Letter: Clinton achieved goals in Kosovo; Bush fails in Iraq

Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2003 | 9:19 a.m.

As a retiree, I am able to watch talk shows oriented toward political issues. Recently, I heard a Republican loyalist state that Bush's Iraq initiative was far more successful than Clinton's initiative in Kosovo. Come again?

Clinton rallied NATO countries into a coalition, which ended in total victory in Kosovo. The former president of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, is in jail and on trial, and there is relative peace and stability there, with only a small skirmish now and then.

As a presidential candidate, George W. Bush said this about President Clinton's Kosovo endeavor: "Victory means an exit strategy, and it's important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is." The quote was reported in the April 9, 1999, edition of the Houston Chronicle.

On April 8, 1999, The New York Times reported that Sen. John Ashcroft said, "A lackluster air campaign has given the Serb dictator Milosevic time to achieve most of his strategic goals in Kosovo."

On May 4, 1999, Sen. Richard Lugar was reported by The New York Times to have said, "This is President Clinton's war, and when he falls flat on his face, that's his problem."

The remarks by those Republicans should be remembered today. Saddam Hussein is still at large and the Bush administration hasn't the foggiest idea where he is.

Finally, let us not ever forget that in Kosovo, Clinton did not have one single combat soldier die in that endeavor.

JAMES J. POUPARD