[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 24 (Monday, June 21, 1993)]
[Pages 1070-1071]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

 June 12, 1993

    Good morning. Last night the United Nations, acting with American 
and other coalition forces, successfully attacked the military positions 
in Somalia of the warlord Mohamed Farah Aideed. Our forces, thankfully, 
have sustained no casualties.
    The U.N.'s action was a response to a savage attack this past week 
by Aideed's forces carried out on U.N. peacekeepers. Aideed's attack 
killed 23 Pakistanis and injured 3 Americans serving in the U.N.'s 
force. It was a cold-blooded ambush on U.N. forces who were delivering 
food and building peace for the people of Somalia.
    The United Nations and the United States refuse to tolerate this 
ruthless disregard for the will of the international community. 
Therefore, following a request from the U.N. and pursuant to a U.N. 
Security Council resolution, I ordered the participation of our troops 
in this action. I commend the decisive leadership of the U.N. Secretary-
General Boutros-Ghali, the commander of the U.N. force, Turkish General 
Bir, and United States Major General Thomas Montgomery.
    With this action, the world community moves to restore order in 
Somalia's capital and to underscore its commitment to preserve the 
security of U.N. forces. For if U.N. peacekeepers are to be effective 
agents for peace and stability in Somalia and elsewhere, they must be 
capable of using force when necessary to defend themselves and 
accomplish their goals.
    We need to recall why U.S. forces were in Somalia to begin with and 
how much has been accomplished since they first arrived. Last December 
the United States first sent troops to Somalia to help the United 
Nations answer a desperate call for help. By the time we arrived over 
350,000 Somalis already had died in a bloody civil war, shrouding the 
nation in famine and disease. Over 30,000 American men and women, both 
military and civilian, joined with troops and relief workers from all 
over the world in an effort to end the starvation and the hopelessness. 
They worked with courage and dedication to quell the violence, rein in 
the warlords, and deliver tons of urgently needed food and medicine. 
That humanitarian effort restored hope, advanced our interests, and 
represented the very best of America's ideals.
    Today in Somalia, crops are growing, starvation has ended, refugees 
are beginning to return, schools and hospitals are reopening, a civil 
police force has been recreated, and Somalia has begun a process of 
national reconciliation with the goal of creating the institutions of 
democracy. As a result, over recent months, we have been able to reduce 
our troop presence in Somalia down to fewer than 4,000, a small fraction 
of the total U.N. force.
    While American and U.N. efforts in Somalia have been successful, 
there remains a small but dangerous minority of Somalis who are 
determined to provoke terror and chaos. Last night's action was 
essential to send a clear message to the armed gangs, to protect the 
vast majority of Somalis who long for peace, to enhance the security of 
our forces still in Somalia, to hasten the day when they can safely 
return home, and to strengthen the effectiveness and the credibility of 
U.N. peacekeeping in Somalia and around the world.
    The U.N.'s action holds an important lesson about how our Nation can 
accomplish our own security goals in this new era. Although the cold war 
is over, the world remains a dangerous place. The United States cannot 
be the world's policeman, but we also cannot turn a blind eye to the 
world's problems, for they affect our own security, our own interests, 
and our own ideals. The U.S. must continue to play its unique role of 
leadership in the world. But now we can increasingly express that 
leadership through multilateral means such as the United Nations, which 
spread the costs and expressed the unified will of the international 
community. That was one of the lessons of Desert Storm. And clearly, 
that was one of the lessons last night in Somalia.
    On behalf of all Americans, I am proud of the American forces, who 
once again have demonstrated extraordinary courage and skill. The world 
thanks them and all of the U.N. forces in Somalia for their service, for 
striking a blow against lawlessness and killing, and for advancing the 
world's commitment to justice and security.

[[Page 1071]]

Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from the Oval Office at the 
White House.