ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 14, 1996 TAG: 9601150063
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: TUZLA, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune
Bearing gifts of Hershey bars and Coca-Cola, President Clinton on Saturday paid a morale-boosting visit to U.S. troops in Bosnia.
The good news for Clinton was that the troops' only complaints seemed to be about lousy food, Spartan living conditions and mud everywhere.
With only one nonfatal casualty thus far, the U.S. peacekeeping mission in Bosnia, now in its 30th day, is going better than many of its planners had dared hope.
Some 8,245 troops are now on the ground in Bosnia; another 12,000 are expected.
For the president, the visit was an elaborate photo opportunity, the payoff on the Dayton agreement, which has brought a still untested peace to the Balkans.
Wearing a brown leather bomber jacket, the president spoke from a podium decorated with sandbags and camouflage webbing. An impressive array of Bradley fighting vehicles and Apache helicopters completed the backdrop.
``The Bosnian people have chosen peace, but they cannot do it alone. ... Around the world, people look to America - not just because of our size and strength - but because of what we stand for and what we're willing to stand against,'' he told the 850 troops assembled on the tarmac.
Clinton told the troops that how effectively they carry out their mission will ``make the difference between a war that starts again and peace that takes hold.''
Bad weather and security concerns limited the scope of the president's first visit to Bosnia. Fog in Tuzla forced the presidential party to rearrange its schedule and wait out the weather in Taszar, Hungary, a major staging area for U.S. troops on their way to Bosnia.
There Clinton chatted with soldiers in a makeshift mess hall with wood floors and a tarp roof.
``I'd like to be able to report that when you get [to Tuzla], you will find deluxe accommodations,'' he said to peals of laughter. ``But even for a political leader, that's stretching the truth.''
In Bosnia, the president was on the ground for about three hours and never left the confines of the Tuzla air base, headquarters for the U.S. command.
The towns and villages ravaged by ethnic cleansing, just a few miles from the gates of the air base, were not on the president's itinerary, nor was the ``zone of separation'' where U.S. soldiers will stand between Bosnian government troops and rebel Serbs.
Aboard the C-17 military transport that flew him to Bosnia, the president was asked by reporters about the recent incidents of violence, including a grenade attack on a tram in Sarajevo and fighting between Muslims and Croats in Mostar.
``Frankly, I have to say I'm concerned about those incidents. But given the level of animosity which existed among these folks ... I think the signs have been quite good,'' Clinton said.
Implementation of the Dayton agreement also has been unsettled by indications that Serb authorities are attempting to remove or destroy evidence of mass executions and other war crimes.
Asked about ``mission creep'' in light of Defense Secretary William Perry's promise Friday that U.S. troops will escort investigators of the War Crimes Tribunal as they search for mass graves, Clinton said he would take up the issue with Admiral Leighton Smith.
``He's the NATO commander on the ground. It's his job both to carry out the mission and to prevent mission creep,'' Clinton said.
The president noted that when the Dayton peace accords were signed, there was a ``clear understanding that the work of the War Crimes Tribunal would go forward.
``What we have to do is define whatever the NATO forces - not just the U.S. but also the others - are going to do in a manner that supports that, but doesn't lead to mission creep,'' he said.
Clinton also used his visit to shore up political support for the Dayton agreement among regional leaders.
At the airbase in Tuzla, he met with Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, and in Zagreb, he held a similar session with the Croatian leader Franjo Tudjman. Clinton did not meet with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, but spoke to him from Air Force One by phone, according to a Yugoslav news agency.
The topic of discussion with Izetbegovic and Zagreb was strengthening the Muslim-Croat federation, a key element of the peace agreement that nearly came undone in Mostar last week. In Zagreb, Clinton also called for the peaceful return of eastern Slavonia, the last part of Croatian territory held by rebel Serbs.
But for soldiers on the ground, the immediate concerns are more mundane, and Clinton's folksy references to army life ``hit the nail on the head,'' according to Airman James Zoller, 23, of Spokane, Wash.
``He talked about what it's like to be here - mud, cold and doing the same thing day after day,'' Zoller said.
``It means a lot to me. It's the first time I've ever seen a president in person, and I like the idea of him coming all the way to Bosnia to see what it's like for us,'' he said.
Before his speech, Clinton had a half-hour informal meeting with paratroopers from the 325th Airborne. The session, which was held in an old MIG hanger on the outskirts of the airbase, was closed to the media and senior military officers.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Thomas Meere, 30, of Bolingbrook, Ill., said after that visit that Clinton's speech had eased some of his doubts about the mission.
``In the military, we didn't want to get involved in this place because - well, it's just plain dangerous. And when you only send 20,000 troops, it's like, `How committed to peace are we?''' he said.
``When we heard all the stuff in Congress with the Republicans, we were not sure of the response we were going to get from the American public,'' Meere said. ``The speech told me we have his support, and that the American people support us from the top down.''
Some were more cynical.
``It was good for him to see what we have been putting up with, although I think he came here for electoral reasons after taking some hits in the opinion polls,'' said Sgt. Brian Hilley, 30, of Riverside, Calif. |Chicago Tribune|
TUZLA, Bosnia-Herzegovina - Bearing gifts of Hershey bars and Coca-Cola, President Clinton on Saturday paid a morale-boosting visit to U.S. troops in Bosnia.
The good news for Clinton was that the troops' only complaints seemed to be about lousy food, Spartan living conditions and mud everywhere.
With only one nonfatal casualty thus far, the U.S. peacekeeping mission in Bosnia, now in its 30th day, is going better than many of its planners had dared hope.
Some 8,245 troops are now on the ground in Bosnia; another 12,000 are expected.
For the president, the visit was an elaborate photo opportunity, the payoff on the Dayton agreement, which has brought a still untested peace to the Balkans.
Wearing a brown leather bomber jacket, the president spoke from a podium decorated with sandbags and camouflage webbing. An impressive array of Bradley fighting vehicles and Apache helicopters completed the backdrop.
``The Bosnian people have chosen peace, but they cannot do it alone. ... Around the world, people look to America - not just because of our size and strength - but because of what we stand for and what we're willing to stand against,'' he told the 850 troops assembled on the tarmac.
Clinton told the troops that how effectively they carry out their mission will ``make the difference between a war that starts again and peace that takes hold.''
Bad weather and security concerns limited the scope of the president's first visit to Bosnia. Fog in Tuzla forced the presidential party to rearrange its schedule and wait out the weather in Taszar, Hungary, a major staging area for U.S. troops on their way to Bosnia.
There Clinton chatted with soldiers in a makeshift mess hall with wood floors and a tarp roof.
``I'd like to be able to report that when you get [to Tuzla], you will find deluxe accommodations,'' he said to peals of laughter. ``But even for a political leader, that's stretching the truth.''
In Bosnia, the president was on the ground for about three hours and never left the confines of the Tuzla air base, headquarters for the U.S. command.
The towns and villages ravaged by ethnic cleansing, just a few miles from the gates of the air base, were not on the president's itinerary, nor was the ``zone of separation'' where U.S. soldiers will stand between Bosnian government troops and rebel Serbs.
Aboard the C-17 military transport that flew him to Bosnia, the president was asked by reporters about the recent incidents of violence, including a grenade attack on a tram in Sarajevo and fighting between Muslims and Croats in Mostar.
``Frankly, I have to say I'm concerned about those incidents. But given the level of animosity which existed among these folks ... I think the signs have been quite good,'' Clinton said.
Implementation of the Dayton agreement also has been unsettled by indications that Serb authorities are attempting to remove or destroy evidence of mass executions and other war crimes.
Asked about ``mission creep'' in light of Defense Secretary William Perry's promise Friday that U.S. troops will escort investigators of the War Crimes Tribunal as they search for mass graves, Clinton said he would take up the issue with Admiral Leighton Smith.
``He's the NATO commander on the ground. It's his job both to carry out the mission and to prevent mission creep,'' Clinton said.
The president noted that when the Dayton peace accords were signed, there was a ``clear understanding that the work of the War Crimes Tribunal would go forward.
``What we have to do is define whatever the NATO forces - not just the U.S. but also the others - are going to do in a manner that supports that, but doesn't lead to mission creep,'' he said.
Clinton also used his visit to shore up political support for the Dayton agreement among regional leaders.
At the airbase in Tuzla, he met with Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, and in Zagreb, he held a similar session with the Croatian leader Franjo Tudjman. Clinton did not meet with Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, but spoke to him from Air Force One by phone, according to a Yugoslav news agency.
The topic of discussion with Izetbegovic and Zagreb was strengthening the Muslim-Croat federation, a key element of the peace agreement that nearly came undone in Mostar last week. In Zagreb, Clinton also called for the peaceful return of eastern Slavonia, the last part of Croatian territory held by rebel Serbs.
But for soldiers on the ground, the immediate concerns are more mundane, and Clinton's folksy references to army life ``hit the nail on the head,'' according to Airman James Zoller, 23, of Spokane, Wash.
``He talked about what it's like to be here - mud, cold and doing the same thing day after day,'' Zoller said.
``It means a lot to me. It's the first time I've ever seen a president in person, and I like the idea of him coming all the way to Bosnia to see what it's like for us,'' he said.
Before his speech, Clinton had a half-hour informal meeting with paratroopers from the 325th Airborne. The session, which was held in an old MIG hangar on the outskirts of the airbase, was closed to the media and senior military officers.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Thomas Meere, 30, of Bolingbrook, Ill., said after that visit that Clinton's speech had eased some of his doubts about the mission.
``In the military, we didn't want to get involved in this place because - well, it's just plain dangerous. And when you only send 20,000 troops, it's like, `How committed to peace are we?''' he said.
``When we heard all the stuff in Congress with the Republicans, we were not sure of the response we were going to get from the American public,'' Meere said. ``The speech told me we have his support, and that the American people support us from the top down.''
Some, however, were more cynical.
``It was good for him to see what we have been putting up with, although I think he came here for electoral reasons after taking some hits in the opinion polls,'' said Sgt. Brian Hilley, 30, of Riverside, Calif.
LENGTH: Long : 218 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. President Clinton made a front-line visit to U.S.by CNBtroops near a former Yugoslav air force hangar at the air base in
Tuzla on Saturday. 2. Clinton delivers birthday presents to Air
Force Col. Neal Patton of San Diego. Patton's wife sent along family
photos and some sweets. color.