Week Ending Friday, March 26, 1999 The President's News Conference in the village of Racak back in JanuaryÐin- March 19, 1999 nocent men, women, and children taken from their homes to a gully, forced to kneel Kosovo in the dirt, sprayed with gunfireÐnot be- The President. Ladies and gentlemen, as cause of anything they had done, but because all of you know, we have been involved in of who they were. an intensive effort to end the conflict in Now, roughly 40,000 Serbian troops and Kosovo for many weeks now. With our police are massing in and around Kosovo. NATO allies and with Russia, we proposed Our firmness is the only thing standing be- a peace agreement to stop the killing and tween them and countless more villages like give the people of Kosovo the self-deter- RacakÐfull of people without protection, mination and government they need and to even though they have now chosen peace. which they are entitled under the constitu- Make no mistake, if we and our allies do tion of their government. not have the will to act, there will be more Yesterday the Kosovar Albanians signed massacres. In dealing with aggressors in the that agreement. Even though they have not Balkans, hesitation is a license to kill. But obtained all they seek, even as their people action and resolve can stop armies and save remain under attack, they've had the vision lives. to see that a just peace is better than an We must also understand our stake in unwinnable war. Now only President peace in the Balkans and in Kosovo. This is Milosevic stands in the way of peace. a humanitarian crisis, but it is much more. Today the peace talks were adjourned be- This is a conflict with no natural boundaries. cause the Serbian negotiators refused even It threatens our national interests. If it con- to discuss key elements of the peace plan. tinues, it will push refugees across borders NATO has warned President Milosevic to and draw in neighboring countries. It will un- end his intransigence and repression or face dermine the credibility of NATO, on which military action. stability in Europe and our own credibility Our allies are strongly united behind this depend. It will likely reignite the historical course. We are prepared, and so are they, animosities, including those that can em- to carry it out. Today I reviewed our planning brace Albania, Macedonia, Greece, even with my senior advisers and met with many Turkey. These divisions still have the poten- Members of Congress. As we prepare to act, tial to make the next century a truly violent we need to remember the lessons we have one for that part of the world that straddles learned in the Balkans. We should remember Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. the horror of the war in Bosnia, the sounds Unquestionably, there are risks in military of sniper fire aimed at children, the faces action, if that becomes necessary. U.S. and of young men behind barbed wire, the de- other NATO pilots will be in harm's way. The spairing voices of those who thought nothing Serbs have a strong air defense system. But could be done. It took precious time to we must weigh those risks against the risks achieve allied unity there, but when we did, of inaction. If we don't act, the war will our firmness ended all that. Bosnia is now spread. If it spreads, we will not be able to at peace. contain it without far greater risk and cost. We should remember the thousands of I believe the real challenge of our foreign people facing cold and hunger in the hills policy today is to deal with problems before of Kosovo last fall. Firmness ended that as they do permanent harm to our vital inter- well. We should remember what happened ests. That is what we must do in Kosovo. 471 VerDate 23-MAR-99 08:15 Mar 31, 1999 Jkt 010199 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 1244 Sfmt 1244 W:\DISC\P12MR4.022 txed02 PsN: txed02 472 Mar. 19 / Administration of William J. Clinton, 1999 Let me just make one other statement was the combined impact of NATO's action about this. One of the things that I wanted in Bosnia, plus the reversals they sustained to do when I became President is to take on the ground in fighting, plus the economic advantage of this moment in history to build embargo, that led them to conclude that an alliance with Europe for the 21st century, peace was the better course. with a Europe undivided, strong, secure, Now, he says here that this is not like what prosperous, and at peace. That's why I have happened last fall, that this threatens Serbia's supported the unification of Europe finan- sovereignty to have a multinational force on cially, politically, economically. That is why the ground in Kosovo. But he has put that I've supported the expansion of NATO and at risk by his decadeÐand I want to reem- a redefinition of its missions. phasize thatÐhis decade of denial of the au- What are the challenges to our realizing tonomy to which the Kosovars are legally en- that dream? The challenge of a successful titled as a part of Serbia. partnership with Russia that succeeds in its My intention would be to do whatever is own mission; the challenge of a resolution possible, first of all, to weaken his ability to of the difficulties between Greece and Tur- massacre them, to have another Bosnia; and key so that Turkey becomes an ally of Europe secondly, to do all that I can to induce him and the West for the long term; and the chal- to takeÐit is not my peace agreement. It was lenge of instability in the Balkans. In dif- an agreement worked out and negotiated and ferent ways, all those things are at stake here. argued over, with all the parties' concerns I honestly believe that by acting now we being taken into account. can help to give our children and our grand- I will say againÐfor the longest time, we children a Europe that is more united, more did not believe that either side would take democratic, more peaceful, more pros- this agreement. And the fact that the Kosovar perous, and a better partner for the United Albanians did it, I think, reflects foresight States for a long time to come. and wisdom on their part. They did not get I will say again to Mr. Milosevic, as I did everything they wanted. And in a peace in Bosnia, I do not want to put a single Amer- agreement, nobody ever gets everything they ican pilot into the air; I do not want anyone want. We've seen it in the Middle East, in else to die in the Balkans; I do not want a Northern Ireland, everywhere else. conflict. I would give anything to be here So it is not my agreement. It is the best talking about something else today. But a agreement that all the parties can get to give part of my responsibility is to try to leave us a chance to go forward without bloodshed. to my successors and to our country in the I believe, also, as I have said publicly to Mr. 21st century, an environment in Europe that Milosevic and to the Serbs, it is their best is stable, humane, and secure. It will be a chance to keep Kosovo as a part of Serbia big part of America's future. and as a part of Yugoslavia. And so I would Thank you very much. hope that the agreement could be accepted, Mr. Hunt [Terence Hunt, Associated and I'll do what I can to see that it is. Press]. Q. And the deadline, sirÐis there one? Q. Mr. President, as you mentioned, Yugo- The President. I don't want to discuss slav forces seem to be mobilizing for war in that. We're working on that. I expect to be Kosovo despite the warnings of NATO air- working on this all weekend. strikes. After so many threats in the past, why Helen [Helen Thomas, United Press should President Milosevic take this one seri- International]. ously? And is there is deadline for him to comply? And is it your intention to keep pounding Serb targets until he agrees to your Chinese Nuclear Espionage peace terms? Q. Mr. President, how long have you The President. Well, there are several known that the Chinese were stealing our nu- questions there, but let me say, I think he clear secrets? Is there any trust left between should take this seriously, because we the two nations? And some Republicans are meantÐwe were serious in Bosnia. And it saying that you deliberately suppressed the VerDate 23-MAR-99 08:15 Mar 31, 1999 Jkt 010199 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 1244 Sfmt 1244 W:\DISC\P12MR4.022 txed02 PsN: txed02 Administration of William J. Clinton, 1999 / Mar. 19 473 information from the American people be- former Republican Senator from New cause of the election and your trade goals. Hampshire, and the President's Foreign In- The President. Well, let me try to respond telligence Advisory Board to review the chro- to all those things. First of all, the latter nology, to make an assessment, and to make charge is simply untrue. We were notifiedÐ any recommendations about what further ac- Mr. Berger was notified sometime in 1996 tion also might need to be taken. So I believe of the possibility that security had been that's the appropriate thing to do.