European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 18, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday january 18, 1995 commentary the stars and stripes Pago 13 Bill Harry g. Summers a major  of president Cliris Tony National Security policy of enlargement arid engagement was the involvement of the . Military in a a peacekeeping operations around the world. This policy was controversial from the Start especially in Light of his 1992 Campaign rhetoric since repudiated that . Troops ought to serve under . Command. It is not surprising therefore that this notion was the initial National Security target of the new gop Congress. One of the first. Acts of the new Senate majority Leader Bob Dole r-kan., was to introduce the a peace Powers act of 1995.�?� it would repeal the toothless 1973 War Powers act denounced during the persian Gulf War by rep. Ron Dellums d-calif., the former head of the House armed services committee As a a worthless piece of paper in Exchange for restricting commitment of . Troops to the United nations. In a surprising reversal of roles the conservative Washington times called Dole s Hill restricting the authority of the commander in chief relating to the United nations a bad  a the Power to deploy american forces has to rest in one hand not 535,�?� it editorialized. A furthermore the United nations served George Bush admirably to build the coalition he needed in the persian Gulf against Iraq which also helped win Over a reluctant . Congress. Such flexibility would be denied future presidents according to or. Dole s Bill.�?�. The Liberal Washington Post on the other hand editorialized that a sen. Doles proposal to keep future american peacekeepers under american command cuts across . Pride arid efficiency but in the prevail ing political circumstances May turn out to help rally fading american Sci Imant. Lor any International peacekeeping at All. The hard truth implicit in american policy is that some member nations in trouble cannot expect International  a a As far As peacekeeping operations in Bosnia Are concerned that police was made explicit last november by defense and Quot Kwh blood americans Are just not poin6 Mour share Secretary William Perry. A it would take hundreds of thousands of troops and probably significant casualties to impose the outcome we want a peace. That a a level of blood and treasure that is not commensurate with our National interests. That a not to Sny we done to have nac tonal interests there. We do. First we have a com pelting interest in preventing the War and its consequences from spreading beyond Bosnia. Second we have a humanitarian interest in trying to limit the violence and relieve suffering. A these Are real interests.  they Are limited interests. Our actions need to be proportional to those interests. But we re not about to enter  War As. A  7/ a a in a disorderly. By Obi  Ronal peacekeeping is an Esce Ltd 11 a i activity a Ini As the cold War ended it became a popular idea a the . Post editorial. Went on to say a now it u i t e some successes the wrecks a. V.  those i Bosnia and Somalia a have stirred a general disillusionment and a round of recriminations.�?�. A o a a. Vav in a restatement of president Washington a admonition in his 1796 Farewell address that vital National interests not a controversies the causes of which Are essentially foreign to our con i. I no ought to be the primary guide for . Foreign policy the Washington Post observed that a the powerful United states has its own capacity to care for interests it dec Iii vital As in Iraq and in that sense it can do better than most without International  a but a it wait on to say in support of . A peacekeeping operations a was the world s Lone global Power the United states also iras a greater self interest Titan any t Lher country in improving and supporting a system which does not de peril on american Hue mention alone to a maintain world  in sit torring that system How cd or . Impress will still serve As the guide. A your use of Force a said Perry a will be selective and limited reflecting the Jel alive importance of the outcome to our interest. We have a whole Range of options. They go frown using . Military assets for logistical operations to using . Combat forces. The decision of what to use will reflect the Cost we arc willing to pay to achieve the outcome we want. Our interests should dictate where we get involved and the extent of military  following an address at the National press club recently Perry was asked it is opinion of Doles proposal. After saying he shared Doles View that the War Powers act was inadequate he added that while further study is necessary a we Welcome the spirit in we Rich this proposal was  and Well he m ight for  came to placing i in i t a tons on . Involvement in . Peacekeeping operations Perry had beat him to the punch two months before. ,. C Lios Angelos Timos. Readiness is More than Bottom line Liy John deutc1i special to the Washington Post if the coming debate Over defense readiness turns exclusively on whether we re a spending enough a then everyone will be shortchanged. The first question we should ask is what forces do we need to ensure american Security three years ago this month than candidate Bill Clinton told an audience at Georgetown University what. Iris policy on defense spending would be Bact the level of our  based on what we need to protect , first lets provide for a Strong  a the cling us administration answered the question about what defense we need with its a Bottom tip review Quot we Rich established the military Force Structure. Needed to support a Posl cold War strategy of preparedness for. Major regional conflicts and peace and he Nta Hilarian operations. A but military Force Structure is irrelevant if the forces arc not maintained ready to fight. In alb past periods when military reductions have occurred alter the two world wars and Vietnam a readiness was allowed to  a. A this administration has not permitted the Post cold War draw Down in Force Structure to undercut readiness. Our rapid and successful response to Saddam Hussein a thrust to the kuwaiti Border shows both the need and the capacity to do this. We Are ready to Deal with the Saddam and we it stay that Way. Recently the president added $25 billion to the six year defense program for readiness enhancement and future Pav increases and Quality of life enhancements for the military. This demonstrates the priority that. President Clinton and Secretary of defense Bill Perry place on readiness and for putting people before sys a terns a a a. Quot some have said this was a response of the Republican Success in the november election. But a budget shortfall ? was acknowledged at the time the president approved the Bottom in review and discussed publicly by Secre tar la Corv and other defense officials Long before the a elections. A a a a. A a readiness shortfalls can occur. One main reason 1-is. That we do not currently budget for contingency operations. Additional expenses a for unplanned operations Are paid from our readiness accounts a at the end  .1994,.a shortfall occurred because operations and maintenance accounts had to be tapped to pay for. Contingency operations in Bosnia Rwanda a and Haiti and Congress did not act quickly enough to provide a supplemental appropriation. Quot a the same will happen this risen year if the Nuwer con Giss does not promptly pass the. Emergency suppl Ernen la request president Clinton will make to pay for the Kuwait operation Haiti and other contingency costs in Short the president is committed to seeking supplemental funding from Congress Lor unanticipated contingency operations precisely to avoid readiness shortfalls. A. The new Lucel that. President Clinton will Send to Congress will include additional readiness enhancements made possible i1 the $25 billion that the presi. Den added to the defense budget. We will fully fund the planned operations and training of our forces and sign if cantly reduce both equipment and property maintenance backlogs to improve Force effectiveness. And the presidents program contains  budget growth in the latter years of the decade when modernization and recapitalization of existing systems Are required to maintain the Long term readiness of the Mili tary. A a. A 1. A a to make sure this Issue has the continued High level attention it deserves Secretary Perry Early on established the senior readiness oversight Council to manage readiness. This Council which i chair is composed of military and civilian  to have the responsibility to track readiness and respond to any shortfalls that May occur.  the same time we must resist the temptation to measure support for defense solely by How much Money is being spent on readiness. Readiness must be managed like everything else taking into account unit rotation and readiness appropriate to plans of. The joint chiefs of staff for the military Mission the forces May confront. In general today the readiness of our military forces is Strong. This is due both to the action of past adminis. Rations and the initiatives taken by the president. Members of Congress of both parties will insist that we achieve readiness. But we should not permit the readiness debate to become a partisan contest of who will spend More. Dodich is Deputy Secretary of defense