USA: PRESIDENT CLINTON RETURNS HOME AFTER EUROPE VISIT

(4 Dec 1995) English/Nat President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton have returned to the U-S from their successful tour of Europe. They touched down on U-S soil, hours after Clinton confirmed that the first group of U-S troops would be sent to Bosnia on Monday. Despite still disagreeing with the president's policy on Bosnia, Congressional leaders have agreed not to put any legislative obstacles in the way of Clinton's plans. Home at last for President Bill Clinton and his wife. They returned from a short but successful tour of Europe, touching down at Andrews' Air Force Base in Maryland Sunday afternoon. The Clintons had started their European trip in Britain and Ireland, where the president pushed for peace in Northern Ireland. They also visited Germany, where Clinton gave a pep talk to U-S troops bound for Bosnia. On the last stop, Spain, the president confirmed the first U-S soldiers would leave for the former Yugoslavia on Monday. The advance force of 700 soldiers will help prepare for the arrival of the thousands of NATO troops who are to monitor the peace agreement. Congressional leaders have said they will not put any legislative obstacles in the way of Clinton's Bosnia plans. But that doesn't mean they all agree with his policies. SOUNDBITE: I think we don't have the best agreement of the world, we had a better option as far as lifting the arms embargo. Had we done that a year ago we wouldn't have been talking about sending American troops. And President Clinton rejected that and that in fact is all history, and now the troops are there, my view is we got to do everything we can to support the American forces. SUPER CAPTION: Senator Robert Dole - Republican Majority Leader Dole, the leading Republican candidate for the U-S presidency, said Clinton's plan to pull troops out after one year was unrealistic unless America took a leading role in training and equipping Bosnian government soldiers. SOUNDBITE: The Clinton strategy to get them in is one thing, to get them out is another. He's talking about a year, I don't see how that can happen unless the Bosnians are armed and trained and an independent unit that can take care of themselves, that's the argument we made for the last past two years on lifting the embargo. Now, maybe there's other ways it could be done, but we need to be the guarantor, America needs to be the guarantor that it's going to happen. SUPER CAPTION: Senator Robert Dole - Republican Majority Leader Clinton needs Dole and other ranking Republicans to support his Bosnia policy in order to galvanise broader support in Congress and the nation. But it's clear he still faces deep skepticism from Americans citizens and the Congress about the military mission. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...