Bill Clinton: “Well, let me explain, first of all, what the March deadline is. We have already begun moving some people out, and the…”

“Well, let me explain, first of all, what the March deadline is. We have already begun moving some people out, and the December--we said that the mission, the IFOR mission, would take about a year. But as the Pentagon can explain in greater detail and specificity than I, you can't just up and pull people out in one day. There has to be a phase-down, and people have to be brought in to help move out the people that have been there the whole time. So the March date is just the time the last people who are part of a 3\1/2\ month phase-down will leave. Now, separate and apart from that, NATO has been asked to consider the question of whether--well, let me make one other point. IFOR went there to establish a buffer zone between the ethnic groups and to make sure that during this time elections could be held and basic security could be maintained along the border areas, not to be actually involved in law enforcement. And I think they've done their job very well. I am very pleased with it. I am very pleased with the cooperation between the NATO allies and Russia and the other non-NATO countries. And I think that it has helped the Bosnian peace process to take hold. And we have had elections. A lot has been done. What NATO has been asked to consider is whether or not, since the economic reconstruction has not taken hold as fast as we had hoped and there is still, obviously, some hard feelings there between the parties, we should consider a smaller, different force that might have a more limited mission than the IFOR mission that NATO would be involved in. I believe the position I have taken on that is the position that the other NATO leaders have taken, the leaders of the other NATO countries, which is, we would like to see the proposed mission; we would like to see what our contribution would be. I want to assess the risks, as I always do, and the possible benefits, and then I will make a judgment. I took a long look at the IFOR mission. We worked very hard to define it in a way that would guarantee the maximum possibility for success and the minimum possibility of danger to our forces. It has worked very well. Whether we could do this, as I said all along, would depend on what the nature of the mission is. I'm looking forward to the NATO report; I haven't received it yet. When I do, I will tell you exactly what the recommendations are and what my best judgment on them is. It is conceivable that we could participate, but it depends upon exactly what the recommendation is. Yes, sir, and then we'll go back. Go ahead. Second Term Transition”