NEWS AND VIEWS: AHRU supports Clinton's position on enforcing the peace in Bosnia (02/04/96)

NEWS AND VIEWS

AHRU supports Clinton's position on enforcing the peace in Bosnia

by Walter Bodnar

The dispatch of 20,000 U.S. troops to Bosnia by President Bill Clinton in order to keep and enforce the peace that was brokered in Dayton, Ohio, has been a subject of controversy and extensive discussions, which has dominated bath houses of the U.S. Congress and the media during the latter part of 1995 and into 1996.

The president's trip to Bosnia on January 13 has evoked both praise and some derisive comments about "electioneering" from American troops stationed there. The reactions and comments at home also have split along party lines.

Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine (AHRU) joined in the dialogue by expressing its position to the executive branch and leading figures in both houses of Congress. More than 100 individual letters were sent to President Clinton, key members and their committees in the Senate and House of Representatives, officials at the State Department, members of the Helsinki Commission and the leadership of the major political parties. The letters expressed support for the president's actions in the interests of peace and stability, adherence to the ideals of human rights and a cessation of hostilities by the warring factions in order to prevent a complete ruination with worldwide repercussions.

AHRU's letter of December 7, 1995, among other things, stated: "We support President Clinton's initiatives...in order to help secure the peace in former Yugoslavia. Maintaining peace among the warring Serbs, Croats and Bosnians no matter how tenuous and fragile - is preferable to the continued fighting, killings and seemingly endless destruction."

It continues: "Although military involvement by the U.S. carries with it serious risks, the moral and political imperatives involved tell us that attempts to defuse this powder keg are both in our interests and also in the interest of our European allies."

In his reply to AHRU's letter, Sen. Paul Simon (D-lll.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stated: "The violence in Bosnia is the worst in Europe since World War II. The U.S. has an interest in seeking its end since it threatens the stability of Europe. We must take action for moral reasons as well: atrocities on this scale have not been seen in Europe since the days of Hitler and Stalin...As the leader of NATO and the only remaining superpower, the U.S. must play its part to ensure that the peace process succeeds."

AHRU also endorsed the statement of support by the National Ethnic Coordinating Committee of the Democratic Party regarding the president's Bosnian policy wherein it was stated that "without the U.S. there would be no peace agreement and without the U.S. there can be no hope for peace. As ethnics we know the consequences of sitting on the sidelines and we know the benefits that can be attained when America becomes involved in the pursuit of our shared values. We ask that you support the president's commitment to implement the Bosnian peace agreement."

A NATO-led effort, which will have a force of 60,000 peacekeepers - including 400 from Ukraine - and the support of at least 29 nations joining in this international, multilateral military expedition, | will work, in the words of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), for "the re-establishment of a civil society."

In his remarks to the troops in Bosnia, President Clinton - also the commander-in-chief of the U.S. armed forces - said: "You are...protecting our nation's interests by keeping a fire out that has threatened the heart of Europe's stability."

The fighting during the past four years among the Serbs, Croats and Bosnians, which has resulted in the genocidal killings, the wounding of thousands, the rapes, the extensive destruction among the civilian population and devastation of the picturesque region, triggered the armed intervention by President Clinton. This has raised the hope that the agreement, signed in Dayton on November 22, 1995, and affirmed in Paris in December by representatives of the three embattled states, will be adhered to.

AHRU's concluding admonition stated: "Maintaining our leverage on the warring parties and urging a respect for human rights on all sides are signs of our seriousness to help all concerned."

Walter Bodnar is vice-president of Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine.

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