[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 188 (Tuesday, November 28, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H13708]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IS BOSNIA WORTH DYING FOR?

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Duncan] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, in 1961, President Kennedy said:

       We must face the fact that the U.S. is neither omnipotent 
     nor omniscient--that we are only 6% of the world's 
     population--that we cannot impose our will upon the other 
     94%--that we cannot right every wrong or reverse each 
     adversity--and that therefore there cannot be an American 
     solution to every world problem.

  President Kennedy was right then, and his words are good advice 
today.
  We should follow this advice in regard to the situation in Bosnia.
  Last week, the cover of Time magazine showed an American soldier and 
asked the question: ``Is Bosnia worth dying for?''
  I believe the overwhelming majority of the American people would 
answer with an emphatic ``no.''
  It should be for Bosnians because that is their homeland, but not for 
young Americans.
  This is a limited ethnic conflict that has been going on for hundreds 
of years, and will continue unless we pour many billions in to stop it. 
And as soon as we stop pouring in billions, the situation will go right 
back like it was.
  We should not send young American soldiers onto foreign battlefields 
unless there is a serious threat to our national security or unless 
there is a very real and very vital U.S. interest at stake.
  Neither of these is present in Bosnia. Yet now, the President, 
regardless of how the American people feel, regardless of how the 
Congress votes, is going to send 20,000 troops into Bosnia.
  We will then have another 20,000 in immediate nearby support in 
Croatia, the Adriatic Sea, and other places.
  I had one veteran who called me last night who said that he was 
always told in Vietnam that it took seven troops in the rear to support 
one in the field.
  We are making a tremendous commitment here. The worst thing is 
putting so many American lives at risk.
  Then there is the huge money involved. We are told right off the bat 
that this effort will cost a minimum of $1.6 billion for the troops in 
the field.
  We have promised another $600 million in direct foreign aid. That is 
an initial $2.2 billion and that is just the tip of the iceberg.
  I now am told that the Bosnian leadership says they will need $35 
billion in loans or aid from the World Bank or other sources to rebuild 
their country.
  Most of this will end up coming from the United States.
  B.J. Cutler, the foreign affairs columnist for the Scripps-Howard 
newspaper chain, wrote several months ago:

       If guarding people from the savagery of their rulers is 
     America's duty, it would be fighting all over the world, 
     squandering lives and bankrupting itself.

  He was not writing about Bosnia, but his words are certainly 
applicable here.
  There are at least 15 or 16 small wars going on around the world at 
any time. Some people say many more than that.
  Why then are we trying to solve this insolvable problem.
  Well, I think in part it is because our national media focused on 
this one.
  But, I think the larger reason is that some people in high positions 
in this country are never satisfied with just running the United 
States.
  They want to make a place for themselves in history. They want to be 
described as, or thought of as, world leaders.
  That is why I believe there is such a class division on this.
  Many upper-crust liberal elitist types--many NPR devotees, are all 
for this--because they want to prove to everyone that they care about 
foreign policy and are concerned about world affairs.
  Horror of horrors, they certainly don't want to be associated with 
low-class, unintellectual isolationists. That would not be fashionable, 
that would not be politically correct.
  But, Mr. Speaker, even one American life is too many and all these 
billions it will cost is to high a price to pay just so a few people in 
our Government can display world leadership and show their superiority 
to their unenlightened fellow citizens.
  We should not get involved in this Bosnian quagmire.
  The potential dangers and costs are simply too high.
  The United States leads the world in humanitarian and charitable aid 
for those in other countries.
  No other nation is even a close second.
  Most Americans want to help out in international tragedies. We are 
already doing far more than our share. France, Germany, Sweden, Japan, 
and others are not even coming close.
  We have no reason to feel guilty.
  And, I repeat, Mr. Speaker, what I said at the beginning. We do not 
need to get involved militarily in Bosnia or anywhere else unless there 
is a real threat to our national security or a vital U.S. interest at 
stake.
  Neither of these is present in Bosnia.

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