Reluctant Warrior

Clinton threatens to take on the Serbs, but a wary America fears a Balkan quagmire

Americans know what a war in the desert is like. Many remember a bitter conflict in the jungle. Now they must imagine one in the mountains:

On a balmy Adriatic evening, U.S. Navy attack planes leap from the deck of their carrier on tails of flame. As they climb through the gathering darkness, signals from the radar domes and computers of Air Force AWACS planes direct the jets to targets nestled in the forests and pastures of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ahead of them, electronic-warfare jets swoop down to jam any Serbian antiaircraft radar that might still be working.

In a valley...

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