Political Quotes

“as most Members know, I have been involved in this issue for the entire length of time that the United States became aware of what was going on in Bosnia, and I realize there is an amazing difference between all of us about when troops should have been deployed and when they should not. I can remember vividly the debate on the floor of the House after the Dayton accord. There were predictions there would be American troops brought back in body bags. There were predictions that there would be a disastrous deployment for U.S. forces. When it started out, it looked like that was going to happen. President Clinton, against a lot of advice, made one of the most courageous decisions of his Presidency. He worked out an agreement, he put U.S. forces in conjunction with other forces under NATO on the ground. I am not one that believes that U.S. forces could have stopped this fighting before an agreement. I believe we had to have an agreement. But the truth has been that everything that has happened since the agreement has been positive. We have not lost one single American soldier from hostile fire. We have not had one person come back in a body bag from hostile fire. What happened before was just unmitigated killing by both sides. They hated each other. Once the accord was done, they were worn out, they decided that the territory was settled by the war itself and they are trying to reassimilate themselves.”