ACCESSION NUMBER:309829

FILE ID:EPF404

DATE:10/28/93

TITLE:DEFENSE DEPARTMENT REPORT, OCTOBER 28 (10/28/93)

TEXT:*93102804.EPF

*EPF404   10/28/93 *



DEFENSE DEPARTMENT REPORT, OCTOBER 28

(Drugs/Pacific, Belarus defense minister)  (500)

News Briefing:  Deputy Spokesman Captain Michael Doubleday (USN) and Brian

E. Sheridan, deputy assistant secretary of defense for drug enforcement

policy and support, briefed.



Following is an unofficial transcript of East Asia/Pacific excerpts from the

Legi-Slate database:



(begin unofficial transcript from Legi-Slate)

NARCOTICS INTERDICTION IN THE PACIFIC

Q:  This (narcotics interdiction policy) seems to be focused exclusively on

Latin America and cocaine.  What about heroin and the Pacific?



SHERIDAN:  That's a good question.

One of the things that we are very mindful of in the Department of Defense

is that our contribution to a counterdrug effort really maximizes unique

DOD resources and talents, and it is our job to make sure that the problem

we're trying to address lends itself to the things that DOD does very well.



The heroin problem is a far different problem than the cocaine one, and it

is simply not cost effective for us to do the types of things against the

heroin problem that we can against the cocaine problem.  However, we

provide a significant amount of intelligence collection and analysis toward

that problem, and when we have reason to believe we can use DOD assets in a

helpful way on a given movement of heroin, we do so.



But it's a very different problem than the cocaine one and simply does not

lend itself to the kinds of things that we do well.  And also, as a matter

of national strategy, cocaine is clearly laid out as our number one

problem.  And with those two things in mind, we look to be as helpful as we

1an with heroin, but we don't look to do things that are not effective.



(end unofficial transcript from Legi-Slate)

ASPIN, BELARUS MINISTER SIGN JOINT MEMORANDUM

Defense Secretary Aspin and Belarus Defense Minister Colonel General Pavel

Kozlovskiy signed a memorandum of understanding October 28 that provides

for greater military contact and cooperation between Belarus and the United

States.



Aspin told reporters that the ceremony fulfills part of President Clinton's

directive to seek better cooperation with military establishments of former

Soviet states.  The president issued that directive following the Vancouver

summit with Russian President Boris Yeltsin.



Similar signings have already taken place between the United States and two

other former Soviet republics: Russia and Ukraine.



The memorandum has three key elements:

-- It establishes the basis for periodic exchanges between the two defense

ministers and the top military officers of the two countries;



-- It provides for a bilateral working group that will meet periodically to

find ways of expanding cooperation between the two defense establishments;



-- It notes that the two parties will work toward developing new areas of

cooperation in military affairs.



Aspin said after the signing ceremony that the third basic element means

that the two military establishments could work toward some form of

cooperation in international peacekeeping operations.



NNNN



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