WASHINGTON -- Concerned about possible retaliation by President Slobodan Milosevic, the Pentagon has contingency plans for responding to attacks on the thousands of U.S. peacekeeping troops now in the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia but has not altered operations there.
"We're continuing with current operations," said U.S. Army Maj. Matt Hennick, a spokesman for a U.S.-led multinational division in Tuzla. "We have not increased force protection."
U.S .troops are continuing to patrol and man checkpoints to guarantee free movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of the peacekeeping effort, said Hennick, while acknowledging that operations in Serbia "could have a spillover effect" in Bosnia, with Serbs or Serb-sympathizers attacking U.S. troops.
"Mr. Milosevic would be making a very big mistake should he attack our forces in the region or NATO's forces in the region," warned Defense Secretary William S. Cohen.
About 6,900 U.S. troops are in Bosnia as part of a 30,000-member, NATO-led contingent that is enforcing the Dayton peace agreement, which divided the former Yugoslav republic into a Muslim-Croatian federation and a Serbian republic. The number of American troops is expected to drop to 6,200 by the end of April.
"It has actually been pretty quiet," said Hennick, noting that the only serious incident occurred in October 1997 when four U.S. soldiers were slightly injured during a demonstration in Brcko.
Besides the American troops in Bosnia, there are about 350 U.S. troops in Macedonia, who were once part of U.N. observer mission but are now helping to protect the estimated 10,000 to 12,000 NATO troops there.
Kenneth Bacon, the Pentagon spokesman, told reporters Tuesday there have been no specific or credible threats that Serbia would make a move against U.S. troops. "But if they were to do that, it would be an extremely grave mistake," Bacon said.
Several military sources in Washington and Europe said there are increased concerns about hostilities against U.S. troops in the area.
"It's certainly something people are thinking about," said an officer. "It's obviously a possibility."
Pub Date: 3/25/99