U.S. Department of State 95/12/08 Daily Press Briefing

From: hristu@arcadia.harvard.edu (Dimitrios Hristu)

U.S. State Department Directory

Subject: U.S. Department of State 95/12/08 Daily Press Briefing

Office of the Spokesman

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FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

Congressional Support for IFOR ..........................3

--Legal/Constitutional Necessity ........................3-4

--Morale of Troops ......................................4

Treating the Bosnian Serbs Even-Handedly ................4-6

Holbrooke to Discuss Ivica Rajic with Croatian Govt. ....10

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MR. BURNS: Good afternoon. Welcome to the State Department briefing. I have a couple of announcements, and then I'll be glad to go to your questions.

Secretary Christopher intends to travel to Paris on Wednesday, December 13, for discussions prior to the signing of the Dayton Accords. He'll be joining President Clinton for the signing of the Dayton Accords on Thursday, December 14. There will be a sign-up sheet in the Press Office following the briefing for those of you who would like to accompany Secretary Christopher on Wednesday to Paris.

Secondly, the Secretary joined President Clinton today for his meeting with the Angolan President, Jose Eduardo dos Santos. I believe the White House will have a statement for you on the substance of that meeting when it concludes in about a half hour's time.

The Secretary has also been conducting a number of discussions by phone and in person with members of Congress, with both Senators and members of the House of Representatives, about the deployment of American forces as part of the NATO contingent in Bosnia. He'll be continuing those discussions for the next several days leading up to his departure from Washington for Paris in the middle of next week.

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Q On the Secretary's conversations with members of Congress on the issue of Bosnia, he sidestepped the question here, but I'd like to ask you. What difference at this point does Congressional support make?

MR. BURNS: We've said from the beginning of this national debate that we've been having for the past few months that we think it's important that the Congress offer an expression of support. It's important to the troops who are now arriving as part of the enabling force and who will arrive in great numbers next week and the week thereafter.

It's important to the Administration. For 50 years now, we have had pretty much a bipartisan consensus in this country on what are American interests overseas, how should the United States properly engage and lead overseas? We think, as the Secretary told you this morning, this is an instance where the United States must lead.

So I think, Jim, I'd say it's very important that Congress offer this support. But I think you know that the Administration is determined to press ahead with the deployment. That has begun and that will not be stopped.

Q So then the Congressional support would be moral, or for purposes of political solidarity rather than legal or constitutional requirements?

MR. BURNS: It's important that Americans unite and support our troops when our troops are deployed overseas in a situation like this which, of course, contains some risks to them.

It's important, we think, to try to achieve a bipartisan consensus when we think American interests are at stake. The Secretary's message to you and to others this morning was that those interests are at stake.

It's important that there be some kind of consensus that the United States is a leader in the world. We are not a country that can sit back on our own continent and ignore what happens in Europe where America has many vital national interests.

So for all those reasons, we think it's important to pursue a Congressional resolution. That's one of the reasons why the Secretary decided not to participate in the very important conference taking place today and tomorrow in London. He felt his presence was needed here in Washington to continue to work with members of Congress.

Q A follow-up. You said in your first answer to Jim that it was important to the troops to have that Congressional resolution in hand. Is the reverse true, that lack of such a resolution might undermine troop morale?

MR. BURNS: We have here 20,000 American men and women who are trained professional soldiers. They will do their job no matter what happens. That's what we expect of them and that's what they expect of themselves.

So the soldiers will do their job. But it really is incumbent upon those of us back here to give them our support. The President is giving them his support. He said hes taking personal responsibility for the deployment and for their welfare. We think it's appropriate that Congress stand up and support the troops as well.

Q Nick, I just caught on CNN Richard Holbrooke in Sarajevo making a statement. I believe, if I quote this correctly, he said that the problem with the Bosnian Serbs in the suburbs of the Sarajevo was they do not understand the Dayton peace agreement.

I would go a little further to say that perhaps the Bosnian Serbs do not understand our lack neutrality. As the Secretary said, in answer to my question earlier, they do not understand why we would even talk about building up the Muslim armed forces, training them and providing them arms.

Nick, how does NATO get across to the Bosnian Serbs that we are going to be evenhanded, as Perry said yesterday?

MR. BURNS: We very much agree with Secretary Perry's comments. The fact is, the United States has not been neutral in this conflict over the past four years. We know who the aggressor has been. We know who has been responsible for the atrocities.

But as we deploy American troops and NATO troops, we surely must be evenhanded in how we help to implement the Dayton accords. That means that the ethnic rights of all groups, including the Bosnian Serbs, must be respected, and that the international community and the international organizations have a role to play in that -- the U.N. Human Rights Commission, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Committee for the Red Cross.

In London, today and tomorrow, we'll be discussing with our allies how we can form an international consensus to help all segments of the population in Bosnia.

Assistant Secretary Holbrooke had a very successful trip to Sarajevo. As you know, in the press commentary following his meeting with Dr. Izetbegovic, the Bosnian Government has said once again that the Bosnian Serb population in and around Sarajevo and, indeed, throughout the country, should remain in their homes; that their rights will be protected. That's a very important assurance from the President of Bosnia. We understand that those assurances will be repeated in the coming days and weeks.

Also, Assistant Secretary Holbrooke raised the issue of the Mujahidin. He received a very clear -- very clear -- statement of commitment from the Bosnian Government that they will adhere to the Dayton accords, specifically 1(a) -- the military annex -- which calls for the departure of all foreign forces -- paramilitary and otherwise -- within 30 days. That was a very welcome statement from the Bosnian Government this morning.

Q Has Mr. Holbrooke received any assurances or any feedback, for that matter, from the Bosnian Serb leadership in the suburbs of Sarajevo as to how his visit is being received and as to whether he's getting his message across?

MR. BURNS: He did not have meetings. He did not travel to Pale. He did not meet with Bosnian Serb leaders. He's heading onto Zagreb and to Belgrade for further talks.

Q About the same subject. Everybody is forgetting that the Serbs are the aggressor and the butcher of the Muslims and pushing to Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Some of the Serbian groups, they entered Bosnia-Herzegovina and killed the civilian people. Now they are based inside of Serbia -- in Milosevic's places. Is the agreement a cover this groups -- putting a trial or to judgment?

MR. BURNS: The United States has not forgotten who is responsible for this war. About two minutes ago I reiterated our long-standing policy, that we have not been neutral in the way we perceive this conflict and understand it. We know who the victims have been -- the Muslims, the Bosnian Government. We know who the aggressors have been - - the Bosnian Serbs. So that's very clear.

But as we deploy, we have a responsibility to be evenhanded to all sides. Three Presidents signed these agreements. All of them made commitments, all of them made very difficult compromises.

We, as the principal international body -- NATO -- that will implement these agreements have a responsibility to see they're carried out in full. That's what Secretary Christopher meant when he talked about the need to be sensitive to the concerns of all the ethnic groups, including the Bosnian Serbs.

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(Press briefing concluded at 1:44 p.m.)

END