Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 16, 1995 TAG: 9509180059
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO 1. AP A YOUNG BOY
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
But they would not be peacekeepers in the U.N. mold discredited in Bosnia and elsewhere. The Americans would be heavily armed to deter violators of the peace. And they would have a green light to shoot - not just to punish, but to defeat violators.
Peace is by no means assured in war-weary Bosnia, but President Clinton has said that if it comes, the United States will provide up to half of a NATO peacekeeping force - up to 25,000 U.S. troops - that could stay for months or years.
In that sense it would be unlike any peacekeeping effort we've seen before.
Clinton has said he would consult with Congress before dispatching U.S. forces on a peace monitoring operation in Bosnia. It is not certain whether the president would ask for explicit congressional approval, but that seems likely in view of the expectedly high cost of the operation and its political sensitivity.
Much hard bargaining remains over how Bosnia will be divided among the warring parties, and U.S. officials have said there will be no NATO peace monitoring operation until a comprehensive peace agreement is signed. Once a deal was in place, the peacekeeping would start within days or weeks, officials said.
Defense Secretary William Perry said Thursday that it would take one or two more weeks for NATO planners to finish the blueprint and that the details - including the number of U.S. troops required - would depend on the terms of any final agreement to end the Bosnia war, which began in 1992.
Perry said he assumes the American contribution of ground combat forces might amount to ``two or three brigades,'' which his aides said meant roughly 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers, most of whom would come from Army units in Germany.
The soldiers would be under a NATO, not a U.N., commander, Perry said.
In addition to the soldiers, U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps troops would be involved, although they would not actually step foot on Bosnian soil. U.S. and other NATO aircraft, including reconnaissance planes, would fly over Bosnia to keep tabs on Bosnian government, Bosnian Serb and Croat forces.
On Friday, there were initial signs that a U.S.-brokered agreement was holding.
Tanks, howitzers and other heavy weaponry rolled away from Sarajevo as Bosnian Serbs began complying with the agreement.
But Serbs showed their scorn of NATO by firing two missiles at a reconnaissance plane near the ``safe area'' of Gorazde. The plane was not hit and the alliance decided not to retaliate.
South of Sarajevo, in Serb-held Lukavica, AP reporter Jovana Gec saw three tanks, three mortars and two 105 mm howitzers rumble away from the Bosnian capital.
Sarajevo's airport received its first flights in five months Friday. It had been closed since April because of Serb attacks.
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