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| DEBATE OVER KOSOVO | |
 March 11, 1999 
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The White House administration is asking Congress to commit U.S. troops to Kosovo in order to revive the troubled Serb-Kosovar peace negotiations. After a background report, Elizabeth Farnsworth and guests discuss the necessity of such a plan.
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SPENCER MICHELS: For several days now, heavy fighting has been reported
in Kosovo, as Serbian forces bombarded ethnic Albanian villages and
Kosovo |
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| A conflict still unresolved. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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SPENCER MICHELS: Back in Washington, the Clinton administration was trying to make a case that an American ground troop commitment was essential to make any deal work. MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, Secretary of State: Having returned from Rambouillet,
I can also tell you, Mr. Chairman, that there is zero chance that the
Kosovar SPENCER MICHELS: Since the Rambouillet talks, there have been several diplomatic shuttles, both to Kosovo and to the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade. BOB DOLE: We'll do our best. Thank you. SPENCER MICHELS: As recently as Monday, former Senator Robert Dole,
serving as an American mediator, said he thought he had persuaded the
Kosovars to sign on to the plan. It was their surprising last- minute
refusal which finally derailed the Paris talks last month. But since
Dole left, and the military battles have intensified, the Kosovars have
said they will not sign on to any deal as long as VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE: The committee will be in order. |
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| A divisive debate? | ||||||||||||||||||||
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SPENCER MICHELS: In Washington today, Congress began to debate whether the U.S. should send troops into Kosovo. Despite the objections of the administration, the House of Representatives took up two non-binding resolutions that could put Congress on record opposing the deployment of American troops to Kosovo without prior congressional authorization. REP. RICHARD GEPHARDT, House Minority Leader:
SPENCER MICHELS: The House is expected to vote on the military plans for Kosovo later today. |
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Liberation
Army positions just 12 miles from the capital of Pristina. Battles also
broke out in Southern Kosovo between Serbs and Kosovar rebels. The war
has left at least 2,000 dead in the last year, and resulted in thousands
of villagers fleeing their homes, in spite of diplomatic efforts to
find a solution. Two weeks ago, international negotiations to bring
peace to Kosovo broke up without success. Serbs and Kosovars left without
signing an agreement to make Kosovo an autonomous province of Serbia.
Under the proposed plan, that autonomy would be guaranteed by 28,000
NATO troops, including 4,000 Americans. The European diplomats in charge
of the conference tried to put the best face on the outcome. British
Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said the talks would resume next Monday
in Rambouillet, outside Paris. 
ROBIN
COOK, British Foreign Secretary: We have received a very substantial
measure of agreement. We do not have the signatures that we are anticipating
will take place either before or at the conference on March 15.
Albanians
will sign on to this deal if the U.S. does not participate in its implementation.
The President has made it clear that others must provide the lion's
share of the troops, and we've seen our allies step forward and offer
to do just that. The stakes in Kosovo are high, and I will not sugarcoat
the difficulties that we face. We did not achieve all we hoped for at
Rambouillet, but Rambouillet was not the end of the road.
fighting
continues in the province. Another American mediator, Richard Holbrooke,
who negotiated the cease-fire in Kosovo last fall, arrived in Belgrade
Wednesday. His mission was to persuade Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic
to accept NATO troops on Serbian soil, the element of the peace plan
which Milosevic had most adamantly opposed. If Milosevic refuses to
agree, NATO has threatened to bomb Serbian positions, but that threat
has receded, as long as the Kosovars have refused to sign an accord.
Yesterday, in a meeting with Holbrooke, the Serbian president repeated
his objections to foreign troops, and Holbrooke left Belgrade without
an agreement.
We
should not be debating this matter while our diplomats, at this very
moment, are seeking to convince the parties to this conflict to lay
down their weapons and choose the path of peace. To conduct a divisive
debate in Congress, and perhaps fail to support our government's efforts,
is the height of irresponsibility and threatens the hope for an agreement
to halt the bloodshed and prevent the widening of this war. 
REP.
DENNIS HASTERT, Speaker of the House: Some have argued that we should
not have this debate today, that we should just leave it to the President.
Some have even suggested that taking part and talking about this could
damage the peace process. I disagree. No one should fear the free expression
of ideas, the frank exchange of opinions in a representative democracy.
