[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 45 (Thursday, April 21, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: April 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
TRAGEDY IN GORAZDE
Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I wish to address the situation in Bosnia
and Herzegovina--a situation that currently threatens to result in a
humiliation for the United States at the hands of a third-rate power.
If we fail to change course, it will be an indictment of our judgment
as a world power and of our moral character as the leader of the
democratic world.
Gorazde is a glimpse of the future under the administration's policy.
Today, 65,000 defenseless Bosnian civilians in Gorazde are at the mercy
of Serbian forces who have proven to be world-class genocidal
executioners. A more abject failure of policy could not be scripted.
It will get worse. The number of defenseless civilians in Gorazde is
higher than the population Ogden or Orem, UT. I predict that we will
see hundreds or thousands of Bosnians who fought to defend their land
and their families summarily executed or shipped off to camps in
Serbia. This happened at Vukovar in Croatia, and there is no reason to
believe the Serbs at Gorazde will be any less brutal.
What the President proposed the other day is totally inadequate. He
himself admitted in his press conference that additional airstrikes
alone cannot stop further Serbian aggression or silence Serbian guns.
The Serbs know what they want--that is, to conquer Bosnia. The
Clinton administration has no idea of what it wants to do or how to do
it. It has hesitated, vacillated, and equivocated. As a result, the
United States and the world community have been outfoxed and outwitted
at every turn.
You cannot stop deadly projectiles from Serbian guns with words. The
Serbs have exposed their aggressive intent, have responded to
negotiations in a duplicitous manner, and even infuriated its biggest
supporter--Russia--with its total disregard for diplomacy and economic
pressure. We have been bogged down in conferences for 2 years. It is
time to take care of business.
What needs to be done is simple: remove the U.N. peacekeepers, lift
the arms embargo against the Croatian-Bosnian confederation, arm and
train the confederation forces to counter the Serbs, and conduct air
strikes against strategic Serbian targets, such as their supply lines,
fuel and arms depots, and command and control centers.
The moment is right. The world is outraged. Europe's policy of
appeasing Serbia has been discredited. Russian leaders have denounced
the Serbs. If the United States leads, if we insist in the U.N.
Security Council that the arms embargo must be lifted, the Europeans
and the Russians will follow our lead.
Mr. President, Europe cannot solve Bosnia without United States
military support. I call on the administration to put on the table
today a Security Council resolution to repeal the arms embargo against
Croatia and Bosnia. I do not want Americans involved in the matter
other than to help the Bosnians and Croatians to arm themselves and to
protect themselves.
Moreover, if the Security Council balks, the United States must act
unilaterally. No Security Council resolution--including the one
imposing the arms embargo--can override the inherent right of the
Croatian-Bosnian conferation to individual and collective self-defense
that is embodied in article 51 of the U.N. Charter. Just as the
Congress may not pass a law that overrides the Constitution, the
Security Council may not pass a resolution that negates a fundamental
principle of international law.
When speaking about lifting the embargo, President Clinton has
reiterated that ``this is what I've wanted all along.'' In the past, he
has said that the objections of the international community prevented
such action. But in light of the utter failure of U.N. policy, we can
overcome those objections if we play hard ball.
Even the Russians are fed up with the Serbian aggression. Vitaly
Churkin, the Russian trouble shooter in Bosnia, said that he heard more
broken promises from the Serbs in the past 2 days than in his entire
life. In the New York Times, he was quoted as saying, ``It's about time
for Russia to stop all negotiations with the Bosnian Serbs. The time
for talking is over.''
If President Clinton means what he says about lifting the arms
embargo, he must step up to the mark. The moment is right, but it might
be fleeting.
We must lift the embargo for moral reasons. Speaking on Gorazde
yesterday, Bosnian Prime Minister Silajdzic asked, ``Why have these
people had to die in such a humiliating way? What have the people of
Bosnia and Herzegovina done to the world to deserve this treatment from
the world?''
The world disarmed the Bosnians. It did not permit them to defend
themselves, despite the vast amounts of arms inherited by the Serbian
side. Bosnian moslems were not given the right to defend themselves.
Those who denounce any United States involvement in the Bosnian
conflict overlook one fact: We have been intervening--through the arms
embargo--but we have been intervening on behalf of the wrong side.
I am exasperated with those who have argued that we should not take
sides in this conflict. A policy of neutrality makes no sense when one
side--Serbia--is overwhelmingly responsible for the war, for the
atrocities, for frustrating every effort to negotiate peace. There is
no doubt about their culpability--no gray area.
Why are we afraid of taking sides? Why are we afraid to stand up for
justice? Why are we unwilling to stand up for human rights and
international law? Why are we tacitly helping the Serbians by keeping
the Croatians and Bosnians unarmed?
Nothing short of removing the arms embargo will work. U.N. General
Rose stated yesterday, ``Further air strikes alone will not deter the
Serbs.'' Economic sanctions have crippled Serbia's economy.
International condemnation has isolated Serbia. The no-fly zone has
shut down the Serbian air force. U.N. forces have taken into custody
some Serbian weapons around Sarajevo. Limited air strikes have
destroyed a Serbian command post outside Gorazde.
Yet, none of the administration's or the United Nations actions to
date have worked. They are nothing more than tokenism, as long as the
balance of power on the ground overwhelmingly favors the Serbs.
Our new policy should have three points of reference. First, we must
become the partner of the new Croatian-Bosnian confederation in this
regional conflict. President Clinton deserves great praise for
facilitating the diplomacy that resulted in this confederation, which
is the sine qua non of containment against Serbia. I attended the
Bosnian-Croatian confederation signing ceremony, and I give the
President credit.
However, we must take the next step. We should make the confederation
our partner. The Croatians and Bosnians are willing to supply the
manpower; we should be willing to supply the arms. They have
approximately three times the military manpower of the Serbs. They can
win this war on the ground if we give them the tools to finish the job.
We do not have to carry the burden of ground combat or to deploy
forces indefinitely as peacekeepers in a dangerous environment. Yet we
can achieve our goals if we work as partners with the Croatians and
Bosnians.
I call on the administration to send air defense weapons, antiarmor
missiles such as the TOW, observation and medium-lift helicopters,
radar-guided heavy artillery, and other weapons to the confederation.
In coming days, I will come forward with specific recommendations on
what we need to send to enable the Croatians and Bosnians to fight and
win. They can and are eager to handle their own ground war.
Second, lifting the embargo should be coupled with a NATO air
campaign against Serbian strategic targets, such as bridges, fuel and
ammunition dumps, and other facilities. So far, the Serbs have had a
free ride. It's time they pay a price for their aggression, as long as
that's coupled with the enhancement of the military capabilities of the
Croatian-Bosnian confederation.
Our air strikes last week were nothing more than pinpricks. There is
no reason to believe that the President's new air strike policy will
involve a decisive change. It is pointless to target the Pfcs and
corporals who man Serbia's guns if we do not also target the generals
who give them their orders and the infrastructure that keeps Serbia's
forces in the field.
Third, do not even consider sending more peacekeepers. Even if a
temporary cease-fire is reached in coming days, we should not bet the
life of any American soldier on the trustworthiness of Serbian leaders.
The Serbs have broken dozens of such agreements. Which one of us here
believes that if they come forward with another peace proposal, they
will comply? Why should we believe that the next promise will be more
meaningful than all the rest? Why should we gamble with American lives
when the Serbs have proven again and again that they are interested not
in peace but in conquest? Why should we risk American troops when
Croatians and Bosnians are more than willing to fight for their
homeland?
There is no need to send Americans as peacekeepers or combatants. The
model for our policy should be United States support to the Afghan
freedom fighters. By arming the Afghans, we not only forced the Soviets
to withdraw but also helped bring down the Soviet Empire. And the
Soviets were a far more formidable foe than the Serbs.
Those who argue that we have no interests at stake in Bosnia are
wrong. The war involves open--and so far unchallenged--aggression in
Europe. It involves ethnic cleansing and other war crimes on an
enormous scale. It has the potential for spreading into other parts of
the Balkans.
Successful Serbian aggression in Bosnia will create a blueprint for
similar aggression in the former Soviet Union. If we do not think that
Zhirinovsky--who has visited and praised the Serbs--is taking notes on
how to roll the West, we are simply fooling ourselves. If we don't
think that Saddam Hussein, Kim II-sung, and other international thugs
are watching and learning from the Serbs, our capacity for self-
deception would appear to have no limits.
Mr. President, I wish to read an excerpt from the text of a telegram
to the President on April 16, 1994, from members of the executive
committee of the Action Council for Peace in the Balkans. It is signed
by Mort Arbamowitz, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Frank Carlucci, Hodding
Carter, Max Kampelman, and Jeane Kirkpatrick. This bipartisan group of
former senior policy makers understands exactly what is at stake. They
wrote:
As Gorazde is about to fall, we strongly protest this
posture of moral and political abdication. It dishonors
America and it damages our national interests globally. It
undermines international order and repudiates the rule of
law. This policy can only weaken the vital security links
between American and Europe. The attack on Gorazde--a part of
Serbia's 2 year aggression against Bosnia--is also an attack
on collective security.''
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the complete text of this
telegram be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the telegram was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[Telegram]
Action Council For Peace
in the Balkans,
Washington, DC, April 16, 1994.
Dear Mr. President: Fifty years ago, the world watched
while innocents were being slaughtered. Only a week ago, Vice
President Gore condemned in the strongest terms the moral
culpability of those who were then indifferent in the face of
evil. Yesterday, in a fundamental shift in U.S. policy, you
declared this country's neutrality in the face of a new
slaughter in the very heart of Europe. In so doing, you have
given a green light for Serbian aggression and war crimes to
prevail and for genocide to continue.
As Gorazde is about to fall, we strongly protest this
posture of moral and political abdication. It dishonors
America and it damages our national interests globally. It
undermines international order and repudiates the rule of
law. This policy can only weaken the vital security links
between America and Europe. The attack on Gorazde--a part of
Serbia's two-year aggression against Bosnia--is also an
attack on collective security.
It is not too late to retrieve the moral standing and to
reassert the political leadership of the U.S. That is your
historical responsibility and you must not evade it.
Accordingly, we urge you:
To issue a categorical warning to the Bosnian Serbs that
they will be subject to NATO air action unless the attacks on
Gorazde and other besieged Bosnian areas are halted and
Serbian forces withdraw forthwith; as we have already seen,
extremely limited strikes have extremely limited effects; and
To announce that the existing embargo on arms supplies for
Bosnia is null and void due to the UN's failure to protect
the Bosnian state and its citizens against aggression.
Victims have the inalienable right to self-defense, and
Bosnia must be allowed to exercise this right as guaranteed
under the UN Charter.
Mr. President, you have the means and the authority to act
decisively. Fundamental human values and core American
interests are at stake. The time has come to lift the death
sentence on Bosnia.
Sincerely,
Mort Abramowitz
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Frank Carlucci
Hodding Carter
Max Kampelman
Jeane Kirkpatrick
Executive Committee.
Mr. HATCH. If my arguments on Bosnia sound familiar, it is because we
have been in this position before. And, we should have learned, Mr.
President, that unless we act, thousands of people are going to die
needlessly in Bosnia. We have the power to do something about it. With
that power comes the moral responsibility to act. We can vindicate
justice without risking the lives of American ground troops if we lift
the arms embargo to allow the victims of aggression to defend
themselves.
I yield back whatever time I have.
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