So they followed their orders and continued the hunt for Aidid. This was the question Sgt. Joyce s father wanted answered. He felt his son had died in vain. In a meeting between the president and families of the fallen soldiers, Mr. Joyce asked the president that question.
Children hate that.
President Clinton wheeled on his national-security adviser Tony Lake and said indignantly, You know, that s exactly what I asked Tony Lake myself. Mr. Joyce took this as confirmation from the president of the United States that his son had died in vain. Fast forward six years later. Clinton, according to Italians in the room, was silent and unprepared. Rather than reply, he turned to his current national-security adviser Sandy Berger.