SAIS Review

Biden, Joseph R.
Bosnia: Why the United States Should Finish the Job
SAIS Review - Volume 18, Number 2, Summer-Fall 1998, pp. 1-7

The Johns Hopkins University Press

Joseph R. Biden - Bosnia: Why the United States Should Finish the Job - SAIS Review 18:2 SAIS Review 18.2 (1998) 1-7 Bosnia: Why the United States Should Finish the Job Joseph R. Biden One of the most important foreign policy issues facing the Congress in the coming months is continued American involvement in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Helping Bosnia to create a viable multi-ethnic, free-market democracy sends a critical message to other would-be "ethnic cleansers" that a repeat of such carnage will not be tolerated elsewhere in Europe. Progress in Bosnia also sends an important signal that America continues to play the leadership role in European security affairs. Last December, President Clinton announced his decision that the United States should maintain ground troops in an international force that will replace SFOR, whose mandate expires in June. Soon, he will ask the Congress for the funding to support this operation. Rightly or wrongly, the question of whether U.S. foreign policy at the end of this century is viewed as a success or failure will depend in large part on the success or failure of our policy in Bosnia; and our success in Bosnia depends largely on what we do now. Six years ago, following the breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbian aggression in neighboring Bosnia sparked a conflict that engulfed the country in genocide and chaos. Hundreds of thousands of Bosnians were raped, tortured, and killed. From the beginning of the conflict, I urged our...