The situation in Bosnia may be tragic, and Saddam Hussein may be a vile dictator. I won't argue with that. But a threat to American security does not exist in either Bosnia or Iraq.
So why are we involved militarily in those nations? Because Republicans and Democrats, instead of defending America, are addicted to meddling in the affairs of other nations -- and playing policeman to the world. The result is that they are making our country a more tempting target for murderous terrorists.
Unfortunately, this kind of meddling in other nations' affairs is nothing new for the U.S. government. Since World War II, our government has shipped money, weapons, and soldiers to nearly a hundred nations. Instead of defending our country, the government has sent Americans to die in the jungles of Asia, the shanty towns of Somalia, and the desert sands of the Middle East. Instead of focusing on defense, the government has seized on minor incidents to jump into conflicts that didn't threaten America.
And thus we are almost always at war -- cold or hot, but a conflict nevertheless -- a war in which Americans will die, or a war that Americans will be taxed for, or a war that could easily erupt into wholesale destruction. So we have what historian Charles Beard called the "perpetual war for perpetual peace" -- the nonstop conflict that's always justified by the peace just around the corner.
But government doesn't work. War doesn't work. Every war leaves America and the world as insecure as they were before -- with new enemies to face or with old enemies threatening to get even. Our latest skirmishes in Iraq and Bosnia are no exception. As president, I would implement a U.S. defense policy that is dramatically different from that of the Republicans and Democrats. If government has a role to play in foreign affairs, it isn't to win wars, to assure that the right people run foreign countries, to protect innocent foreigners from guilty aggressors, or to make the world safe for democracy. If government has a role, it can be only to keep us out of wars -- to make sure no one will ever attack us and to make certain you can live your life in peace. That would be my goal as president.