Cohen said visiting troops in the field enables him to learn firsthand what they think and need. He's then in a better position to make judgments and respond to members of the administration and Congress when he returns to Washington. Maintaining peace in Kosovo is a major undertaking for NATO-led forces deployed there, Cohen said. Checkpoints are manned 24 hours a day. Force protection missions are undertaken throughout the week.
Military aircraft fly hundreds of missions.
At present, violence continues to erupt among the residents, Cohen said, but compared to two years ago, the NATO peacekeepers have made much progress. Two years ago, Serb forces were purging ethnic Albanians from the province, and one year ago, he said, NATO was in the middle of an air campaign against Yugoslav military targets. Today, Serb forces are gone, NATO peacekeepers are in place and violence is declining, he noted. More than a million refugees have returned, Cohen said, as evidence of the mission's achievements to date. NATO forces have confiscated about 20,000 weapons.