J. Exon: “I hope that we will listen to the advice of our military leadership and never, ever commit American ground troops to be…”

“I hope that we will listen to the advice of our military leadership and never, ever commit American ground troops to be involved unilaterally or as a part of a United Nations effort to restore order there until and unless there is a cease-fire that looks like it has a chance to hold. I will simply say to the President and our other decisionmakers that I hope we will be very careful and very cautious as to what we do and not do. Naturally, with the recent atrocities that happened there--the killing of civilians--there is a tendency to move and move now. I will simply sum up my position by saying that we should not get further involved there unless and until we think through what the ultimate situation might be. I think it might best be summed up, in my mind at least: Do not go without a workable goal. Let me repeat that: Do not go without a workable goal. The superpower of the United States of America cannot and should not be involved as the ultimate policeman of the world.”