U.S. Withdrawal from NATO Bosnia Mission Ruled Out

Reuters ^ | June 28, 2002 01:41 PM ET

[konijn]

U.S. Withdrawal from NATO Bosnia Mission Ruled Out

June 28, 2002 01:41 PM ET

By John Chalmers

BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) - The United States will not pull out of NATO's peacekeeping force in Bosnia over its spat with the United Nations on the powers of the new International Criminal Court, a NATO official said Friday.

Washington threatened last week not to take part in any U.N. or U.N.-authorized peacekeeping operations unless the Security Council granted its forces immunity from arrest or prosecution by the war crimes court, which starts work Monday.

The threat raised fears the United States could rip the backbone out of NATO's 6-year-old mission in war-scarred Bosnia, withdrawing its roughly 2,500 troops from the 18,000-strong Stabilization Force.

But an alliance official familiar with U.S. policy said although Washington may veto a Security Council resolution extending the life of a smaller U.N. police-training operation in Bosnia, the world court had no bearing on the NATO mission.

"The fact is that the U.S. peacekeepers are there and are protected," the official said on condition of anonymity. "There is no reason to pull them out."

Indeed, several NATO officials said the 19-nation defense alliance had not instructed its military planners to consider the consequences of an American withdrawal from SFOR.

Unlike the U.N. police operation, the SFOR mission does not require U.N. approval to operate even though it was originally endorsed by a Security Council resolution.

SFOR's action was mandated by a bilateral accord struck as part of the 1995 Dayton Accord, which ended Europe's worst conflict since World War II.

PULLOUT WOULD BE A 'DISASTER'

The only real risk to the mission from an impasse in the war crimes court dispute is that the United States could veto a renewal of the U.N. endorsement, prompting problems for Germany and the Netherlands. Their constitutions require a U.N. sanction before their troops can join any peacekeeping force.

The deadline for renewal of the U.N. police mission and for U.N. endorsement of the NATO mission is midnight EDT Sunday, just as the court formally comes into being in The Hague, Netherlands.

The NATO official said SFOR troops could not be prosecuted by the court because of an accord between the alliance and Bosnia under which participating countries could take action against their own nationals.

Analysts said a U.S. withdrawal from SFOR would impair communications, intelligence and logistics and rob the mission of much of its political clout.

"It would be a major disaster. Just by being who they are, Americans command a tremendous authority," said Mark Wheeler, the head of the Bosnia project for the International Crisis Group think tank.

A NATO source, who asked not to be named, said SFOR could hardly remain a credible force without the Americans.

"They have a symbolic presence in the Balkans and that's why the Americans have always said it's 'in together-out together,"' he said.

A Sarajevo-based Western diplomat doubted any U.S. pullout.

"But everything is possible with the U.S. administration. They don't give a crap about peacekeeping," the diplomat said.

[traditionalist]

Another broken Bush promise.

[SouthernFreebird]

"But everything is possible with the U.S. administration. They don't give a crap about peacekeeping," the diplomat said.

Any comment I could make would get my account pulled........#@$%*&^ $*&%#$#@