Word: nato
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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President Clinton on Friday defined NATO's objective as securing conditions for the refugees to return to an autonomous Kosovo. But he reiterated his belief that this could be achieved via air strikes. "The administration is gearing up for a long-term bombing campaign," says TIME correspondent Douglas Waller. "But it's not prepared to put ground troops into a hostile environment -- it'll use them only to secure whatever cease-fire deal emerges." In other words, NATO appears unlikely to bring any new element into the battle...
That leaves the strategic initiative in Milosevic's hands. "It wouldn't be at all surprising if Milosevic now begins to sue for peace in the hope of ending his battle with NATO in a position of strength," says Dowell. The temptation for Milosevic to pursue a "peace offensive" would be strengthened by the limits on NATO's options. Despite discussing protecting Kosovar Albanians in an autonomous zone, the alliance remains loath to fight its way in. A ground invasion of Kosovo would demand more than 100,000 troops, and would inevitably involve extensive casualties. "If Milosevic stopped his offensive...
What may turn out to be good news for the Kosovar Albanians would be bad news for NATO's p.r. credibility: On Monday NATO reported that two leading moderate ethnic Albanian politicians, Fehmi Agani and Baton Hadziu, had been executed the previous day by Serb forces; but the BBC reported Thursday that U.S. diplomats and Kosovar Albanian sources believe both men are still alive. If the report proves true, it would open NATO to criticism that it relies too heavily on partisan information from the Kosovo Liberation Army, which appears to have been the source of the execution claims...
...that NATO is focused on Yugoslavia, what has become of the daily drumbeat of sorties over Iraq? To the surprise of U.S. military analysts, the Iraqis have been unexpectedly quiet, reports TIME Pentagon correspondent Mark Thompson. "U.S. planes still go out on missions every day to patrol the Iraqi no-fly zones," he says, "but since March 19 the Iraqis have not done anything to challenge the aircraft or violate those zones." The reason, reports TIME U.N. correspondent William Dowell, is that the Iraqis have succeeded in accomplishing some of their immediate goals and they can enjoy the respite provided...
...Milosevic? His delegation came and went each day in Paris demanding pages of impossible changes, then kissed off the plan entirely as a "fake document." In the streets of Belgrade, Serbs reiterated their attachment to Kosovo but secretly believed a last-minute deal would be made to ward off NATO bombs. Not until Thursday night did Serbian state television even begin to hint that the threat of air strikes was growing real. And somewhere, burrowed into the rooms of the old Tito residence he rarely leaves, Milosevic was mulling over his difficult choices...