[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 2 (Thursday, January 4, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E17]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     BOSNIA AND THE FUTURE OF NATO

                                 ______


                          HON. LEE H. HAMILTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 4, 1996

  Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, the new Secretary General of NATO, Javier 
Solana, wrote a piece in the Washington Post on December 24, 1995, 
entitled ``In Bosnia, a Defining Moment.'' I was impressed with his 
analysis, particularly concerning the cooperation of 16 non-NATO 
nations with the 16 Members of NATO in support of the Bosnia 
Implementation Force. As the Secretary General states ``[W]e have the 
opportunity not only to end the war in Bosnia but to lay the 
foundations for an enduring structure of peace across a now-undivided 
and democratic Europe.''
  I comment the article to the attention of my colleagues. The text 
follows:

               [From the Washington Post; Dec. 24, 1995]

                           (By Javier Solana)

                      In Bosnia, a Defining Moment

       Much of the debate that preceded last week's deployment of 
     a NATO-led peace implementation force into Bosnia centered on 
     whether the stakes involved justified sending the young men 
     and women of this alliance into harm's way. On this point, 
     the response of our 16 member nations has been clear: We 
     simply had to act in order to bring the worst conflict in 
     Europe since World War II to a definitive halt.
       The alternative would not only have been to condemn the 
     people of Bosnia to further suffering but to risk seeing the 
     conflict spread and perhaps confront us with the need to 
     intervene in a shooting war on a much larger scale. Because 
     NATO nations on both sides of the Atlantic remember all too 
     well the price paid in 1914 and 1939 because of Western 
     blunders and blindness, they were determined not to miss this 
     opportunity to stop a war in the heart of Europe when it was 
     in their power to do so.
       What has received less attention in the international Force 
     (IFOR) debate are the profound implications for NATO of this 
     operation, which is the first ground force ``out-of-area'' 
     deployment in our 46-year history. For those who until 
     recently considered the organization a Cold War relic, the 
     coalition that our supreme allied commander Europe, Gen. 
     George A. Joulwan, is assembling must seem astonishing 
     indeed.
       Thus far, 16 non-NATO nations have joined the 16 allies in 
     ``Operation Joint Endeavor.'' These include many of our 
     former adversaries from Central and Eastern Europe who now 
     wish to join NATO, neutral countries such as Sweden and 
     Finland, non-European nations such as Egypt and Pakistan and, 
     most notably, Russia. Still other nations, such as Austria 
     and Switzerland, have broken with tradition and taboo to 
     cooperate with NATO to facilitate the largest and most 
     complex movement of forces by land, sea and air in Europe in 
     50 years.
       Clearly, something is happening in Europe today that 
     transcends the Bosnian situation. Underlying the desire of so 
     many nations to contribute to this NATO-led operation is a 
     consciousness that a defining moment in the post-Cold War 
     security order has arrived. This is not a moment or an 
     opportunity that has come about by accident. NATO has worked 
     quietly but intensively over the past two years to prepare 
     the new democracies in our Partnership for Peace program for 
     such joint operations, just as we have endeavored to build a 
     truly cooperative relationship with the Russian Federation.
       Thus in Bosnia we have an opportunity not only to end a war 
     in the Balkans but to lay the foundations for an enduring 
     structure of peace across a now-undivided and democratic 
     Europe.
       I am keenly aware that it is one thing to proclaim such a 
     lofty ideal and quite another for our troops to face the grim 
     reality of a Balkan winter under trying and dangerous 
     circumstances. Throughout history, it has been ever thus--it 
     has been to the lonely foot soldier to realize the visions of 
     leaders and politicians.
       But thanks to their capacity to learn from the mistakes of 
     the first half of this century, two generations of Europeans 
     and North Americans have not had to ask their sons and 
     daughters to sacrifice themselves in another world war. They 
     have not had to do so--and current and future generations 
     will not have to do so--largely because NATO exists to keep 
     the peace.
       Now that a new NATO is moving boldly to meet the post-Cold 
     War security challenges of a new Europe, our thoughts should 
     go to our young soldiers of peace who will spend their 
     Christmas truly spreading the season's message of hope to 
     their fellow man.

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