Gallegly Conveys Voters’ Concerns About Bosnia : War: At a Capitol Hill hearing, the congressman tells U.S. officials of slim support in his district for the plan to deploy 20,000 peacekeepers in Europe.

Waving a stack of documents in the air, Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) on Thursday told the top military leaders planning the U.S. peacekeeping mission in Bosnia that he and the bulk of his Ventura County constituents have grave concerns about the plan.

Support for the mission appears to be growing in Congress, but Gallegly is one of those who has held out. A member of the International Relations Committee, he had an opportunity--albeit a brief one--to address Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Secretary of Defense William J. Perry and Secretary of State Warren Christopher.

“Gentlemen, I have here about 140 letters that have come in since the President’s speech--all opposing the use of ground forces,” Gallegly said. “I have two letters from constituents supporting it. What do I tell them when they say we can’t control the peace on our streets in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, across this country . . . yet we can go to foreign soil and put our young men in harm’s way in a no-win situation?”

The officials, who had just completed a long defense of the deployment, took it as a rhetorical question.

Actually, Gallegly misspoke a tad. He did not have 142 letters in hand, but a summary prepared by his staff of the recent telephone calls, letters and faxes on Bosnia, which totaled roughly 142. Only a handful of them endorsed sending in 20,000 U.S. ground troops, staffers said.

One of the critics was Fred Hahn, a semi-retired real estate appraiser from Oxnard who considers U.S. intervention in Bosnia, peace accord or not, to be bad news.

“I’m no kid. I’m 70 years old,” said Hahn, who occasionally calls Gallegly’s district office on issues of importance. “I think about history--Korea, Vietnam, Somalia, Haiti--and I don’t think sending troops brings peace. This is a European situation, and it’s a religious war that has been going on for generations. It’s their problem.”

Dan and Janet Crotty of Ventura were just as skeptical, saying in their fax that the situation in Bosnia was very likely to explode again. “Please stop President Clinton from sending our troops into a situation which is doomed to fail and to become another Vietnam,” they wrote.

One of the few to contact Gallegly in support of intervention was Gary Pearson, an aerospace worker from Camarillo. But Pearson, who sent a fax, said he doubts that there are so few locals backing Clinton’s initiative.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if a majority of people are against it, but I don’t think Ventura County is 142 to 2 against it,” Pearson said. “But I don’t think most people have studied it enough and thought through the consequences of not sending troops.”

Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson, a supporter of U.S. intervention who represents part of Thousand Oaks, said he was surprised that so many people had contacted Gallegly opposing the plan. Beilenson’s phone has not been ringing much and his mailbag is no heavier than usual.

“People are just beginning to focus on this,” said Beilenson, who estimates that he has been contacted by about three people in favor and 20 people opposed to U.S. involvement in Bosnia.

At Thursday’s congressional hearing, Gallegly almost did not have a chance to talk at all. The hearing was ticking to a close just as Gallegly, the 10th-ranking Republican on the panel, was nearing his turn. Clearly anxious, he left his chair and lobbied some of his Republican colleagues to give him at least a minute.

He got the minute, but his sole question was never answered.

After mentioning the views of the people back home, Gallegly pressed Shalikashvili for the Pentagon’s worst-case scenario for American casualties during the mission.

But Shalikashvili said the question was impossible to answer, assuring that military leaders intend to keep casualties to a minimum.