Cheney Says U.S. Role in Somalia Remains Limited

Defense Secretary Dick Cheney stressed Saturday that the mission of the United States has not been expanded to include disarming rival clans in Somalia, removing land mines or training a police force.

U.N. Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali had urged last week that the American troops take on some of these responsibilities. But in a television interview on the Cable News Network, Cheney made it clear that U.S. forces will stick to their original plan of protecting the relief efforts and the shipments of food and medicine.

“Our basic mission is clear,” Cheney said. “It has not been extended by virtue of any statements made by anyone other than the President of the United States. He’s the one who gives us our task and determines what our mission is.”

The defense secretary suggested that the other jobs mentioned by Boutros-Ghali should be left to U.N. peacekeeping forces.

“There are going to be large numbers of troops left behind after we pull out--in the form of U.N. peacekeeping forces,” Cheney said. “Nineteen other nations now have committed to send forces. Most of them have agreed to leave them there after we depart to serve as peacekeeping forces. Those forces are capable of doing whatever the U.N. decides ought to be done.”