December 21, 1995
Web posted at: 11 p.m. EST (0400 GMT)
From Correspondents Ralph Begleiter and Carl Rochelle
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A top White House official said he fears that the Clinton administration's repeated warnings about the possibility of U.S. casualties in Bosnia might not be enough to prevent political calls for withdrawal if they occur.
President Clinton's national security adviser, Anthony Lake, said he's not sure that the American people and Congress will be ready to stay the course in Bosnia if American troops are wounded or killed during the peacekeeping mission.
"We are not going to cut and run as long as there is a mission to perform."
-- President Bill Clinton
"I hope that when we do run into incidents involving casualties, there is not then a great outcry for pulling back," Lake said. "It is terribly important that when you use military power and send American soldiers out, you do it unflinchingly so you don't invite such attacks."
Clinton has repeatedly promised not to withdraw if U.S. troops are killed. "We are not going to cut and run as long as there is a mission to perform," the president said. (34K AIFF sound or 34K WAV sound)
"I hope that when we do run into incidents involving casualties, there is not then a great outcry for pulling back."
-- Anthony Lake
The administration has good reason to be skittish about public and congressional reaction to casualties. In 1993, Clinton ordered a U.S. destroyer to turn back from Haiti when a small anti-American demonstration appeared on the docks.
Just days earlier, Clinton had announced the U.S. pullout from Somalia after 18 troops were killed in a firefight and a the body of an American soldier was dragged through the streets of Mogadishu.
The current U.S. deployment to Bosnia has only lukewarm support from Congress and in public opinion polls.
Clinton's advisers aren't the only ones worried about irresistible pressure for a U.S. pullout if Americans die in Bosnia. European diplomats say that the U.S. leadership role in Europe is finished if the White House pulls out of danger for a third time.
Also Thursday, the Pentagon held a year-end review for the press of its worldwide operations featuring Defense Secretary William Perry and Gen. John Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But the briefing turned into a grilling about the U.S. mission in Bosnia.
Perry and Shalikashvili were asked whether U.S. troop construction of a bridge across the Sava River, necessary for troops to reach southern Bosnia, could move faster. "I find a higher requirement that we do it safely and not needlessly endanger someone by rushing it," Shalikashvili said. (85K AIFF sound or 85K WAV sound)
Responding to questions about troop readiness, Perry insisted that U.S. forces would be in place when needed and would be able to handle the mission. "You all probably enjoy sausage. None of you would enjoy it as much if you made a tour of the sausage factory, and what you're trying to do now is conduct a tour of the sausage factory that we have under way in conducting this deployment to Bosnia," Perry said.
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