
====================================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CEHL0775 Date: 10/13/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 05:12pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 5 times)
Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE

The cease-fire began at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

Germany said Wednesday that it would send up to 5,000 personnel to join a
N.A.T.O. force in the Balkans. Remaining reluctant to deploy forces abroad
though, most would be from logistics and transport units. (Alan Cowell and
Kit R. Roane/N.Y.T.)

===================================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CEHL2823 Date: 10/13/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 05:47pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 5 times)
Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE

14 violations of the cease-fire were reported yesterday. Two were in
Sarajevo, two in central Bosnia, and 10 in Doboj. All were explosions.
Fighting is reported as the Bosnian Government presses attacks on Prijedor
and Sanski Most. (Mike O'Connor/N.Y.T.)

=================================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CEIG2704 Date: 10/14/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 12:45pm
/\To: ALL                                                 (Read 12 times)
Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE

A Federal appeals court in New York yesterday said that the leader of the
Bosnian Serbs can be sued in the United States for war crimes. The ruling
means two class-action lawsuits brought by Bosnian women seeking millions
of dollars in damages for rape, torture, and genocide will go forward.

Bosnian Government troops are continuing an offensive despite the
cease-fire. Forces of Bosnia and Croatia are advancing from Sanski Most
towards Prijedor. Bosnian Serbs have threatened to withdraw from peace
talks unless Bosnia and Croatia halt the offensive. They have also called
for N.A.T.O. air strikes. Bosnian Serbs say that two towns about 12 miles
south of Banja Luka have been evacuated and one is on fire. The United
Nations estimates that 40,000 civilians have fled Prijedor as Bosnia and
Croatia advance. The United Nations also says Bosnian Serbs have driven
7,000 Muslims and Croats from around Banja Luka.

One brigade commander in the Bosnian Army said that his forces were not
attacking Bosnian Serbs, but were making "defensive advances" because they
were being provoked by the Bosnian Serbs. (Chris Hedges/N.Y.T.)

=================================================================
======== 

The Economist  

October 14, 1995



NEXT STEPS IN BOSNIA 

From here to peace is still a long way



   On October 12th Bosnia's warring parties accepted a
ceasefire, and  hopes that Bosnia's nightmare may soon be over
began to revive. In  places, fighting continued; this truce may
quickly collapse, just as  its many predecessors did. But
whatever happens over the next few  days, things have changed.
Bosnia's Muslims, Serbs and Croats are  war-weary; the current
territorial division corresponds, roughly, to  a plausible peace
settlement; and President Clinton has made a priority  of ending
the war. The prospects for a Bosnian peace look better than they
have since the war began three and a half years ago.       If
the truce can be made to hold, the next task is no less
daunting:  to bridge the yawning gap between ceasefire and
durable peace settlement.  Bosnia's factions have yet to agree
on who gets which bits of the map.  For instance, the
mainly-Muslim government wants all of Sarajevo, whereas  the
Bosnian Serbs would divide it. And, although all parties have 
accepted the outline of a new Bosnian constitution, it is
unclear how it will work in practice -- what joint structures
will connect the  Muslim-Croat and the Serb parts of Bosnia, and
what links those parts  will have with Croatia and Serbia,
respectively.       These are matters for the peace talks due in
Washington at the end of  the month. If the talks go ahead, and
if they manage to produce a  settlement, the difficulties
continue: for any agreement will need  policing. In Brussels
this week, NATO drew up plans for an implementation  force that
would move into Bosnia as soon as a deal was signed. NATO wants 
to send some 60,000 heavily-armed troops, including 25,000
Americans and  (if a way can be found of integrating them into
its command structures)  some Russians.       Without American
troops, the Bosnian peace-keeping force would lack  backbone and
credibility. Yet American participation is far from certain. 
President Clinton's Republican rivals, led by Bob Dole, have
joined  America's isolationists to oppose the sending of troops.
They know that a  successful, American-sponsored peace in Bosnia
would boost President  Clinton's chances of re-election. Senator
Dole continues to argue that America should support the Bosnian
government by providing arms and air  strikes. That is a recipe
for prolonging the war, and it ignores the  diplomatic progress
of recent months. Even without Congressional  approval, the
president might consider sending troops. But that would  force
Mr Clinton to take several billion dollars from other parts of
the  defence budget, and would entail great political risks.

   William Perry, America's defence secretary, has said that an
American  refusal to join the implementation force would be the
end Of NATO. He may  well be right. American leadership over the
past two months has moved  Bosnia towards peace. An America that
turns away from the formidable  task that remains would
undermine both the alliance and its right to lead  it. The
administration needs to maintain its intense involvement in the
peace process -- persuading all parties to respect the
ceasefire,  twisting arms to get compromises in the peace talks,
helping the Russians  to play a constructive role and leading
NATO into its first-ever ground  operation. If, having brokered
a peace, America shirks the military  burden of implementing it,
its efforts will have been in vain.



=================================================================
======== 

The Economist  

October 14, 1995



ABSENCE OF WAR



    Two days late, at a minute past midnight on October 12th,
Bosnia's  warring factions agreed to a 60-day ceasefire. The
Bosnian government  had earlier refused to comply because its
condition for the ceasefire had  been the restoration of
utilities to Sarajevo, and there was no gas. When  the Russians,
who control the gas, turned on the taps, the government then 
complained that Sarajevo had only 20 megawatts of electricity, a
fraction  of its needs. There could be no ceasefire, it said,
until there was a bit  more power.       No doubt the government
stalled because it needed more time to secure  its hold on
Mrkonjic Grad and Sanski Most, two towns that its mainly  Muslim
forces and their Croat allies were in the process of seizing
from  the Bosnian Serbs. The government had been losing ground
in northwest Bosnia until its Croatian allies returned to the
fray and swung the  balance against the Bosnian Serbs again. The
Bosnians and Croats now  control the main road from Bihac to
Sarajevo. About 40,000 Serb refugees  have fled towards Banja
Luka, the Bosnian Serb military headquarters.       But the
Bosnian government was not alone in putting the ceasefire at 
risk. On October 8th and 9th the Serbs shelled Tuzia, in
northeast Bosnia.  The two dozen dead included many children in
a refugee camp and a  Norwegian peacekeeper. The government said
it would boycott the ceasefire  unless the UN reacted. The UN
did respond -- ostensibly to protect its  peacekeepers -- by
calling on NATO airpower. American aircraft destroyed  a Bosnian
Serb bunker.       While government troops advanced, Bosnian
Serbs continued their ethnic cleansing in the region around
Banja Luka. About half a million Muslims  and Croats lived there
before the war; now there are fewer than 20,000.  Paramilitaries
led by Zeljko Raznjatovic, also known as Arkan, have been 
cutting the numbers. This week they forced out 4,000 old people,
women and children, shooting a number of their menfolk. The UN
believes most  of the younger men have been put in concentration
camps.       None of this has distracted America's diplomats
from their labours.  The governments of Bosnia, Croatia and
Serbia will meet in Washington on  October 31st, supposedly to
conclude a settlement. All being well, an  "implementation
conference", to sort out the details of rebuilding Bosnia, will
follow in London. Those invited will include the warring
parties,  the great powers, nations giving troops or money,
international financial  bodies, the United Nations, NATO, the
OSCE, the European Union and Uncle  Tom Cobbleigh.       At the
same time NATO will deploy 60,000 well-armed troops, to be known
 by yet another set of initials, IFOR (implementation force).
The stronger  the force, it is reckoned, the less resistance it
will meet and the sooner  it can leave. The NATO army will move
into Bosnia through Croatia and  Serbia, take in some of the
existing UN troops, and stay no longer than  12 months.      
NATO insists that IFOR's mission should be narrowly military -- 
policing the zones between armies, punishing ceasefire
violations and  providing security for humanitarian agencies --
lest it be drawn into  political disputes that might prevent its
departure. A UN "high  representative" will coordinate civil
affairs in Bosnia, though he or she  will have no say in
military operations. In the meantime, the UN is  replacing
Yasushi Akashi, its hapless envoy in former Yugoslavia, with 
Kofi Annan, the head of peacekeeping and one of the
organisation's ablest officials.                The headquarters
of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, a mobile,  multinational,
NATO force led by Britain's Lieutenant-General Michael  Walker,
will run IFOR from Tomislavograd. The French are not formally 
part of this corps headquarters but will provide General Walker
with a  deputy and other staff officers. General Walker will
report to Admiral Leighton Smith, the American commander Of
NATO'S southern European region, who will be based in Zagreb.   
   Slotting the Russians into all this is proving difficult. The
NATO  countries want the Russians to be included, because they
would be useful  in Bosnia, where the Serbs trust them, and
because it might persuade Russia that NATO is not an
anti-Russian alliance. But NATO insists that,  for the sake of
efficiency, it must run the show, and Russia does not  want its
troops under NATO command. There is talk of installing a 
Russian general at the alliance's military headquarters in
Belgium, and  of adding Russian liaison officers further down
the chain of command.  Another idea is to give the Russians
non-fighting tasks, such as  bridge-building and mine-clearance.
      It sounds hard. Yet putting IFOR together and getting a
ceasefire may  come to appear easy, compared with the
negotiation and enforcement of a  workable peace.



=================================================================
=========    

The Economist    

October 14, 1995



FREE WILLY



   NATO's diminuative secretary-general has the tenacity of a
limpet.   Eralier this year, when allegations linking Willy
Claes to a  bribery scandal almost shook him from his post,
strong American support helped him hold on. But now Belgium's
highest court has recommended to a  parliamentary commission
that Mr. Claes should lose the immunity from prosecution that
Belgian politicians enjoy, and be charged with  "corruption and
forgery". Mr. Cales looked shaken and, although he  continued to
deny any wrongdoing, his grip may be slipping.

   In 1988, when Mr. Claes was belgium's economics minister, an
Italian company, Agusta, sold Belgium 46 helicopters worth BFrl2
billion ($323m).   Agusta is said to have paid BFr5lm to the
Flemish Socialist Party, of  which Mr Claes is a prominent
member. Mr Claes had been involved in the  negotiation of the
helicopter contract, yet he assured NATO's ambassadors  last
February that he had known nothing about the money given to his 
party.  But when other senior Socialists said that Mr Claes had
known,  his memory cleared: he admitted remembering talk of the
Agusta payment.         The parliamentary commission is now
mulling over a report covering not  only the Agusta affair but
also allegations of payments by Dassault to win  a contract for
improving F-16 fighters.  When the commission has  questioned Mr
Claes -- as it is due to do on October 13th -- it will have 
three choices.  It may recommend to parliament that the case be
dropped  for lack of evidence; Mr Claes could then relax. Or it
may agree with the  court that Mr Claes's immunity should be
lifted, so that he can be  charged; he would probably resign. 
Or it may say that, while there is  not enough evidence to
prosecute, the court should continue its inquiries;  Mr Claes
would then probably try to soldier on.         For the time
being he is surviving on the support of NATO's  ambassadors, who
run the political side of the alliance.  They think he  is an
efficient technocrat who reads his dossiers.  Their opinion of
him  rose during the summer's Bosnian crises.  "We've all been
impressed by  his judgment during difficult, late-night
negotiations, and he deserves  some of the credit for the
success of NATO'S operations," says one.  "He  has reflected
well the views of the various members, and provided firm and 
clear guidance to both the military committee and the commanders
in the  theatre."         Mr Claes's other advantage is that
NATO has not thought seriously about  who might replace him. 
Most of those talked about probably do not want the  job. Volker
Ruhe, Germany's defence minister, would prefer to be Helmut 
Kohl's successor. David Owen, a former British foreign secretary
and  Bosnian peace envoy, might like the job but many Americans
think he has  been too pro-Serb. Ruud Lubbers, a former Dutch
prime minister who wanted  to be president of the European
Commission, would be a strong contender-- if he wished. Perhaps
the most obvious replacement would be Uffe              
Ellemann-Jensen, the leader of Denmark's opposition Liberal
Party, and  formerly an effective and witty foreign minister. He
at least has shown  interest.                           

   The longer a cloud hangs over Mr Claes, the weaker he
becomes. NATO's  governments will wonder how well he can do his
job if he has to spend time  fighting a corruption charge. The
secretary-general of a NATO on the brink  of sending a
peacekeeping force to Bosnia is a prominent man. The alliance 
will suffer if he remains tainted by scandal. Many of its senior
officials believe that, unless Belgium's parliament clears Mr.
Claes soon, he  should, for NATO's good, go.

=================================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CEJI0687 Date: 10/15/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 02:11pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 3 times)
Subj: CLAES MAY RESIGN

N.A.T.O. Secretary General Willy Claes said yesterday that he is
considering resigning, after a Belgian parliamentary commission decided
yesterday to recommend that the Supreme Court indict him in a military
kickback scandal. The next step is a vote Thursday in Parliament on
whether to lift his immunity.

Informal discussions are underway on a successor. People mentioned for the
post include Ruud Lubbers, a former Dutch Prime Minister who ran
unsuccessfully for the presidency of the E.U. Executive Commission last
year; Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, a former Danish Prime Minister; Douglas Hurd,
who resigned as British Foreign Secretary this year; and Lord Owen, former
British Foreign Secretary David Owen, who was the E.U. mediator for the
former Yugoslavia until last year. (Craig R. Whitney/N.Y.T.)

=================================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CEJK0513 Date: 10/15/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 04:08pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 1 times)
Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE

Fighting in northwestern Bosnia appeared to have subsided yesterday. The
Bosnian Government said it halted its operations after indications that
Serbia was preparing to intervene. Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Sliajdzic
told the United Nations commander in Bosnia, LT GEN Rupert Smith, British
Army, that large numbers of weapons and troops crossed into Bosnia in
recent days from Serbia. Bosnian Government troops now appear to be
digging in to defend recent gains.

U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff GEN John M.C. Shalikashvili,
U.S. Army, met with Bosnian Government officials in Sarajevo yesterday,
and told them that N.A.T.O. air strikes remain an option to enforce the
cease-fire. He said it will take N.A.T.O. at least two more weeks to
determine the size of the force to be sent into the region once a peace
accord is signed.

50,000 Serbian refugees are on the roads towards Banja Luka according to
the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red
Cross/Crescent. About 25,000 are in Omarska. (Chris Hedges/N.Y.T.)

==================================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CEKK0057 Date: 10/16/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 04:00pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 2 times)
Subj: GREECE LIFTS EMBARGO ON MACEDONIA

Greece yesterday lifted the embargo against Macedonia, which was started
in February, 1994. (Reuters/N.Y.T.)

==================================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CEKK0316 Date: 10/16/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 04:05pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 0 times)
Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE

Residents of Sanski Most said yesterday that before the Bosnian Government
captured the town last week, Bosnian Serbs killed or captured as many as
500 civilian men. The mayor says that the bodies of 86 men have been found
so far. (Mike O'Connor/N.Y.T.)

==================================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CELM1255 Date: 10/17/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 06:20pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 9 times)
Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE

United Nations officials said yesterday that about 2,500 Croatian Army
troops previously based on the Adriatic have moved toward eastern
Slavonia, the last area of Serb occupied Croatia. The force includes the
Tiger Brigade, an elite unit that spearheaded the attack on the Krajina in
August. Sections of a mechanized unit, with some 30 M.B.T.s and armor, is
now within 12 miles of eastern Slavonia. The leadership in eastern
Slavonia has called for a general mobilization, closed schools, and told
the 14,000 residents to expect an attack. Croatia has fortified the area
between Croatia and eastern Slavonia in preparation for artillery attacks,
with sand bags, cement blocks, and bricks now surrounding most buildings.
A Croatian attack risks bringing in Yugoslav Federation troops to the
area.

The leader of the Bosnian Serb assembly, Momcilo Krajisnik, dismissed four
generals yesterday "because of bad defense" and "passive" attitudes. With
battlefield losses and a new refugee crisis, he apparently tried to assign
blame and maintain his power. Those dismissed are: Deputy Commander GEN
Milan Gvero; Military Intelligence Chief GEN Zdravko Tolimir; and two
local commanders in northwestern Bosnia. The nominal Bosnian Serb Prime
Minister, Dusan Kozic, was also replaced. (A.P. and Chris Hedges/N.Y.T.)

======================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CEMJ2198 Date: 10/18/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 03:36pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 11 times)
Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE

N.A.T.O.'s top commander, GEN George A. Joulwan, said yesterday that
Bosnian Serbs have rebuilt some air defenses destroyed by N.A.T.O. in
August.

U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Secretary of Defense William
J. Perry, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff GEN John M.C.
Shalikashvili spoke before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday.
Regarding sending U.S. troops as part of the N.A.T.O. force going to
Bosnia, they said that the force would not stay more than a year, cost the
United States about $1.5 billion, and will require activation of 2,000 to
3,000 reserves. The force would only keep warring factions apart, while
refugees and relief would be handled by the United Nations or civilian
groups. Also debated was the on-going question of Congress's role in
approving overseas operations and the War Powers Act. (Eric

==========================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CENQ1378 Date: 10/19/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 09:22pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 1 times)
Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE

Two French Air Force pilots shot down over Bosnia have been kidnapped and
their whereabouts are unknown, the Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic,
said yesterday. He said the pilots were taken from a hospital where they
were being treated by criminals hoping for a ransom or Bosnian Government
forces. He says he has ordered an investigation. The pilots' Mirage 2000 D
was shot down Aug. 30 over Pale.

For the first time in two years, an aid convoy reached Gorazde from
Sarajevo yesterday, without interference from Serbian forces.

The talks to be held in the United States at the end of the month will be
at Wright-Patterson A.F.B., Ohio. (A.P. and Roger Cohen/N.Y.T.)

==================================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CEPH2773 Date: 10/20/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 01:46pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 8 times)
Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE

Croatian President Franjo Tudjman told U.S. Assistant Secretary of State
Richard C. Holbrooke yesterday that his army would not attack Serbian held
eastern Slavonia before peace talks begin Oct. 31.

Two senior Western officials said yesterday that they had evidence that
thousands of Muslim men and boys may have been killed by Bosnian Serbs
over the last week near Banja Luka. Some may be working as forced labor.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights John Shattuck said
yesterday that at least 2,000 of 6,200 refugees in Zenica have family
members, mostly draft age males, who are missing. Shattuck said he also
had reports that over 100 people were killed when they refused to leave
their homes in Bosanski Novi, several hundred were reported killed in a
cement factory in Sanski Most, and four retarded people were killed in a
village. He said that there were also reports that Bosnian Serbs had
reopened detention camps, including Keraterm, used earlier in the war.
(Chris Hedges/N.Y.T.)

                            [OMRI Daily Digest]



                              Vol. 1, No. 205

                              20 October 1995



TUDJMAN PROMISES NO ATTACK ON EASTERN SLAVONIA. International
media on 19

October reported that Croatian President Franjo Tudjman told
U.S. envoy

Richard Holbrooke that he would seek the return of eastern
Slavonia by

peaceful means. Slobodna Dalmacija the following day noted,
however, that

Croatia reserves the right to use whatever means necessary to
recover the

last Serb-held area on its territory if talks prove useless.
Washington,

Bonn, and London have repeatedly threatened Zagreb with
sanctions and with

restrictions on access to Western institutions should force be
used.

Croatian Television on 17 October ran footage from rebel Serbian
TV in

Vukovar, which included the message: "Brother Serbs! The moment
for the

final reckoning with the Ustashe [pejorative for Croats] has
come! We will

free this Serbian land. We have enough weapons. . . . We will
fight to the

end . . . and win!" -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.



WAR CRIMES UPDATE. Hina on 18 October carried a statement from
Croatian

Interior Minister Ivan Jarnjak, who reported on investigations
of murders

of Serbian civilians in the former Krajina. Some 25 suspects
have been

arrested, including persons with police records. The minister
said they are

"just vultures." Novi list on 20 October reported that the Serbs
held 350

Muslims from Bosanski Novi for five days without food or water
in a bus

depot before expelling them. The Serbs also murdered about 100
local

Muslims who had refused to leave their homes. The International
Herald

Tribune added that Western diplomats report that some 2,000
Muslim men are

still unaccounted for in northern Bosnia and that it is feared
they have

been killed or are about to be. The U.S. State Department has
"gathered

evidence of widespread killings of civilians by Serbian forces"
in the area

recently. -- Patrick Moore, OMRI, Inc.



FRENCH UNIMPRESSED WITH KARADZIC'S STORY ON PILOTS. Paris
continues to

reject Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic's claim that the two
downed

French airmen have been kidnapped by mysterious abductors.
French and

international media quote officials as saying that they suspect
the pilots

have been killed. Meanwhile in Sarajevo, French troops detained
EU mediator

Carl Bildt at the Sarajevo airport. The furious Bildt screamed
"this is

absolutely intolerable" when he was finally allowed to leave the
dugout,

the International Herald Tribune said on 20 October. Bildt has
been tipped

to replace outgoing UN mediator Yasushi Akashi. -- Patrick
Moore, OMRI,

Inc.



BELGRADE AUTHORITIES BAN SERBIAN RADICAL PARTY RALLY. The
Serbian Interior

Ministry has issued a ban on a Serbian Radical Party (SRS) rally
scheduled

for 20 October, Nasa Borba reported. Vladimir Zhirinovsky,
leader of the

Russian Liberal-Democratic Party, was expected to take part in
the rally.

SRS party leader and accused war criminal Vojislav Seselj on 18
October

told BETA that the meeting "would be held at all costs." Nasa
Borba

reported on 20 October that he announced a "walk down the
Belgrade streets"

as a demonstration of "national dissatisfaction with the current
regime."

Seselj and Zhirinovsky also have meetings scheduled for the
following day

with the Bosnian Serb and Croatian Serb leaders Radovan
Karadzic, Momcilo

Krajisnik, and Milan Martic. -- Daria Sito Sucic, OMRI, Inc.



SERBIAN AUTHORITIES TO RENEW ATTACK ON INDEPENDENT MEDIA? BETA
on 19

October reported that Belgrade's Center for Anti-War Action has
warned that

a renewed regime attack on independent media in the rump
Yugoslavia may be

in the offing. According to the report, the likeliest targets of
any

renewed campaign are small local media voices. BETA reports that
the editor

of Borskih novina recently received a six-month prison sentence
for

publishing an unflattering caricature of several political
leaders from the

former Yugoslavia. It suggests that other editors may be subject
to the

same treatment. -- Stan Markotich, OMRI, Inc.



GLIGOROV LEAVES HOSPITAL. Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov was
released

from hospital on 18 October and is now continuing his
recuperation at home,

the Bulgarian daily 24 chasa reported on 20 October, citing the
independent

Macedonian TV station A1. Gligorov's doctors said his condition
is stable

and good and that he has not completely lost vision of his right
eye, as

stated earlier. It was also reported that Gligorov did not meet
with

outgoing UN Special Envoy for the former Yugoslavia Yasushi
Akashi.

Instead, Akashi met with Gligorov's wife, Nada. -- Stefan
Krause, OMRI,

Inc.





==================================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CEQI2449 Date: 10/21/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 02:40pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 0 times)
Subj: N.A.T.O. SECRETARY GENERAL RESIGNS

N.A.T.O. Secretary General Willy Claes resigned yesterday, after the
Belgian Parliament on Thursday voted to lift his immunity. He proclaimed
his innocence, and called the situation "political murder."

The search for a successor has moved into high gear. Former British
Foreign Minister Douglas Hurd said yesterday he is not interested, having
recently taken a position with the National Westminster Bank in London.
Current British Foreign Minister Malcolm Rifkind, formerly defense
minister, has been mentioned. German Defense Minister Volker Ruhe ruled
himself out yesterday, and Chancellor Helmut Kohl says no German candidate
is available. No U.S. citizen has held the position since 1949, since U.S.
personnel have always held its top military posts. France and Spain are
unlikely, as they are not full members of the military structure.

Former Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers is still in the running, but Kohl
vetoed him last year as the head of the E.U. Executive Commission because
of his less than enthusiastic attitude toward German unification. N.A.T.O.
chooses its leaders by consensus.

Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland has been mentioned, but
Norway is neither an E.U. nor W.E.U. member, likely ruling her out.

The most likely candidate, then, is former Danish Foreign Minister Uffe
Ellemann-Jensen. Not only does he want the job, but he has not been
vocally critical of France's resumption of nuclear weapons testing, making
him a compromise candidate acceptable to France.

The Belgain vote Thursday was 97 to 52.

Sergio Balanzino has been named Acting Secretary General. He was Claes's
Italian deputy. (Craig R. Whitney/N.Y.T.)

=================================================================
====

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CERI0123
Date: 10/22/95 From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                     
          Time: 02:02pm \/To: ALL                               
                 (Read 4 times) Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE

France gave its backing yesterday to a Russian demand for a
peacekeeping role in Bosnia separate from N.A.T.O.'s after a
peace settlement is reached. The announcement came after two
days of talks in Paris between French President Jacques Chirac
and Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin. The two also agreed to
meet in Moscow next year to discuss peacekeeping issues.

Egypt's largest Islamic militant group claimed responsibility
yesterday for a bomb attack on a Croatian police station Friday,
and said attacks would continue unless Croatia frees the groups
spokesman. The Islamic Group claimed responsibility in a fax to
a news organization in Cairo for the bomb in Rijeka that killed
one person and injured 29. Croatia is holding Talaat Kassem,
their spokesman, who was on his way to Bosnia for research on a
book when he was detained in Zagreb on Sept. 12. Croatia says he
left the country between Sept. 14 and 18. The Islamic Group is
suspected of at least two assassination attempts on Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak. (Reuters and Craig R. Whitney/N.Y.T.)



=================================================================
==== FIGHTING QUIETS DOWN,  LIFE PICKS UP IN BOSNIA  Milwaukee
Journal-Sentinel October 22, 1995

   Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina - Guns fell silent throughout
Bosnia  Saturday in the quietest day since a nationwide
ceasefire began Oct. 12,  U.N. officials said.

   Calm was reported even on Bosnia's northwestern battleground,
where  fighting had continued despite the truce as allied
Bosnian government and Croat forces advanced toward the Bosnian
Serb stronghold of Banja Luka.       "The ceasefire is holding
very well," said Maj. Myriam Sochacki a U.N.  spokeswoman.      
So well, in fact, that Sarajevans were able to enjoy a rare
treat of  peacetime normalcy: the first outdoor sporting event
in Sarajevo since  March 1994.       "It is great to be able to
come here and watch a game after all this    time. Maybe the war
is really coming to an end," 50-year-old Sefko Terzic  said as
soccer clubs from Sarajevo and Tuzla squared off at Kosevo
Stadium as part of Bosnia's national championships.       Though
the final score was an unexciting 1-0, that was OK. There was no
 shelling or shooting from Serb sniper positions visible from
the stands.       "I don't care that the game is not a great
one," said Alen Muslic, a  29-year-old soldier. "I just enjoy
sitting here and not being shot at."       Saturday's calm also
allowed an exchange of detainees between Bosnian  government and
Serb forces at Sarajevo's airport. Two Turkish journalists,  two
Saudi aid workers and a respected Bosnian writer, all held by
the  Serbs, were among those released.       Also Saturday,
France gave its backing to a Russian demand for a  peacekeeping
role in Bosnia separate from NATO's after a settlement is 
reached there.       Yeltsin said that Russian troops would "in
no case" take part in  peacekeeping operations under NATO
command. "We will of course  coordinate with each other," he
said, "so that everything goes smoothly."

=================================================================
==== CLINTON NOT BOUND ON TROOPS  Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
October 22, 1995

   Cedar   Rapids, Iowa - The White House said Saturday that
President  Clinton's pledge to "request an expression of support
by Congress" before  sending U.S. troops to police a peace
accord in Bosnia was meant to reassure skeptical lawmakers that
he would seek to involve them, but not  that he would bind
himself to their approval.       In a letter Thursday to Sen.
Robert Byrd of West Virginia, the Senate's  senior Democrat and
a staunch defender of congressional prerogatives,  Clinton
wrote, "While maintaining the constitutional authorities of the
presidency, I would welcome, encourage and, at the appropriate
time,  request an expression of support by Congress promptly
after a peace  agreement is reached."       Members of both
parties in Congress have warned the administration that  it
would be a grave mistake to commit U.S. troops without
congressional backing, and Clinton has said repeatedly that he
would like such support.

   But White House aides said Saturday that Clinton was not
surrendering  any of his authority under the War Powers
Resolution to send troops abroad without congressional approval.

   In an elaborate ritual of incremental linguistic advances, 
administration officials said that Clinton's use of the word
"request" was  meant to acknowledge congressional prerogatives
without giving up any of  his own.       Officials traveling
with Clinton for the dedication of a museum of  Czech and Slovak
heritage here Saturday said the president probably would  seek a
resolution of support from Congress similar to the one President
 George Bush sought on the eve of the Persian Gulf War.

=================================================================
==== MISSING FRENCH PILOTS REPORTEDLY HELD BY SERBS  Milwaukee
Journal-Sentinel October 22, 1995

   Two French pilots shot down over Bosnia and reported
kidnapped are  being held by forces loyal to Serbian President
Slobodan Milosevic, The Sunday Times reported.

   Early editions of the newspaper quoted sources close to the
Yugoslav army saying the Frenchmen had been taken to the
Belgrade area.

   The Sunday Times said there were unconfirmed reports that
money and other concessions were being demanded in exchange for
the pilots' release.

   The report could not be independently confirmed. Officials in
Belgrade, the Serbian capital, could not be reached for comment.

========================================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CETM1919 Date: 10/24/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 06:31pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 10 times)
Subj: CLINTON AND YELTSIN MEET

President Clinton and Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin met at the estate
of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Hyde Park, N.Y., yesterday.
The two agreed that Russian forces will participate in peacekeeping
operations in the former Yugoslavia, and directed Secretary of Defense
William J. Perry and Defense Minister GEN Pavel S. Grachev to work out how
this will be done. Speaking at the United Nations Sunday, Yeltsin said
Russia would join a force in the area only under a mandate from the U.N.
Security Council and outside N.A.T.O. command.

They also agreed to push for ratification of the START II nuclear weapons
reduction treaty, to work towards a comprehensive nuclear weapons test ban
next year, and strengthen cooperation of safeguarding nuclear materials in
Russia. Yeltsin also thanked the United States for showing a willingness
to compromise on provisions of the 1990 C.F.E. treaty. Administration
officials said that no formal deal was reached, but that Russia had
forwarded their reply to a N.A.T.O. compromise proposal. (Alison
Mitchell/N.Y.T.)

=====================================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CEUJ3487 Date: 10/25/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 03:58pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 12 times)
Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE

Croatian President Franjo Tudjman said yesterday in New York that Croatia
would retake eastern Slavonia by force if it is not returned to Croatia by
negotiations by the end of November. He said negotiations with Bosnian
Serbs were "close to a solution" but said that his patience was running
out. Tudjman said that he would wait until peace talks were over and the
U.N. mandate for peacekeeping forces in the area expired, and then would
order an attack. He estimated the operation would capture the area in
"some days."

A senior Administration offical said yesterday that the Bosnian Serbs have
agreed in principal to return the area, but timing and measures to protect
civilians have not been solved.

Bosnian Muslim and Croatian leaders pledged yesterday to quickly implement
a joint federation government in the half of Bosnia that they expect to
control. They agreed verbally to cooperate on running city halls, regional
legislatures, and a broader federation government by December. The
federation's Muslim vice president, Ejup Ganic, said the Croats also
pledged to dismantle Herzeg-Bosna, a de facto local administration in
Croatian-held areas of Bosnia, after the joint federation starts running
services. The pledges came at a one day meeting of Bosnian Muslims and
Croats, representatives of 26 countries, and 12 international
organizations likely to provide aid, in Madrid, Spain. (Elaine
Sciolino/N.Y.T.)

===============================================================

TODAY'S ISSUES==> TOPIC: MILITARY & ARMS      Ref: CEVN0488 Date: 10/26/95
From: STEVE SCHULTZ (Leader)                                Time: 07:08pm
\/To: ALL                                                 (Read 10 times)
Subj: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA UPDATE

In their meeting Monday, President Clinton and Russian President Boris N.
Yeltsin agreed that up to 2,000 Russian personnel may carry out support
missions in Bosnia, separate from the N.A.T.O. force.

The United States has delayed by one day the meeting of the presidents of
Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia, to allow them to meet Yeltsin in Moscow on
Oct. 31. The talks at Wright-Patterson A.F.B., Ohio, will begin the next
day. (Elaine Sciolino/N.Y.T.)

==========================================================================
BOSNIA HAS PITFALLS APLENTY FOR U.S. FORCE

By William Matthews
Army Times
October 30, 1995

   WASHINGTON - If U.S. troops are sent to Bosnia, they will face a host 
of dangers, from gun-toting farmers and unmarked minefields to treacherous 
roads and menacing bands of local "irregular" troops.
   
   American forces will go expecting to be attacked. And no one will be 
surprised if some Americans are killed.

   "This will not be without risks. It will not be without costs," 
Defense Secretary William Perry told the Senate Armed Services Committee 
Oct. 17. U.S. forces "could very well suffer casualties," added Gen.
John Shahkashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
   
   Even though U.S. troops will not go to Bosnia until there is a signed 
peace agreement, military planners here are aware that the 20,000 
Americans they are preparing to contribute to a "peace implementation 
force" will face a wide range of dangers.
   
   The most serious threat may come from renegade "paramilitary troops 
who won't welcome the peace process or U.S. presence" in Bosnia, Perry 
said during a Senate hearing.

Prepared for anything

   U.S. troops must be prepared for bombings, terrorist attacks and other 
assaults by these groups, be said.
   
   Ironically, the threat to American troops may be greater from the 
Bosnian government side -- the side the United States has helped most -- 
than from the Bosnian Serbs, according to an official involved in 
operation planning. The Muslim-led Bosnian government, he said, has less 
control over its troops than do the Bosnian Serbs.
   
   To counter the menace of renegade Bosnian military units, American 
troops will operate under "robust rules of engagement," Shalikashvili 
promised. The rules will permit the use of deadly force in response to 
hostile action or hostile intent, he said.
   
   They will be similar to the rules used in Haiti that permitted a small 
group of Marines at Cap-Haitien to shoot and kill nine Haitian police who 
emerged from a police headquarters and threatened them with weapons, he 
said.

'Meanest dog in town'

   In addition to aggressive rules of engagement, the United States is 
planning to send a formidable force to Bosnia.
   
   "I prefer to go in very heavy," Shalikashvili said. He is planning to 
send a mechanized division, which would include M-1 tanks, Bradley 
fighting vehicles, attack helicopters and artillery as well as infantry
troops.

   The U.S. force "will be the biggest, toughest, meanest dog in town," 
Perry said. "If attacked by anyone, they will bring a large hammer down 
on them quickly."
   
   The yearlong operation is expected to cost $1.5 billion.
   
   In addition to rogue Bosnian troops, U.S. forces will have to be wary 
of the heavily armed Bosnian population.
   
   Shalikashvili said U.S. forces will not attempt to disarm the Bosnian 
people. To do so "would not be fruitful and would be needlessly 
dangerous," he said. The United States may offer to buy weapons and 
will seize any arms caches it finds, he said.

Land mines a major threat
   
   Land mines will pose another threat to American troops. Mines have 
been laid "all over the place" in Bosnia and at least a third of the mine 
fields are believed to be unmarked, said an official involved in planning 
the Bosnia operation.
   
   Auto accidents will be another danger confronting the Americans. 
Bosnian terrain is mountainous, and the roads are narrow and primitive, 
often lacking retaining walls.
   
   Weather may present another problem. The frigid, snowy winters are so 
severe that fighting came   to a virtual halt last winter. Winter would 
complicate a U.S. troop deployment, Shalikashvili conceded. But, he said, 
"we are not a fair-weather force."
   
   A pitfall U.S. officials are determined to avoid in Bosnia is "mission 
creep," Shalikashvili said. The harsh lessons from Somalia are still fresh
in mind. There, U.S. troops were killed when their mission expanded from
ending starvation to hunting down a warlord.

   To prevent mission creep, Shalikashvili declared that U.S. troops will 
not stay in Bosnia for more than a year, and they will not take on tasks 
such as repairing war damage or resettling refugees.
   
   Most importantly, troops in the peace implementation force will not 
participate in arming or training Bosnian government forces, even though 
the United States has pledged to do so, Perry said, adding that the job 
may be left to civilian contractors.

Skepticism on the Hill
   
   Perry's plans for Bosnia were greeted by general skepticism on Capitol 
Hill, where Repubhcans and Democrats challenged the need for greater U.S. 
involvement and questioned whether peace in the Balkans is possible.
   
   The Bosnian people "would rather dig fresh graves than bury old
hatreds," said SSen. William S. Cohen (R-Maine).
                            
   But Perry and Secretary of State Warren Christopher insisted that peace 
is possible, though only through U.S. leadership and last winter. Winter 
would complicate a U.S. military intervention.

   "We are in a position where either the United States will lead and we 
will have an opportunity for peace, or the United States will stand back 
and the situation will fall apart," Christopher said.
 
   Either way, U.S. troops will end up in Bosnia. If peace efforts fail, 
U.S. troops will have to deploy to Bosnia to rescue United Nations 
peacekeeping troops from the ensuing war, he said.

==========================================================================
SPECIALISTS WILL BE TARGETED FOR BOSNIA MISSION

By William Mattews
Army Times
October 30, 1995
    
   WASHINGTON - Reserve troops who load and unload ships and cargo planes, 
provide medical care, purify water, build barracks and briges and speak 
Serbo-Croatian are among those most likely to be ordered to active duty 
for a U.S.-led peace implementation operation in Bonia.
    
   The Defense Department plans to order 2,000 to 3,000 to active duty as 
part of the force of 20,000 troops it is preparing to send to Bosnia to 
keep warring Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian government forces apart.
    
   Gen. John Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told 
Congress that President Clinton will issue a call-up for a variety of 
combat support and combat service support troops for the operation. He 
said troops who move cargo through seaports and airports will be in 
particular demand.

Army Reserve targeted
    
   Officials at the Pentagon said force planners have not identified
specific reserve units that will be ordered to active duty, but many
are expected to come from the Army Reserve.
    
   Under revised call-up authority Congress approved last year, the
president can order reserve troops to active duty for an initial period
of 270 days. Congressional approval is needed to extend call-ups beyond 
that period.
    
   Defense Secretary William Perry said he plans to send U.S. troops to 
Bosnia for a year -- three months longer than the call-up period.
    
   For several years, the military has relied on reservists who have
served voluntarily, chiefly from the Air Force Reserve and the Air
National Guard, to enforce a noflight zone over Bosnia and deliver relief 
supphes to Sarajevo and other areas.

Need is for specialists

   But if the United States sends 20,000 ground troops into Bosnia, the 
Defense Department cannot continue to rely solely on reserve volunteers, 
officials said.
      
   "If we asked for 3,000 volunteers, we would probably get 5,000, but 
they may not be in the specialties we need," a reserve official said. 
But by ordering troops to active duty, the military can be of getting full 
units of the types of troops it needs.
      
   A call-up also assures the military access to troops for an operation 
that may not be very popular, a congressional aide said. "Who the hell 
wants to go to Bosnia in the dead of winter?" he asked
      
   Republicans and Democrats alike question what vital interests require 
the United States to risk the lives of troops in the Balkans.

   There is also concern that reserve troops who have been tapped 
repeatedly for operations in Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
and elsewhere may be unenthusiastic about volunteering for duty in
Bosnia, the aide said.

   According to Pentagon sources, however, many of the reserve troops
ordered to active duty may not go to Bosnia.

   Reserve medical personnel may be ordered to active duty in hospitals in
the United States or Germany to fill in for active-duty medical troops
dispatched to Bosnia. Security troops may be assigned to bases in Italy.
Cargo handling units may work from U.S. ports and air bases.

   But if reserve translators, engineers, psychological operations troops,
intelligence analysts, equipment maintenance specialists and water 
purification personnel are called, it is likely to be for duty in Bosnia.

==========================================================================
RESPONSIBILITY COMES EARLY       

By Jim Tice
Army Times
October 30, 1995
   
   CAMP ABLE SENTRY, Macedonia - Talk to any corporal, sergeant or staff 
sergeant manning the U.S. observation posts along the northern border of 
this newly independent Balkan republic, and you'll be talking to a junior 
leader with responsitities rarely assigned to soldiers of those ranks.
   
   "I know I will never see responsibilities like this again said SSgt. 
James Nowitzke with Alpha Company of igt Armored Division's 3d Battalion, 
12th Infantry Regiment.
    
   "When we trained for the mission, I heard all the hoopla that squad 
leaders would run this, and team leaders would run that, and I didn't 
believe it," Nowitzke said; "But this is reality. If anything goes wrong, 
it's my fault, or it's the team leader's fault. They have placed great 
trust and responsibility in us, and that is a good thing for a leader. 
We couldn't ask for more."
    
   Nowitzke and about 540 other soldiers normally based in Germany are 
assigned to Task Force Able Sentry, the U.S. contribution to an 
1,100-member United Nations Preventive Deployment Force stationed along 
Macedonia's northern border with Serbia, and a portion of its western 
border with Albania.
    
   The United Nations approved the deployment of forces to this former 
Yugoslavian republic in 1992. Out of concern that the fighting in Bosnia, 
Croatia and Serbia would trickle southward, it is the first time the 
United Nations has authorized such a deployment before the outbreak of 
war.

A good job in a sensitive area
   
   A U.N. official said the troops have done a good job of monitoring 
border activities in one of the most politically sensitive regions of the 
world. "The big challenge now is to see how we can help politically. It 
is very difficult for this country to survive at the moment," he said.
    
   The difficulty of that challenge was amplified Oct. 3 when Macedonian 
President Kiro Gligorov was gravely wounded in a car bmnb attack in the 
capital city of Skopje. Gligorov, 78, was viewed as a close ally of the 
United States, and a strong supporter of the U.N. peacekeeping effort in 
his country. The assination attempt came just hours before Gligorov was 
scheduled to visit U.S. forces at observation posts north of Skopje.
    
   No groups have as yet claimed responsibility for the assassination 
attempt. Macedonia, the southernmost republic of the former Yugoslavia 
has tense relations with Greece, and restive minority populations of 
Albanians, Serbs, Turks and other Balkan nationalities.
    
   Task Force Able Sentry is a V Corps responsibility, with infantry 
battalions of the 1st Armored Division and 3d Infantry Division 
(Mechanized) rotating deployments every six months. The other major 
component of the U.N. force is the Nordic Battalion, a multinational task 
force of soldiers from Norway, Sweden and Finland.
    
   For the past 5 1/2 months, the primary unit comprising the U.S. task 
force has been 1st Armored Division's 3d Battalion, 12th Infantry 
Regiment. The unit, called Task Force 3-12, is scheduled to return to its 
home station at Baumholder, Germany, Oct. 31. It will be replaced by the 
3d Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, from
Schweinfurt, Germany.

   The headquarters and main support base for U.S. soldiers in Macedonia 
is Camp Able Sentry, a fenced compound inside Petrovac Airfield, a 
Macedonian military installation just southeast of Skopje.
   
   The task force's area of responsibility is 40 miles wide and 22 miles 
deep. The right side of the line ends at the Bulgarian border, and the 
left side abuts the observaion line manned by the Nordic Battalion north 
and northeast of Skopje.
   
   U.S. troops man 10 observation posts and two company command posts 
along the border. Their mission, according to TF 3-12 spokesman Maj. 
Darrell Bowman, "is to observe, monitor and report any activity along the 
border."
   
   The mission is described by U.S. Army Europe officials as a classic 
stability operation that is a good model for other peacekeeping efforts, 
including the possible deployment of several thousand troops to 
Bosnia-Hercegovina. One of the distinguishing charateristics of stability
operations, these officials say, is the empowerment and increased 
responsibilities of junior nonconunissioned officers. 

   Cpl. Gregg Holland, a team leader with Alpha company, said he feels he 
has as much responsibility as a sergeant or staff sergeant in other units. 
"My main concern, the one above all others," he said, "is the safety of 
the soldiers."
   
   As a team leader, Holland supervises three other soldiers. Their 
mission is to conduct patrols to nearby villages, and U.S. observation 
posts several kilometers away.

   "When we conduct dismounted patrols to the villages, we have a 
Macedonian interpreter with us. The village people normally come out and 
talk to us, and will tell us if there has been any trouble or unusual 
activities," he said.

   Holland said his team constantly sees smuggling activities. "We have 
farmers with donkeys and people with itty-bitty cars trying to take 
something across the border, mainly gasoline. We just watch 'em, wave at 
'em, and they wave back."

In-country training
   
   Before their deployment to Macedonia, the cadre of participating 
bttalions spend a week with their counteparts in country to learn the 
tricks of the trade. They then return to home stations in Germany, and 
prepare a four-week unit training prograin, according to Sgt. Jimmy
Jackson, a tearn leader with A Company. TF 3-12's replacement unit, 
TF 1-15th Infantry, conducted its in-country training in July, he said.
   
   "We patrol by foot, helicopter and Humvee," said Nowitzke. "Normally 
I have my entire nine-man squad and a medic on the OP, and sometimes a 
platoon sergeant or platoon leader. So it varies between 10 and 11 people
on the OPs."
   
   During the six-month tour bere, soldiers wve 21 days at the remote OPs, 
and 21 days back at Camp Able Sentry. During their tune at Able Sentry, 
soldiers provide installation security and force protection, and would 
comprise a quick-reactaon force m the event of trouble along the 
observation line.
    
   Soldiers receive two weeks of leave during the six-month tour, and a 
60-hour pass halfway through the tour, according to Bowman.   They also 
draw hazardous duty pay and separation pay during the deployment.
    
   SSgt. Scott Shoemaker, an OP commander with A Company, said several of 
his soldiers are participating in the Army's civilian education program 
while in Macedonia.
   
   "Video tapes are delivered to soldiers along the line, and they watch 
them at the OPs," he said. "When it's time to take a test, the soldier is 
moved to Camp Able Sentry where the exam is administered by the chaplain 
or the headquarters company executive officer."
   
   Education officials in Germany said that because of the type of duty in 
Macedonia, unit commanders have constantly requested that college courses 
be delivered by video and audio tapes. Soldiers pre-register for the 
courses at home station, and tuition assistance is provided by local
education centers.
   
   The program appears to be quite popular with the soldiers here. Of the 
31 troopers in Shoemaker's platoon, 12 are enrolled for courses.

