[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11443]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     AMERICAN POLICY IN THE BALKANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, allow me to address a very deep 
and growing concern about American policy in the Balkans. The policy of 
the United States should be predicated upon its own interests and its 
own sovereignty and security. Defying reason, somehow we keep hearing 
that the current administration plans to continue the former 
administration's policy in Southeast Europe.
  Mr. Speaker, I cannot understand this, given the fact that we have 
learned so much about the nature of the foreign fighters that have come 
into Bosnia-Herzegovina to fight the Serbs, and now we have encountered 
them ourselves in Iraq.
  To observe the current unemployment and socialist economic structure 
in Kosovo is to recognize that the previous administration's so-called 
policy there has been an absolute and utter failure. I certainly agree 
that we should be looking for a workable solution for all in that 
region; but in order to do so, we cannot disregard the fact that there 
have been over 300 mosques constructed in Kosovo since 1999, mostly 
funded by Saudi Arabia, while at the very same time, 150 Serbian 
churches, Orthodox churches, about 10 percent of all the churches in 
Kosovo, have been destroyed. And I am wondering if this is the legacy 
that we want to leave for the United States involvement, Mr. Speaker.
  Further, we can now clearly see that many of the most dangerous 
terrorists that the United States has encountered in the fight against 
terrorism have had some connection to the Balkans and particularly 
Bosnia. For example, two of the September 11 hijackers fought in the 
wars in Bosnia. Sohel al Saahli fought in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and 
Chechnya; and he later became a leader in Iraq and was killed in a U.S. 
air strike in March of 2003. Abdel Aziz al Muqrin, al Qaeda's leader in 
Saudi Arabia, personally decapitated Paul Johnson; and he had fought in 
Bosnia, Algeria, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan.
  Mr. Speaker, there is an alarming pattern here.
  Abu Anas al Shami fought with other Jordanian extremists to fight 
jihad in Bosnia. He was the right hand of Abu Masab al Zarqawi fighting 
against U.S. forces in Iraq until he was killed in September, 2004.
  And, unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, our Balkans policies helped these 
terrorists.
  And now there is data found on Mr. Zarqawi's laptop computer 
indicating that terrorists have the means and the plans to use WMDs 
here in Europe and perhaps even here someday, in the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, given these disturbing details, the fact that we are now 
moving troops out of Bosnia and out of the Balkans is a profound 
concern to me. Further, as a guarantor of the Dayton Peace Accords, we 
have a duty to reaffirm them and to ensure a sense of comity and fair 
play. We should not seek to change them through a coercive top-down 
pressure, as has been recently attempted in the talks in Bosnia under 
the auspices of the High Representative, Paddy Ashdown, and this with 
the approval of our U.S. Ambassador Douglas McElhaney.
  I am also very concerned that, according to news reports, our 
ambassador incited public opinion against the Republic of Srpska's 
chief of police by insinuating that he should be removed from office 
for statements he made concerning the nexus between Bosnia and the 
Madrid bombings.

                              {time}  1630

  Mr. Speaker, the police chief's statements concerning the 
relationship between certain individuals and materials in Bosnia and 
the horrific Madrid bombings that took place last year deserve our 
attention and our investigation rather than our rebuke. I truly 
believe, Mr. Speaker, it is time we take a second, very serious look at 
the realities and the growing terrorist danger in Bosnia.

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