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If the warring parties do not show up at the bargaining table, or if they fail to agree, NATO swears it will bomb. But for how long, and where? Milosevic might assume the role of Saddam of Serbia, gritting through attacks on his security forces and emerging to claim a victim's victory. Or this could be an out for Milosevic. Although the insurrection is nothing but trouble for his sanction-strapped country, he can't just hand Kosovo over. But he may welcome the chance to be forcibly shorn of it and blame NATO. If the Albanians unilaterally block a deal, the U.S. warns there will be no air strikes on the Serbs and no Western intervention on the ground.
Success at Rambouillet, if it comes, will carry a surprise for most Americans. Clinton still has to convince the nation that it's a good idea to provide up to a third of the peacekeeping force, estimated at 25,000, for an open-ended and risky mission. In Bosnia, U.S. forces were to be out in a year, but 6,900 are still on the ground after three years. This time three years will be the minimum. Some senior Republicans, including Bob Dole, are for it. John Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, says that since a U.S. general commands NATO, American troops should take part in its efforts "wherever it will be in the world." When you're the sole surviving superpower, that's the price you have to pay.
--Reported by Massimo Calabresi/Pristina, Mark Thompson/Washington and Douglas Waller with Albright