[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 31 (Monday, August 3, 1998)]
[Pages 1530-1531]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Congress Reporting on Bosnia-Herzegovina

July 28, 1998

To the Congress of the United States:

    Pursuant to section 7 of Public Law 105-174, I am providing this 
report to inform the Congress of ongoing efforts to meet the goals set 
forth therein.
    With my certification to the Congress of March 3, 1998, I outlined 
ten conditions--or benchmarks--under which Dayton implementation can 
continue without the support of a major NATO-led military force. Section 
7 of Public Law 105-174 urges that we seek concurrence among NATO allies 
on: (1) the benchmarks set forth with the March 3 certification; (2) 
estimated target dates for achieving those benchmarks; and (3) a process 
for NATO to review progress toward achieving those benchmarks. NATO has 
agreed to move ahead in all these areas.
    First, NATO agreed to benchmarks parallel to ours on May 28 as part 
of its approval of the Stabilization Force (SFOR) military

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plan (OPLAN 10407). Furthermore, the OPLAN requires SFOR to develop 
detailed criteria for each of these benchmarks, to be approved by the 
North Atlantic Council, which will provide a more specific basis to 
evaluate progress. SFOR will develop the benchmark criteria in 
coordination with appropriate international civilian agencies.
    Second, with regard to timelines, the United States proposed that 
NATO military authorities provide an estimate of the time likely to be 
required for implementation of the military and civilian aspects of the 
Dayton Agreement based on the benchmark criteria. Allies agreed to this 
approach on June 10. As SACEUR General Wes Clark testified before the 
Senate Armed Services Committee June 4, the development and approval of 
the criteria and estimated target dates should take 2 to 3 months.
    Third, with regard to a review process, NATO will continue the 6-
month review process that began with the deployment of the 
Implementation Force (IFOR) in December 1995, incorporating the 
benchmarks and detailed criteria. The reviews will include an assessment 
of the security situation, an assessment of compliance by the parties 
with the Dayton Agreement, an assessment of progress against the 
benchmark criteria being developed by SFOR, recommendations on any 
changes in the level of support to civilian agencies, and 
recommendations on any other changes to the mission and tasks of the 
force.
    While not required under Public Law 105-174, we have sought to 
further utilize this framework of benchmarks and criteria for Dayton 
implementation among civilian implementation agencies. The Steering 
Board of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) adopted the same 
framework in its Luxembourg declaration of June 9, 1998. The 
declaration, which serves as the civilian implementation agenda for the 
next 6 months, now includes language that corresponds to the benchmarks 
in the March 3 certification to the Congress and in the SFOR OPLAN. In 
addition, the PIC Steering Board called on the High Representative to 
submit a report on the progress made in meeting these goals by mid-
September, which will be considered in the NATO 6-month review process.
    The benchmark framework, now approved by military and civilian 
implementers, is clearly a better approach than setting a fixed, 
arbitrary end date to the mission. This process will produce a clear 
picture of where intensive efforts will be required to achieve our goal: 
a self-sustaining peace process in Bosnia and Herzegovina for which a 
major international military force will no longer be necessary. 
Experience demonstrates that arbitrary deadlines can prove impossible to 
meet and tend to encourage those who would wait us out or undermine our 
credibility. Realistic target dates, combined with concerted use of 
incentives, leverage and pressure with all the parties, should maintain 
the sense of urgency necessary to move steadily toward an enduring 
peace. While the benchmark process will be useful as a tool both to 
promote and review the pace of Dayton implementation, the estimated 
target dates established will be notional, and their attainment 
dependent upon a complex set of interdependent factors.
    We will provide a supplemental report once NATO has agreed upon 
detailed criteria and estimated target dates. The continuing 6-month 
reviews of the status of implementation will provide a useful 
opportunity to continue to consult with Congress. These reviews, and any 
updates to the estimated timelines for implementation, will be provided 
in subsequent reports submitted pursuant to Public Law 105-174. I look 
forward to continuing to work with the Congress in pursuing U.S. foreign 
policy goals in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
                                            William J. Clinton
The White House,
July 28, 1998.

Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
July 29.