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GOP at odds with peace mission
Republicans debate how to
support troops without
endorsing Clinton's policy
WASHINGTON (AP)-Republicansstrugg-
led yesterday with the wording of a Bosnia
resolution supporting deploymentofU.S. peace-
keeping troops without endorsing the policy.
President Clinton tried to rally bipartisan back-
Ong, saying: "Leadership isnotaspectator sport."
The Republican majority in Congress was
,divided between those such as Senate Majority
,leader Bob Dole who, despite reservations, felt
rthere was little choice but to support the Presi-
--nt and those who were determined to vote
gainst any deployment.
The commander of U.N. forces in Bosnia,
neanwhile, appeared on Capitol Hill and said
-.'concerns about an attack on American forces
!ere overblown.
"I don't think your fears are of a very high or
:.ven a very great probability at all," British
;men. Rupert Smith told the House International
:Relations Committee.
Smith said that Bosnia was a society that
"recognizes very clearly force, it understands
force." The greatest protection for the NATO
peacekeeping force beginning to deploy in
Bosnia, he said, "is its numbers, its mass and the
weapon capabilities it has, none of which have
I had until very recently."
Congress is not expected to vote on the Bosnia
deployment plan until next week, action being
delayed by the problems drafting a resolution
that would satisfy the widely conflicting views
on Capitol Hill.
The first sign of the difficulty Dole was
encountering came when a Senate vote was put
off until next week. The House planned to act
only after the Senate vote.
The peace agreement reached last month at
Dayton, Ohio, will be signed in Paris on Dec.
resolution, the early stages of the deployment
already were under way. The first U.S. Air
Force cargo plane arrived at Tuzla in northern
Bosniayesterday, carrying communications gear
and technicians to prepare the massive opera-
tion to supply the American military headquar-
ters in Bosnia.
Clinton dispatched U.S. negotiators to the
former Yugoslaviato meet with leaders in Serbia,
Bosnia and Croatia, to discuss final plans for
implementing the Dayton peace agreement.
The President also sought to maintain mo-
mentum in support of the deployment of 20,000
U.S. troops to Bosnia. Senior administration
officials continued their round of appearances
on Capitol Hill and-the president restated his
case at a White House meeting.
A cross section of supporters of the military
mission met with Clinton at the White House.
They included Alexander Haig, secretary of
state in the Reagan administration, andZbigniew
Brzezinski, national security adviser to fromer
President Carter.
"Today you have joined across partisan lines
to make a strong case for America's leadership
in Bosnia," Clinton said. "Europe's stability is
threatened as long as this war burns at its center.
We have to stand with the Europeans on Bosnia."
Smith, the U.N. commander, said the greatest
threat to the NATO force was not from orga-
nized military units but when the deployment
reaches "the stage where individuals or very
small groups take matters into their own hands.
I think the force is big enough and strong enough
to deal with that."
Smith also discounted the danger of the mil-
lions of mines in Bosnia.
"Just because of the large number of them
doesn't mean they are a large threat," said the
general, who pointed out his forces have been
operating in the region for years.
Smith saidthat since the firstofJanuary, U.N.
forces have suffered eight killed and 119
wounded from hostile action.
Norwegian United Nations peacekeepers At the
Tuzie airbase watch a U.S. C-130 transport lift
off yesterday after it had landed with 10
American liasson officers.
14, and congressional leaders hope to vote on a
resolution before then.
Dole (R-Kan.) and Sen. John McCain (R-
Ariz.) were trying to muster support behind a
resolution that would state a commitment to
arm and train the Bosnian army, which has been
out-gunned by the Serbs for nearly four years.
In addition, the senators want to define the
NATO mission as limited to military matters
and not involved in refugee questions and estab-
lishing a civil administration in Bosnia. Oppo-
nents of deployment want to force a vote on
whether to send the troops at all.
While Congress worked on the wording of a
AP PHOTO
German soldiers simulate the rescue of a wounded comrade during a training session for Bosnia.
The German parliament has authorized 4,000 soldiers to go to the Balkans.
Flow of troops into Bosnia slows
TROOPS
Continued from Page 1A
aircraft to fly into Tuzla in a year and a
half. But Renuart said no more fixed-
wingflights into the airfield are planned
until Dec. 12,two days before the sched-
uled signing of the peace accord.
Ten flights that flew into Sarajevo,
the Bosnian capital, were delayed by a
foot of snow that covered the moun-
tainous city. By late afternoon, the
planes had landed in the slush-covered
city, continuing the buildup for the force
that is eventually to number 60,000.
Two British Royal Air Force C-130s
landed shortly after noon, one carrying
two Land Rovers and four British sol-
diers and the other carrying two Land
Rovers and six soldiers.
Other flights landed throughout the
day, U.N. officials said. NATO sol-
diers, mainly British and French, are
AP PHOTO expected to be stationed in Ilidza, a
suburb of Sarajevo held by Serbs that is
scheduled to revert to Muslim-Croat
control as a part of the peace accord,
officials said yesterday.
The decision, hinging on whether
suitable housing can be found for the
hundreds of soldiers destined to arrive
here, is another sign that authorities
here are attempting to quell possible
trouble in the most critical areas of
Sarajevo.
U.N. aid agencies said this week that
they plan to open offices in Ilidza and
Grbavica, anotherSerb-inhabitedneigh-
borhood that Muslims fled in the early
days of the 3-year-old ethnic war.
None of the trains loaded with vans,
trucks and communications gear be-
longing to the 72nd Signal Battalion
has departed from a staging area in
Mannheim, Germany. More than 60
flatbed cars with 130 pieces of equip-
ment sat parked yesterday in a holding
area, awaiting orders to start rolling
toward Croatia, as soldiers continued to
load military items onto other cars.
As for the Special Forces contingent,:
which constitutes about balfof the U.S.
contribution to NATO's advance party
in Bosnia, only a few planning-team
members have entered the country.
Their forward-based headquarters is not
due to start setting up outside Sarajevo
until this weekend.
The bulk ofthe U.S. troops earmarked
for Bosniainthis initial phase arescbed-
uled to arrive next week, in the finalffew
days before the Paris signing. By con-
trast, more than half of the 700 U.S.
troops committedxt NATQ's advance
party in Croatia are thoe, reflecting the
lesser threat to U.S.Jorces in that coun-
try.
Immediately after the signing,' the
United States intends to rush up to I500
airborne combat troops into Tuzla to
secure the headquarters area.
In the meantime, the small team of
U.S. Logistics, intelligence, contracting
and operations officers that arrived in
Tuzla yesterday from the 1st Armored
Division joined the handful of other
American servie memtber there.
. Bosnian soldier hurries past a begging gypsy woman and her children in downtown Sarajevo yesterday.
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