United States Department of Defense

STATEMENT BY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE KEN BACON

The United States has no intention of sending ground troops to fight in Kosovo, and the Department of Defense is not doing any planning that would enable such a deployment. As President Clinton has said, the United States would only send ground troops to Kosovo as part of a NATO peacekeeping force after an agreement establishing a ceasefire and requiring disarmament by both parties to the conflict in Kosovo.