Speech #1060014834

The Presidents letter continues. the first line of the second paragraph says. "The United States national interests are clear and significant." The second line says. "The ongoing effort by President Milosevic to attack and repress the people of Kosovo could ignite a wider European war with dangerous consequences to the United States. This is a conflict with no natural boundaries. If it continues it will push refugees across borders and draw into neighboring countries." That is a statement of possibility. but we know that this is intervention by NATO. including the United States. in what is essentially a civil war. The President then went on in the second paragraph to say. "NATO has authorized airstrikes against the former Yugoslavia to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and to address the threat to peace and security of the Balkan region and Europe." The President relies quite substantially upon the "humanitarian catastrophe". he may really be saying the use of force for humanitarian purposes. and it may be that this standard is a one which ought to be adopted. But I do suggest that this may be a departure from what has previously been recognized as U.S. policy to use force where there is a vital United States national security interest.