[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 7, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1085-S1086]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       SENATE RESOLUTION 225--RELATIVE TO BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

  Mr. ROBB submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 225

       Whereas units of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, 
     including military trainers and intelligence officers posing 
     as humanitarian relief officials, are still present in 
     Bosnia-Herzegovina;
       Whereas the presence of the Revolutionary Guards in Bosnia-
     Herzegovina violates the peace accord initialed in Dayton, 
     Ohio, on November 21, 1995 and the subsequent treaty signed 
     in Paris, France, on December 14, 1995, which provide that 
     all foreign volunteer troops be withdrawn from Bosnia-
     Herzegovina within 30 days of the signing of the treaty, that 
     is, January 13, 1996;
       Whereas the commanders of the NATO Implementation Force in 
     Bosnia-Herzegovina consider the activities of the 
     Revolutionary Guards in Bosnia-Herzegovina, including their 
     espousal and promotion of extremist Islamic fundamentalism, 
     to be one of the most direct threats to the safety of United 
     States forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina;
       Whereas the continued presence of the Revolutionary Guards 
     in Bosnia-Herzegovina threatens long-term stability in the 
     region; and
       Whereas the continuation of arms shipments from Iran to 
     Bosnia-Herzegovina could preclude the United States from 
     fulfilling its promise of providing military equipment and 
     training to Bosnia-Herzegovina: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 
     President should--
       (1) pursue all measures necessary, including substantial 
     diplomatic pressure on Bosnia-Herzegovina, to expedite the 
     withdrawal from Bosnia-Herzegovina, of all foreign troops 
     whose presence in Bosnia-Herzegovina violates the peace 
     accord initialed in Dayton, Ohio, on November 21, 1995, and 
     the subsequent treaty signed in Paris, France, on December 
     14, 1995;
       (2) bring in the United Nations a proposal to ban Member 
     States from importing Iranian oil in order to pressure the 
     Iranian Government into withdrawing the Iranian Revolutionary 
     Guards from Bosnia-Herzegovina; and
       (3) establish within the NATO Implementation Force in 
     Bosnia-Herzegovina a multi-national task force whose mission 
     shall be, if called upon, to locate and ensure the withdrawal 
     of the Revolutionary Guards from Bosnia-Herzegovina.

 Mr. ROBB. Mr. President, under the leadership of Adm. Leighton 
Smith, the NATO Implementation Force has made marked progress in war-
torn Bosnia and Herzegovina during the first 2 months of Operation 
Joint Endeavor.

[[Page S1086]]

  As an aside, I should mention that, as a member of all three national 
security committees, including Armed Services, Foreign Relations, and 
Intelligence, I am privy to significant amounts of classified 
information related to Bosnia. For the purpose of this open discussion, 
however, I will refer solely to information widely available in the 
public record.
  The news media report that much has been accomplished so far in 
coming to terms with the Dayton Peace Agreement:
  First, with only a few exceptions, the Bosnian Serbs and the Muslim-
Croat Federation have observed the cease-fire.
  Second, the warring parties have stepped back and are today in 
substantial compliance with the 4-kilometer zone of separation.
  Third, the adversaries have removed their heavy weapons to points 
that pose no apparent of immediate threat to our forces.
  Fourth, the locations of roughly a quarter of the estimated 3 million 
land mines that plague Bosnia have been identified. Still, this threat 
to security remains one of the most troublesome--as witnessed by the 
fact that more than a dozen IFOR troops have been killed or wounded by 
mines so far.
  Fifth, freedom of movement along Bosnia's roads is returning to 
normal, which is a requisite step to allowing hundreds of thousands of 
refugees to return to their homes.
  In short, the Implementation Force has taken the necessary first 
steps for Bosnia and Herzegovina to get back on its feet as a peaceful 
community in this historically war-ravaged region of Europe.
  But, even with all of these NATO successes, we must also recognize 
that all has not gone according to plan. In fact, there remains a clear 
danger to the peacekeepers.
  Today, according to published news reports, there remains a band of 
about 200 Iranian revolutionary guards in northern Bosnia, many 
apparently in the United States sector. This band of well-trained 
soldiers in well-named in that they are Iran's primary instrument for 
exporting its Islamic revolution.
  For more than 3 years, according to the Reuters News Service, these 
revolutionary guards have served primarily as military advisers and 
commanders. They reportedly draw their logistical and other support 
from Iran's Embassy in Croatia. They have not only been training a 
brigade of Bosnian Moslems in military doctrine and tactics, they have 
also been teaching them the tenets of radical, extremist Islamic 
fundamentalism, according to the Washington Post.
  Moreover, their continued presence is an indication of the Bosnian 
Moslem government's inability to comply with the provision in the 
Dayton Peace Agreement that mandates the expulsion of all foreign 
volunteer fighters in Bosnia. This presence, combined with Iran's 
criticism of the Dayton Accord as unjust to the Bosnian Moslems, is 
cause for concern. Their presence sounds the same alarm bells that we 
failed to heed a decade ago in Lebanon, with tragic consequences.
  Those bells have tolled even louder in the last few days. According 
to the New York Times, an American who uses the names Kevin Holt and 
Isa Abdullah Ali has been sighted in Bosnia. U.S. troops have been 
ordered to arrest him as a possible suspect in the 1983 bombing of the 
Marine barracks in Beirut.
  The Times also reports that the revolutionary guards have increased 
their surveillance of U.S. troop activities and are suspected of 
planning attacks against U.S. targets there. As a result, NATO forces 
were put on a state of alert on January 23. According to Secretary of 
Defense William Perry, ``We will continue to maintain an alert.''
  U.S. commanders consider many of the remaining revolutionary guards 
as intelligence agents and terrorists. There is speculation that they 
hope to retaliate against the United States for its Middle East and 
antiterrorism policies and that they further hope to be able to sway 
the fragile balance of American public opinion on Operation Joint 
Endeavor.
  When they believe the time is right, they may try to disrupt our 
operations and in turn, undermine the commitment of the North Atlantic 
Alliance to a peaceful settlement of the Balkans conflict.
  That is why they must not be allowed to remain. At this point, the 
presence of Iran's revolutionary guards is the single most significant, 
near-term threat to Operation Joint Endeavor and to lasting peace on 
the Continent. Landmines will no doubt continue to take their toll on 
the peacekeeping force, but the revolutionary guards appear to have 
offensive, revolutionary intent and that poses a real danger to our 
troops.

  That is why, today, I have submitted a Senate resolution that calls 
for the administration to take three distinct actions:
  First, it urges the administration to continue to exert strong 
diplomatic pressure on Bosnia and Herzegovina to comply with the 
provision of the Dayton Accord that states ``all foreign Forces, 
including individual advisors, freedom fighters, trainers, volunteers, 
and personnel from neighboring and other States, shall be withdrawn 
from the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.'' We must make it clear 
that, as Secretary of State Warren Christopher has said, neither 
military equipment and training nor economic reconstruction assistance 
is forthcoming until the Bosnian Moslem government is ``in compliance 
with the agreement.''
  Second, it urges the President to take to the United Nations the 
issue of Iran's revolutionary guards remaining in Bosnia in defiance of 
the Dayton Accord. The members of that international body must weigh 
the evidence and then take the appropriate action: placing an 
international embargo on all importation of Iranian oil until that 
nation recalls all of its military personnel stationed in Bosnia.
  Third, it urges the administration to establish an operational task 
force from units of the Implementation Force. Should diplomacy and 
sanctions fail, it could be called upon to locate and ensure the 
withdrawal of the Iranian revolutionary guards from Bosnia. As stated 
in the Dayton Accord, IFOR troops are authorized to use necessary force 
to ensure compliance. The mere presence of a force specifically honed 
to deal with the revolutionary guards should give Iran both pause about 
terrorist actions in Bosnia and further motivation to withdraw them. To 
preclude the possibility of mission creep, any such task force would be 
deactivated immediately upon completion of the operation.
  What is at risk if we do not expel the Iranian revolutionary guards 
from Bosnia and Herzegovina?
  First and foremost, the lives of American troops and other NATO 
soldiers working to secure a lasting peace in Bosnia.
  At risk is the security of such neighboring nations as Macedonia, 
Albania, and our NATO allies should the conflict spread further.
  And at risk is an emerging security architecture for a post-cold-war 
Europe.
  Mr. President, I hope all of our colleague can support this 
resolution. Together, we must increase pressure on the Bosnian 
Government to expel all foreign volunteer soldiers and in particular, 
those from Iran. Together, we must persuade the Government of Iran that 
its continuing presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as the United States 
leads the effort to bring that nation to peace, must come to an end--
and now.

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