MEMPHIS - The terrorists and war criminals who plague the world today all share a common base, regardless of their religious or ethnic backgrounds, former President Clinton said Tuesday.
They all believe they have "the whole truth'' and the right to impose it on everyone else, said Clinton, who was in Memphis to receive the National Civil Rights Museum's highest honor, the Freedom Award.
"And that's what's at the root of all the problems in the Middle East,'' Clinton said. "That's what's at the root of all the fighting that went on for years between the Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. That's what was at the root of what went on with all that ethnic cleansing between the Bosnian Serbs and the Muslims and the Croatians.'' rest of story
"But if you live in a world that is as interdependent as ours, you cannot possibly kill, jail or occupy everybody who is against you."
Clinton never mentioned President Bush by name or directly criticized Bush administration policy in Iraq or Afghanistan.
"That does not mean that you stop trying to defeat your enemies," Clinton was quick to add. "I honor the young men and women in uniform... But they shouldn’t be asked to carry this whole load."
Clinton said American policy should be to "make more friends than terrorists" and he pointed to his administration’s efforts to forge peace agreements in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Rwanda. full story
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And we all know how successful his efforts in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Rwanda have been.