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

DATE: FRIDAY, April 23, 1993                   TAG: 9304230137
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

U.S. BALKAN EXPERTS URGE USE OF FORCE IN BOSNIA

In an unusual revolt against American policy in the Balkans, the State Department's top experts on the Balkans have sent Secretary of State Warren Christopher an impassioned letter that calls Western diplomacy a failure and recommends military action against the Serbs.

The experts, career diplomats serving in Washington, said in a petition to Christopher that the United States had a moral obligation to save the Muslims from "genocide" at the hands of Serbian nationalist forces in Bosnia.

"We are only attempting to end the genocide through political and economic pressures such as sanctions and intense diplomatic engagement," the letter said. "In effect, the result of this course has been Western capitulation to Serbian aggression."

Senior administration officials also said Thursday that the American representative at the United Nations, Madeleine Albright, had sent the White House a memorandum urging air strikes to protect the predominantly Muslim towns and cities under siege in Bosnia.

If the European nations decline to take part, Albright says, the United States should act on its own under existing U.N. authority. "We should not turn our backs on our international responsibilities," she wrote.

Together, Albright's memorandum and the petition by the State Department experts provided a dramatic look at the internal debate in the administration over whether to use American military force in the Balkans, and the disagreement that remains after months of trying to frame a policy.

The diplomats who appealed to Christopher, including the desk officers responsible for virtually every Balkan country, are the sort of career officials who normally labor far from public view.

Christopher, who has been cautious in his public comments about military action, met with the State Department specialists on Monday, officials said.

Asked about Christopher's view of the meeting, a senior administration official who asked not to be identified said: "Several Foreign Service officers who worked in the area asked to see the secretary. He found the exchange helpful and timely given that the administration is reviewing its options with respect to the former Yugoslavia. This secretary of state does not consider such sessions a revolt against policy; he considers it a healthy part of the policy-making process."

The petition from the State Department specialists and Albright's memorandum to the White House were described by officials on both sides of the debate over using force in the Balkans.

President Clinton has said that he is not prepared to act unilaterally. Albright argued that the United States already had sufficient authority to stage air attacks under the U.N. Charter and the Security Council resolution authorizing "all measures necessary" to deliver relief aid.

by CNB