Mr. Byrd tried the same stunt on them when President Clinton used American military force in the Balkans. Ms. Albright responded by telling Senator Byrd, "This is playing with fire. In the Balkans, signs of impatience can be misinterpreted as symptoms of weakness. We cannot afford that in a region where weakness attracts vultures."
Ms. Albright went on, "We will not achieve our goals in Southeast Europe if our eyes are always on the clock and our focus is solely on what others do. We are more than bookkeepers and spectators. We are leaders, and our fundamental objective in Southeast Europe is not to leave. It's to win."
Really, given that Senator Byrd is behind this latest effort to repeal reality, can't we just explain to the Kurds that we will be renaming their area Byrdistan? That's probably all it would take to kill this bill given that every above-ground structure in West Virginia is already named for this man.
This is one of those quotes that is almost fun to doctor to remove the time- and place-specific references to make it seem like some dreaded Neo-Con is commenting. I've done it enough. But if you still believe that President Bush lied after actually living through the consensus in the late 1990s and continuing until about late 2003 that Saddam was a threat because of his support for terrorism, despotism and mass murder, foreign aggression, and pursuit of WMD, then one more quote from a non-Bush source won't persuade you.
The war has long passed the point of rational discussion--only victory can end this BDS-tinged debate.
Oh, and it is nice to know that even Madeleine Albright is capable of moments of clarity--depending on who is in the White House, of course.
