NATO STRIKES - DAY 15

	April 7, 1999
	Correspondent Tom Bearden provides an update on Kosovo as NATO forces continue the bombing campaign against Yugoslavia.

JIM LEHRER: Now the other developments on the Kosovo conflict on this 15th day of NATO's bombing. Tom Bearden has our summary report. TOM BEARDEN: Yugoslav television was filled with pictures of burning buildings, the result of what NATO described as its heaviest air raids so far: 439 sorties. DAVID WILBY: Yesterday, we had a robust day. Surface-to-air activity was similar to previous nights, with perhaps a slight increase in AAA fire. TOM BEARDEN: NATO called the strikes "surgical," but the state-run news agency in Belgrade said at least ten people were killed and eight seriously injured in a strike on the Kosovo capital city, Pristina. The blast reportedly touched off a huge fire that destroyed several downtown buildings, and rescue crews feared people might be trapped in the rubble. The attacks were seen as a pointed rejection of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's declaration of a unilateral cease-fire yesterday. Today President Clinton again called on Milosevic to comply with NATO's conditions. PRESIDENT CLINTON: We are determined to stay united and to persist until we prevail. It is not enough now for Mr. Milosevic to say that his forces will cease fire in a Kosovo denied its freedom and devoid of its people. He must withdraw his forces, let the refugees return, permit the deployment of an international security force. Nothing less will bring peace with security to the people of Kosovo. TOM BEARDEN: NATO said that despite the cease-fire announcement, there was no sign of any withdrawal of forces from Kosovo. Hundreds of refugees have told western reporters that those Serbian forces have committed many atrocities. Today the State Department put nine Serbian commanders on public notice that they could be liable for war crimes. SPOKESMAN: We are trying to make clear to the people there that we know their names of the units and the commanders of the units, and so they should think long and hard before they act in such a way that their units conduct these atrocities or war crimes, or that they don't act to prevent it. And so we're putting them on notice. It's a warning to them that they should be aware that the War Crimes Tribunal is ready and in a position to act; that in Bosnia, people who did these actions in the early 90's found themselves on trial in the late 90's, and in prison; and that the crimes against humanity and war crimes don't have a statute of limitation. TOM BEARDEN: The UN War Crimes Tribunal is seeking evidence of war crimes from NATO, saying the Yugoslav government had prevented them from sending investigators to the region. Secretary of Defense William Cohen flew to NATO headquarters in Brussels last night. He said the alliance will increase the pressure on the Yugoslav military, particularly on the ground forces. WILLIAM COHEN, Secretary of Defense: We are now moving into a much more aggressive air campaign. The A-10 attack aircraft are going to target the tanks. And we will be sending Apache helicopters into the region, which are very capable tank killers. We will start to take the battle as such to the individual units on the ground through this air campaign, which will be intensified in the coming days and weeks. TOM BEARDEN: NATO Spokesman Air Commodore David Wilby said NATO had achieved its first substantial success against Yugoslav ground forces yesterday. DAVID WILBY: This was our first major breakthrough against armored forces in the field. We were able to locate and attack several units. In one attack, we were able to drop weapons on a column of between seven and twelve vehicles. TOM BEARDEN: Wilby said aircraft had also attacked Serbian ground-to-air missile batteries that had tried to track them on radar. DAVID WILBY: Last night, an SA-6 Battery in Montenegro illuminated an ingressing package of our aircraft. It was counterattacked by an escorting defense suppression aircraft, using two HARM missiles. The subsequent detonation of these anti-radar missiles were the probable cause of the explosions that were reported by the media around midnight. TOM BEARDEN: Wilby showed before-and-after photographs of other strikes in Belgrade and Kosovo. DAVID WILBY: Shown here is the imagery of the Belgrade militia hangar facility. This image is before our attack, and the next one is after our attack. The next image is a pre-strike assessment of Pristina Airfield. And if you look very closely, you will see operational Serbian MiG aircraft on the parking aprons and taxi ways. The next image shows the same area of Pristina Airfield after our attack, an attack which you will note added at least three more MiG aircraft to our total claims, plus other damage to the airfield. TOM BEARDEN: Despite the assertions of increasing success, critics in Congress and elsewhere continue to insist that only ground troops can bring the conflict to a successful conclusion. In what some see as a major shift in policy, the Canadian government in Ottawa said it was considering the possibility of NATO ground troops going into Kosovo. Secretary Cohen repeated the US Administration's opposition to such a deployment. WILLIAM COHEN: There are no plans to send ground troops in, in a non-permissive environment. Our military goal is degrading the Yugoslav army and special police as a response to the unspeakable brutality that's been inflicted on the Kosovar Albanians by President Milosevic and his hooded thugs. The appalling accounts of mass killing in Kosovo and the pictures of refugees fleeing Serb oppression for their lives makes it clear that this is a fight for justice over genocide, for humanity over inhumanity, for democracy over despotism, for freedom over fear, and a future of hope instead of a past of hatred. TOM BEARDEN: On the diplomatic front, the acting president of the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus plans to leave tomorrow on a mission to free three American solders help captive by the Yugoslavs. Sypros Kyprianou has a close relationship with Yugoslav leaders and said there had been discussions about the soldiers but no final agreement. US officials are aware of Kyprianou's efforts, but are cautious, saying the US would not agree to any conditions on their release.