Word: nato
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...name--Operation Joint Guardian. It would probably begin by sending in the Marines. More than 2,000 leathernecks now on ships floating in the Mediterranean would be the first wave to chopper into Kosovo. They'd be part of a 4,000-strong U.S. presence in a NATO peacekeeping force of 28,000. Red lines are even being drawn on maps. American G.I.s would control a sector of Kosovo. British, French, German and Italian forces would carve up other sectors. But no NATO soldiers will set foot in the province if the Serbs and ethnic Albanians there don't agree...
RAMBOUILLET, FRANCE: It turns out NATO's line in the Balkan snow was more a suggestion, which means that, seven hours after Saturday's noon (6 a.m. ET) deadline had come and gone, negotiators were still talking, and about the only thing they could agree on was to keep at it until at least 3 p.m. local time Tuesday. So how close are we? It's still anybody's guess. This much is apparent: Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic remains the difference between a NATO occupation and a NATO war. "Most Serbs would accept NATO troops rather than face its bombs...
...Nobody seems to know what NATO will do either -- except everything it can to avoid pulling the trigger. The U.S. military certainly has grave doubts about the mission. "Pentagon officials aren't sure that air strikes can change Milosevic's behavior," says TIME Pentagon correspondent Mark Thompson. "We're threatening to break a lot of his stuff, but what do we do if he decides to tough it out? The problem is that right now, Milosevic holds all the cards." Soon, he might even have to show them...
...Discuss NATO Plans to Strike Yugoslavia...
...Milosevic knows that NATO knows that sending in ground troops, however unpleasant (and risky), is strategically preferable to air strikes -- bombers over Kosovo would have little efficacy as peacekeepers. So as the Saturday deadline nears for the ongoing negotiations in Paris, it's time for Milosevic to squeeze the mediators for all he can get before giving in. If he doesn't, then NATO will have to send in the bombs, as promised. Much death and destruction will ensue, with little risk for the 2,200 U.S. Marines waiting in the Mediterranean for a go-ahead. But that's been...