THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 22, 1995 TAG: 9511220496
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
The Bosnia peace agreement reached Tuesday sets in motion a plan that could see up to 20,000 U.S. troops in the Balkans within weeks.
Although President Clinton has promised that he will not send any U.S. troops until the accord is signed - about two weeks from its initialing - planning for the mission is all but complete.
But Pentagon officials aren't saying what that means for military forces in Hampton Roads and elsewhere in the United States.
A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Mike Doubleday, suggested that it could be several days before decisions are announced on who will be deployed and when they will be sent to enforce the agreement.
Doubleday said a NATO-drafted deployment plan must be reviewed and approved by President Clinton before substantial American forces begin to move.
For the Navy, involvement is likely to be limited largely to support. The Norfolk-based aircraft carrier America, which participated in the NATO bombing that helped bring the warring parties to the peace table, has left the Adriatic Sea and is on its way to the Persian Gulf, a Navy spokesman said Tuesday.
Several other ships remain in the Adriatic, however, including the Norfolk-based amphibious assault ship Wasp and its force of about 1,000 Marines.
The first troops to arrive will be an ``enabling force'' of up to 2,000 communications, transportation and logistics experts who wouldmake preparations for the arrival of the rest of the NATO force.
Small survey teams of a dozen or fewer NATO troops, including some Americans, have been moving into and out of Bosnia for weeks to scout sites for bases, as well as the war-torn country's communications and highway systems.
If the deployment goes forward, up to 20,000 Americans are expected to be part of a NATO force of about 60,000. The largest share of those Americans is stationed in other European countries and have been training for a Bosnia mission for months. Most are expected to move into Bosnia by rail.
Doubleday said up to 3,000 U.S. military reservists would be called up to participate in or support the deployment. There will be a need for medical personnel and perhaps communications experts, he suggested, beyond those on active duty.
In Bosnia, they will face dangers ranging from snipers to snow.
Pentagon officials say U.S. and allied troops would operate in Bosnia under NATO's rules of engagement, which essentially allow them to fire at anything that appears threatening. They would not have to wait until an adversary fires first - something that has hobbled the U.N. mission in Bosnia.
The operation would be under NATO control, with no need for allied officials to wait for U.N. approval before mounting any operation, as they have done with NATO-led airstrikes in Bosnia.
U.S. and NATO officials say the primary mission of the peacekeeping force would be to separate the forces of the three major warring factions in Bosnia - the Muslims, Croats and Serbs - and keep them apart by enforcing steadily widening demilitarized zones between them.
The NATO force also would help to protect supply convoys and humanitarian aid workers and to patrol Bosnia's borders in case of surprise attacks. In addition, the United States would help provide intelligence, logistics and air cover.
Just exactly how long the troops would be required, however, is uncertain.
As even supporters of the planned deployment concede, the mission could prove both difficult and dangerous.
The most immediate challenge is one of logistics - getting the thousands of U.S. and allied troops, and their heavy equipment such as tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles, into the country and keeping them supplied.
Although some would arrive by air, many would travel by rail across Germany and central Europe. Some would be carried by barge along the Danube River to staging bases in Hungary and Croatia.
Once they are in Bosnia, the troops would face possible snipers from dozens of rogue paramilitary groups on all three sides that are dissatisfied with the terms of the peace accord.
U.S. officials are particularly worried about Muslim forces from Afghanistan and Iraq who have been operating independently from the Muslim-led but secular Bosnian government. The Clinton Administration has demanded that all of them leave before U.S. troops arrive, but it is not clear that the Bosnian government has the clout to send them home.
Then there is the threat from land mines, particularly when there is a cover of snow. Intelligence estimates show about 6 million unexploded mines are in Bosnia, with no good maps of where they may lie.
``It will be only through a strong act of God that, if we go, we're not going to have some soldiers killed,'' said retired Gen. David Maddox, until recently the head of U.S. Army forces in Europe and a key figure in planning the Bosnia mission. MEMO: Staff writer Dale Eisman, The Associated Press, Cox News Service and the
Los Angeles Times contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Color graphic by Associated Press
The Agreement; What Next for NATO
by CNB