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Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali

February 23, 1993

Bosnia

Q. Mr. President, is an airdrop enough to relieve the suffering? Will that do the job of getting food to people?

The President. Well, if we can reach an agreement, it will help, I think.

Q. How close are you to an agreement, Mr. President?

The President. I don't know. We can't talk until you leave. [Laughter]

Q. Do you think that there is some risk, though, of this being the first step to an engagement that we won't be able to get out of?

The President. Not necessarily, no. Not at all.

Q. Why not?

The President. Because what we're discussing is very different. It has no combat connotations whatever, and it's purely humanitarian and quite limited.

Q. Isn't there a risk of people being shot at by antiaircraft artillery?

The President. Well, if we do it, we'll have an announcement that deals with that. We think the risks are quite small.

NOTE: The exchange began at 4:10 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White House.

William J. Clinton, Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/218118

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