U.S. FIGHTING FORCES NEED BETTER LEADERSHIP FROM WHITE HOUSE

If many Americans had concerns about the domestic agenda of President Clinton, they must really be aghast, even frightened, by what they see of his foreign policy exploits. His waffling over the Bosnian conflict early in his presidency was daunting in itself, but steps he has taken in response to crises in Somalia and Haiti have been true head-scratchers. Worse, they have put American fighting forces needlessly at risk.

The expedition to Somalia began as a humanitarian mission. There were some compelling reasons to be there. While reservations were voiced at its conception concerning how the end of the foray would be played out, the goals seemed sound and President Bush felt American troops could be home by the time he left office in January. Nine months have now passed since Mr. Clinton took office and, gradually, the mission in Somalia changed and its support by the American people has evaporated.

In Haiti, where the United States sent troops last week to further a United Nations directive for restoring democratic rule, President Clinton put fighting forces in a position of enormous risk. Troops dispatched to that nation were allowed only to carry sidearms, and it was possible they were the least armed people on an island where American presence was not welcome. Ultimately, their ship was not permitted by local authorities to dock at Port-au-Prince, where thugs were busy roughing up the waiting news media. Such misjudgments not only could have resulted in the deaths of American servicemen, it made a laughingstock out of U.S. efforts overseas.

Actions don't follow his talk. Before the United Nations, President Clinton said the United States can not stand as a police department for the world ... yet in Somalia, we are engaged in nation building that requires the most dangerous brand of intervention. And during a time when the federal government is scaling back everything military, the Clinton administration is taking steps to increase involvement abroad.

Sometimes the talk doesn't even work. Pressed by the media and legislators on Somalia policy, the president and his advisers offer words that are little more than verbal shrugs. If the administration can't clearly enunciate a foreign policy, the nation loses face in the community of nations. In fact, in the one foreign policy success of his presidency, the Middle East peace accord, Mr. Clinton did little more than offer his back yard for a ceremony and encourage a handshake.

Domestic affairs allow some flexibility when it comes to policy development. In foreign policy, young men die when leadership is absent; experimentation abroad leads to casualties. President Bush, a decorated veteran of World War II, knew the price paid when a nation puts its armed forces into a hostile situation. President Clinton, a draft resister in the Vietnam era, is learning about being commander-in-chief, an education that endangers the military personnel who act at his direction. The fears expressed during last year's campaign about the governor of Arkansas moving in to lead the world's mightiest military are being realized in a big way.

If President Clinton wants to be George Washington, put him in the front of the boat. The people who serve on the front lines, those who serve the interests of our nation under fire, deserve better leadership.