U.S. Troops to Stay in Bosnia Beyond Dec. 20 Deadline

The Clinton administration said Thursday that it has scrapped plans to withdraw the bulk of the 18,000 U.S. troops in Bosnia by Dec. 20, as initially promised, and now is not likely to have most of the American force out until late January or February.

The change was announced by Kenneth H. Bacon, the Pentagon’s spokesman, after a plea by NATO’s top military commander, U.S. Army Gen. George A. Joulwan, that U.S. and other NATO forces remain on duty until after the Bosnian elections, scheduled for September.

Although the administration had cautioned previously that it might keep some U.S. troops in the country for a month or so beyond Dec. 20, when the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led mission comes to an end, it had planned to begin the pullout in June, leaving a relatively small contingent of U.S. soldiers through mid-December.

But Bacon said Thursday that while some U.S. troops may begin leaving in late September--and the NATO mission in Bosnia still will end officially on Dec. 20--the United States now plans to keep a “significant force” in the country through January or “maybe longer.”

Bacon said it has not yet been determined how many U.S. troops will remain beyond Dec. 20.

Administration officials also said the United States is likely to continue providing air and logistical support after Dec. 20--if NATO decides to station troops near Bosnia--to prevent a resumption of fighting in the region.

While officials would not say so publicly, analysts said the decision reflects the difficulty that civilian authorities in Bosnia-Herzegovina have been experiencing in rebuilding the country’s governmental and economic structure--including scheduling the first elections.

Although the delay announced Thursday was not an appreciable one, it was expected to draw sharp criticism from Republicans, who have been predicting for months that the administration’s initial schedule for bringing the troops back was likely to slide.

Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned Thursday that “if the administration intends to keep U.S. forces in Bosnia longer than previously indicated, it must come back and consult with Congress.”

The announcement marked the administration’s most visible acknowledgment so far that the civilian side of the allied peacemaking effort is slipping behind schedule.

Defense Secretary William J. Perry told Congress in March that U.S. troops would “come out of Bosnia no later than Dec. 20,” although he cautioned that some could remain there for a few weeks longer because of the time needed for a full withdrawal. Clinton separately made a similar pledge.

When the Bosnian peace accord was brokered in Dayton, Ohio, in November, all sides hoped to have a new government in place by now--and an economic reconstruction program underway--with an election sometime in late spring or summer.

But the lack of any formal organization to shepherd the effort, and seemingly intractable delays by the warring factions themselves, have kept the process at a snail’s pace. As a result, the elections have been postponed to September, and even that schedule may not be met.

In recent weeks, the allies have tried to help speed the process by permitting U.S. and other NATO military forces to help with some tasks that were supposed to have been reserved for civilian authorities.

However, U.S. Army Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Brussels earlier this week that there would be no reductions in U.S. troop strength in Bosnia until after the country’s September elections.

Separately, officials said the administration was looking into a report in Wednesday’s New York Times that the Muslim-led Bosnian government has dispatched Iranian-trained commando units to kill or capture enemies whom the Bosnians have branded as war criminals.

State Department spokesman Glyn Davies declined to confirm the report but said the administration had heard such allegations before.