[House Document 105-190]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
105th Congress, 2d Session - - - - - - - - - - House Document 105-190
U.S. CONTRIBUTIONS IN SUPPORT OF PEACEKEEPING EFFORTS IN THE FORMER
YUGOSLAVIA
__________
COMMUNICATION
from
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
transmitting
A REPORT ON CONTINUED U.S. CONTRIBUTIONS IN SUPPORT OF PEACEKEEPING
EFFORTS IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
February 3, 1998.--Referred to the Committee on International Relations
and ordered to be printed
The White House,
Washington, DC, December 19, 1997.
The Honorable Newt Gingrich,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Speaker: In my report to the Congress of June 20,
1997, I provided further information on the deployment of
combat-equipped U.S. Armed Forces to Bosnia and other states in
the region in order to participate in and support the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-led Stabilization Force
(SFOR), and on the beginning of the withdrawal of the NATO-led
Implementation Force (IFOR), which completed its mission and
transferred authority to the SFOR on December 20, 1996. I am
providing this supplemental report, consistent with the War
Powers Resolution, to help ensure that the Congress is kept
fully informed on continued U.S. contributions in support of
peacekeeping efforts in the former Yugoslavia.
We continue to work in concert with others in the
international community to encourage the parties to fulfill
their commitments under the Dayton Peace Agreement and to build
on the gains achieved over the last 2 years. It remains in the
U.S. national interest to help bring peace to Bosnia, both for
humanitarian reasons and to arrest the dangers the fighting in
Bosnia represented to security and stability in Europe
generally. Through American leadership and in conjunction with
our NATO allies and other countries, we have seen real and
continued progress toward sustainable peace in Bosnia. We have
also made it clear to the former warring parties that they are
ultimately responsible for implementing the Peace Agreement.
The United Nations Security Council authorized member
states to establish the follow-on force in United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1088 of December 12, 1996. The
SFOR's tasks are to deter or prevent a resumption of
hostilities or new threats to peace, to consolidate IFOR's
achievements and to promote a climate in which the civilian-led
peace process can go forward. Subject to this primary mission,
SFOR has provided support, within its capabilities, to civilian
organizations implementing the Dayton Peace Agreement.
During its mission, SFOR has successfully deterred the
resumption of hostilities by patrolling the Zone of Separation,
inspecting and monitoring heavy weapons cantonment sites, and
providing support to civilian agencies. The SFOR has made
significant achievements in demining, as well as major progress
in efforts to restore road, rail, and air transportation links
within Bosnia and Herzegovina. The SFOR has contributed to
efforts to bring persons indicted for war crimes into custody
in The Hague. The SFOR's support to civilian peace
implementation tasks has been significant.
United States force contribution to SFOR in Bosnia remains
approximately 8,500. United States forces participating in SFOR
are U.S. Army forces that were stationed in Germany and the
United States. Other participating U.S. forces include special
operations forces, airfield operations support forces, air
forces, and reserve component personnel. An amphibious force is
normally in strategic reserve in the Mediterranean Sea, and a
carrier battle group remains available to provide support for
air operations.
All NATO nations and 20 others, including Russia and
Ukraine, have provided troops or other support to SFOR. Most
U.S. troops are assigned to Multinational Division, North,
centered around the city of Tuzla. In addition, approximately
3,000 U.S. troops are deployed to Hungary, Croatia, Italy, and
other states in the region in order to provide logistical and
other support to SFOR. Since June 1997, U.S. forces have
sustained a total of three fatalities, none of which was
combat-related.
A U.S. Army contingent remains deployed in the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as part of the United Nations
Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP). This U.N. peacekeeping
force observes and monitors conditions along the border with
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Albania, effectively
contributing to the stability of the region. Several U.S. Army
helicopters are also deployed to provide support to U.S. forces
and UNPREDEP as required. Most of the approximately 350 U.S.
soldiers participating in these missions are assigned to the
1st Battalion, 6th Infantry, 1st Armored Division. The U.N.
Security Council voted December 4, 1997, to authorize a final
extension of the UNPREDEP mandate through August 31, 1998, at
which time UNPREDEP will be terminated.
A small contingent of U.S. military personnel is also
serving in Croatia in direct support of the Transitional
Administrator of the United Nations Transitional Administration
in Eastern Solvenia (UNTAE). These personnel are expected to be
redeployed when UNTAES's mandate expires on January 15, 1998,
and a follow-on U.N. civilian police operation continues in the
region.
In order to continue the progress we have seen in the last
6 months and to create conditions for a self-sustaining peace,
yesterday I announced that the United States would in principal
take part in a security presence in Bosnia when SFOR withdraws
this summer.
I have directed the participation of U.S. Armed Forces in
these operations pursuant to my constitutional authority to
conduct U.S. foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and
Chief Executive, and in accordance with various statutory
authorities. I am providing this report as part of my efforts
to keep the Congress fully informed about developments in
Bosnia and other states in the region. I will continue to
consult closely with the Congress regarding our efforts to
foster peace and stability in the former Yugoslavia.
Sincerely,
William J. Clinton.