Bill Clinton: “Well, I might ought to let Secretary Perry answer this question, but I'll take a crack at it. We will have, as we always…”

“Well, I might ought to let Secretary Perry answer this question, but I'll take a crack at it. We will have, as we always do, very tough rules of engagement if somebody takes action against us. It is having that kind of rules, that kind of strength--that's one of the reasons that we had the almost incredible experience we've had in Bosnia so far in terms of there not being conflict. But on the other hand, when we send a mission in of peace like that, we don't believe that we should have to assume on the front end that we'll have to shoot our way in. So what we want to know is at least that there is a receptivity to our coming in there, all of us in the multinational force. We obviously understand if you've got a lot of people around there with guns, somebody might shoot at you, and you have to be able to shoot back. But that's different from having an official policy that if this international mission goes in, they're going to be considered an invading force and be subject to attack from the minute that the airplane lands. That's the difference, I think. Do you think that's--is that a fair statement? Would you like to add to that? Secretary of Defense William J. Perry. That is exactly right. We require cooperation from the governments, because we do not want to make forced landings at the airport. On the other hand, the guerrilla forces that are located in that area, whatever they tell us, we want acquiescence. We do not expect to have any formal agreement from them or would not have any confidence they can carry out any formal agreement. It is important, however, that both the Government of Rwanda and the Government of Zaire give us not only acquiescence but cooperation. We need that. They also have a lot of influence on those guerrilla forces. That's important.”