    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [June 19, 1998]
    [Pages 1008-1010]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Letter to Congressional Leaders Reporting on the Deployment of Military
    Forces for Stabilization of Areas of the Former Yugoslavia
    June 19, 1998

    Dear Mr. Speaker:  (Dear Mr. President:)
        In my last 6-month report to the Congress I provided further
    information on the deployment of combat-equipped U.S. Armed Forces to
    Bosnia and other states in the region in order to participate in and
    support the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-led Stabilization
    Force (SFOR), which began its mission and assumed authority from the
    NATO-led Implementation Force (IFOR) on December 20, 1996. I am
    providing this supplemental report, consistent with the War Powers
    Resolution, to help ensure that the Congress is kept fully informed on
    continued U.S. contributions in support of peacekeeping efforts in the
    former Yugoslavia.
        We continue to work in concert with others in the international
    community to encourage the parties to fulfill their commitments under
    the Dayton Peace Agreement and to build on the gains achieved over the
    last 2 years. It remains in the U.S. national interest to help bring
    peace to Bosnia, both for humanitarian reasons and to halt the dangers
    the fighting in Bosnia represented to security and stability in Europe
    generally. Through American leadership and in conjunction with our NATO
    allies and other countries, we have seen increasingly rapid progress

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    toward sustainable peace in Bosnia. We have helped foster more
    cooperative pro-Dayton leadership in Bosnia-Herzegovina, resulting in
    much improved performance by the parties in fulfilling their
    responsibilities to implement the Dayton Peace Agreement.
        The United Nations Security Council authorized member states to
    establish the follow-on force in United Nations Security Council
    Resolution 1088 of December 12, 1996. On June 15, 1998, the Security
    Council extended the authorization for the SFOR for an additional period
    terminating June 21, 1999. The mission of SFOR is to deter resumption of
    hostilities and stabilize the security environment to facilitate the
    civilian implementation process.
        The SFOR has successfully deterred the resumption of hostilities by
    patrolling the Zone of Separation, inspecting and monitoring heavy
    weapons cantonment sites, enhancing and supervising Entity Armed Forces
    (EAF) demining work, and, within existing authorities and capabilities,
    providing support to international agencies.
        The primary way SFOR supports the civilian implementation effort is
    by contributing to a secure environment. The SFOR works closely with the
    International Police Task Force (IPTF), which was established on
    December 21, 1995, under Security Council Resolution 1035. With SFOR
    support, the IPTF has successfully created indigenous public security
    capabilities by reforming and training the local police. Both the SFOR
    and the IPTF, as a result, enhance public security in ways that promote
    civil implementation of the Peace Agreement. This collective approach
    works to make the implementation process progressively more self-
    sustaining without exceeding the SFOR's current level of intensity and
    involvement.
        By contributing to a secure environment, the SFOR has fostered
    greater progress by civilian implementers, including helping to restore
    road, rail, and air transportation links, reforming racist and
    nondemocratic media, and supporting international preparations for
    supervision of the national elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina in September
    1998. In addition, the SFOR has contributed to efforts to bring 31
    persons indicted for war crimes into custody in The Hague.
        The U.S. force contribution to SFOR in Bosnia is approximately
    7,800--roughly one-third of the number of U.S. troops deployed with IFOR
    at the peak of its strength. The U.S. forces participating in SFOR
    include U.S. Army forces that were stationed in Germany and the United
    States, as well as special operations forces, airfield operations
    support forces, air forces, and reserve component personnel. An
    amphibious force under U.S. control is normally available as a strategic
    reserve in the Mediterranean Sea, and a carrier battle group remains
    available to provide support for air operations.
        All NATO nations and 20 others, including Russia and Ukraine, have
    provided troops or other support to SFOR. Most U.S. troops are assigned
    to Multinational Division, North, centered around the city of Tuzla. In
    addition, approximately 3,000 U.S. troops are deployed to Hungary,
    Croatia, Italy, and other states in the region in order to provide
    logistical and other support to SFOR. Since December 1997, U.S. forces
    have sustained no fatalities.
        A U.S. Army contingent remains deployed in the Former Yugoslav
    Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) as part of the United Nations Preventive
    Deployment Force (UNPREDEP). This U.N. peacekeeping force, which
    includes some 350 U.S. soldiers, observes and monitors conditions along
    the borders with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Albania. The
    UNPREDEP continues to play a key role in preventing the spillover of
    ethnic conflict from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) into FYROM
    and the region. In doing so, it has helped FYROM become a bulwark
    against the southward spread of the conflict in the FRY. Several U.S.
    Army helicopters are also deployed to provide support to U.S. forces and
    may support UNPREDEP as required on a case-by-case basis. The Security
    Council voted December 4, 1997, to authorize an extension of the
    UNPREDEP mandate through August 31, 1998. We are currently exploring
    options regarding the extension of UNPREDEP's mandate in light of the
    growing violence and instability in Kosovo.
        A small contingent of U.S. military personnel also served in Croatia
    in direct support of the Transitional Administrator of the United
    Nations Transitional Administration in Eastern Slovenia (UNTAES). These
    personnel were redeployed when the UNTAES mandate expired on January 15,
    1998; a follow-on U.N. civilian police operation continues in the
    region.
        I have directed the participation of U.S. Armed Forces in these
    operations pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct U.S.
    foreign relations and as Commander in Chief and

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    Chief Executive, and in accordance with various statutory authorities. I
    am providing this report as part of my efforts to keep the Congress
    fully informed about developments in Bosnia and other states in the
    region. I will continue to consult closely with the Congress regarding
    our efforts to foster peace and stability in the former Yugoslavia.
            Sincerely,

                                                          William J. Clinton

    Note: Identical letters were sent to Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the House
    of Representatives, and Strom Thurmond, President pro tempore of the
    Senate. This letter was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    June 22.