Perhaps Dogs That Bark has forgotten the Republican bill which demanded that the
> US cut and run from Iraq immediately.
Or the Republican bill which demanded that the US surrender to Somali
warlords, and cut and run from Somalia immediately. This one they all voted
"yes" on:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r103:H06OC3-756:
URGING WITHDRAWAL OF AMERICAN TROOPS FROM SOMALIA (House of
Representatives - October 06, 1993)
[Page: H7516](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.
