Officials Want Action, Not Words

Led by President Clinton, U.S. officials of all stripes reacted warily Thursday to the news that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic had agreed to a peace plan for Kosovo, stressing that he could prove himself only by deeds, not words.

“We have some encouraging news on Kosovo,” Clinton said in a Rose Garden statement. “But we should be cautious and we should see real results.” Until then, Clinton said, the NATO air war against Yugoslavia would continue.

In a briefing just before Clinton’s remarks, White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart struck the same cautious note. “We’re dealing with someone who has made promises before and has not kept them,” he said. “We do have a memory here.”

Lockhart added that, in addition to “a verifiable withdrawal” of troops from Kosovo, “there needs to be a timetable that it can be measured against, and then there could be a bombing suspension.”

Reaction from Capitol Hill was equally measured. And Republican leaders warned that Congress would fight any plan that calls for substantial amounts of U.S. money to help rebuild Yugoslavia.

Given that the U.S. has financed the bulk of the air campaign, said Rep. Ben Gilman (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House International Relations Committee, “the costs of reconstruction should be mainly borne by our European allies.”

Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), a longtime administration critic on foreign policy, called on Clinton to reject the deal unless it also requires Milosevic to relinquish his power.

Clinton took no questions after his Rose Garden statement, immediately reentering the White House to begin a previously scheduled meeting on the war with the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Clinton said participants would review the progress of the air campaign and the planning for the force that would enter Kosovo after NATO’s conditions are met.

Among those expressing distrust of Milosevic was Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a hawkish Republican in Congress on Kosovo and a candidate for president next year.

McCain said he hoped the reports from Belgrade are accurate, “but I remain skeptical.”.

“We should continue striking significant targets in Serbia as a means of keeping Milosevic honest,” McCain said.

GOP presidential candidate Elizabeth Hanford Dole expressed concern that the United States and its allies “may be on the verge of a sellout.” She warned that the administration “must be careful not to end” the air campaign “on terms that are less than acceptable.”

Steve Forbes, another GOP presidential contender, warned the administration not to send U.S. troops into Kosovo “under any conditions”--regardless of whether the Milosevic government adheres to the peace accord. “Nothing could be more misguided,” he said.

Former Vice President Dan Quayle, who also is seeking the GOP nomination, welcomed the peace settlement but asserted that “this very settlement could have been secured months ago.”

Campaigning in New Hampshire, Vice President Al Gore echoed the administration’s cautious stance.

“We have to make certain that they are actually meeting our demands,” Gore said on Manchester’s WMUR-TV. “. . . Let’s reserve judgment until we have a chance to look at it very carefully, and then we’ll react accordingly.”

Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Bradley welcomed the reports of the agreement and called on the Western allies to place the welfare of the Kosovo refugees first.

Times staff writers Art Pine and Janet Hook in Washington and Mark Z. Barabak in New Hampshire contributed to this report.