-Caveat Lector- NATO Peacekeeping Mission Changing By ROBERT BURNS .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) -- The military mission that the Clinton administration originally envisioned for NATO in implementing a Kosovo peace accord is taking on a new look. The ground force would be much larger, and some allies think it ought to be prepared to move even before Belgrade signs on to a peace deal. If peacekeepers moved in early, they might face scattered resistance from remnant Serb forces, the Pentagon says. The intent is still to use this multinational force to implement a peace, not launch a ground war. But as NATO's Operation Allied Force entered its ninth week Wednesday, alliance and U.S. officials said questions remain on how soon the peacekeeping force should be assembled and when it should enter Kosovo. The timing is important because of the degree of risk and cost entailed in various options, and because NATO wants to end the conflict and get the hundreds of thousands of displaced ethnic Albanians in Macedonia and Albania back into their villages in Kosovo under NATO protection before the onset of winter. ``Obviously, there are going to be (NATO) ground troops of some type'' in Kosovo, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said. The issue is whether they should be prepared to enter Kosovo without the consent of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, once Serb forces are too battered to offer much resistance. The U.S. position remains that ``we need an agreement or a U.N. Security Council resolution'' first, Bacon said. Earlier this week, however, Bacon said it was possible that an international peacekeeping force could enter Kosovo without Milosevic's consent. ``You don't have to have an agreement to do that,'' Bacon said on Monday, so long as the Serb forces simply stopped the violence in Kosovo and withdrew from the province. Originally, NATO estimated it would need 28,000 peacekeepers, of which about 4,000 were to be American. Now it figures it might take 50,000, of which the United States may contribute 7,000 to 8,000. British officials have argued in recent days that NATO should be preparing for an early entry into Kosovo, given the increasing damage NATO airstrikes are inflicting on the hunkered down Serb army in the Serb province. British Air Marshal Sir John Day told reporters in London on Wednesday that NATO has seriously degraded Serb air defenses, fuel resources, lines of communication and fielded forces. ``NATO's air campaign has already significantly eroded the military capability of Milosevic's war machine, and it is being further reduced as each day goes by,'' Day said. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, due in Washington on Thursday for talks with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, said NATO should be ready to move quickly with ground forces to protect refugees once Serb forces are sufficiently devastated. ``The issue of judgment that needs to be made is at what point in the end game would it be appropriate, would it be safe, would it be right, for troops to enter,'' he said in London. Bacon said Wednesday that the U.S. military could move its portion of a peacekeeping force into the area ``in days.'' He noted that 6,000 U.S. troops already are in Albania and NATO has about 13,000 troops in Macedonia. President Clinton stirred speculation about U.S. policy when he said Tuesday that no option should be ruled out on the use of ground troops, although he also said NATO should continue on its present course of airstrikes. Previously, Clinton had said he had no intention of introducing ground troops into Kosovo. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Dennis Reimer was asked about Clinton's remark at a Senate hearing Wednesday. ``What he said is that ground forces are still an option on the table, under the right set of conditions,'' Reimer said. Yet to be determined is what that ``right set of conditions'' will be. At NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, spokesman Jamie Shea said Wednesday the alliance is focusing on plans for a peacekeeping force in Kosovo, to be dubbed Operation Joint Guardian, not a ground war. ``We are not going to send ground forces to fight in Kosovo, but as a peace force,'' Shea said. He said NATO was ``pushing this as a matter of priority'' because it does not want to leave a security vacuum in Kosovo if Serb forces suddenly give up and withdraw from the province. ``All of us in the alliance share a sense of urgency that when Milosevic finally puts up his hand and says, 'I accept (NATO's) conditions,' we have to be ready with a peace implementation force to enter Kosovo rapidly,'' Shea said. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! 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