[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 123 (Thursday, July 27, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S10842]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA SELF-DEFENSE ACT

 Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, 2 days ago in Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, the town of Zepa, the second safe haven fell to the 
Bosnian Serbs, lending increasing urgency to the need to pass S. 21, 
the Dole-Lieberman bill. Mr. President, the U.S. Congress has voted on 
the issue of the arms embargo many times, but the fall of two U.N. safe 
havens has dramatically highlighted this ill-fated policy as never 
before. The failure of the U.N. peacekeepers to protect the enclaves 
and themselves is coupled with the knowledge that the Bosnian 
Government troops have been effectively rendered useless by their lack 
of heavy weaponry. As the fighting continues to escalate in Bihac, a 
third U.N. safe haven, it is time for the Clinton administration to 
abandon this doomed policy, accept that UNPROFOR must be withdrawn, and 
lift the arms embargo on the Bosnian Government.
  We have been warned many times by the Clinton administration that 
this bill would undermine efforts to achieve a negotiated settlement in 
Bosnia and could lead to an escalation of the conflict there, including 
the possible Americanization of the conflict. Mr. President, the 
conflict has already escalated. More U.N. troops are being deployed, 
and as the United States and European leaders issue more empty threats, 
the reality is that the indecisiveness and ineffectiveness of the West 
has invited the Serbs to step up their assaults. As of this week, two 
safe havens have fallen, a third is under siege, and in the past 4 days 
in Sarajevo, at least 20 people have been killed, while more than 100 
people have been wounded. The U.N. mission has failed and has been 
declared more of a hindrance than a help by the Bosnian Prime Minister. 
The peace talks have failed because the Bosnian Serbs have determined 
that, judging by their recent military success, they have more to gain 
by fighting than by negotiating a peace settlement. The Bosnian Serbs 
already have control of 70 percent of Bosnia-Herzegovina due in large 
part to a near monopoly of heavy weapons.
  This situation in Bosnia, particularly the ``dual key'' approach has 
eroded United States credibility and undermined NATO cohesion while 
contributing to the decline of the effectiveness of the U.N. 
peacekeepers. Mr. President, this is not a partisan issue, I am not 
blaming the Clinton administration, many of the problems with our 
policy in Bosnia began with the previous administration. This is a 
moral issue. The U.N. peacekeepers have not been able to achieve their 
mission. They are no longer capable of delivering humanitarian supplies 
to the enclaves, they are no longer capable of protecting the safe 
havens, and judging by the ease with which the peacekeepers have been 
killed and taken hostage, they are no longer capable of protecting 
themselves. Mr. President, this is not the fault of the troops in 
Bosnia. They were sent into a situation as noncombatants though they 
were seen as combatants by Serbs. UNPROFOR went to Bosnia to protect 
civilians, but they were never given the mandate, the equipment, or the 
rules of engagement to do the job. It was unconscionable to inject U.N. 
peacekeepers into a war where there is no peace to keep and without 
adequate means to defend themselves. The United Nations and NATO have 
been humiliated and weakened as Serb violations of U.N. resolutions 
were met with silence and empty promises.
  The arms embargo against Bosnia was adopted by the Security Council 
of the United Nations in 1991 when Yugoslavia was still intact. It was 
requested and supported by the then Government of Yugoslavia in 
Belgrade, the Milosevic government. It is a cruel twist of fate that 
the results of this arms embargo has hurt the very people who have been 
the victims of the war. This embargo has had no effect on the Bosnian 
Serbs who have inherited the powerful former Yugoslav army but has 
devastated the Bosnian Moslems. We can no longer stand by helplessly 
and watch as a country, recognized by the United Nations, is promised 
assistance that is too little, too late.
  Two days ago, Bosnian Serb leaders Karadzic and his military chief of 
staff, Ratko Mladic, were charged with genocide, war crimes, and crimes 
against humanity by the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal. Mr. 
President, the world has recognized the atrocities of this tragic 
situation. Let us finally act to give the Bosnian Moslems the capacity 
to fight back and to defend themselves. Let us stop punishing these 
helpless civilians for the error of our policy.


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