Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 9, 1994 TAG: 9412100052
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Until now, Clinton has steadfastly refused to put American troops into the conflict. Now he has authorized their use to remove the U.N. force that may be the only remaining blockade to Serb victory.
``The only situation that would be involved here is an emergency situation that involves the removal of the peacekeepers for any kind of contingency,'' White House chief of staff Leon Panetta said late Thursday.
The U.N. Security Council has not decided to withdraw, and the Clinton administration still hopes such a step can be avoided.
Panetta said, ``Our hope is that there will be a negotiated settlement to the Bosnian situation. But because the peacekeepers are there and that kind of contingency could arise, the question was, would the U.S. participate with our allies in that effort; and the answer to that is, we would.''
The U.S. troops would be part of a larger NATO force. A senior military official said the mission would take ``some weeks, even under the most favorable conditions'' since the U.N. force and its 8,000 vehicles are widely spread.
Because NATO would command the withdrawal operation, the plan calls for allied troops that are part of the current U.N. force to report to NATO commanders, one senior military officer said.
Senate Republican leader Bob Dole of Kansas said planning for the evacuation was ``the appropriate course of action.'' He added that he hoped American troops would not be needed and said that ``in any case, the Congress will want to discuss these contingency plans with the administration in detail.''
Dole, a critic of current operations in Bosnia, said it was crucial that American troops not ``be subject to United Nations decisions on their manner of operations, rules of engagement or ability to defend themselves, as is presently the case with NATO air forces.''
Given the strife that has raged among the factions in the former Yugoslav republics, attempts to block a withdrawal are expected.
Bosnian Serbs have crippled the U.N. mission, blocking humanitarian convoys and taking more than 300 soldiers hostage in an effort to thwart NATO airstrikes.
The Serbs turned around Thursday and released dozens of their hostages.
In an ominous development, there were new warnings that the Bosnian conflict could pour over the Croatia border. The United Nations charged that soldiers from Croatia were fighting Serbs in western Bosnia. Bosnian Serbs have captured about 70 percent of Bosnia-Herzegovina from the Muslim-led government in a war that has left 200,000 people dead or missing.
In Croatia, the presence of U.N. troops between the Croatian army and rebel Serbs has effectively cemented Serb territorial gains made in their 1991 war. The same might be true under any peace agreement in Bosnia.
by CNB