    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
    [June 3, 1995]
    [Pages 804-805]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    June 3, 1995

        Good morning. I want to talk with you today about the conflict in
    Bosnia and the United States policy with regard to it for the last 2\1/
    2\ years since I've been President.
        Let me begin by saying that I know all Americans join with me in
    sending their prayers to the family and loved ones of an American pilot
    who was shot down yesterday while doing his duty flying over Bosnia.
        When I became President, we found a war going on in Bosnia that was
    fueled by ancient, bloody divisions between Bosnian Serbs, Muslims, and
    Croats. The United Nations had a mission there whose purpose was not to
    fight the war but to help prevent the slaughter of civilians, to deliver
    humanitarian assistance, and to try to limit that conflict as much as
    possible while the peace process moved forward to end the conflict
    diplomatically and to preserve the Bosnian state.
        I determined that the role of the United States should be to
    vigorously support the diplomatic search for peace and that our vital
    interests were clear in limiting the spread of the conflict.
    Furthermore, our interests were in doing what we could, short of putting
    in ground forces, to help prevent the multiethnic Bosnian state from
    being destroyed and to minimize the loss of life and the ethnic
    cleansing.
        I determined that we certainly should not have ground forces there,
    not as a part of the military conflict nor as a part of the United
    Nations peacekeeping mission, but that instead we should do everything
    we could to limit the conflict to its present parameters and to support
    our other objectives.
        In our efforts to limit the conflict, we have stationed some troops
    in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to make sure that we don't
    have a Balkan-wide conflict. We must remember that the Balkans are a
    troubling area and that it was trouble in the Balkans that sparked World
    War I.
        Secondly, we have used our air power in three ways in Bosnia. First,
    we have conducted the longest lasting humanitarian airlift in all
    history, and we've saved a lot of lives doing it. Second, we have
    enforced the no-fly zone in order to stop the bombing campaign and at
    least take the war out of the air. That has saved a lot of lives, too,
    and that is what our brave young pilot was doing yesterday when his
    plane was shot down. And thirdly, with our NATO allies, we have made our
    air power available to maintain a fire-free zone around Sarajevo and
    other populated areas and to support the collection of heavy artillery.
    This, too, has largely been a successful effort, which has minimized the
    fighting and the killing and the dying.
        This policy has not only worked to minimize the loss of life but
    also to maximize the chances for peace in a very troubling area. I know
    it's frustrating to everyone, as it is to me, that we can't completely
    solve all the world's problems and that more progress toward peace
    hasn't been made in Bosnia. Sometimes we have to do what is appropriate
    to minimize disasters that we confront, while we work over the long run
    on resolving them through diplomacy.
        But let's look at what has been done. In 1992, the year before I
    became President, some 130,000 people were killed in the Bosnian
    conflict. In 1994, because of the policies that our allies and the
    United States have pursued together, including the presence of the
    United Nations troops in Bosnia, the casualties have dropped from
    130,000 in 1992 to about 2,500 in 1994, still tragic but dramatically
    reduced. And all of this has been accomplished without any involvement
    of American ground forces in combat or peacekeeping missions. The
    British,

    [[Page 805]]

    the French, the Dutch, the Canadians, and others have carried that
    burden.
        This has not been a perfect peace. Recently, after the peace in
    Sarajevo broke down and 1,000 or more shells were dropped on the city,
    the United Nations asked for air support, as they have in the past, with
    success. We gave it, and unfortunately, the Serbs captured U.N.
    personnel. I have made it very clear to the American people all along
    that actions like this could occur because of the vulnerability of the
    U.N. peacekeepers who are spread out in small numbers all across the
    country. Now we are doing everything we can to secure the release of the
    U.N. personnel.
        But let's not forget this policy has saved a lot of lives. And in
    the end, the conflict will only be resolved by diplomacy. Now, the
    United Nations faces a choice: It can either get out, or it can
    strengthen its forces in order to fully support the mission.
        If our allies decide to stay, we want to support them, but within
    the very careful limits I have outlined. I want to make it clear again
    what I have said about our ground forces. We will use them only if,
    first, if there is a genuine peace with no shooting and no fighting and
    the United States is part of policing that peace. That's exactly what
    we've been doing in the Middle East since the late 1970's without
    incident. It's worked so well that I imagine most Americans don't even
    recall that we still have forces there.
        Second, if our allies decide they can no longer continue the U.N.
    mission and decide to withdraw, but they cannot withdraw in safety, we
    should help them to get out with our unique capacities. They have borne
    the risk for the world community of working for peace and minimizing the
    loss of life. And I think that's an appropriate thing for us to do.
        The third issue is the remote, indeed highly unlikely event that
    Britain, France, and other countries, with their considerable military
    strength and expertise, become stranded and could not get out of a
    particular place in Bosnia. The question has been raised about whether
    we would help them to withdraw as a last resort. I have decided that if
    a U.N. unit needs an emergency extraction, we would assist after
    consulting with Congress. This would be a limited, temporary operation,
    and we have not been asked to do this. I think it is highly unlikely
    that we would be asked to do it. But I do believe that these people who
    have put themselves at risk are entitled to know that the U.S. will
    stand with them if they need help to move to safety.
        Now, as this conflict continues and as the diplomatic efforts go on,
    we must remember that our policy in Bosnia has reduced the level of
    violence, has reduced the loss of life. In the last several days, our
    allies, in the face of their hostages being taken, have said that they
    expect those people to be released but that they do not want to give up
    their efforts to bring peace to Bosnia. They do not want us, they do not
    expect us to put American ground troops into Bosnia. But we do have an
    interest in doing what we can short of that to contain the conflict and
    minimize and eventually end the human suffering. I believe this is the
    appropriate, acceptable, proper policy for the United States.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from the Oval Office at the
    White House. In his remarks, he referred to Capt. Scott F. O'Grady,
    USAF.