GOP Split Delays Vote on Bosnia : Congress: Senators meeting behind closed doors object to Dole resolution supporting deployment. More uncertainty in House is expected as a result.

Senate Republicans split sharply Tuesday over what conditions to impose on President Clinton’s deployment of troops to Bosnia, forcing a delay in a congressional resolution supporting the U.S. military mission there.

The differences among Republicans erupted in a closed-door strategy session in which a group of about 15 GOP senators reportedly took serious issue with a proposed resolution drafted by Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas.

Dole emerged from the meeting to tell reporters that Republicans “are not ready yet because we’re just putting our resolution together” and have to “do some more drafting.” He did not elaborate.

But Senate observers said that the atmosphere was strained and that lawmakers voiced objections to the wording of the Dole proposal on key issues ranging from arming and training the Bosnian government army to expounding an “exit strategy” laying out when U.S. troops will leave.

The split among Senate Republicans is expected to increase uncertainty in the House, whose members already are divided over the issue. House leaders plan more hearings on the deployment question this week but so far have not agreed on how to handle the resolution.

Congressional sources say that House GOP leaders want to wait until the Senate has acted before deciding whether the House should take up a resolution. Some believe that the lower chamber should go on record opposing the deployment.

An advance party for the 20,000 U.S. ground troops the Clinton administration plans to send to Bosnia-Herzegovina is now arriving in Bosnia and Croatia. The main force is expected on Dec. 15 or 16 as part of a NATO-led peacekeeping force of 60,000.

But support for the deployment continued to increase among other Republican leaders. Two former Republican presidents--George Bush and Gerald R. Ford--urged Congress to approve the mission.

In separate statements, both men argued that, while significant questions remain about the wisdom of the deployment, the president has put U.S. credibility on the line by announcing the deployment and Congress should back him.

“If the President shifts direction now--or if it is seen that the President does not have the support of the Congress--our standing as leader of the free world and the standing of [the North Atlantic Treaty Organization] would be dramatically diminished,” Bush said. “That must not happen.”

Ford wrote in a letter to Dole that “to undercut America’s course of action at this juncture would do enormous damage to U.S. leadership in the eyes of the world. We would be seen as totally unreliable.”

Clinton, meanwhile, continued his campaign to win support for the deployment, meeting at the White House with a group of refugees from Bosnia just before signing a proclamation designating Sunday as “Human Rights Day.”

White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry told reporters that the president also made several calls--mainly to congressional leaders--to make his case for a resolution supporting the deployment.

The split in the Senate was a surprise. Only on Sunday, Dole predicted a floor vote as early as today. Aides said, however, that other GOP lawmakers still were not happy with the language in the draft resolution.

Senate sources said the major point of contention was a provision that would require the United States to help arm and train Bosnian government troops before U.S. forces leave the country.

Dole wants the resolution to mandate that U.S. troops do the training and arming, but Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who is co-author of the resolution, fears that doing so would place American forces at risk and wants other countries to do the training.

Dole said he also is pushing to have the resolution spell out an “exit strategy” in a set of conditions for determining when U.S. troops will leave Bosnia. The administration has said that will occur in about a year, but it has not provided details.

It was not immediately clear whether Dole, who broke ranks with conservative Republicans last week to support the president on the deployment, will be able to hammer out a resolution that a majority of the Senate will accept.

Asked whether he ultimately will be able to win enough votes for the measure, the once-confident Dole appeared less sanguine than he had been only a few days earlier.

“I don’t know,” he said. “We haven’t made a head count.”

McCurry said later that Clinton is planning a series of speeches and appearances related to Bosnia this week in an effort to persuade lawmakers to approve a resolution supporting his deployment plan.

The press secretary said that Clinton has gained increased public support on some issues in the deployment, but he conceded that “people are very skeptical” about others.

“The president thinks it’s very important to continue making his case,” McCurry said.

Times staff writer Edwin Chen contributed to this article.