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December 5, 1995
Web posted at: 11:30 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republican leader Bob Dole said Tuesday the Senate would vote on whether to support President Clinton's peace-keeping mission to Bosnia next week. Eager to secure both public and congressional approval, Clinton launched a renewed bid to illustrate why America should be involved in a European conflict, and found some success.
"The decision to deploy troops to war-torn Bosnia has been made. If it is seen that the president does not have the support of Congress, our standing as leader of the free world and the standing of NATO would be dramatically diminished. That must not happen."
-- Former U.S. President George Bush
With congressional skepticism and public resistance to the mission high, the president began a week of speeches and events designed to portray the Bosnia mission as the only humane alternative to executions, ethnic cleansing, rapes and "the endless lines of despair and refugees." And he repeated his contention the potentially dangerous mission could be accomplished within one year. (119K AIFF sound or 119K WAV sound)
Powell, former presidents urge supportClinton's plan to send 20,000 U.S. troops to the Balkans won endorsements Tuesday from former Republican Presidents George Bush and Gerald Ford and from retired Gen. Colin Powell.
Dole, who also has affirmed his support for the mission, told reporters that Republicans were still working on a resolution that would back to deployment, but would add conditions.
While the Senate is expected to pass its resolution of approval, the plan faces stiffer opposition in the House. Rep. Susan Molinari, R-New York, who recently led a bi-partisan delegation to Bosnia, said she was worried about the millions of land mines and other dangers to troops.
"There are rogue elements that do not have a direct line of control from the people who signed the Dayton peace accord," she said.
House Speaker Newt Gingrich's position on the mission is critical. White House officials said they believe Gingrich would join forces with Dole and other so-called internationalists in the Republican Party.
Bush said there was no going back on the mission, though he had "significant misgivings" about its nature and duration. Bush battled for his own narrow Congressional endorsement for sending U.S. troops to the Persian Gulf in 1990 and 1991.
"The decision to deploy troops to war-torn Bosnia has been made," he said in a statement from Houston. "If it is seen that the president does not have the support of Congress, our standing as leader of the free world and the standing of NATO would be dramatically diminished. That must not happen."
Ford, who completed Richard Nixon's second term after the Watergate scandal broke, said a decision to abort the mission now would "do enormous damage to U.S. leadership in the eyes of the world."
Powell's spokesperson, retired Col. Bill Smullen, said the former chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff believed the agreement offered "the greatest potential yet" for peace in Bosnia.
Clinton shows human face of Balkan tragedyAn Associated Press poll shows that Americans oppose the mission nearly 2-1. But the Clinton tried to explain the necessity of putting American lives on the line by giving a human face to the Balkan tragedy.
Meeting with Bosnian refugee families and children, Clinton called them "the story behind the unbelievable numbers of a quarter million dead, two million people displaced." (230K AIFF sound or 230K WAV sound)
"They should not have to come here to look as good as they do, to be as happy as they are," he said.
He said the mission would not erase the war's horrors or bring back its victims. "But because the parties have said they will turn from war to peace, we can now prevent further suffering," he said. "We can now shine the light of justice in Bosnia."
He made the remarks after an administration briefing for private organizations and companies involved in providing humanitarian aid to Bosnian people. He also signed a declaration marking Sunday as Human Rights Day.
Meanwhile, the Defense department has notified more than 1,000 specially trained reservists to begin training for possible deployment.
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