Mike Levin: “Our amendment strikes language in the bill which requires ground troops be withdrawn from Kosovo by a fixed date next…”

“Our amendment strikes language in the bill which requires ground troops be withdrawn from Kosovo by a fixed date next year unless Congress later changes its mind. Our amendment would strike language requiring withdrawal this year, unless the President certifies that certain specific contribution targets have been met by the Europeans. We are attempting to strike this language for the pullout of our ground forces next year for many reasons. First and foremost, in my judgment, is that such a requirement will create a year or a year and a half of dangerous uncertainty and dangerous instability in the Balkans. Creating that year of uncertainty and instability is dangerous because it is inconsistent with what we have struggled so hard to achieve in the Balkans, which is stability in a relatively peaceful environment. Creating that uncertainty for a year or a year and a half would make us an unreliable partner in NATO. I hope when we come to vote on this matter, we will take into account the words of General Wesley Clark, who was our commander there until a few weeks ago. He wrote a letter. I want to quote very briefly from that letter because it seems to me this captures what our problems are with this language that is in the bill. General Clark wrote: These measures, if adopted, would be seen as a de facto pull-out decision by the United States.…”