Documents / Official release
This is a Secretary of Defense public affairs message transcribing the Department of Defense news briefing that Assistant Secretary Kenneth H. Bacon gave at the Pentagon on November 22, 1994. Most of the briefing covers Secretary Perry's Thanksgiving trip to Haiti, NATO air strikes in Bosnia, Cuban migrants at Guantanamo Bay and the Black Hawk shootdown cases. Asked about lawsuits over the Nellis Air Force Base complex, also known as Area 51, Bacon said some projects there are classified and will remain so.
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YESTERDAY IN A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY AT THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE WAS ASKED ABOUT THE UNILATERAL LIFTING OF THE ARMS EMBARGO THAT THE CONGRESS IS CONTEMPLATING, AND HE BASICALLY SAID THAT WOULD BE DISASTROUS. THAT NATO WOULD HAVE TO WITHDRAW, THE UN WOULD HAVE TO WITHDRAW, AND THE U.S. WOULD HAVE TO COMMIT TROOPS TO PROTECT THOSE TROOPS IN THEIR WITHDRAWAL. HE SAID THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING. HE WILL CONTINUE TO LOBBY CONGRESS ON THIS PARTICULAR ISSUE. CAN YOU STATE WHAT PLANS THE UN MIGHT HAVE TO BACK UP A UN WITHDRAWAL IF INDEED THE U.S. CONGRESS UNILATERALLY LIFTS THE EMBARGO? A: FIRST OF ALL, UNILATERAL WITHDRAWAL IS NOT AN ISSUE RIGHT NOW. AS YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A PROPOSAL BEFORE THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL FOR A MULTILATERAL LIFT OF THE ARMS EMBARGO. THAT IS STILL UNDER CONSIDERATION. THE KEY TO THAT IS THAT IT WOULD BE LIFTED MULTILATERALLY AT THE END OF SIX MONTHS IF THE BOSNIAN SERBS DON'T ACCEPT THE CONTACT GROUP PEACE PLAN. THE GOAL OF EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW IN BOSNIA IS TO PUT PRESSURE ON THE BOSNIAN SERBS TO ACCEPT THIS CONTACT GROUP'S PEACE PLAN. WE HOPE THAT THEY WILL DO THAT. THE END OF FIGHTING IS THE BEST WAY TO GO HERE. IT'S THE ONLY SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM IN THIS TROUBLED AREA. BUT RIGHT NOW WE ARE PROMOTING THE MULTILATERAL LIFTING, NOT A UNILATERAL LIFTING. Q: YESTERDAY TWO HIGH LEVEL DEFENSE OFFICIALS WERE SPEAKING ABOUT THE CYCLE OF ESCALATION AND RETALIATION. AND, MR. CLAES YESTERDAY SAID SOMETHING AT THE END ABOUT THE PEACE PROCESS COMING TO CONCLUSION AND AGREEMENT. DOES THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SEE A TREND HERE IN THE FIGHTING THAT WILL LEAD RAPIDLY TO A SETTLEMENT AT THE TABLE OR WITH THE CONTACT GROUP? A: IT IS OUR HOPE THAT THERE WILL BE PEACE QUICKLY IN BOSNIA. Q: THERE ARE A COUPLE OF LAWSUITS OUTSTANDING AGAINST THE NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE COMPLEX, ALSO KNOWN AS AREA 51. WITHOUT COMMENTING ON THE SPECIFICS OF THE LAWSUIT, COULD YOU SAY IF THERE'S ANY THINKING HERE AT THE PENTAGON TO CHANGE THE CLASSIFICATION OF THOSE AREAS, TO ANY WAY ACKNOWLEDGE IN PUBLIC WHAT IT SEEMS EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT? A: WHAT DO PEOPLE KNOW? Q: LET ME REPHRASE THE QUESTION. IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION GOING ON WITH THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT NOW BETWEEN DOD AND JUSTICE TO LIFT THE SECRECY ON THAT AREA? A: AS YOU RIGHTLY POINT OUT, THERE ARE PROJECTS IN AREAS UNCLAS FINAL SECTION OF 03 OUT IN THE NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE REGION THAT ARE CLASSIFIED. I THINK THEY WILL REMAIN CLASSIFIED FOR SOME TIME. THEY CAN'T BE DISCUSSED HERE FOR THAT REASON. THAT'S ALL I CAN TELL YOU RIGHT NOW. Q: ON THE SUBJECT OF THE RECOMMENDATION TODAY THAT THE CHARGES BE DROPPED AGAINST THE F-15 PILOTS WHO MISTAKENLY SHOT DOWN THE BLACK HAWK HELICOPTERS IN APRIL. IT WOULD APPEAR THE WAY THE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE GOING, THAT ONLY ONE OF THE CASES IS GOING TO PROCEED TO COURT-MARTIAL, THAT AFTER THE PENTAGON HAD A
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Official release, from the nara collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 6 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.