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Cheney and Lieberman agree Milosevic should go, oppose use of U.S. troops |
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October 7, 2000
DANVILLE, OCT 6 (AP) - Vice presidential candidates Joseph Lieberman and Dick Cheney said they hope the opposition siege in Yugoslavia is ending Slobodan Milosevic's regime and both opposed any U.S. military intervention. But they had differing assessments of the limited U.S. role. In their first national debate Thursday, the Democrat gave Vice President Al Gore a share of the credit for policies that have pressured Milosevic. The Republican, however, declared that George W. Bush was right to propose Russian help in resolving the crisis. At the end of a day when Yugoslavs rose up to remove their leader, the U.S. vice presidential candidates differed on a broad range of domestic and international issues in their only planned debate of the campaign. Gore and Bush plan two more debates before the Nov. 7 vote. A third of the 90-minute debate, with topics controlled by moderator Bernard Shaw of CNN, dealt with foreign affairs and national security issues, sandwiched between discussion of proposals for tax cuts, health care benefits and other domestic issues. The two men debated in a race for White House that is as close as any in the past four decades. Bush and Gore are separated by only a point or two in most polls, pointing to a suspenseful final month of the campaign. "There's good news from Belgrade today," said Lieberman, senator from Connecticut. "I hope it marks the end of Milosevic," declared Cheney, defense secretary through the last Republican administration. Lieberman said the United States should join European allies in doing "everything we can" to encourage Serbs to rise up and end "this raging terror by Milosevic and bring themselves back to the family of nations." He said the outcome validates U.S. military involvement in Kosovo and Bosnia and credited Gore with a "passionate, personal role in leading along to do the right thing in the Balkans." Cheney said the fall of Milosevic would mark "more than anything else a victory for the Serbian people." But he also said the United States should do everything it can to support Milosevic's departure, short of military intervention. He said reports that the Clinton administration had tried to get the Russians involved validates Bush's proposal for enlisting the Russians, which Gore dismissed as risky in a Tuesday debate. "It's now clear that's exactly what we're doing," Cheney said. "Governor Bush was correct in his recommendation." He said developments in Belgrade offer an opportunity for Russian President Vladimir Putin to show whether he is committed to democracy or closer to the Soviet "old guard." "We ought to find out whether he is indeed committed to democracy," Cheney said. Cheney repeated Republican campaign assertions that the U.S. military has deteriorated under President Bill Clinton and Gore. "My preference is to deploy them as warriors," rather than peacekeepers, Cheney said. "The reason we have a military is to be able to fight and win wars." He said the Clinton administration has failed to keep the military ready. "We've seen a reduction of our forces far beyond anything justified by the Cold War," he said, criticizing the rapid expansion of troop deployments, with U.S. forces "sent hither and yon." Lieberman criticized Cheney for downgrading the military, repeating Gore campaign assertions that the U.S. services are the best-trained, best equipped and most-powerful force in the world. "It's not good for our military to run them down in the midst of a partisan political debate," Lieberman said. Cheney said it was irresponsible to suggest the state of the military should not be debated in the campaign. He said that after four years as defense secretary "no one has a higher regard than I" for the U.S. military. On Mideast peace, the candidates took similar positions, both declaring anguish over recent clashes between Israelis and Palestinians and both promising to make Mideast peace a high priority in the next administration. "Gore played a critical role in advancing that process," Lieberman said. Cheney highlighted significant progress in the administration of Bush's father, President George Bush, and said the younger Bush offers "firm leadership" with a record of dealing straight with people so adversaries and friends will respect the United States. On Iraq, both said they would like to see Saddam Hussein fall. Cheney said the United States may "have no other choice" than to remove Saddam if he develops nuclear weapons. Lieberman said he didn't think a political campaign was a proper form for declaring such an intention. But he said real stability will not come to the Mideast until Saddam is gone. More Related News Yugoslav regime appears to collapse after day of revolt Plum brandy, a looted coat hanger - scenes of chaos in a Milosevic stronghold A career of battles for power by Yugoslavia's reviled leader with BC-Yugoslavia Highlights in President Slobodan Milosevic's career Japan welcomes uprising in Yugoslavia, urges Milosevic to step down Prime minister urges Milosevic to relinquish power Russian nationalists condemn Yugoslav opposition victory as "coup" China watches warily as Yugoslavia heads for change
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