Political Quotes

On the recordMay 12, 1994
A wise man once said, ``The success of a policy is measured by the catastrophes that do not ensue.'' Mr. President, the catastrophe that we call Bosnia is worse than the result of a policy that has failed. It is the result of no policy at all. In Bosnia, as in Haiti, Somalia, North Korea, and elsewhere, this administration's action has not been characterized by the insightful analysis, decisive action, or strategic vision that is required and necessary in the conduct of foreign policy. Rather than a plan to guide international relationships and to protect America's vital interests abroad, this administration's foreign policy goals seem to be the abrogation of America's right to act as a sovereign nation, and the subrogation of its treasure, resources and the lives of its young men and women in uniform to the whims and aspirations of the United Nations. In his own statements, the President has declared that ``economic progress is at the center of our policy abroad.'' And he says his primary goals are to ``foster new democracies or restore them where overthrown.'' Mr. President, while those are noble motives, they do not constitute a foreign policy.
Said by
Dan Coats
Republican · Indiana

Editor's note · Context

Addressing the lifting of the arms embargo on Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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