[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 28 (Monday, July 19, 1993)]
[Pages 1318-1320]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the Troops at Camp Casey, South Korea

 July 11, 1993

    The President. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, General 
Abrams. Thank you, Sergeant Corley, for the tomahawk.
    Audience members. Oooh.
    The President. He looks to me like he could use it. [Laughter]
    I want to say how glad I am to be here today. I want to introduce a 
couple of the people who came with me: the Secretary of State Warren 
Christopher; your Secretary of Defense; I think you know General Luck. 
And I thank you already for the welcome to me and my wife, the First 
Lady.
    I see some of the young women soldiers jumping up and down here in 
the back. We'll do that better--that's good.
    I want to say to all of you, it is a great privilege for me to be 
here on the frontier of freedom with the warriors of the 2d Infantry 
Division. You are a very critical part of the finest Armed Forces the 
world has ever seen.
    I'm sorry to be a little late, but I think you all know that because 
of the rains we couldn't take the helicopters today, and we drove to the 
DMZ.
    Audience members. Woo! Woo! Woo!
    The President. It was the first opportunity I had ever had to be 
along the DMZ. And I understand that I was in a more forward position 
than any President had been before. When I stood on the Bridge of No 
Return and looked over with my binoculars at those young North Korean 
soldiers, I thought to myself, I wish they were free to walk across this 
bridge and be with us in peace and freedom. And because of you, someday 
they will be, because of you.
    For 40 years American soldiers like you have stood shoulder to 
shoulder with our Korean allies, providing South Korea with security 
against attack and the opportunity to flourish first as a great economy 
and now as a great democracy. I want every one of you to know whatever 
you do here, if you carry a rifle or drive a truck or repair a 
helicopter, whatever you do, your work is vital. And I admire your 
service, and believe it or not,

[[Page 1319]]

so do millions of Americans you will never see or meet who do not know 
your names and may not even know exactly what you do. All of them know 
they live a little freer and a little better because of you and your 
sacrifice and your service.
    All of you know that this is a challenging time to be in the 
military. Because the cold war has ended, some people think the threats 
to our country have ended, but you know better. You know that there is a 
reduced need for certain missions and forces around the world, but many 
threats continue.
    Just a few weeks ago I ordered an attack on Baghdad, and you know 
why: because we concluded that Iraq had staged a plot to assassinate 
former President Bush while he was in Kuwait. And they were under the 
illusion that we treat our political leaders like they treat theirs. 
This is America. We honor everybody who has served this country, and we 
stick together. But when I gave that order, I did it with the confidence 
that we had the best military in the world, equipped with the finest 
technology in history. And after that action was over, I felt more 
strongly than ever before that we must continue to have the best 
military in the world and the finest technology in the world.
    For 6 years now, force levels have been lowered, budgets have been 
reduced, bases have been closed. These changes are unsettling and 
difficult, but I tell you that still we must maintain our readiness and 
we must make these cutbacks gradually and with a real feeling for the 
men and women who have won the cold war and deserve their country's best 
efforts to help them maintain successful lives.
    And even in this time of transition, we must remember that we have 
to show foresight and caution in reducing our defenses. North Korea's 
stubborn refusal in recent months to fully comply with the requirements 
of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Agreement is the most urgent example of 
this. And in this new round of military cuts, I know that you all 
noticed no cuts were made in troop levels in Korea or Japan, and we 
beefed up our naval presence in the Pacific because that is what the 
national security requires.
    You know, too many times in the past, in the absence of an 
overpowering threat, our country has forgotten just how badly we need 
people like you, with the morale and energy and vigor and determination 
that you're all demonstrating today. In 1945, before any of you were 
born, we won the Second World War. And just 5 short years later, we were 
involved in another conflict here in Korea. But by then we had 
diminished our strength so much that we entered the conflict 
inadequately prepared, without enough equipment or training, without 
enough strength. We must not ever make that mistake again.
    So I say to you that, while over the next few years we will continue 
to reduce defense expenditures where appropriate and acknowledge that in 
many cases that may be desirable, there is clearly a line below which we 
cannot go. Our Armed Forces must still be able to fight and win on a 
moment's notice.
    Let me make this last point: To do that, of course, we have to 
provide you with the most sophisticated precision-guided weapons we can. 
To do that, of course, we have to provide you with all the support we 
can. But in the end, you will make the difference: your discipline, your 
character, your will to win, your love for your country, your ability to 
get up day-in and day-out and feel the way you are manifesting your 
feelings for your country and your duty today. That is America's winning 
edge, and that is what we must never lose.
    Let me say in closing, I know that what you do is difficult and 
sometimes dangerous and often very lonely. You're a long way from home. 
When I was up on the DMZ, I met three people from my home State, a long 
way from home. You, too? And I want all of you to know that your 
demonstration of your professionalism and your dedication means that you 
and America really are second to none. What I want you also to know is 
that I can see from my perspective sometimes something you may not be 
able to see, and that is, these pictures of you here saying what you're 
saying, doing what you're doing, being who you are, give great pause to 
the enemies of freedom and great heart to our allies and to all the 
American people.

[[Page 1320]]

    Thank you, and God bless you all. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 5:10 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
Brig. Gen. John Abrams, USA, commanding general, 2d Infantry Division, 
Camp Casey, and Gen. Gary E. Luck, USA, commander in chief, U.S. Forces, 
Korea. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these 
remarks.