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Politics : Bill Clinton Scandal - SANITY CHECK -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neocon who wrote (42667)	4/17/1999 12:35:00 PM
From: Les H	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 67261

Clinton warns of US casualties in 'long war' By Hugo Gurdon in Washington Cockney voice waging a war of words Mud and death on remote front line A people who glory in the prospect of defeat THE air war against Slobodan Milosevic will go on for several months at least, President Clinton said yesterday, warning that there is a "very real and high" prospect of American casualties. In grim testimony to Congress, members of his national security team tried to prepare the country for a long and bloody battle, saying it could last into the summer, and hinting yet again that it might eventually involve a massive land war. William Cohen, Defence Secretary said: "This is not going to be quick or easy or neat." Madeleine Albright, the Secretary of State, Gen Henry Shelton, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Mr Cohen continued to insist that they did not intend to use ground forces to overcome the Serbs and asked Congress to give the air war time to succeed. Sen Joseph Biden, a Clinton loyalist, said the air war was "just beginning". But Mr Clinton's advisers hinted that their aversion to a land battle was not due primarily to the belief that bombs and missiles were sufficient, but rather because injecting infantry into the battle could split Nato.Mr Cohen said: "The reason that we have gone forward as we have with an air campaign is that there was not a consensus in the Nato alliance to do anything but this." Gen Shelton repeated that if Nato decided a ground war was necessary to crush Milosevic, the alliance could quickly dust off contingency plans it drew up last October. The government testimony did nothing to undermine the view of several Congress members that the White House and other war planners fully expect to send American infantry into the Balkans eventually and are merely waiting for the rest of the alliance to acknowledge the necessity to do so. Military opinion continues to dismiss the idea that air power can subdue the Serbs. Retired Lt Gen Tom Kelly said: "Nobody ever surrendered to an aeroplane. I think we are at the front end of a long time here." Other current and retired members of the armed forces argued that the accidental killing of ethnic Serb refugees by an American F16 using laser-guided bombs on Wednesday demonstrated how hobbled Nato is in prosecuting the war. Mrs Albright said the plight of the refugees was steeling Nato to continue the fight. Giving evidence earlier to a House of Representatives committee, she said: "We are prepared to inflict such damage on Mr Milosevic's military that he either accepts the outcome we seek, or the balance of power in Kosovo will shift against him at a time when his actions, far from destroying his opposition, are galvanising its strength and determination."