Rick Lazio: “One of the most important accomplishments of which America can be justly proud is its victory in the Cold War, a 50-year…”

“One of the most important accomplishments of which America can be justly proud is its victory in the Cold War, a 50-year struggle during which literally 500 million people were liberated from control of the Soviets. Our ideals, our American ideals of democracy and market capitalism are in triumph throughout the world, but not in every corner of the world. With that triumph comes some responsibility. In the Balkans where slaughter and bloodshed and systemic rape as a tool of terror have been used over and over again, where families and villages have been wiped out, America properly has a role, not the only role, but a leading role. But this is a sobering debate frankly because of some of the failures of our foreign policy that got us here. I am in support of the Gilman amendment, because I believe in America's role in ensuring the peace, in ensuring a strong, integrated Europe. But let us remind ourselves of the fact that the Dayton Accord helped perpetuate this because the people of Kosovo who pursued a nonviolent strategy were left out. The message that was translated from the State Department was that we will only be engaged if violence is pursued as a tool. That is the wrong message.”