Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 12, 1993 TAG: 9308120195
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
As the nation's top-ranking military officer, Shalikashvili, 57, will exert considerable influence in the administration on critical decisions, including whether U.S. forces will fight in the Balkans and other regional flashpoints around the world. The general has spearheaded U.S. and NATO military action in strife-ridden Bosnia from his NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
"I am confident that in every instance he will give me his absolutely candid and professional military advice, which, as president, I must have," Clinton said.
The four-star general, known to his friends and the president as "Shali," is the grandson of a general in czarist Russia. He gained prominence two years ago as commander of the U.S. military mission to protect Kurds in northern Iraq.
When Shalikashvili was 8, his family fled Poland in a cattle car to Germany in 1944 ahead of the Soviet advance. They moved to Peoria, Ill., in 1952, where the future general "learned English from John Wayne movies," Clinton said.
Shalikashvili "is a shining symbol of what is best about the United States and our armed services," Clinton said.
A decorated artillery officer who served in Vietnam, Shalikashvili has experience in Korea and Europe, where the Clinton administration expects regional tensions to create the greatest demand for potential U.S. military response.
by CNB