THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 28, 1995 TAG: 9511280286
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY AND DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
Senior military officers, both active-duty and retired, say President Clinton's decision to send American troops to Bosnia as peacekeepers must be accompanied by a clearly defined mission that allows those troops to protect themselves.
If not, the officers say, they should not go.
``The whole problem with it is that it's a confusing matter,'' said retired Rear Adm. Fred Metz, of Virginia Beach.
``The guys are military and trained to do their job,'' said Metz, a four-tour veteran of Vietnam, where he flew A-6 Intruder medium attack bombers. ``They'll say, `What do you have for me to do, and I'll do it. But if you send me over there, don't tie my hands.' ''
And, said Metz, those troops also will say, ``Just make sure I have your support.''
One senior active duty officer, who asked that he not be identified, said it is precisely that support and definition of mission that the military's leadership is seeking.
``It is my perception that people are going to great pains to try to really wrap their arms around this one and get a very clear definition of the mission and prepare them as best they can for this mission,'' said a Navy captain working as a joint service planner.
``I sense that . . . we as a nation are not rushing headlong into this,'' he said.
``We will prepare the units and the individuals properly before they get there and have some clearly identified goals in mind.
``My perception is that people are signing up to this and think it can be done with a minimum loss of life. . . . .''
Another senior naval officer in Norfolk said it will be important for U.S. troops arriving in Bosnia to set the tone immediately.
He said that when U.N. troops arrived in the former Yugoslavia, a number of groups were ``trying to test their tolerance for pain'' by taking sniper shots at them ``to see how many people they could pick off or take hostage before we really got mad,'' he said.
``Well, we need to set the tone right when we get there, with zero pain tolerance,'' he said.
When a group of militia in Haiti fired on American troops during that peacekeeping effort more than a year ago, the American troops reacted quickly, killing 10 of them, he said.
``They said `That's enough,' and we should maintain that attitude in Bosnia, he said.
The joint service planner agreed. ``If we do this, the first couple of weeks will really tell the tale,'' he said.
``If it's like a love-in and units are unopposed, then you can accept - not to be too cavalier - an occasional death from a vehicle, a sniper, or a land mine, in very, very small numbers.
``But if it is something resembling a concerted, deliberate effort from some group to actively oppose the peacekeeping force, that will not go well. That will not sell well at all.''
``If they try to take on one of the NATO forces, we smash them like a bug.
``If that is the reaction we give quickly and unequivocally to the first group that tries to actively oppose the peacekeeping efforts, then maybe the word will get out to others that `we don't mess with them.'
``I just hope we say that if the slightest thing goes against us, we are authorized to take appropriate action.''
In Washington, several civilian analysts suggested in interviews that the military is well-prepared for anything in Bosnia that involves the use of arms, but that uniformed leaders remain worried about being drawn into a political quagmire.
``Some aspects (of the mission) are well-defined,'' said Dan Goure of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank. The peace agreement reached in Dayton, for example, makes clear the NATO force's responsibility and authority to police a four-kilometer wide ``zone of separation'' between Bosnian Muslim and Serb-controlled areas.
Goure said the troops that will form the bulk of the American force have been training for months in Germany and will be well-equipped for any military threat presented by Serb insurgents or the regular Bosnian army.
But the political questions that inevitably go with such a peacekeeping mission are murkier, Goure added.
What happens, for example, if Serb civilians in the city of Sarajevo are not willing to live peaceably under Muslim control? Will the NATO force be called on to help quell urban riots, disarm and relocate Serb insurgents?
``This is not the kind of environment that the military believes plays to its strengths,'' said Andrew Krepinevich, director of the Defense Budget Project. ``. . . It is much more like Somalia than it is like Desert Storm.''
Krepinevich said the terms of the agreement reached in Dayton have largely quelled fears among military leaders that they might not have authority to protect their forces and enforce the cease-fire.
An annex to the peace treaty spells out the peacekeeping force's ``unimpeded right to observe, monitor and inspect any forces, facility or activity in Bosnia and Herzegovina that the (force) believes may have military capability.''
And any interference with the NATO troops ``shall be subject to military action . . . including the use of necessary force,'' the document adds.
Still, Krepinevich noted: ``No matter how many guarantees you give, there's still going to be some uncertainty.''
Defense Secretary William Perry said Sunday it would take four to six months to carry out the task of enforcing a zone of separation between the warring factions, securing the cease-fire and removing weapons from the front lines. The administration has pledged to withdraw American ground forces from Bosnia after a year.
Perry said the agreement initialed by the presidents of Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia bars imports of major weapons for six months. If that fails to achieve more of a balance between Bosnian Muslim and Serb forces, the United States is prepared to help arm and train the Muslims, he said.
KEYWORDS: BOSNIA YUGOSLAVIA CIVIL WAR by CNB