[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[October 2, 1992]
[Pages 1738-1739]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Statement on Humanitarian Assistance to Bosnia
October 2, 1992

    All Americans, and people of compassion everywhere, remain deeply 
troubled by the cruel war in Bosnia and the broader turmoil in what was 
Yugoslavia. We took several important initiatives in August, and today I 
am announcing further steps to help ease this conflict.
    The United States has been working intensively with other concerned 
nations to contain the conflict, alleviate the human misery it is 
causing, and exact a heavy price for aggression. This international 
effort has produced some results. The recent London conference set up an 
international mechanism for addressing all aspects of the Yugoslav 
problem and put in motion an active negotiation. The tenuous truce in 
Croatia is holding. International observers are on their way to 
neighboring countries and other parts of the former Yugoslavia to 
prevent the violence from spreading. The United Nations trade embargo 
has idled roughly half the industry of Serbia, whose leader bears heavy 
responsibility for the aggression in Bosnia. Our demand that the Red 
Cross be given access to detention camps has begun to yield results, and 
the release of detainees has now begun. The U.N. resolution we obtained 
to authorize ``all necessary measures'' to get relief supplies into 
Bosnia has led to the creation of a new U.N. force to be deployed for 
that purpose.
    We will continue to honor our pledge to get humanitarian relief to 
the people of Sarajevo and elsewhere in Bosnia. To this end, I have 
directed the Secretary of Defense to resume American participation in 
the Sarajevo airlift tomorrow morning. I wish I could say that there is 
no risk of attack against these flights, but I cannot, although we are 
taking precautions. We can be proud of the Americans who, along with 
courageous personnel from other countries, will go in harm's way to save 
innocent lives.
    Still, the savage violence persists in Bosnia. Despite agreements 
reached at the London conference, Bosnian cities remain under siege, the 
movement of humanitarian relief convoys is still hazardous, and innocent 
civilians continue to be slaughtered. At London, the parties agreed to a 
ban on all military flights over Bosnia. Yet the bombing of defenseless 
population centers has actually increased. This flagrant disregard for 
human life and for a clear agreement requires a response from the 
international community, and we will take steps to see that the ban is 
respected.
    Now, a new enemy is about to enter the battlefield: winter. Some 
weeks ago, I asked for an assessment of the effects that the combination 
of war and winter could inflict on the suffering people of Bosnia. The 
answer was profoundly disturbing: thousands of innocent people, some 
uprooted, others trapped, could perish from cold, hunger, and disease. 
Anticipating this danger, the United States has been working with other 
nations and with the United Nations to mount a major expansion of the 
international relief effort and to support the tireless negotiations of 
U.N. and EC envoys, Cyrus Vance and David Owen, to get the fighting 
stopped.
    I want the American people to know what the United States intends to 
do to help prevent this dreadful forecast from becoming a tragic 
reality. I have decided to take a number of further steps:
    First, having authorized a resumption of U.S. relief flights into 
Sarejevo, I am pre-

[[Page 1739]]

pared to increase the U.S. share of the airlift.
    Second, we will make available air and sea lift to speed the 
deployment of the new U.N. force needed immediately in Bosnia to protect 
relief convoys. The United States will also provide a hospital and other 
critical support for this force.
    Third, the United States will furnish $12 million in urgently needed 
cash to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees for the purpose of 
accelerating preparations for the winter. This is in addition to the $85 
million in financial and material support we have already committed.
    Fourth, we will offer to the United Nations and the Red Cross help 
in transporting and caring for those who are being freed from detention 
camps. We have already provided $6 million for this purpose.
    Fifth, in cooperation with our friends and allies, we will seek a 
new U.N. Security Council resolution, with a provision for enforcement, 
banning all flights in Bosnian airspace except those authorized by the 
United Nations. If asked by the United Nations, the United States will 
participate in enforcement measures.
    Sixth, we are taking steps in concert with other nations to increase 
the impact of sanctions on Serbia. I call on the Serbian authorities to 
cooperate fully with the United Nations and to comply with its 
resolutions.
    Seventh, we have been working with the United Nations, European 
Community, and our other allies to introduce an international presence 
into Kosovo. The United States and the international community will 
continue to monitor the situation closely.
    There is no easy solution to the Bosnian conflict, let alone the 
larger Balkan crisis. So we will persist in our strategy of containing 
and reducing the violence, making the aggressors pay, and relieving the 
suffering of victims, all the while lending our full support to the 
quest for a settlement. History shows that what this troubled region 
needs is not more violence but peaceful change, and I am confident that 
the steps I am announcing today will help the innocent victims, 
strengthen the hand of the negotiators and reinforce the pressures for 
peace.