George W. Bush Quotes
I don’t like genocide, but I would not commit our troops [to stop it.]
George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States, Son of President George W. Bush, January 2000
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
There was reluctance throughout the government to avoid using “the G word.” See {41333}
The possibility of intervention in the affairs of other counties even if there is no U. S. national interest involved, was not new when the George W. Bush administration sent troops to Somalia and Bill Clinton bombed Serbia. There were appeals made “to our sympathies” and there were serious atrocities. But these modern Presidents were just following the policy clearly stated by Theodore Roosevelt in 1904.
See {598187} for Clinton’s earlier discovery of the extent of his administration’s insufficient action.
His view, that America had no vested interest in Rwanda, was the prevailing thinking of the Republicans who controlled Congress and many of the Democrats as well. President Clinton considered intervention in Rwanda, but decided against it given all the opposition and little time to educate the American public to a different position. The result was the genocide in Rwanda where over 500,000 Tutsis were exterminated by the Hutus. Clinton, several years later not only admitted that he made a political and moral mistake, but officially apologized to Rwandan Tutsis who remained alive. He had intervened very successfully in Kosovo to prevent more murder of ethnic Muslims and was given a hard time politically by his opposition even though the brilliant effort cost no American lives. The United States and the UN, all bearing guilt for doing little in Rwanda, did help to set up the mechanism for the trials of the worst murderers and at least many of the most guilty were brought to justice.
George Walker Bush is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush previously served as the 46th governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. He was born into the Bush family; his father, George H. W. Bush, was the 41st president of the United States from 1989 to 1993.
