# 99074. U.S. Defense Chiefs Plan Small U.S. Force for Kosovo

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By Linda D. Kozaryn
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON -- The United States may send 2,000 to 4,000 troops 
to Kosovo if a peace settlement is reached between Serb 
authorities and ethnic Albanians, the chairman of the Joint 
Chiefs of Staff told members of Congress here Feb. 3.

"The size of the force will depend on what type of settlement or 
cease-fire comes out of the agreement between the two factions," 
Army Gen. Hugh Shelton told the Senate Armed Services Committee 
in an appearance with Defense Secretary William S. Cohen. Along 
with outlining the Pentagon's proposed budget, the two responded 
to queries about a U.S. role in NATO plans to end the violence 
in Kosovo and restore autonomy to the southern Serb province.

En route to Europe Feb. 4, Cohen stressed that President Clinton 
has not yet decided to commit American forces to implementing a 
peace agreement in Kosovo. He emphasized there must be a "real 
agreement" before peacekeepers are sent in.

"It can't be illusory," Cohen said. "It can't be some sort of 
agreement that is tactical or temporizing. While it may be 
important for the Europeans to move forces in quickly, it should 
be done only very carefully, to make sure the agreement is 
something that is going to hold and they're not going to end up 
being caught in a crossfire."

U.S. defense leaders are awaiting the outcome of peace talks 
between Serb authorities and ethnic Albanians slated to begin 
Feb. 6 in Rambouilliet, France, and NATO's plan, detailing the 
mission and forces needed.

In the meantime, Cohen said, administration officials are 
consulting with members of Congress. The secretary said he spent 
several hours Feb. 2 and 3 talking with Democratic and 
Republican members of the House and Senate. 

"Members always want to feel they've been consulted, not after a 
decision has been made, but prior to a decision, so they can put 
their own recommendations forward to the president," said Cohen, 
a former senator from Maine. 

NATO is considering deploying about 28,000 troops for three to 
five years to enforce a cease-fire once the two sides reach a 
settlement. Cohen said he expects plans for a peace 
implementation mission to be completed this weekend by Supreme 
Allied Headquarters Europe in Belgium. 

The size and makeup of any U.S. contingent would depend on "what 
we're asked to do and what the environment is going to be like," 
Shelton told the Senate committee. "We want to keep the risks to 
our men and women in uniform as low as we possibly can."

U.S. troops comprised 37 percent of the initial NATO-led 
peacekeeping force in Bosnia in 1995. Shelton said U.S. defense 
leaders don't intend to contribute anything like that percentage 
for Kosovo.

"If you get a smaller force, if [NATO] came out to be 20,000, 
our numbers could be very low, down possibly as low as 2,000 to 
4,000," he said. "I would see that being the maximum number that 
we would be asked to contribute, even if [NATO] decided to go in 
with 30,000."

Both Shelton and Cohen told the committee that the goal is to 
contribute "the very minimum" and have European nations 
contribute the main body of troops. Great Britain and France 
have already announced they will send ground forces to Kosovo.

European NATO members should bear a large portion of 
responsibility, Cohen said. "We are part of NATO, and therefore 
we will make a contribution � for this length of time. But it 
would be my goal, my position, that we ought to put as much 
responsibility on them as possible."

If peace talks fail and NATO military action is deemed 
necessary, Cohen said, U.S. air forces will play a major role. 
NATO credibility hinges on unity, he said, and the other member 
countries have indicated they'll take part in military 
operations only if the United States does." Should air strikes 
be ordered, he said, "We would be the ones carrying the load on 
that, therefore, I think more responsibility should be shifted 
to the Europeans to bear."

The overall political situation in Kosovo is complex, the 
secretary stressed to the committee, and U.S. forces should be 
sent in only if both sides are firmly committed to peace. 

"It can't be simply a situation in which we push the Serbs back 
and ask them to pull the police and the VJ [Yugoslav army] 
forces out, and then have the Kosovo Liberation Army come in and 
expect us to be their air force or their ground force," he said. 
"That is not acceptable."

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