(16 Dec 1996) English/Nat
U-S Defense Secretary William Perry said Monday in central Germany the continued presence of NATO troops in Bosnia was needed to ensure that civilian functions take hold.
His comment came during his farewell visit to U-S soldiers who were a part of the American-led NATO force that has kept peace in Bosnia for the past year.
Perry said only a smaller, stabilization force was needed now to preserve the peace while civilian authorities in Bosnia begin to function properly.
American soldiers from the First Armored Division at Bad Kreuznach were enthusiastically honoured Monday for distinguished duty in Bosnia.
They were part of the NATO-led peace implementation force, or IFOR.
IFOR's one-year mandate expires Friday, after which a smaller Stabilization Force, numbering about 30-thousand troops, will stay in Bosnia until mid-1998.
The outgoing U-S Secretary of Defense William Perry was on hand for the awards ceremony and praised the soldiers for their commitment.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"You proved the critics wrong. Indeed you rewrote the history of Europe. In Bosnia, the killing fields have been converted to green fields. This fall, Bosnia's had a harvest of wheat and corn instead of a harvest of death and destruction."
SUPER CAPTION: William J. Perry, U-S Secretary of Defense
The stabilization force in Bosnia will include up to 85-hundred U-S troops and will continue to monitor the peace and support municipal elections scheduled for next summer.
Meanwhile American soldiers said they were satisfied that they had successfully completed their Bosnia mission.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"It's a success for what we were supposed to accomplish. We accomplished everything that we were supposed to accomplish and there is really nothing more we could do."
SUPER CAPTION: Michael King, U-S Sergeant
Perry warned that no-one should under-estimate the task of the stabilization force.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"There cannot really be lasting peace in Bosnia until some of those civil functions get better started. Economic reconstruction, completing the elections, the refugee re- settling, much of that remains to be done. And each of those has the potential for turmoil and for causing conflict and therefore requires a force there to provide the security in the environment. That is why the Stabilization Force, that's why NATO decided to send a Stabilization Force to give those civil functions another year, year and a half, to take hold."
SUPER CAPTION: William J. Perry, U-S Secretary of Defense
Perry, who is due to step down from his post in the new year, says his four years as defense secretary have been memorable.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"To me, this job was a job of enormous satisfaction and great fulfilment. I would not have missed this experience of my life for anything. But I thought four years was enough."
SUPERCAPTION William J. Perry, U-S Secretary of Defense
U-S President Bill Clinton last week nominated Senator William Cohen as Perry's successor.
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