Sherwood Boehlert: “just when we were starting to see evidence of the positive change in the old international mind-set of having the rest…”

“just when we were starting to see evidence of the positive change in the old international mind-set of having the rest of the world identify a problem at some distant point on the globe and collectively point to the U.S. and say they solve the problem with their troops and their treasury, it appears we are in danger of reverting to the old way. Several weeks ago we gave conditional approval to the U.S. being part of a NATO international peacekeeping force in Kosovo. Four thousand troops out of the 28,000, 15 percent of the total. Now that we have undertaken the air campaign, instead of a 15 percent contribution, it appears we are shouldering from 60 to 80 percent of that contribution. The President should seek financial reimbursement from our allies as this bill requires. Moreover, the military campaign will not be the end of the story in Kosovo. Refugee assistance and resettlement will be expensive undertakings. So, too, will rebuilding. There must be equitable burdensharing. Our Nation has not, cannot and will not walk away from our responsibilities. But the burden is not ours exclusively, and our allies must recognize this.”