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President Clinton is urging U.S. forces to fight the good fight in Kosovo; President Milosevic is telling his troops that their work there is done. And that may be a prelude to a new peace offensive from Belgrade. Clinton on Wednesday again stressed that NATO would fight on until Serb troops are withdrawn and the refugees are allowed to return under the protection of "an international force with NATO at its core." President Milosevic, though, appeared to be preparing to make a new concession Wednesday, when he praised his army for withstanding the alliance's attacks and declared that...
Although he's unlikely to order the near-total withdrawal demanded by NATO, any substantial Serb withdrawal from Kosovo could wrong-foot Washington by raising pressure inside the alliance to halt the bombing. "The U.S. won't want to halt the bombing easily, especially now that the Pentagon feels it's beginning to move in their favor," says TIME Pentagon correspondent Mark Thompson. "Once halted, it will be extremely difficult to restart the air campaign." And NATO commanders will be reluctant to give up their only leverage over Belgrade this early in the endgame...
...move could improve Milosevic's image and therefore his position in a negotiated peace. Such negotiations will not be easy: although there are some issues on which NATO can afford to be flexible, there are many on which the alliance must be adamant--including the removal of Serb troops from Kosovo and the creation of a well-armed international peacekeeping force--and on which Milosevic may be unwilling to budge. In these cases, the diplomatic resolution in the end will depend largely on how much damage NATO can inflict and how much Milosevic is able to sustain...
...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...
...gulf between NATO's demands and Milosevic's initial offers right now remains too vast to begin negotiations. The alliance insists on an almost total Serb withdrawal 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...