European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 5, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday january 5, 1993 Page 13 american conservatives arc natural born worriers. Last week we had a new worry. When rep. Les Aspin of Wisconsin becomes Secretary of defense rep. Ron helium of California will be come chairman of the House committee on armed services. A arg Kurkt and woe is us. Dellums is the most Radical left Winger in the House of representatives. He is on record in favor of drastic reductions in military manpower. He would Cut the army to ribbons. He would reduce the Navy to Little More than a flotilla of Row boats. The Man is a Bounder. As committee chairman Dellums will exercise autocrat James j. Kilpatrick in Powers. He alone will decide which Bills will go to hearings. He will select the key witnesses. His hand will be the final hand in the writing of committee ? reports. He will manage his committees Bills on the floor. Sackcloth ashes Well it is not a pleasant Prospect but it is not a real disaster. The House committee has a few sensible democrats notably Dave Mccurdy of Oklahoma. It has a few responsible republicans notably Floyd Spence of South Carolina. On the Senate Side Democrat Sam Nunn of Georgia and Republican John Warner of Virginia will Check the worst of Dellums Maneu vers. Old fashioned political forces also will prevent a gutting of the nation s military might. Dellums May hunger to close army posts and naval bases but the pros cent of massive local unemployment and Uge economic losses will galvanize even the most Liberal members of the House committee. There is this further consoling thought if for some reason the chairmanship is not awarded to Ron Del Luis it will go to rep. Pat Schroeder of Colorado. Her views on military cutbacks generally match his but she has a certain beguiling Charm that Dellums lacks. Count our blessings. A Dellums then is an obstacle to a prudent defense policy but he is not an insurmountable obstacle. Paradoxically Bill Clinton who once sought so desperately to avoid the armed services May yet prove to be their Best Friend. In an understandable desire to demonstrate that he Minot a draft dodging wimp Clinton could become the Haw Kiest Hawk of them All. Many conservatives will Pray it works out this Way. The cold War May have ended and the soviet Union May have crumbled but no greater Folly could be imagined than the precipitate dissolution of our armed forces., a Wise policy will draw upon the example of Rome a first emperor Augustus preserved the peace for 40 years by constantly preparing for War. A sound policy will not attempt to preserve everything everywhere. Certain army and air Force bases clearly must be phased out. It becomes increasingly difficult to justify the Navy s submarine squadrons. Military procurement is still larded with fat. Some . Troops must remain garrisoned in Europe not to fight soviet tanks but to be forwardly positioned for whatever the future brings. Be assured of this the future will bring troubles that will demand military intervention. Ethnic and religious hatreds have not subsided. The former member states of the soviet Union still possess thousands of nuclear weapons. It is Only a matter of time before other nations develop nuclear arsenals of their own. Bill Clinton immediately will inherit our Ppck ended commitment in Somalia. He will inherit our non commitment in Bosnia. South Africa is a Heap of kindling waiting for a match. An uneasy truce hangs Over the two Orcas. Iraq remains a Power in the Middle East Iran promises again to threaten stability in the Region israelis and palestinians stand constantly on the  future is clouded by facile phrases. Everyone agrees that the United states should not function As a policeman to the  almost no one agrees on precisely where the United states should walk its beat. The doctrine of Quot selective compassion has a hollow ring. It is As if some people starve effectively on to and others do not. Policies May yet be set by drama critics. Most of lie talk on the talk shows is talk of Domestic concerns a education health care the retraining of a work Force to compete in a global Economy. These will be Clinton a first concerns. Be not misled. Critical issues in foreign policy May be sleeping but they Are Light sleepers. In this regard chairman Dellums May worry the president but in the end he wont worry huh  prom Syndicate Bush vacillation permitted serbian aggression american policy toward Yugoslavia has taken a crucial turn. As reported last week by David Binder of the new York times president Bush has warned serbian leaders that if they extend their bosnian onslaught to the mainly albanian province of Kosovo the United states will intervene. Quot in the event of conflict in Kosovo caused by serbian action Quot a message to president Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia said Quot the United states will be prepared to employ military Force against the serbs in Kosovo and in Serbia  the message Means that however belatedly the Bush administration has perceived the geopolitical threat in serbian aggression. By drawing the line at Kosovo it Hopes to avoid a wider War that might bring in Greece Turkey and others. ,. In More personal terms it Means Anthony Lewis that George Bush has emerged from a year of weakness evasion and Wishful thinking on the yugoslav question. As part of the last burst of Energy that has taken him this new years weekend to saudi Arabia Africa and Russia he has at last found the Resolution a the Backbone a to confront the serbian killers. How much human disaster might have been avoided if Bush had been decisive earlier How Many thousands of bosnian lives saved How Many millions left peacefully in their Homes instead of becoming refugees. Suppose that Bush had sent a similar message when the serbs bombarded the ancient croatian City of Dubrovnik 14 months ago. Suppose he had told Milo. Sevic Quot if serbian shelling of Dubrovnik continues the United states is prepared to use military Force against the serbs there and in Serbia  1 believe that Milosevic like most tyrants would have retreated before a show of strength. The time to Stop dictators is at the beginning of their aggression As we should have Learned from the terrible example of Hitler. Or suppose that Bush had. Shown such determination when the serbs 11 months ago began their siege of Sarajevo. Sup pose he had told Milosevic and his serbian puppets in Bosnia to Stop their assault or face american bombs. I think that Bosnia s muslims would have been spared the genocide that followed. Those opposed to the threat of american military intervention warned that it might Lead us into another Vietnam. But the use of . Ground forces was never desirable or necessary. George Kenney acting chief of yugoslav affairs in the state department until he resigned in protest in August argued cogently for the use of american air Power. As he explained in the last Issue of world policy journal . Planes could easily have grounded serbian aircraft not just in Bosnia but in Serbia a and knocked out Many of the heavy weapons used against Sarajevo and other cities. Air Power could indeed base done much More and still could. Modern weapons could quickly Knock out Serbia a supplies of gasoline and Gas. Munitions dumps Are easy targets. Of course no one should want to make attacks of that kind on Serbia attacks that will Cost lives. But it would never have been necessary to make them in my judgment if the serbian leaders had had to Lake the United states and its european allies seriously. Serbian leaders however infected by the virus of nationalism know realistically enough what american and other nato air Power can do. That is Why right now they Are crying so shrilly against the Possi Milit of Western intervention. Perhaps somehow Cyrus Vance and lord Owen can Patch together a peace formula for Bosnia. If not the Only Way to save the remaining bosnian muslims from cold starvation and massacre will be to use Western muscle to protect Relief efforts and when necessary silence the serbian gunners. Moke and More americans and europeans believe that the line of humanity must be drawn be foie the ultimate rag cd in Bosnia not after. But time is running out. _ George Bush has taken notably decisive. Actions As president. But on some of the gravest issues action has followed Long delay and equivocation lie was numb to the great changes in Russia until prodded to move lie wheeled Saddam Hussein until the Kuwait invasion. And he has wasted a cruel year in Yugoslavia now is his last Chance to redeem that tragic mistake. 10 Tiki new Yolk times