ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 15, 1996 TAG: 9611150094
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A9 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
The U.S. troop deployment in Bosnia, originally set to end in December, is expected now to stretch well into 1998 and involve up to 10,000 Army soldiers, NATO's top official said Thursday.
The entire mission would involve 30,000 troops from 30 countries, including the United States, NATO Secretary General Javier Solana told reporters.
``I had conversations with the [NATO] foreign ministers,'' Solana said. ``I would say that all of them are moving toward Option C,'' the option among four being considered that would keep troops in the former Yugoslav republic. In Washington, Solana met privately with Vice President Al Gore.
White House press secretary Mike McCurry and State Department spokesman Glyn Davies told reporters that Gore made clear to Solana that President Clinton had not signed off on the troop commitment.
McCurry added that the administration is anxious not to squander gains made in Bosnia and noted that Gore ``did share some of that thinking'' with Solana.
Speaking anonymously, administration officials confirmed Solana's description of the primary plan under consideration.
These officials said Clinton was to approve the extended troop commitment as early as Thursday night.
The issue is quite sensitive. A year ago, the Clinton administration was assuring lawmakers that 19,000 American soldiers in Bosnia with a 60,000-member NATO peacekeeping mission would be home by December. The U.S. force, now about 14,000, is scheduled to leave by mid-March.
Renewed fighting in Bosnia this week has heightened worries over the possible departure of NATO peacekeepers. Diplomat Richard Holbrooke, who negotiated the Bosnia peace agreement in 1995, vigorously urged Clinton to continue a U.S. presence to avoid resuming the vicious 31/2-year ethnic war that Holbrooke's agreement halted.
``That may require some type of presence in Bosnia,'' McCurry said. ``We've said that all along. It was never very likely that they were going to just pull up stakes and go home. We needed to preserve the gains that have been made.''
Republican lawmakers have criticized the administration over Bosnia.
``After spending the better part of the year evading the question, the Clinton administration appears ready to finally own up to the fact that it was never serious about its commitment to limit U.S. involvement in Bosnia to one year,'' said Rep. Floyd Spence, R-S.C., chairman of the House National Security Committee.
Defense Secretary William Perry and his top deputy, John White, rushed to Capitol Hill on Thursday to brief members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Bosnia and a pending U.S. troop deployment to Zaire.
Clinton has considered four options:
* Pull out of Bosnia by March 15.
* Organize a ``deterrence'' mission involving the threat of NATO air power if hostilities resume, with a rapid-reaction force stationed in Hungary.
* Maintain a continued troop presence in Bosnia, which the administration appears to have accepted.
* Continue the current peace Implementation Force, or IFOR.
Perry indicated early on that continuing IFOR was not a viable option. NATO allies pressed the administration to support a continued U.S. troop presence.
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