[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 28 (Monday, February 13, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2565-S2566]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   REMARKS OF WILLIAM S. COHEN, WEHRKUNDE CONFERENCE, MUNICH, GERMANY

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, on the weekend of February 4, the annual 
Wehrkunde Conference was held in Munich, Germany. This conference is a 
gathering of government representatives from NATO countries and leading 
experts on alliance security. Not surprisingly, one of the main topics 
of discussion was the situation in Bosnia and NATO's role in that 
conflict.
  This year, the Senate delegation to the Wehrkunde Conference was led 
by the distinguished Senator from Maine, Bill Cohen. In his remarks to 
the Wehrkunde delegates, Senator Cohen underscored the serious 
weaknesses of the U.N. protection forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as 
well as the erosion of NATO's military credibility as a result of the 
dual-key arrangement between the United Nations and NATO. His bottom 
line is that if we are unable to provide the U.N. forces with the 
necessary authority and firepower, these forces should be withdrawn.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Cohen's 
insightful remarks to the conference be included in the Record.
  There being no objection, the remarks were ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:
     [[Page S2566]] Remarks by Senator William S. Cohen, Wehrkunde 
             Conference, Munich, Germany, February 4, 1995

       We have entered a new world of disorder and our inability 
     to formulate coherent policies and strategies to deal with 
     ethnic conflicts and the expansion of NATO membership has led 
     to cross-Atlantic fear, confusion, incoherence, and 
     recrimination--a state of affairs not unprecedented for the 
     NATO alliance.
       I would like for the moment to offer a few observations on 
     Bosnia to see whether the present is prologue:
       1. NATO cannot act unless America leads.
       2. America will not lead unless it can persuade the 
     American people that it is imperative for us to do so.
       3. The conflict in Bosnia is not perceived to involve 
     American interests that are vital. Rather, it is a quagmire 
     where its inhabitants would rather dig fresh graves than bury 
     old hatreds.
       4. The European members of NATO were not willing to wade 
     into the quick sand of ancient rivalries and engage in 
     peacemaking operations so the responsibility was passed to 
     the U.N., which has fewer divisions than the Pope and none of 
     his moral authority.
       As a result, we are all bearing witness to the decimation 
     of a nation that was guaranteed protection under the U.N. 
     Charter while the best we can offer is to seek to minimize 
     the bloodshed by denying arms to the victims of aggression.
       Our collective acquiescence to aggression may be the lesser 
     of two evils--but it is nonetheless the participation in the 
     evil of ethnic cleansing that we hoped might never again 
     touch the European continent.
       We are hesitant to take more aggressive action because the 
     consequences of our action cannot be predicted. The absence 
     of predictability prevents the development of consensus:
       Should we do nothing militarily to stop Serbian aggression?
       Lift the arms embargo unilaterally if necessary and strike?
       Lift and get out of the way--if that is possible?
       Time is running out on our Hamlet-like irresoluteness. 
     Before the decision is made to lift the arms embargo, with 
     all of its attendant uncertainties--including the fear of 
     Americanizing the war on the part of some and the hope of 
     doing so on the part of others--we should make an effort to 
     establish the credibility of UNPROFOR's mission and might:
       New leadership is required. General Rose has departed. 
     General Smith has taken his place. Mr. Akashi should be asked 
     to resign immediately.
       When a no-fly zone or weapons exclusion zone has been 
     declared, it should be enforced, not allowed to be violated 
     with impunity.
       No tribute or tolls should be paid by UNPROFOR forces to 
     gain passage to help the victims of war.
       No tolerance should be granted for taking hostages or using 
     them as human shields.
       If any harm should come to UNPROFOR forces, we should take 
     out every major target that allows the Serbs to continue to 
     wage war. That power should be disproportionate to the 
     transgression and no area in Serbia ruled out of our bomb 
     sites.
       UNPROFOR should be given the heavy armor necessary to 
     protect its forces and achieve its humanitarian mission.
       If we are unable to give UNPROFOR--whose troops are trapped 
     in the layers of a disastrous dual command structure--the 
     authority and firepower to achieve these ends, then we should 
     remove the forces before the U.N.'s political impotence is 
     allowed to corrode NATO's military integrity and credibility 
     any further than it has already done so.
     

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