Doves thought that was bizarre. Now Clinton uses the same rhetoric about Slobodan Milosevic, which is a bizarre overstatement of an essential truth. I do not bring this up to be churlish. I support what President Clinton is, belatedly, doing. Massacres can happen in civil wars, and a humanitarian response is not a foolish motive for action.
American credibility is a very important part of any scenario for future global stability.
Exit strategies are militarily desirable but not always available. Vital interests are not always easy to discern. Relative stability requires some kind of policing power, however inconsistent. Without some sort of a brake on turmoil and slaughter, the prospects for a 21st century world that is friendly to American views and values are much diminished. Back then, fearful of communist expansion and influence, America spent about 10 percent of its gross national product on defense.