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Article: Despite Risks, Intervention Boosts Clinton Series: WHERE THEY STAND: FOREIGN POLICY Series Number: 1/2
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- October 14, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Before President Clinton committed himself to sending 20,000
U.S. peacekeeping troops to Bosnia last November, there were huge
debates inside the White House. Polls showed that a clear majority
of Americans -- 70 percent by some counts -- opposed the idea.
Clinton fretted to aides that he was "risking his presidency" on an
obscure Balkan country of fewer than 5 million people.
A few weeks later, as the U.S. troops began to fan out across
the mountainous Bosnian terrain in their armored humvees and heavy
Abrams tanks, the president's approval rating jumped. The
president's advisers began talking about the "Reagan effect." By
acting like a commander in chief, Clinton helped to erase the ...