World

U.S. Eyes More Troops For Kosovo

February 21, 2000 / 9:58 AM EST / AP

NATO's struggle for ethnic calm in northern Kosovo has raised the stakes for U.S. involvement in a peacekeeping operation that has no end in sight.

The Clinton administration is considering following France's lead and offering U.S. reinforcements, which would raise the risk for a force that has largely escaped casualties.

In Washington and other allied capitals, there is no appetite for a major additional buildup of troops in Kosovo. But NATO feels it cannot let the flare-up of ethnic violence in the city of Mitrovica go unanswered.

NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson issued a tough warning Thursday to troublemakers of any ethnic group in Kosovo, as the alliance's governing council considers whether to deploy additional forces.

Gen. Wesley Clark, the supreme NATO commander in Europe, wants 1,800 more troops because of growing unrest in the northern Kosovo city of Kosovska Mitrovica between Serbs and ethnic Albanians.

NATO claims Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is orchestrating a destabilization campaign in Mitrovica, which contains the most significant Serb community remaining in Kosovo, and that ethnic Albanians also are trying to foment trouble. The friction has put heavy pressure on NATO's peacekeepers.

Defense Secretary William Cohen has not ruled out offering additional U.S. troops. France, whose peacekeepers are in charge of the Mitrovica area, is preparing to send 600 to 700 more troops to the area.

Whether to send Marines is an "open question," White House press secretary Joe Lockhart said.

"We support the request General Clark has made," Lockhart told reporters. "We take this mission very seriously and we will take the appropriate steps to deter any further violence."

The approximately 5,300 American troops now on peacekeeping duty in Kosovo are in a U.S.-controlled sector in the southeastern part of the Serb province, where the ethnic tension is less intense. While eight Americans have died there since peacekeeping began in June, none of the deaths resulted from hostile action.

At a news conference Thursday, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright left open the possibility of more American troops, but noted the United States already has the biggest contingent. For now, it would be up to the Europeans to add troops, she said.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers expressed concern at the prospect of deepening U.S. involvement.

"I'm gravely concerned about the increasing risks to the men and women of our armed forces," said the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Republican John Warner of Virginia. His committee held a two-hour closed door briefing with top Pentagon officials Wednesday.

The Senate's top Democrat, Tom Daschle of South Dakota, said that while President Clinton does not need formal congressional approval to send more troops to Kovoso, "I think Congress needs to be involved in terms of oversight."

U.S. officials say the best solution would be to rapidly increase the number of trained international police for Kosovo because military peacekeepers are not well suited for a criminal justice role.