Congressman who served in Gulf War questions U.S. interest in Kosovo

Scott Sonner

Thursday, April 1, 1999 | 5:21 a.m.

RENO, Nev. -- No one in Nevada's congressional delegation is ready to send American ground troops to Kosovo, and Rep. Jim Gibbons said Thursday he still isn't sure there is a vital U.S. interest there.

"I've never been one who has advocated the use of American ground troops in this region," said Gibbons, R-Nev., a former Air Force pilot who served in the Persian Gulf War.

"This is a European ally problem that should be met with Europeans supported by the United States, not one that is met by the United States and supported by the Europeans," Gibbons said Thursday.

"It is their backyard. They have the biggest responsibility to make sure peace is maintained in the area," he told The Associated Press.

"Before we send troops in, we have to identify a vital U.S. interest."

Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan and Rep. Shelley Berkley - all Democrats - agreed it would be premature to send U.S. ground troops into Kosovo.

But they maintain the United States does indeed have an interest in the conflict and Berkley, a freshman, indicated she ultimately would support the use of ground troops if it became necessary.

"We must do whatever it takes to end this genocide in this part of the world that is very volatile," Berkley said Thursday.

"We cannot allow these people to be destroyed because they are of a different ethnicity than the majority," she said.

"Had America stepped in early in World War II, perhaps 6 million Jews and 18 million people would not have been systematically executed."

Reid said Thursday he was optimistic Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic would surrender before ground troops were needed.

"I think he is feeling the pressure. This is not a country the size of Australia. This is a country the size of Connecticut," Reid said.

"I don't think he can hang on much longer," the Senate minority whip said.

Bryan said, "I'm not prepared to accept that American ground troops are needed at this point."

But he said he is worried the conflict could spread to Macedonia, Turkey and Greece.

"This is part of Europe. Clearly we have an interest in the civility and security of Europe," Bryan said in an interview.

"I don't think every part of the world in which there is a conflict justifies our intervention. We cannot act as the policeman of the world.

"But when it involves our NATO allies in a part of the world we have identified as part of our security interest, that is a much closer question."

Bryan said the situation in Kosovo was "a much bigger test of wills" than was the Persian Gulf War. Yugoslavia has a much more sophisticated air defense system, he said.

"So this is a high-risk operation. In a sense, it is a test of our resolve. There is a message to dictators all over the world that if we are unable to solve this crisis, others may assume their conduct is free of any consequences."

Bryan acknowledged there are "legitimate concerns" about President Clinton's absence of an exit strategy for U.S. troops.

But Berkley rejected criticism of Clinton's handling of the conflict so far.

"Before we start taking pot shots at our commander-in-chief, we ought to give his strategy some time to work," she said.

"All of us like an antiseptic war. We don't like loss of life. We like it when the smart bombs reach their destination and don't hurt anybody. This is a different type of action, I'm afraid."

Berkley, who got married last weekend, was on her honeymoon in California's Napa Valley but said she's been keeping a close eye on Kosovo's development.

"We have been glued to the television," she said Thursday.

"Judging by what we've seen, it reminds me of World War II and the destruction of humanity by a dictator that will stop at nothing short of the disintegration and destruction of an entire people," she said..

"I am proud of America. We have stood firm and demonstrated to Milosevic that he cannot conduct genocide without the world retaliating."