The New York Times

Monday, March 20, 2000

Europe's Turn to Keep the Peace

By ROBERT C. BYRD

A year ago, American and NATO warplanes began 78 days of air assaults that halted the murderous assault of Slobodan Milosevic on the Kosovar Albanians. If the United States has learned anything in the nine months of peacekeeping that followed, it should be that once again we are proving to be a lot better at waging war than we are at managing peace. Kosovo today appears to be on the verge of unraveling.

American and NATO peacekeepers skirt danger daily. Reconstruction has been negligible. Mr. Milosevic remains firmly in control in Serbia and, by most reckoning, is stepping up his effort to foment trouble along the border between Serbia and Kosovo. In the latest eruption of violence, ethnic Albanian insurgents have begun attacking Serbs across the border in Serbia.

The administration's response to this deepening crisis? Stern words to the Albanians, urgent pleas to our allies for more troops and money, and a request to Congress for a supplemental $2 billion to continue American peacekeeping business as usual in Kosovo.

Is that really the best we can do?

I see three options we can practically consider at this juncture.

We can stay the course, reacting to events as they occur and hoping for the best as we settle into a semi-permanent role of soldiers on patrol and cops on the beat. We can pick a date and simply pull American troops out of Kosovo. Or Congress can give the administration unequivocal direction and a reasonable period of time -- say three months -- to craft a framework for turning the Kosovo peacekeeping operation over to our European allies. Congress can then examine the plan, gauge the progress being made, and vote either to stay or to go.

It is my firm belief that the United States should take steps to turn the Kosovo peacekeeping operation over to our European allies. NATO undertook the Kosovo mission with an understanding that Europe, not America, would shoulder the peacekeeping and reconstruction duties. The United States, with its outstanding military forces and weaponry, effectively won the war; the European allies were to keep the peace.

But now, as the United Nations interim administration in Kosovo teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, NATO allies are squabbling over the need for military reinforcements, and the international police that were supposed to help bring law and order remain undermanned, underfinanced, and unable to cope.

If Congress agrees to the administration's request for additional financing for Kosovo, it should be with the clear understanding that the money is tied to a plan for establishing an all-European peacekeeping force. The plan should have benchmarks, like numbers of European troops to be added to the forces by particular dates, and Congress should have an opportunity to vote on whether to keep troops in Kosovo if those benchmarks are not being met.

Removal of American troops from Kosovo need not be abrupt and need not mean that the United States is turning its back on the victims of Slobodan Milosevic. We can continue to support humanitarian relief and can provide support in military logistics, communications, intelligence and effective command.

It is just possible that the Europeans will excel at peacekeeping duties in Kosovo if ever they are allowed to emerge from the overwhelming shadow cast by the United States. Unfortunately, we will never know if we do not tie further American investment in Kosovo to a rock-solid plan to turn the peacekeeping operation over to them -- sooner rather than later.

Robert C. Byrd, a Democrat, is the senior Senator from West Virginia.