
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 18, 1995                   TAG: 9510180088
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

U.S. FORCE FACES RISK, OFFICIALS SAY

Facing a wary Congress and divided public opinion, the Clinton administration Tuesday acknowledged the risks of sending thousands of U.S. peacekeeping troops to Bosnia but insisted there would be no peace there without them.

President Clinton's top national security advisers, in the first of two consecutive days on Capitol Hill, met close scrutiny and considerable skepticism about plans to deploy up to 20,000 American troops as peacekeepers once there is a Bosnian peace treaty.

``There is the deepest and gravest concern about this proposed military operation of any I've experienced with my constituents since the close of the Vietnam war,'' said Sen. John Warner, R-Va., one of the lawmakers undecided about the mission. ``And we simply cannot write off the fact that the American public is deeply concerned about this proposal by the president.''

Seeking to allay concerns, Defense Secretary William Perry said the American troops would go to Bosnia only if there was a peace agreement, only for a year and only under NATO rules of engagement that would permit the heavily armed U.S. and allied troops to defend themselves if challenged.

``If we are attacked by anyone, it will bring a large hammer down on them immediately,'' Perry told the Senate Armed Services Committee. ``This NATO force in Bosnia will be the biggest, toughest, meanest dog in town.''

Clinton repeatedly ruled out sending American troops to Bosnia as part of the United Nations peacekeeping operation, but he promised as long as two years ago that the United States would be willing to use its military forces to help implement an eventual peace.

Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who joined Perry and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman John Shalikashvili before two Senate committees, said the United States didn't have the option of now staying on the sidelines.

With formal talks planned for later this month, Christopher said the prospects now were the best they had been for ending the war.

``If we want the killing to stop, if we want to end the worst conflict in Europe since World War II, then we must follow through on the strategy that has brought us to this point,'' he said.

by CNB