(TUZLA AIR BASE, Bosnia-Herzegovina—AP) Senate minority leader Tom Daschle and two other senators spent Easter Sunday with American troops in Bosnia, and said that the soldiers were fulfilling their mission. Daschle, D-South Dakota, was joined by Harry Reid, D-Nevada, and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. They told reporters that while American forces were successfully keeping the warring factions at peace, the economic and political efforts to rebuild Bosnia were lagging far behind.
90 Days Behind Military Mission
Hatch said there were indications that the civilian effort was at least 90 days behind the military peacekeeping mission. This lag in the rebuilding of the country has stirred reports that the U.S. mission might be extended beyond the Clinton administration’s one-year commitment, which expires in December. "We committed to one year," Hatch said. "I think it’s going to be very difficult to extend it beyond that year."
"On the other hand, we don’t want to have the former war condition become the reality again," he said. "So we’re going to have to take a look at this very carefully ... We’ve got to look at what is in the best interests of the world at large." Daschle said it would be premature to predict what the sentiment might be in the Senate for extending the U.S. mission. "Nothing that we’ve been told in the time that we’ve been here would lead us to believe that there is any requirement that the military stay longer," he said.
Describing the devastation that the senators saw in Bosnia, Reid said, "I can go back and report to my colleagues that the money we have agreed to spend in this part of the world is being well-spent." Hatch said that one of the reasons for their 10-day trip through the Balkans was to meet with presidents of the warring factions in efforts to find a solution for the economic and political problems.
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Senator Tom Daschle
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