[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 5 (Monday, February 2, 1998)]
[Pages 156-160]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the National Defense University

January 29, 1998

    Thank you very much. Thank you, General Shelton, for those kind 
remarks and for your little walk through memory lane about our 
association together. My most vivid memory of my association with 
General Shelton is when he walked out of the water and looked down at 
the Haitian dictator and said he thought he would have to go. And I 
thought to myself, we should have just sent him down there by himself. 
[Laughter] I thank you for your leadership.
    Thank you, Secretary Cohen, for your remarks and for your 
extraordinary leadership of the Defense Department and for helping us to 
demonstrate every day that this is not a Democratic or a Republican 
effort, or a Democratic or Republican administration when it comes to 
the defense of this country and the welfare of the American people and 
our men and women in uniform.
    To the members of the Joint Chiefs, the Commanders in Chief, General 
Chilcoat, the students of the National Defense University, faculty and 
others: I am delighted to be here, at a place where education, 
experience, and excellence make a common home. I'm especially pleased to 
be here with the members of the Joint Chiefs and our Commanders in 
Chief, whose 68 stars form a shining constellation of talent and 
achievement.
    We have just had a wonderful meeting. And each of the Commanders in 
Chief has shared a few moments with me, and we've had a little 
conversation discussing the whole range of America's security interests, 
the whole range of the concerns of people who are managing the welfare 
of our men and women in uniform. And I must say that I couldn't help 
thinking, during the course of this meeting, I wish every person who 
wears the uniform of the United States could be watching this on closed-
circuit television, because they'd have so much confidence in the 
leadership of our military.
    And in a larger sense, I wish every American citizen could have seen 
it because they would feel so much more pride, even than they do now, in 
the way our military is led, the thinking about the future that is going 
on, the innovation that is going on, and the profound concern for the 
people who wear our Nation's uniform, as well as what I consider to be 
an enormous sensitivity to the increasing interdependence of our United 
States with other countries and the necessity of more creative, positive 
partnerships around the world. And I know we have people here from other 
nations in this audience today, and I welcome you here.
    Twelve of the Commanders in Chief behind me are graduates of the 
National Defense University. They indicate the value of this university 
to the Nation. They also indicate that in the not too distant future, 
some of you out there will be sitting up here or will otherwise be 
helping to shape the future

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of the United States. For that I am very grateful.
    In my State of the Union Address, I talked about what we all have to 
do together to strengthen America for the 21st century. Today I wanted 
to meet with you, the future stewards of our national security, to talk 
about the foundation of our strength, our military and the essential 
role it will play in this era of challenge and change.
    You all know that we live in a time of tremendous promise for our 
Nation in the world. Superpower conflict has ended. Democracy is on the 
march. Revolutions in technology and communications have literally 
brought a world of information to our doorstep. Americans are more 
secure and prosperous than ever. And we have a rare opportunity and a 
profound responsibility to build a new era of peace and cooperation in 
the world.
    Even as we welcome this hopeful new moment, we all acknowledge, 
especially those of you who are here studying it, that the world is far 
from free of risk. Challenges persist, often in more complex guises, 
from the spread of weapons of mass destruction, to the menace of rogue 
states, to the persistence of religious, ethnic, and regional conflict. 
The openness and freedom of movement that we so cherish about this 
modern world actually make us more vulnerable to a host of threats, 
terrorists, drug cartels, international criminals, that have no respect 
for borders and can make very clever use of communications and 
technology.
    In this new world, our global leadership is more important than 
ever. That doesn't mean we can go it alone or respond to every crisis. 
We have to be clear where our national interests are at stake. But more 
than ever, the world looks to America to get the job done. Our Nation is 
leading in building a new network of institutions and arrangements to 
harness the forces of change, while guarding against their dangers. We 
are helping to write the international rules of the road for the 21st 
century, protecting those who've joined the family of nations and 
isolating those who do not.
    To advance this strategy, we have to preserve and strengthen the 
tools of our engagement of fully funded diplomacy backed by a strong and 
modern defense. Diplomacy and force are two sides of the same coin. Our 
diplomacy is effective precisely because it is backed by the finest 
military in the world. Nothing illustrates the scope of our interests or 
the purpose of our power better than our unified commands. No other 
nation in history has achieved a global force presence, not through 
intimidation, not through invasion but through invitation. That is an 
extraordinary thing. No other nation has acquired mastery of land, sea, 
sky, and space and used it to help advance world peace, instead of to 
pursue conquest.
    The military commanders who share this stage and the forces they 
lead know their first mission must be always to be ready to fight and 
win our Nation's wars. But day-in and day-out around the world they are 
shaping an international environment, enhancing the security of America 
and the world so that peace can endure and prevail. In our own 
hemisphere, where elected civilian governments now reign, American 
leadership is spurring greater military cooperation than ever, promoting 
regional confidence, working together as peacekeepers, supporting law 
enforcement efforts against drugs. Through the defense ministerial of 
the Americas, with the assistance of the NDU, we are finding new ways to 
advance common goals, such as healthy civil-military relations and 
respect for human rights.
    In Europe, our Armed Forces are reinforcing the foundations of an 
undivided democratic continent. They've helped new democracies to 
restructure their own defenses. They have participated in dozens of 
joint exercises with new partners. They stopped a brutal war in Bosnia, 
and they're helping to heal its scars.
    During my meeting with the CINC's, I talked with General Clark, our 
Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, about our Bosnia mission. I am very 
proud of the men and women who are representing all of us in Bosnia. But 
perhaps even more important, they're pretty proud of themselves. They 
know that they have stopped the guns, enabled free elections, made it 
possible for refugees to come home, given the children of Bosnia the 
precious gift of peace.

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    Yes, the progress has been slower than we had hoped, but clearly, it 
is moving forward. If we walk away, it could backslide into war, costing 
the lives of more innocent people, jeopardizing Europe's stability. Last 
month I concluded that our troops should take part in a follow-on 
security presence when the SFOR mission leaves in June. Soon, NATO will 
finish its review of what forces are appropriate for the new mission. 
And this spring, I will submit funding requests to ensure that we can 
pay our share without undercutting our readiness. I'll be working 
closely with Congress to ensure approval of this important legislation.
    The NATO-led efforts in Bosnia reflect our hope for Europe's future 
as former rivals work together for stability and peace. Soon, I'll ask 
the Senate to give its advice and consent to make Hungary, Poland, and 
the Czech Republic NATO's newest members. By enlarging the sphere of 
security in Europe, we can secure democracy's roots and help to prevent 
conflicts like Bosnia from happening again.
    We're also working to strengthen democracy and peace in Africa by 
helping Africans to help themselves. Through the Africa Crisis Response 
Initiative, we're helping African militaries to improve their 
peacekeeping capabilities so they can respond to crises more quickly and 
effectively and stop trouble from escalating into tragedy.
    And just as our interests span the Atlantic, so they bridge the 
Pacific. In our meeting today, Admiral Prueher, the Commander in Chief 
of our Pacific Command and General Tilelli, the Commander of U.S. 
Forces, Korea, confirmed that the 100,000 troops they lead continue to 
perform superbly. From the soldiers of the Korean DMZ who sleep in their 
uniforms, ready to stop an invasion at a moment's notice to the marines 
and the sailors on the ships of the 7th Fleet forward deployed in Japan, 
our troops provide the bedrock of stability on which Asia's peace and 
America's interests depend.
    In recent years, we've strengthened our treaty alliances with Japan, 
with Thailand, with South Korea, Australia, and the Philippines. We 
persuaded North Korea to halt its dangerous nuclear program. We've 
launched talks that can bring about a lasting peace on the Korean 
Peninsula. We're deepening our areas of agreement with China, while 
dealing with our differences frankly and openly. We're working with our 
partners to restore Asia's financial stability, as we build a secure and 
prosperous Asia-Pacific community. Our troops make clear that America is 
committed to remaining a Pacific power, and every day they help the 
Pacific region live up to its name.
    America also has vital interests in a stable Persian Gulf region. 
It's home to two-thirds of the world's oil resources and some of its 
most hostile regimes. General Zinni, our Commander in Chief of the 
Central Command, provided me today with an up-to-date assessment of 
Saddam's latest challenge to the community of nations. Since Desert 
Storm, America has worked steadily and persistently to contain the 
threat Saddam poses, through sanctions that deny him billions every year 
to rebuild his military and, where necessary, with force. We struck 
Iraq's intelligence headquarters after its agents plotted to murder 
President Bush. We convinced Saddam to pull back his troops from 
Kuwait's border in 1994. We tightened the strategic straitjacket on him 
by extending the no-fly zone when he attacked the Kurds in 1996.
    As I said in the State of the Union Address, we know that Saddam has 
used weapons of mass destruction before. We again say he should comply 
with the UNSCOM regime and the will of the United Nations. But 
regardless, we are determined to deny him the capacity to use weapons of 
mass destruction again. Preventing nuclear, chemical, and biological 
weapons from winding up in the wrong hands is among the primary 
challenges we face in the new security environment. Nineteen ninety-
eight will be a decisive year for our arms control and nonproliferation 
agenda.
    I'm very pleased that four Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs, General 
Shalikashvili, General Powell, Admiral Crowe, and General Jones, have 
just this week announced their support for Senate ratification of the 
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The treaty will help to prevent the 
development of new and more dangerous weapons and make it more difficult 
for non-nuclear states to build them. The Senate should ratify it this 
year.

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    We are also committed to toughen the Biological Weapons Convention 
by establishing an international inspection system to track down and 
crack down on cheating. And we'll continue to urge the Russian Duma to 
ratify START II, paving the way for START III, and even deeper nuclear 
weapons reduction. General Habiger, Commander of America's Strategic 
Command, understands the importance of arms control and addressing the 
threat of weapons of mass destruction. Today he and I reviewed the steps 
we've taken to ensure that our nuclear deterrent force remains safe, 
reliable, effective, and unchallenged well into the 21st century.
    One of the key reasons that all of these efforts can be successful 
is the skill of our military. And one of the greatest privileges of my 
job, as I said earlier, has been seeing our military at work. At home 
and abroad, from Haiti to Bosnia, from Japan to Kuwait, at sea and on 
shore, it makes no difference where they're stationed, the rank they 
hold, or how many ribbons they wear, our service men and women reflect 
America's highest standards of skill, discipline, and service. They are 
the patriots who answer the call whenever our Nation needs them, heroes 
who man their stations around the clock so the rest of us can sleep 
without fear. Hardship, uncertainty, and separation from loved ones are 
a part of the job. Many have missed the birth of their own sons and 
daughters to make the rest of our children safer.
    Part of the reason I wanted to come here today, to one of our top 
military educational institutions, in the company of our military 
leadership, is to bring home to the American people the extraordinary 
service of our military men and women and all they do to protect our 
Nation and bear the burden of our global leadership. In times of peace, 
it's tempting to ignore that the dangers to that kind of service exist, 
but they do. When the guns are silent, it's easy to forget that our 
troops are hard at work, but they are. We must never, never take our 
Nation's security or those who provide it for granted. Defending our 
Nation is difficult and dangerous work, even in peacetime.
    Most Americans, for example, have absolutely no idea that we lose 
about 200 of our service men and women in training accidents and in the 
course of regular duty every single year. People like Private Michael 
Harrington and Private First Class Brenda Frederick, who were killed 
just this week in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, when their truck rolled 
over and burst into flames during a night blackout drive training; 
people like Captain Lynn Svoboda, who went down with her A-10 fighter 
while training in Arizona last summer, the first female Air Force 
fighter pilot to die in a military plane crash.
    I think the American people ought to know that. And I hope all of 
you, as you go out and you have communications with your family and 
friends around the country, will just say that in passing, and ask your 
family members and your friends to share it with their fellow citizens. 
It is not easy to wear the uniform, and it is never a completely safe 
proposition.
    As President, the hardest decision I ever have to make is to put our 
troops in harm's way. Force can never be the first answer, but 
sometimes, still, it is the only answer. We must, and we will always do 
everything we can to protect our forces. We must and will always make 
their safety a top priority, as I did on the issue of antipersonnel 
mines. But we must be strong and tough and mature as a nation, strong 
and tough and mature enough to recognize that even the best prepared, 
best equipped force will suffer losses in action.
    Every casualty is a tragedy all its own for a parent or a child or a 
friend. But when the cause is just and the purpose is clear, our 
military men and women are prepared to face the risk. The American 
people have to be, as well. As the inscription on the Korean War 
Memorial says, ``Freedom isn't free.''
    Our obligation to our service men and women is to do all we can to 
help them succeed in their missions, to provide the essential resources 
they need to get the job done. This week I will submit to Congress my 
defense budget request for the coming fiscal year, a budget that is 
fully consistent with the quadrennial defense review.
    Readiness remains our number one priority, and my budget provides 
for the readiness we need in a hopeful but still hazardous time. It 
makes the enhancements in quality of life

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that our service personnel and their families deserve. It funds the 
procurement of sophisticated weapons to make sure our troops can be 
certain of victory, no matter how uncertain the future.
    Our military leaders understand that tomorrow's force must be agile, 
effective, and lean, not only in its personnel but in its operations. 
Secretary Cohen, working with General Shelton and General Ralston, has 
put together a far-reaching defense reform initiative to revolutionize 
the way we do the business of defense, streamlining operations, spurring 
competition, emphasizing efficiency. If our Armed Forces are to have the 
training, the readiness, the equipment, the personnel to man the 
frontiers of freedom abroad, Congress must do its part by making tough 
choices here at home. That includes closing down bases we no longer 
need, stripping away excess infrastructure, not adding funds for 
unneeded or lower priority projects.
    Let our common commitment be to support our troops. Let that be the 
bottom line. And let us uphold in the future, as well as the past, the 
legacy of our American leadership.
    Earlier today, as I walked into my meeting with our CINC's and 
members of the Joint Chiefs, I saw emblazoned on the wall a quote from 
General George Marshall. It read, ``We are now concerned with the peace 
of the entire world. And the peace can only be maintained by the 
strong.'' Those words are no less true today than the day they were 
spoken by General Marshall. America's leadership is no less imperative 
today than the day General Marshall spoke those words. Our strength is 
every bit as important. But more than just maintaining the peace, now we 
have a chance to shape the future, to build a world more secure, more 
prosperous than any we have ever known, to give our children a world 
that our own parents could not even have dreamed of.
    Our Nation will continue to look to our Armed Forces to pursue that 
historic mission. And I know, because of people like you, our Armed 
Forces will never let us down.
    Thank you, and God bless you.

Note: The President spoke at 2:55 p.m. in Baruch Auditorium, Eisenhower 
Hall at Fort McNair. In his remarks, he referred to President Saddam 
Hussein of Iraq.