Clinton Resolute On Kosovo
Against the backdrop of an expanded bombing campaign and thousands more Albanians fleeing Kosovo, CBS News Anchor Dan Rather sat down with President Clinton at the White House for an exclusive one-on-one interview Wednesday.
The president vowed to press on in Yugoslavia, saying NATO is united and more determined than ever to stop Serbian leader Milosovic and his campaign of ethnic cleansing.
Rather asked Mr. Clinton whether he will respond to calls for a halt to the bombing over Easter weekend.
"I hate the idea of having to continue this campaign during this period," responded Mr. Clinton. "But I hate more the idea that we would walk away from this campaign while (Milosovic) continues to clean out house after house and house and village after village after village, and kill a lot of innocent people."
The President was imprecise about whether air strikes Wednesday were targeting the city of Belgrade itself, but had this to say about the bombing campaign's overall purpose:
"We are attacking targets that we believe will achieve our stated objective -- which is either to raise the price of aggression to an unacceptably high level so we can get back to talking peace and security, or to substantially undermine the capacity of the Serbian government to wage war."
He and his tacticians have worked very hard to minimize the risk of collateral damage during the bombings, Mr. Clinton said.
The President met today with top members of his national security team to consider what's next for the U.S. and its NATO allies in Kosovo. He did not count out the possibility of introducing ground troops there, but admitted he was wary about taking that step.
"The thing that bothers me about introducing ground troops into a hostile situation, into Kosovo and the Balkans, is the prospect of never being able to get them out," the President said.
And what of the fact that Milosovic looks to be accomplishing his goal of driving all the ethnic Albanians from Kosovo? If that happens, would that leave the U.S. defeated?
"It does if we accept that result... because I think we've got to say, 'but the Kosovars have all got to be able to come home, and they have to be secure, and they have to be given the autonomy of self-government,'" he said.
President Clinton's ordering of U.S. forces into harm's way over Serbia and the death and destruction on the ground follow a tumultuous year for the president at home, personally, and for the country.
Rather asked Mr. Clinton for his reflections and perspectives on the legacy of his impeachment and ultimate acquittal. The President said he "never for a second" considered resigning.
"I do not regard the impeachment vote as some badge of shame. I do not because I do not believe it was warranted and I don't think it was right," he said. "Neither do I have feelings of anger and bitterness against those who did what they did, whether thebelieved it or whether it was political or whatever."
Mr. Clinton said that he and has family were "doing reasonably well" in the wake of the impeachment scandal, "given what we've been through."
Finally, Rather alluded to talk that first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton might end up the Democratic candidate for Senate in New York. Does the President know what the responsibilities of the husband of a U.S. senator would be?
"I don't know, but I'm willing to fulfill them," the President laughed. "I would fill in at dinners, make speeches when she had to vote. I'd be the main case-officer in the New York office. I'd do whatever I was asked to do."