A Little Reminder, Mr. President : With deadline passed, Clinton should keep Bosnia arms embargo promise

Last summer, President Clinton promised that if by Oct. 15 the Bosnian Serbs had not accepted the peace plan for Bosnia backed by the “Contact Group” of five major powers, he would “introduce formally and support a resolution at the United Nations Security Council to terminate the (arms) embargo on Bosnia and Herzegovina.” That deadline has now passed. The Bosnian Serbs continue to reject the plan. The President should keep his word.

Last July, the Contact Group--Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the United States--delivered its own ultimatum to the warring Serbs, Croats and Muslims. It threatened the Muslims and Bosnian Croats with a lifting of economic sanctions against Serbia. The Bosnian Serbs it threatened with a lifting of a blanket arms embargo that has preserved a Serb military advantage.

The Bosnian Serbs, as noted, rejected the ultimatum and continue to reject it. The Croats and Muslims accepted it. Unfortunately, compliance has been punished and defiance rewarded. The arms embargo remains in place, but economic sanctions against Serbia are being lifted, despite continued, well-documented support by Serbia for the Bosnian Serbs.

Last Thursday 50 senators--including, along with many Republicans, such Democratic stalwarts as Joseph R. Biden, Bill Bradley and Daniel Patrick Moynihan--sent a letter to the President reminding him of his commitment. The letter quotes the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 1995: “If the Bosnian Serbs do not accept the Contact Group proposal by . . . Oct. 15, 1994, . . . the President (or his representative) should not later than 14 days thereafter introduce and support in the . . . Security Council a resolution to terminate the Bosnia arms embargo.”

The Bosnian government recently agreed that implementation of a resolution lifting the embargo could be delayed for six months. But the senators note: “Some of our allies seem to be deliberately misinterpreting this compromise, describing it as a request to deter any action on the embargo for six months.” We trust that, with this timely reminder now delivered, President Clinton will make no similar misinterpretation.