Benjamin Gilman: “Mr. Chairman, the choice that our colleagues have before them is clear and impelling. We can explain to our children and…”

“Mr. Chairman, the choice that our colleagues have before them is clear and impelling. We can explain to our children and our grandchildren some 10 or 20 years from now that we stood with the people who have been the victims of rabid, genocidal supernationalism, and supported their right to self-defense, or that we stood on the sidelines wringing our hands and reaffirming once again the "Spirit of Munich" that we were powerless to do anything but speed the end of the conflict by ensuring the destruction of an innocent nation. Let there be no mistake, my colleagues. Despite ours' and the international community's best intentions, our Bosnia policy has been an abject failure, and serves only the interests of the aggressors. Time after time during the sad history of this conflict, the United Nations, our friends in Europe and our own Government have laid down strict terms and lines that could not be crossed by the Serbs, and time after time, the Serbs have thumbed their noses with impunity.”