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Clinton: 'We must act now' [Unilaterally, if need be]
BBC ^ | Thursday, March 25, 1999

Posted on 02/07/2003 3:38:28 AM PST by JohnHuang2

US President Bill Clinton has vowed to continue bombing Yugoslavia unless President Slobodan Milosevic stops the attacks on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

"If President Milosevic will not make peace, we will limit his ability to make war," he said in a nationally televised address.

Mr Clinton said the military action had three goals:

to demonstrate the seriousness of Nato's opposition to aggression

to deter President Milosevic from further attacks on Kosovo Albanians

to damage Serbia's capacity to wage war

As bombs exploded across Yugoslavia, Mr Clinton told America there was a "moral imperative" to end Serb attacks on Kosovo Albanians.

And he warned the conflict could spread if not stopped now.

"We act to protect thousands of innocent people in Kosovo from a mounting military offensive," he said.

"We act to prevent a wider war, to defuse a powder keg at the heart of Europe, that has exploded twice before in this century with catastrophic results."

Geography lesson

The president, using a pointer and a coloured map to show Americans where Kosovo is, gave the nation a crash course in European history.

Mr Clinton reminded Americans that both Europe and the US had been slow to respond to two previous ethnic slaughters - the Holocaust and Bosnia.

He warned that US forces faced grave risks but indicated the assault would not involve any ground troops.

"I do not intend to put our troops into Kosovo to fight a war," he added.

'Full-blown crisis'

Speaking earlier, Mr Clinton stressed that Nato laid the blame fully on President Milosevic who had ''chosen aggression over peace".

"His forces have intensified their attacks, burning down Kosovo Albanian villages and murdering civilians,'' Mr Clinton said.

''As I speak, more Serb forces are moving into Kosovo and more people are fleeing their homes."

Some 60,000 ethnic Albanians had been driven from their homes in the last five weeks, he said, and 250,000 altogether.

A chance for peace

''After two world wars and a cold war, we and our allies have a chance to leave our children with a Europe that is free, peaceful and stable,'' the president said.

"But we must act now to do that, because if the Balkans once again become a place of brutal killing and massive refugee flights, it will be impossible to achieve.

''I have concluded that the dangers of acting now are clearly outweighed by the risks of failing to act,'' he added.

Mr Clinton said there was a danger that many more innocent people would die, and neighbouring nations would become destabilised if the allies delayed action.

The US must stand with its Nato allies ''against ethnic violence and atrocity", he added.


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: clinton; clintonhypocrisy; kosovo; slobodan; yugoslavia
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Hypocrisy, anyone?

Friday, February 7, 2003

Quote of the Day by OldFriend

1 posted on 02/07/2003 3:38:28 AM PST by JohnHuang2
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To: JohnHuang2
His leadership is... underwhelming...

That PISSANT is directly responsible for 9/11/01, and he has the stone cajones to say this???

I vote we give him an M-16, and force him to lead the charge into Iraq personally. Preferably, without NBC protective gear... If he breathes some rycin or anthrax...?

Well, it'd be one less scum-sucking bottom-feeder democRAT on the government tit...

2 posted on 02/07/2003 3:53:45 AM PST by Capitalist Eric
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To: JohnHuang2
He's not the president anymore...right...?
3 posted on 02/07/2003 3:55:54 AM PST by ShasheMac
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To: ShasheMac
This is a flashback thread to illustrate Democrat/liberal media hypocrisy and double standards as regards military action. (Not that anyone should be surprised there is any, of course.)
4 posted on 02/07/2003 4:02:35 AM PST by JohnHuang2
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To: JohnHuang2
Whew!
5 posted on 02/07/2003 4:04:07 AM PST by ShasheMac
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To: ShasheMac
lol
6 posted on 02/07/2003 4:04:34 AM PST by JohnHuang2
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To: JohnHuang2
Hypocrisy, anyone?

Great find; I'm surprised that any of the leftist media still has this comparison available.

7 posted on 02/07/2003 4:22:13 AM PST by steveegg (The Surgeon General has determined that siding with Al-Qaeda is hazardous to your continued rule.)
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To: JohnHuang2
No hypocracy.
This is different.

Clinton was a Democrap. Bush is a Republican.

8 posted on 02/07/2003 4:25:29 AM PST by ZULU
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To: steveegg
Thanks.

I'm surprised that any of the leftist media still has this comparison available.

What baffles me is why the heck aren't Republicans throwing this right back in the media's face? Especially in light of all the fixation with what the U.N. will do, what the U.N. will say, what our "allies" will think, etc.

9 posted on 02/07/2003 4:25:47 AM PST by JohnHuang2
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To: ZULU
Clinton was a Democrap. Bush is a Republican.

Precisely. The only bottom line that matters -- for Democrats and their marionette presstitutes.

10 posted on 02/07/2003 4:27:00 AM PST by JohnHuang2
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To: JohnHuang2
Typical. The only time the left and or Democrats want to use US military force is when we have no National Interest in the outcome.
11 posted on 02/07/2003 4:27:45 AM PST by Kozak
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Comment #12 Removed by Moderator

To: JohnHuang2
That reminds me of a story in my local birdcage liner via the LA Times about the Al Qaeda camp in Iraq, and the RATs screaming about why we didn't put it out of commission last year.
13 posted on 02/07/2003 4:29:34 AM PST by steveegg (The Surgeon General has determined that siding with Al-Qaeda is hazardous to your continued rule.)
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To: Kozak
Correcto. Oh, and where were all the "peace marches" during all of this? Where were all the media polls showing how "conflicted and divided" the American people were about waging unilateral military action, sans U.N. approval? Gee, musta missed the news.
14 posted on 02/07/2003 4:29:41 AM PST by JohnHuang2
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To: steveegg
Unfrickin' believable.
15 posted on 02/07/2003 4:30:37 AM PST by JohnHuang2
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To: JohnHuang2
When he got finished with that speech he called the Secret Service into his office and explained that they must "act now", with or without UN permission, to acquire a month's supply of cocaine and women.

He explained that if they failed to do so "you will find yourself in the corpse position at Ft. Marcy Park". ;-)
16 posted on 02/07/2003 4:30:39 AM PST by cgbg
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To: cgbg
lol
17 posted on 02/07/2003 4:31:54 AM PST by JohnHuang2
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To: JohnHuang2
history to avoid revision bump
18 posted on 02/07/2003 4:33:49 AM PST by KSCITYBOY
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To: KSCITYBOY
Thanks for bumping...
19 posted on 02/07/2003 4:34:18 AM PST by JohnHuang2
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To: JohnHuang2
Oh, the royal "we" must act now, eh? He never did when it was his turn, either when he was a young man or as "president". The big talk of a coward.
20 posted on 02/07/2003 4:35:07 AM PST by laconic
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