Henry Bonilla: “our responsibility is to protect America. Our responsibility is to act prudently before placing any of our fellow…”

“our responsibility is to protect America. Our responsibility is to act prudently before placing any of our fellow Americans in harm's way. We have no responsibility to referee bloody disputes wherever they crop up. The fuse on Kosovo has been lit. The Serbs have no interest in relinquishing their historic claims on the territory. The Albanians speak with so many voices that the only certainty we have is that any Albanian leader we deal with will not be speaking for most of his armed compatriots. When we make ourselves this region's policeman we make our young men and women targets for armed fanatics. And committing them will continue to place greater strains and burdens on our over-stretched military. Neither side there likes us. Neither side respects us. Neither side wants us there. Who are we protecting? There is no reason to believe that the Albanian and Serb positions are reconcilable or that either side wants reconciliation. The risks of this strategy are that transparent. The benefits in contrast are little more than wishes and hopes which we have no reason to believe will materialize. Some have argued that defeating this resolution today will kill the peace process. Let me just say that if killing the so-called peace process saves American lives I will always make that choice. We should oppose this deployment because it will only erode our military strength, weaken our nation's credibility and place our military forces at great risk.”