The Corridors of Power

[footsteps on the gravel] [inaudible voices in the background] When I think about the Holocaust, and what came after World War II ended, and how many times people said, Never again, never again'.

And it happens over and over again.

After a while, you wonder, is this just hot air?

are these just words?

[quiet pensive music] I can tell you for sure, too often they are cases where we make a mockery of this idea of "Never Again" [rhythmical pulses] [music continues] [Henry Kissinger] If you look at human history, you have to say that genocide has occurred much too frequently.

Yes, we should oppose it.

But you cannot simply say the United States has an obligation, by military force, to oppose evil wherever it exists in the world.

[indistinct archival audio recording] With power comes responsibility And if you have huge power and there are problems in the world that you could fix, and you don't fix them, then you're being irresponsible.

[indistinct archival audio recording] [Colin Powell] We can't go everywhere.

We are not the world policemen.

Although, as is famously said, guess who the world calls for whenever there's a mugging.

[indistinct archival audio recording] When the body bags start coming home, if you don't have a significant national interest at stake, you will lose the policy.

And you won't be able to sustain it.

[indistinct archival audio recording] [Madeleine Albright] There are always people in the room that will argue and say, oh, well, you know, why should we care?

What does it matter to us?

I believe in peace but I'm not a pacifist.

And I believe that there are times when using force can actually bring stability in the long run, and save a lot of people.

[indistinct archival audio recording] Never again' is a moral statement, but is it a guiding operational principle?

Does it help answer whether to go into Bosnia or not?

Whether to go into Syria or not?

Whether to go into Rwanda or not?

I don't think so.

I think it is a moral statement by the world that it should not stand by and watch mass atrocities.

It is neither legally binding, uh... or politically binding.