[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 31, Number 49 (Monday, December 11, 1995)]
[Pages 2110-2113]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to Troops in Baumholder, Germany

December 2, 1995

    General Joulwan, General Nash, General Crouch, Secretary West. A 
special word of greeting to America's good friend Chancellor Kohl, who 
has been a wonderful partner to our country, with great thanks to 
Germany for their partnership with this fine unit.
    I am immensely proud to be here today with the men and women of the 
1st Armored Division. You truly are America's Iron Soldiers. Previous 
generations of Iron Soldiers have answered our Nation's call with 
legendary skill and bravery. Each time before, it was a call to war. 
From North Africa to Italy, they helped freedom triumph over tyranny in 
World War II. Then for 20 years, their powerful presence here stood down 
the Soviet threat and helped to bring victory in the cold war.
    And just 4 years ago, when Saddam Hussein attacked Kuwait, the 1st 
Armored Division's awesome power turned back Iraq and protected the 
security of the Persian Gulf. I know many of you were there. But I would 
like to remind you that in just 89 hours of combat, you destroyed 440 
enemy tanks, 485 armored personnel carriers, 190 pieces of artillery, 
and 137 air defense guns. You should be very proud of that remarkable 
record.
    Now America summons you to service again, this time not with a call 
to war but a call to peace. The leaders of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia 
have agreed to end 4 long years of war and atrocities. They have asked 
for our help to implement their peace agreement. It is in our Nation's 
interest and consistent with our values to see that this peace succeeds 
and endures. And we are counting on you, the men and women of Task Force 
Eagle, to get that job done.

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    For 3 years I refused to send our American forces into Bosnia where 
they could have been pulled into war. But I do want you to go there on a 
mission of peace. After speaking to your commanders and looking at all 
of you and listening to you, there is not a doubt in my mind this task 
force is ready to roll. Your mission: to help people exhausted from war 
make good on the peace they have chosen, the peace they have asked you 
to help them uphold.
    Just 2 weeks ago in Dayton, Ohio, the warring parties in Bosnia 
agreed to put down their arms, to pull back their armies and their heavy 
weapons, to hold free elections, to start rebuilding their homes, their 
towns, and their lives. But they need help to do that, and they have 
asked America and our NATO allies and other willing countries to provide 
it.
    They need that help because, after nearly 4 years of terrible 
brutality, trust is in short supply in Bosnia, and they all trust you to 
do the job right. Each side wants NATO to help them live up to the 
commitments they've made, to make sure each army withdraws behind the 
separation line and stays there, to maintain the cease-fire so that the 
war does not start again, and give all the parties the confidence they 
need to keep their word--and also to give them the trust that the other 
side will keep its word as well.
    I pledged to the American people that I would not send you to Bosnia 
unless I was absolutely sure that the goals we set for you are clear, 
realistic, and achievable in about a year. This mission meets those 
essential standards. I also vowed that you would not go to Bosnia until 
I was sure that we had done everything we could to minimize the risks to 
your safety.
    You know better than anyone that every deployment has risks. There 
could be accidents. In a formerly hostile environment, there could be 
incidents with people who have still not given up their hatred. As 
President, I take full responsibility for your well-being. But I also 
take pride in the knowledge that we are making this mission as safe as 
it can be.
    You will take your orders from General Joulwan, who commands NATO. 
There will be no confusing chain of command. You are superbly prepared. 
You will be heavily armed. The reputation that you--[applause]--I didn't 
want anyone to think there was a division of the house on that point. 
[Laughter]
    Perhaps even more important, you will be heavily armed with the 
reputation that proceeds you. That and the technology and training that 
protect you will make those who might wish to attack think twice. But 
you will also have very clear rules of engagement that spell out the 
most important rule of all in big, bold letters: If you are threatened 
with attack, you may respond immediately and with decisive force. 
Everyone should know that when America comes to help make the peace, 
America will still look after its own.
    Your presence will help to create the climate of security Bosnia 
needs. It will allow the international community to begin a massive 
program of humanitarian relief and reconstruction. It will bring the 
people of Bosnia the food, the medicine, the shelter, the clothing they 
have been denied for too long. It will help them rebuild their roads and 
their towns, open their schools and their hospitals, their factories and 
their shops. It will reunite families torn apart by war and return 
refugees to their homes. It will help people recover the quiet blessings 
of normal life.
    This morning, after 2 days of working for peace in Northern Ireland, 
I met at the airport in Dublin with Zlata Filpovic, the young Bosnian 
girl whose now famous diary of her wartime experience in Sarajevo has 
moved so many millions of people around the world. She's my daughter's 
age, just 15, but she has seen things that no one 3 or 4 times her age 
should ever have to witness. I thanked her for a powerful letter of 
support for our efforts for peace in Bosnia that she wrote me just a few 
days ago. And then I told her I was on my way to visit with all of you. 
This is what she said: ``Mr. President, when you're in Germany, please 
thank the American soldiers for me. I want to go home.'' She also asked 
me to thank you and all the American people for, in her words, ``opening 
the door of the future for her and for all the children of Bosnia.''
    Without you, the door will close, the peace will collapse, the war 
will return, the atrocities will begin again. The conflict then could

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spread throughout the region, weaken our partnership with Europe, and 
undermine our leadership in other areas critical to our security. I know 
that you will not let that happen.
    As you prepare for your mission, I ask you to remember what we have 
all seen in Bosnia for the last 4 years: ethnic cleansing, mass 
executions, the rape of women and young girls as a tool of war, young 
men forced to dig their own graves and then shot down in the ground like 
animals, endless lines of desperate refugees, starving people in 
concentration camps. Images of these terrible wrongs have flooded our 
living rooms all over the world for almost 4 years. Now the violence has 
ended. We must not let it return.
    For decades, our people in America have recognized the importance of 
a stable, strong, and free Europe to our own security. That's why we 
fought two World Wars. That's why after World War II we made commitments 
that kept Europe free and at peace and created unparalleled prosperity 
for us and for the Europeans as well. And that's why you are still here, 
even after the cold war.
    Europe can be our strongest partners in fighting the things that 
will threaten the security of your children: the terrorism, the 
organized crime, the drug trafficking, the spread of weapons of mass 
destruction. But it can only be a strong partner if we get rid of the 
war that rages in the heart of Europe in Bosnia. We have to work with 
the Europeans on this if we're going to work on all those other problems 
that will be the security problems of the future.
    When people ask--as they sometimes do back home because they're so 
concerned about you--``Well, why can't the Europeans do this without 
us?'' just remember that when you went to Desert Storm, we asked for 
help from a lot of nations who could have taken a pass, but they stood 
up with us. And when we led in Haiti, we were supported by a lot of 
other nations who had no direct interest in Haiti, but they answered our 
call and they stood up with us. Now in Bosnia, we are needed. You are 
needed.
    Men and women of Task Force Eagle, I know the burden of our 
country's leadership now weighs most heavily on you and your families. 
Each and every one of you who have volunteered to serve this country 
makes hard sacrifices. We send you a long way from home for a long time. 
We take you away from your children and your loved ones. These are the 
burdens that you assume for America, to stand up for our values, to 
serve our interests, to keep our country strong in this time of 
challenge and change.
    In Bosnia, your mission is clear. You are strong, you are well-
prepared, and the stakes demand American leadership that you will 
provide. You don't have to take it just from me. I have gotten it myself 
from the words of your own children. A seventh-grade English teacher at 
Baumholder High School, Patricia Dengel, asked her students to write 
letters to their parents who are preparing to go to Bosnia. I've seen a 
few of those letters, and I was moved. I was moved by the fears they 
expressed but even more by the pride and confidence they showed in you.
    Justin Zimmerman's father, Captain Ronald Zimmerman, is a company 
commander with the 40th Engineering Battalion. This is what Justin 
wrote: ``Dad, I know you'll be fine in Bosnia because of all the 
training you've had. I'll miss you and count the days until we see you 
again.'' And Rachel Bybee, whose father, Major Leon Bybee, is a doctor 
with the Medical Corps, tells him, ``I'm proud of your job, which is to 
help others. It must make you feel great to know you save lives.''
    Your children know you are heroes for peace, and soon so will the 
children of Bosnia. Your country and I salute you. We wish you Godspeed 
in the days and months ahead. You are about to do something very 
important for your Nation, very important for the world, very important 
for the future that you want your own children to have.
    God bless you all, and God bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 12:35 p.m. in the Smith Barracks at the 
Baumholder Army Base. In his remarks, he referred to Maj. Gen. William 
L. Nash, Commanding General, 1st Armored Division; Gen. William W. 
Crouch, Commanding General, U.S. Army Europe; and Secretary of the Army 
Togo D. West, Jr.

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