Word: air
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...long, grinding campaign that is visibly stagnant. Even Gen. Wesley Clark, the military commander of NATO, has admitted that the weeks of bombing have not reduced either the size of the Yugoslav forces in Kosovo or the extent of their ethnic cleansing operations. No one knows how long air strikes might take to bring Milosevic to heel, but the results so far have given little reason to hope for their eventual success...
...Clinton cannot give strong reasons why the air campaign will suddenly become more effective, then a strategy that would merely continue the present air strikes in the hopes of eventual success would be unacceptable ยค and the use of ground troops might be appropriate. Public impatience with the conflict is justified: The world deserves a more full accounting of NATO's strategy, not just appeals to the bad weather and Milosevic's unpredictable nature. If there is indeed no end in sight, the NATO leaders have at least the responsibility to show us how we will reach the beginning...
Which was fine with the White House, insistent Tuesday, as ever, that the air-only campaign is working fine and that it doesn't need a broader arsenal. Eager to see Senate debate on Kosovo pinched off before it got too divisive, Clinton had Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Defense Secretary William Cohen and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle all working for its defeat. But presidential hopeful McCain still got a few shots in. "The President of the United States is prepared to lose a war rather than do the hard work, the politically risky work, of fighting...
...envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin. But before departing for Europe for a meeting with NATO secretary general Javier Solana and German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Clinton did offer a significant concession to European fears that Washington may be being too intransigent: The President suggested NATO might call a temporary halt to its air campaign if that would aid the "larger purpose" of stopping Serb repression in Kosovo. In other words, Washington is ready to cut a deal if -- and that's a very big "if" -- Milosevic puts enough on the table...
...from Kosovo and the return of refugees under the protection of a NATO-led force; Milosevic has offered only a partial withdrawal and a lightly armed international force excluding NATO member countries. The alliance will try to bridge that gulf by piling on the pressure. "NATO is escalating its air offensive because Belgrade had grown accustomed to the previous level of bombing," says TIME Pentagon correspondent Mark Thompson. "Escalation is designed to increase the level of discomfort in Yugoslavia." With the air campaign as the alliance's only leverage, the prelude to negotiations is likely to see NATO ratchet...