Clinton-Bush-Perot Presidential Debates: on War & Peace

Bill Clinton: No troops to Bosnia, but no-fly zone & blockade

BUSH: We are helping. American airplanes are helping today on humanitarian relief for Sarajevo. But you have ancient ethnic rivalries--it isn't going to be solved by sending in the 82d Airborne, and I'm not going to do that.

CLINTON: I agree that we cannot commit ground forces to become involved in the quagmire of Bosnia. But I think that it's important to recognize that there are things that can be done short of that. There are two million refugees, the largest number since World War II, and there may be hundreds of thousands of people who will starve or freeze to death in this winter. The US should try to work with its allies and stop it. I urged the President to support this air cover, and he did, and I applaud that. I applaud the no-fly zone. I think we should stiffen the embargo on the Belgrade government. We can't get involved in the quagmire, but we must do what we can.

George Bush Sr.: No troops in Bosnia, because we haven't defined mission

BUSH: I vowed something, because I learned something from Vietnam: I am not going to commit US forces until I know what the mission is, until the military tell me that it can be completed, until I know how they can come out. We are helping. American airplanes are helping today on humanitarian relief for Sarajevo. But when you go to put somebody else's son or daughter into war, I think you've got to be a little bit careful, and you have to be sure that there's a military plan that can do this. You have ancient ethnic rivalries that have cropped up as Yugoslavia dissolves. It isn't going to be solved by sending in the 82d Airborne, and I'm not going to do that.

CLINTON: We can't get involved with ground forces in the quagmire, but we must do what we can. I applaud the no-fly zone, and I think we should stiffen the embargo on the Belgrade government.

Ross Perot: No troops to Bosnia until America is more committed

BUSH: I vowed something, because I learned something from Vietnam: I am not going to commit US forces until I know what the mission is, until I know how they can come out. When you go to put somebody else's son or daughter into war, I think you've got to be careful.

PEROT: If we learned anything in Vietnam, it's you first commit this Nation before you commit the troops to the battlefield. This is basically a problem that is a primary concern to the European Community. But it is inappropriate for us, just because there's a problem somewhere around the world, to take the sons and daughters of working people that send their sons and daughters to war--our all-volunteer armed force is not made up of the sons and daughters of the beautiful people. It's very important that we not just, without thinking it through, just rush to every problem in the world and have our people torn to pieces.