What About Clinton and Kosovo? Get Over 'Bush Lied' Nonsense
by Larry Elder
Posted Dec 01, 2006
The White House -- finally -- began pushing back against irresponsible
charges that Bush "lied" to the American people in making the case for
war.
The
garrulous Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., made many "Bush lied" accusations:
"There was no imminent threat. This was made up in Texas, announced in
January [2003] to the Republican leadership that war was going to take
place and was going to be good politically. This whole thing was a
fraud." And Kennedy later intoned on the Senate floor, "Before the war,
week after week after week after week, we were told lie after lie after
lie after lie."
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said, " . . . [T]he
administration intentionally misled the country into war." Anti-war
protester Cindy Sheehan, speaking to the president in a TV ad, said,
"You were wrong about the weapons of mass destruction. You were wrong
about the link between Iraq and al-Qaeda. You lied to us, and because
of your lies, my son died."
Question: If Bush "lied," did former President Clinton "lie" about Kosovo?
Clinton,
in a March 24, 1999, Oval Office broadcast, explained his military
action in Kosovo: "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. . . . By acting now, we are
upholding our values, protecting our interests and advancing the cause
of peace.
. . . Ending this tragedy is a moral imperative. It
is also important to America's national interests. . . . Do our
interests in Kosovo justify the dangers to our armed forces? . . . I am
convinced that the dangers of acting are far outweighed by the dangers
of not acting -- dangerous to defenseless people and to our national
interests. . . . I have a responsibility as president to deal with
problems such as this before they do permanent harm to our national
interests. America has a responsibility to stand with our allies when
they are trying to save innocent lives and preserve peace, freedom and
stability in Europe. That is what we are doing in Kosovo."
The
former president called Kosovo a humanitarian crisis. The New York
Times, on April 19, 1999, wrote: "In San Francisco on Thursday,
President Clinton said that the Serbs had displaced 'over a million
Kosovars' and had killed and raped 'thousands upon thousands of them.'
From interviews that journalists and relief workers have conducted with
scores of refugees from Kosovo, there is no reason to doubt him. But at
this point it is also impossible to prove that he is correct."
Actor/activist
Mike Farrell, who opposes the Iraq War, nevertheless supported military
action in Kosovo, stating, "I am in favor of an intervention. . . . I
was in Rwanda shortly after the slaughter there. I was infuriated then
-- and am now -- that the international community did not step in. . .
. I know that the escalation of violence and violations of human rights
in Kosovo have been going on for some time. . . . I reluctantly find
myself supporting the notion that something needed to be done and that
it is appropriate for us to act, and if this is the only way, so be
it."
But what about Clinton's assertion of the displacement of
"over a million Kosovars"? According to USA Today on July 1, 1999,
"Many of the figures used by the Clinton administration and NATO to
describe the wartime plight of Albanians in Kosovo now appear greatly
exaggerated as allied forces take control of the province. . . .
Instead of 100,000 ethnic Albanian men feared murdered by rampaging
Serbs, officials now estimate that about 10,000 were killed."
But is the 10,000 number accurate?
The
Orange County Register, in a Nov. 22, 1999, editorial, said, "Months
after the bombing has ceased, United Nations and European Union
investigations have bolstered what critics had argued: NATO's estimates
of Serbian genocide against the Kosovars were greatly overblown. Many
observers now think the inflated numbers simply were part of the
U.S.-led propaganda effort to build support for the war.
" . . .
The latest evidence suggests that fewer than 3,000 Kosovars were
murdered -- horrifying, yes, but not many more than the number of Serbs
who were killed by NATO bombing attacks on Yugoslavia, roughly
estimated between 3,000 and 5,000 soldiers and civilians."
Does
this mean that Clinton "lied, people died"? The intelligence turned out
to be wrong, very wrong. Something like this always warrants a serious
examination of intelligence failures. But intelligence failures, bad
intelligence or failing to properly analyze the intelligence is a far
cry from accusing a commander in chief of deliberately and
intentionally misleading the American people.
Can we, perhaps, now drop the "Bush lied" nonsense, and pursue the business of winning the war against Islamo-fascism? Perhaps?
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