[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.

                                
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