tabled with our allies yet, not even the Russians. The Russians may agree to it in one safe haven, because the Russians are fed up with what the Bosnian Serbs have done in the safe haven that is now becoming a slaughterhouse--Gorazde. I think the Senate needs to take it a step at a time. The Senate likes to legislate completely and say: Here is what we do in foreign policy. But you cannot really do that very well. That has to be part of the tactic. I also say that, if the allies do not agree, it is time to say, look, we want a complete strategy from you. We do not want any more of this piecemeal business. The Russians owe us that.”