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Edited on Wed Sep-27-06 12:32 PM by gully
From Somalia that is. "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the president to
explain to us what the exit strategy is...I think it's also important for
the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved
and when they will be withdrawn." - George W. Bush to the Houston Chronicle, April 9th, 1999 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r103:H06OC3-756:URGING WITHDRAWAL OF AMERICAN TROOPS FROM SOMALIA (House of Representatives - October 06, 1993)
(Mr. DORNAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to put in the Record the six points that then-Secretary of Defense Cap Weinberger said should be followed before American men and women are committed in combat or near a combat area. That speech was November 28, 1984. The words ring as valid as they did then.
I want to put into the Record the House Republican Policy Committee statement that was drafted yesterday. It is excellent. Also, I want to repeat my own words in this well 8 days ago when we were discussing that weak Somalia resolution. Listen to my words in this well a week ago Tuesday:
`Here is something very sad, Mr. Speaker--Mr. Chairman. Two Pakistani men are MIA. Can you imagine, if these were American boys, how upset Members of this Chamber and the U.S. Senate should be? Missing in action. Does that mean men in some dirty little garage off a Mogadishu alley are being tortured to death, or does it mean they are already dead, and their bodies have been dumped down a well, or are rotting behind some blown-up building in Mogadishu?'
Four days later, that nightmare comes true. One of our American Black Hawk helicopter men had a handcuff on one wrist. Nobody puts handcuffs on a dead body. They were tortured to death. Now, get 5,000 men in there and get these Americans back and then get out.
* Mr. Speaker, specifically, I believe the six tests for committing combat forces, as outlined by former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger in a November 28, 1984 speech, must be our guide. Secretary Weinberger said that the following tests should be used to determine whether or not U.S. troops should be sent into combat:
* First. Is the situation vital to U.S. or allied national interests?
* Second. Have all other options already been considered or used?
* Third. Is there a clear commitment, including allocated resources, to achieving victory?
* Fourth. Are there clearly defined political and military objectives?
* Fifth. Will our commitment of forces change if our objectives change?
* Sixth. Will the American people and Congress support the action?
Statement of Republican Policy on U.S. Armed Forces in Somalia, Adopted April 1, 1993
U.S. military forces in Somalia have fulfilled the mission given them by President Bush. Republicans therefore call on President Clinton to bring our troops home.
The United States has a proud tradition of providing international humanitarian assistance to those truly in need. Somalia is a case in point. In the early 1980's, and again in the early 1990s, the American people and the U.S. Government responded to famine in Somalia by bringing in massive quantities of food and medical assistance.
In the last several months, as anarchy gripped that country and famine again loomed on the horizon, President Bush sent U.S. Armed Forces to Somalia to restore order and permit food to reach the people. He made a commitment to withdraw our troops when the mission was completed and return the operation to the U.N. This process was begun before he left office. The mission has been accomplished, but our troops remain, and it appears President Clinton has no intention of bringing them home. Instead, U.N. bureaucrats who want to keep the United States in Somalia will decide their fate.
Republicans commend our Armed Forces for restoring order to Somalia and for helping to alleviate human suffering in that country. However, we have several deep concerns. Without appropriate congressional consultation, President Clinton has committed thousands of U.S. military personnel to a U.N. peacekeeping operation commanded by a foreign national for an indefinite period of time. Our men and women in uniform will provide both the fighting teeth and the logistical tail for this open-ended operation.
Republicans believe U.S. Armed Forces should always remain under U.S. command. They should not be loaned to international organizations to conduct operations with ambiguously defined objectives.
Furthermore, costs to the U.S. taxpayer continue to mount. In addition to the $800 million in costs already incurred by the U.S., President Clinton has just committed the taxpayers to another half billion dollars.
The United States is the world's only superpower, but this does not mean we are omnipotent, nor that our obligations are universal. Republicans believe that President Bush's commitment to pull our forces out of Somalia should be fulfilled.
Wasn't FAUX's Chris Wallace just bitching that we left Somalia too soon?
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