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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Seth wrote:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>> This isn't quite right. George Bush supported the Kosovo </DIV>
<DIV>> bombing. From the transcript of the second Presidential debate...
<BR></DIV>
<DIV>> BUSH: I think it's a triumph; I thought the president made the right
> decision in joining NATO in bombing Serbia. I supported them </DIV>
<DIV>> when they did so. I called upon the Congress not to hamstring the >
administration and - in terms of forcing troop withdrawals on a </DIV>
<DIV>> timetable that wasn't in necessarily our best interests or fit
our </DIV>
<DIV>> nation's strategy...</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>Bush also threatened a withdrawal of
US "peace-keeping" forces during the campaign but has backed down from
that position. Notice that Bush's reasoning basically seems to rest on the
fact that, since other NATO countries wanted to intervene, we ought to go along
for the ride. Once the bombing commenced, Kissinger, McCain, and others
who were initially not big proponents of the intervention decided that
the US and NATO should go to any lengths to ensure success and demonstrate the
continued viability of NATO. Given Bush's (time-worn Republican
isolationist) rhetoric about the US's need to step back from its
foolish role as the world's police man and instead focus on
protecting our national interests, I doubt he would've been any more
than a reluctant warrior in NATO's campaign if he'd been in Clinton's
shoes.<BR></DIV>
<DIV>> Kissinger opposed it precisely because he thought it was >
an *unbrilliant* piece of imperialism. He's believed since the early >
1960's that NATO is ultimately doomed. <BR></DIV>
<DIV>What do you know? As regards the former claim, Kissinger was
absolutely correct. The intervention was so very inept if viewed as
imperialism that it's a continuing wonder to me that a great many people insist
on doing so.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>-- Luke <BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>