AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT CLINTON

October 10, 1997

President William J. Clinton
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We have written previously to express our strong opposition to prohibitions on the responsible use by American military personnel of short-duration anti-personnel landmines (APLs) and the retention of existing long-duration APLs in defense of South Korea. We write today to express our appreciation for your refusal to yield to the pressure to sign the APL ban recently negotiated in Oslo, an accord that would have denied our service personnel both of these vital capabilities.

In particular, we salute you for the factor you said was decisive in your deliberations: the well-being of the troops who willingly put their lives on the line every day for their country. We can think of no better basis for making decisions on arms control and related matters than the standard you adopted in connection with the landmine ban:

As Commander-in-Chief, I will not send our soldiers to defend the freedom of our people and the freedom of others without doing everything we can to make them as secure as possible….There is a line that I simply cannot cross, and that line is the safety and security of our men and women in uniform.

We commend you and the leaders of today’s American military for concluding that the treaty signed in Oslo did not meet this basic test. You will have our support in holding the line against renewed efforts by proponents of the present treaty and other, similarly defective initiatives that would impinge upon the survivability and mission effectiveness of our men and women in uniform — either through unilateral or multilateral action.

Sincerely,

Walter E. Boomer
General, United States Marine Corps (Ret.)
Former Assistant Commandant

Raymond G. Davis
General, United States Marine Corps (Ret.)
Former Assistant Commandant and Medal of Honor Recipient (Korea)

Michael S. Davison
General, United States Army (Ret.)
Former Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Army, Europe

David E. Maddox
General, United States Army (Ret.)
Former Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Army, Europe

Carl E. Mundy
General, United States Marine Corps (Ret.)
Former Commandant

Glenn K. Otis
General, United States Army (Ret.)
Former Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Army, Europe

Crosbie E. Saint
General, United States Army (Ret.)
Former Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Army, Europe

Donn A. Starry
General, United States Army (Ret.)
Former Commanding General, U.S. Army Readiness Command

Gordon R. Sullivan
General, United States Army (Ret.)
Former Chief of Staff

John W. Vessey
General, United States Army (Ret.)
Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

Louis C. Wagner, Jr.
General, United States Army (Ret.)
Former Commanding General, Army Material Command

Louis H. Wilson
General, United States Marine Corps (Ret.)
Former Commandant and Medal of Honor Recipient (World War II)