THE BRIEFERS ARE BACK

Joint Chiefs of Staff director of operations General Howell Estes held a Pentagon briefing today to announce -- well, not much. Pentagon correspondent Mark Thompson reports the while Estes didn't present reporters with any major new details of the U.S. deployment plans, there was another purpose to the conference: shaping public opinion. Thompson notes that the Administration will try to keep figures such as Estes and Defense Secretary William Perry in the spotlight as much as possible to try to increase shape the debate and increase public support for the Bosnia mission. "They're going be throwing these guys out a lot in the next few weeks," he says.