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presidential selection search for me, Mr. Warren Christopher. (Applause.) And, as far as I know, he's the only person in this audien who has read the speech, so if you don't like part of it, blame him. (Laughter.)
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CLINTON-08/13/92
FOREIGN POLICY
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Ladies and gentlemen, it is always a hazardous enterprise to discuss foreign policy in the midst of a presidential election. I met yesterday in Washington with Prime Minister Rabin of Israel, and I assured him that I -
-- (applause) I assured him that I did not
want anything that occurred in this campaign or afterward to interrupt the commitment of the United States of America to the peace process in the Middle, East and that I intended to support the continuity of that process for the next 82 days and, if victorious in this election, beyond.
beyond. That is (applause) I feel that way about our attempts now to present a united front in dealing with the crisis in Bosnia and in our attempts to stand, firm in the face of Saddam Hussein's flouting of the United Nations cease-fire resolutions in Iraq.
Nonetheless, it is important that a candidate for president, especially in a time of great change, set forth his or her views and distinguish them from the views of the opponent, and that is what I will try to do here today.
We clearly stand blessed today as the inheritors of a new world, a world of hope and opportunity made possible by half a century of bipartisan leadership and (unstunning ?) sacrifice for the American people and our allies, and above all by the courage of the men and women who lived in the formerly communist countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union who tore down the walls of repression and stood up to tyranny. Now that the Iron Curtain has collapsed and the Cold War is over, we have cause for rejoicing, but we also must pause and reflect about the new demands imposed on us by the new world we have done so much for so long to create and what kind of presidential leadership this new world demands of us both at home and abroad.
The world remains a place of peril. While the Soviet Union is gone, a president must still be ready to defy and to defeat those who threaten us. Whatever else we expect of our presidents, we still need a resolute leader who will wield America's might and marshal all our resources and the resources of our allies to defend our most fundamental interests. And yet today there are new tests of new leadership as well. The first is to grasp how the world we live in has changed. The second is to assert a new vision for our role in this dynamic world. The third is to summon all of our strength our economic power, our values, and, when necessary, \military might into service of our new vision.
I do not believe that Mr. Bush has met these tests, despite his clear effectiveness in organizing the allies against Iraq'
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