Sifter

What the Republicans said when President Bill Clinton committed American troops to Bosnia in 1999. This is part of a collection of quotes that have been making the rounds on lefty blogs and Web sites.

“You can support the troops but not the president.”
—Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX)

“Well, I just think it’s a bad idea. What’s going to happen is they’re going to be over there for 10, 15, maybe 20 years.”
—Joe Scarborough (R-FL)

“Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is.”
—Gov. George W. Bush (R-TX)

“[The] President . . . is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation’s armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy.”
—Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

“I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning … I didn’t think we had done enough in the diplomatic area.”
—Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS)