Robert Torricelli: “In a perfect world, the strong would defend the weak. In the world in which we live, the weak must sometimes defend…”

“In a perfect world, the strong would defend the weak. In the world in which we live, the weak must sometimes defend themselves. It is this basic truth of our time that brings us to this judgment today. The people of Bosnia have made to the world a simple question eloquent in its simplicity, a plea that has been heard many times by many people in different lands. Mr. Chairman, they seek to survive. They simply seek for their nation to exist. For 4 years the world has answered that plea with resolutions and international forums, negotiations by the world's premier diplomats and peacekeepers from throughout the globe. They were all well-intentioned. Each was brave, and each was intent and each was unsuccessful. Every nation is grateful to all the diplomats who tried, acknowledges the time, the sacrifice of every soldier who risked their lives. It is to the eternal credit of the British and the French and the Dutch forces who tried to do so much, but we achieve nothing by ignoring the simple truth that they failed. The evidence mounts with every rape, every murder, each disappearance, the pillage of each new village. The simple truth is that the international forces were always too weak to defend Bosnia. But the embargo was always too strong to permit Bosnia to defend itself.”