Monday, April 5, 1999 -- New York/Washington -- Topic one of the Sunday Pundits -- declaring Clinton's Kosovo policy a failure with little or no regard for the facts. In fact, it was about the only topic. Pols and talking heads alike were prematurely calling for ground troops -- especially the gasbags, because they crave the attention in times of national crisis and actually believe they have an effect on the public.

Anyone else here recall the lemminglike predictions of a GOP "landslide" last November? Anyone care to trust these goofballs to "shape" national policy?

Here's how it played...

Fox News Sunday

Tony Snow's opening voiceover: "A week of war in Kosovo... has American become a weak giant?... has the Christian Right become wrong?"

We'll answer that for you, Tony: no and yes!

Tony Snow's first guest: Vladislav Jovanovic, Yugoslav Ambassador to the UN, who seemed ubiquitous on the Sunday blab circuit. "Do you consider yourself at a state of war?" asked Tony. Yes, said Jovanovic. On the matter of the three American prisoners of war, Jovanovic said that they would be treated in a "civilized" manner. But why did they show up beaten and bruised? Jovanovic said that it could have been for any number of reasons -- the first of a weekend of slippery answers from Jovanovic. On the matter of missile attacks on Belgrade, Jovanovic said it would only serve to "bolster the resolve of Yugoslavia." Jovanovic said that Yugoslavia considers Kosovo part of their land, not another nation, "least of all Albania."

But nobody ever said it was part of Albania -- not even the KLA!

The second guest -- US Ambassador to Macedonia Chris Hill -- was postponed by audio problems, so Tony turned to Sen. Arlen Specter, asking if Trent Lott should call the Senate back to work, and Specter said it was a good idea -- especially with the real possibility that ground troops might be sent into the Kosovo region. Tony asked Sen. Richard Durbin about what to do with ground troops; Durbin said that "Congress must make [the] decision" on combat troops, but supported humanitarian intervention around Kosovo. Tony quoted the President: "We must be patient" with respect to air strikes, and Specter wants to see an easing the refugee crisis and continued bombing, which "has a lot of potential if we step up the pace" -- a pace which continued into Monday morning. So we're going to take a lot of Kosovars, put them on our land, and then fly them back? "We have to be tough as hell," said Specter in response. "It's a long, tough battle and we have to reclaim Kosovo for the ethnic Albanians... What we do with Milosevic is going to reverberate around the war for a long time." Tony picked up on this thread, asking Durbin if we should send in ground troops. Durbin said that Milosevic's "policy of genocide is unacceptable... he will pay the price." Would it be acceptable for Milosevic to keep North Kosovo? Durbin didn't bite, firing again at Milosevic for the refugee crisis. Specter said he would support an emergency allocation of funds to support the efforts to drive Serbs out of Kosovo.

Tony then decided to "dis" low military pay (a theme which would reappear on The McLaughlin Group), saying that "many Spec 4s are on food stamps" -- a new bit of spin the right has come up with to claim we are not paying enough for defense. You'd never hear this crowd emphasize the "service" end of "military service."

Specter said that he feels that we can adequately fund the military and that they got a sizable pay rise -- and that the surplus should be used to pay the national debt. Durbin said that Congress is going to allocate the funds.

Tony finally got Hill's audio, and asked if we were in fact at war. Hill dodged the question, (for the obvious diplomatic reasons, not to mention the fact that NATO is involved), instead detailing the refugee crisis surrounding the Kosovo border. "Our policy has been stated clearly," he added -- something must be done about the Milosevic regime's attempt to redraw the map. "This is 1999, not 1899." Tony raised the question about a "greater Albania," as if it were a threat. Hill said that the real concern is making sure that Kosovars can get home safely -- and that, working around the weather, that air campaign was successful -- and was going to work.

Spots: First Union, the once-great David Brinkley for ADM (Supermarket to PACs and politicians across America), and those intellectually challenging Fox shows (The Simpsons and Futurama).

Tony then welcomed Neo-Nazi presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, asking "is it too late to get out now?" It's a humanitarian disaster with potential for a policy debacle. What a question, what an answer -- you could practically hear these two begging for something, anything to go wrong so they can pin it on Clinton. Brit Hume asked what Buchanan would do if -- Pat called for a "conference of Berlin" to negotiate the situation (we wonder if it would precede or follow a Nuremberg "Go Pat Go" rally), and called for an "Easter halt to the bombing.... I don't know how dropping bridges is going to stop the humanitarian disaster (well, duh, that's not the goal of taking out infrastructure)... Kosovo does not belong to the United States (well, double duh, it doesn't belong to Slobodan either)... Bush cut his losses and ran [in Iraq]... do not compound this felony by deploying ground forces."

Oh, brother -- Pat still trying to paint Clinton as a "felon" because he wants to stop thousands from being slaughtered in Kosovo. Why not just slap on a swastika armband, Pat?

Mara Liasson asked about using helicopters to go after Serb police. "You cannot stop death squads... with air power... reclaiming Kosovo which is not ours is not worth[it]." (Gee, suddenly Pat seems to be an authority on military logistics -- fact is, Apache gunships would turn Kosovo into a living Hell for the Serb police). What about the POWs? Pat said he'd tell Milosevic through back channels that if those men are put on trial, his own life would be in peril. Juan Williams called it assassination, and Pat backpedaled -- but neither of them raised the possibility that the U.S. may already have done that.

Pat blamed both Clinton and Congress for the "lack of coherent policy." Brit again suggested the "cut losses and go home" as Reagan did (but he sure as heck didn't mention the damage this did to U.S. prestige in the Middle East). Pat: "For heaven's sake... [the policy] is failing."

Right, Pat -- air strikes have gone on for just over a week and it's already a failure. If this were, say, August 15, 1944, you'd be complaining that "for Heaven's sake, the Normandy invasion is a failure... thousands of young American lives taken... it's time to cut bait and bring our boys home."

Have Republicans been irresponsible by being silent? Pat praised "Johnny McCain" for his honesty and chastised GOPers in Congress -- "I think they can interrupt their Easter vacation."

Mara brought up the LA Times article that reported that Johnny Chung said he got money from political elements in China (in a manner that spun it against the Democrats and Clinton, naturally). Pat -- surprisingly -- did not address this issue, saying he had not read the report, but raised the specter of Chinese missiles aimed at Taiwan and wants to see economic sanctions against China -- his tried-and-true "Red scare" shtick.

Juan pointed to Bauer, Forbes and Quayle -- why should Pat be in the race? He called Bauer and Forbes "internationalists" as opposed to his "America First" policies.

Pat sure sounds comfortable with his "inner fascist!"

Spots: IBM, Invesco, Fox Sports, and local spots for Oppenheimer Funds (twice!), C-SPAN and OCE.

"It seems appropriate on Easter to discuss the nexus of religion and politics." Tony's two guests -- Cal Thomas and Jesse Jackson. Tony asked if Jackson planned to travel to Belgrade to retrieve the three American soldiers, and Jackson said that while he hasn't made plans, he has been approached by other religious leaders to do so -- and defuse a contentious issue that could escalate fighting. He did not rule it out.

Tony asked Cal, a conservative Christian pundit, about his own view that the religious right had gone too far -- and Thomas said that he had adopted Jackson's view and approach! He said outright that the GOP was using the Religious Right as "a political appendage" -- but anyone with half a brain knows the opposite is true. Thomas relied on much Christian metaphor during the segment, talking of the failure of "ushering in the kingdom of heaven" using political means. And Jackson praised Thomas for his book -- "politics should not make us religious, religion should make us political." He spoke of Martin Luther King Jr. transforming the system to change people's lives. Juan tweaked Jackson for directly entering the political arena, and Jackson talked of his motivation -- humanizing people in the political process. And Thomas added that writing a book with Jackson was a tempting prospect -- though it might put him in a tax bracket he did not want to be in! Even we laughed. Thomas did take a cheap swipe at Clinton: "It's fine to have dinner with the President, but stay out of the bedroom." And Thomas did chastise Jackson for being an "enabler" for Clinton, quoting Maureen Dowd's claim that Jackson talked about the Ten Commandments as "nine other strings on that guitar." Jackson fired back that we have to look at the situation in perspective -- and cited Trent Lott being an "enabler" for the CCC and the KKK.

Score one for Jesse.

Juan asked Jackson about Farrakhan and his health -- do you embrace an anti-Semite? He's a human being in excruciating pain, said Jackson, and he didn't meet with Farrakhan himself but his wife and chief of staff. Farrakhan is in recovery -- and that's a good thing. "A Cal Thomas/Jesse Jackson meeting of the minds would be a healing thing." concluded Jackson.

Now that's something we'd actually like to see.

Spots: Compaq, First Union, Fox Sports. Local spots for Oce, Toyota.

Panel time! Hume: "You would think that Slobodan's soldiers are ten feet tall, that he's the most popular leader the Serbs have ever had and he wants to be bombed, that's simply not true." Nonsense -- this is not the impression most Americans have.

Mara said that the media had not demonized Slobodan as much as Saddam Hussein, and Juan said that the Clinton Administration had "poorly predicted" the outcome of bombing -- "goodness, gracious, this has been a poorly-executed campaign." Oh, please -- after ten days, how the heck would anyone be able to draw ant conclusion? Mara said that Milosevic will have to cede Kosovo -- and a Western force will have to secure Kosovo.

Hume grumpily said that ground troops may be necessary, and that the big Presidential decisions are international -- it is, in fact, "too early to declare this a failure" (though we know he's eager to do just that). Tony mentioned an article citing Kosovar slaughter of Serbs, and Mara pointed out that that was nothing compared with what Serbs have done in Kosovo.

Hume: unless you're willing to say the Balkans are the Balkans, it was inevitable that the U.S. and UN would get involved. Huh? Brit seems to have a problem with stopping outright genocide. Juan whined about "changing goals... it was about ethnic cleansing." Hume -- this time rightly -- pointed out that a changing situation on the ground can change the goals.

Spots: ADM (David Brinkey talking about the tropical forests), IBM, and those Fox shows.

Tony's final thoughts -- on Martin Luther King, who was assassinated 31 years ago today. Tony lauded the "bold, brash" King. At a time when most are trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives, said Tony, King was making a difference. Wow -- another conservative embracing King. Maybe there is some hope for them after all!

This Week

This Week put the focus on the human toll in Kosovo and evidence of ethnic cleansing -- and we were amazed and a bit heartened to see Sam Donaldson, naysayer extraordinaire, emphasizing the humanitarian disaster and not concealing his outrage at what he described as the "first evidence" of ethnic cleansing in Kosovo -- horrifying video footage first broadcast overnight by the BBC and seen by one of our writers on BBC News 24 via the web late Saturday night.

Obviously he had not seen Mac MacArthur's Kosovo Diary on our web site -- he would have had a full day's leg up on the story.

The first guest -- Abadou Alagiyah, a reporter for the BBC, who had obtained video footage smuggled by a Kosovar. Sam warned that the footage was "gruesome," as Alagiyah described the footage, saying that it looked like most of them were shot in the back of the head (giving the lie to the Yugoslav Ambassador's claim of battles with the KLA). Some of the bodies were burned beyond recognition. Alagiyah told the story of the footage -- a man hiding in a ethnic Albanian village took the footage on April 1st, some five days after Serbs had entered the town. It followed a pattern repeated by many refugees -- men of fighting age being rounded up and slaughtered on the pretext of being KLA insurgents. It is, as Alagiyah said, "murder most intimate" -- and the cameraman had seen the killers, many wearing masks, and could identify the victims by name.

Alagiyah talked about the influx of people coming into Albania from Kosovo -- the town from which he reported had seen some 195,000 refugees come through -- a tenth of the Kosovar population!

The second guest -- Milan Bosic, deputy mayor of Belgrade. He said that he had not seen the footage and implied that they were staged: "the issue is not whether it was staged" but the bombing of Belgrade. "Since the beginning of NATO aggression we have not had a problem with refugees... we have about 12,000 refugees... 40,000 Serbian refugees [in the South] but also Albanians, gypsies..."

Have you achieved your purpose, emptying Kosovo of Albanians, asked Cokie? Bosic did not answer, calling Yugoslavia a "victim.... to repeat again, did you look at the atrocities of the war, the bombs falling... in downtown Pristina, what else do you expect? ... The very downtown of Belgrade where the maternity hospital is."

Will asked what the Serb Police's mission was in Kosovo. "Coordinat[ing].... the units, mainly army units are prepared to receive an attack... NATO says they are ready to deploy forces but who knows what will happen?... The KLA is using NATO bombing as cover... We are slowly losing the control of the events down there." He decried bombing on Easter Sunday -- of course, it is NOT Easter in Belgrade today, as it is an Orthodox-dominated city, and Orthodox Easter is next week.

"The army commanders are doing their best to control the situation after this tragic bombings.... [KLA members] are terrorists and will be treated as prisoners of war."

Sam asked about the three Americans -- "if they were mistreated," it would drive American sentiments for stronger actions. "I assure... that their treatment will be above normal conditions... I will assure you that nothing will happen to them." Sam said that as POWs they must not be tried, and Bosic accused Western media of a "malicious" story that they would be tried. Sam said that air strikes are exacting a large cost -- will Slobodan give in? Bosic called Belgrade the "victim" once again: "We are ready to retreat forces -- let us use Easter for such a thing."

The third segment dealt with possible escalation. Senator Charles Robb applauded the introduction of Apache helicopters. Senator Richard Lugar said that we were using a low-risk strategy, but with a low likelihood of success -- we will be left with refugees and a sense of defeat. It is a small but important gesture, he said -- get the Apaches in. What would winning look like, Will asked? Lugar said that the President telling the nation that we were sending in a fighting force and doing it -- that is winning the war, sending in forces and defeating the Serb police.

Robb said that a manpower ratio of 3-to-1 is needed to guarantee victory -- and this would take time. But going in with Warthog jets and Apache helicopters, we have to accept the fact that the degree of risk goes up -- but so does the chance of success. "We have got to do something about the Serbs."

Are we running short of Cruise missiles? Robb said he has asked the same question, and that we have to be "judicious" with the use of one variety of the missile.

Cokie said that Slobodan may be making a deal with an Albanian Kosovar, but Lugar dismissed it. "We have to get on with it. Whatever Milosevic has done is irrelevant." He must be removed. Cokie then said "they [the Administration] have taken ground troops off the table" -- a complete lie. And Robb set her straight. Nothing is off the table, and we run the risk of breaking unity in the alliance, but ground forces send a message that we're serious. Should Congress be called back into session? Congress "tries to be 555 commanders-in-chief" but now need to work with the president and DOD.

Sam said that air power did not win Vietnam, but Robb pointed out that the situation is quite different. Sam kept alluding to this being "another Vietnam," but Lugar gave that notion the lie on two fronts -- this is a NATO operation, and there is substantial diplomacy; he once again said that ground troops are needed.

Lugar should have also pointed out that the combat technology we presently have makes Vietnam look like a 19th-century war with mid-20th-century air cover..

Robb also pointed out that weather has been a factor -- now that there is favorable weather, we are moving -- and we may have to step out ahead of the alliance. We must succeed, he concluded.

Cokie started the roundtable with talk of the war being very "real." Bill Kristol said the President "has to decide whether we are going to win or lose" -- and that means ground troops. Sam said that the goal is sending back Kosovars under armed protections. Will said that NATO went to war to save the Kosovars and their reputation, and both are "suffering badly" -- and that the loose talk of genocide distracts from Milosevic wanting the Kosovars not dead but wandering and shivering.

We think that Will must be completely delusional. Milosevic's mouthpieces are squealing like stuck pigs, and anyone with half a brain can tell that Greater Serbia has taken it on the chin -- not to mention the fact that so-called "loose talk of genocide" is because Slobodan HAS committed genocide. you've got to love the hard-right naysayers parsing the word "genocide" in order not only to 'play down" the crisis but indirectly -- or perhaps directly -- stick up for their soulmate Slobodan.

And Cokie -- bless her for once -- fired back that what Milosevic is doing IS genocide. Will kept insisting that "the subject has been changed to the humanitarian issue."

God forbid such an issue might come up, George. it was shocking -- Will's belittling of genocide exposed his own "inner fascist."

Will also introduced the idea that NATO might invade from the north (Hungary), not the south.

Cokie reflected on the comment of Alagiyah that the cameraman had taken the video so that his son and grandson would remember what the Serbs have done -- perpetuating the cycle of hatred.

Will kept coming back to Serbia "stymieing" NATO, and Cokie characterized it as "Clinton's problem" before the break.

And things got nasty after the break as the gang launched into attacks on Clinton. Cokie looked as if she hated to admit the polls show America supports Clinton. Will said it would last until Clinton does something, and slammed Clinton for golfing and "passing disinformation."

Good grief -- the "disinformation" was no such thing and was an element of Clinton's duties as leader of the free world and the strongest power in NATO. Kristol said for about the fifteenth time that we should send in ground troops -- after all, we're killing people in Belgrade!

Cokie asked if the President has moral authority, and Sam said he's of the opinion that so long as the economy is good, no one will ask. It was the same old song and dance -- tar Clinton as "immoral" and the American people as "amoral." We could bring up the morals of self-righteous opportunistic pit vipers like Sam, Will and Cokie, but we doubt we need to.

The program closed with a montage of ABC footage of Kosovar refugees as three reporters covering the crisis gave their impressions -- Jim Wooten described "the thousand-yard stare" on the faces of people fleeing Kosovo -- "you pull an emotional curtain down so you can cover the story... then the emotion kicks in... I left in tears."

Face the Nation

Gloria Borger and CBS National Security Correspondent David Martin welcomed guest one, Sandy Berger, White House National Security Advisor. The first question concerned the U.S. having agreed to send Apache helicopters into Albania with 2,000 troops. Does this mean that we are beginning a ground war? Sandy said no, and that what it means is that the President has been responsive to the requests from his commanders in the field for additional assets. These helicopters are able to do considerable damage to the Serb forces.

Gloria wondered if this is more dangerous. Sandy said that there are dangers in all aspects of this, but it is something that the military commander believes would be useful and the President feels it is a reasonable request. "Listen, we have to achieve our objectives here. We've got to continue an unrelenting bombing campaign that severely damages the apparatus of military repression of Slobodan Milosevic, so that either he agrees to let these refugees back to live in autonomy and security or, at the very least, that we loosen his grip and his ability to impose his will on Kosovo."

Gloria asked if he is still saying "unequivocally no ground troops." He said they do not believe that invasion force going into Kosovo or Serbia is in the national interest or that it is necessary to achieve our objectives. It would take weeks, if not months, to assemble and there would be casualties. "We have an air campaign supported by our NATO allies. This is not the time to wring our hands. This is the time to... stay the course."

David asked him more than once how long it will take the helicopters before they are actually in position to be used. Sandy replied that it will be done with as much dispatch as possible and, of course, we don't need to tell Milosevic what our timetables are. This may have also been a swipe at one GOP member of the Senate Intelligence Committee who was spouting out Cruise missile numbers earlier in the week while whining about how we are "running out of them."

David asked, "But doesn't that say something about the likely duration of this bombing campaign?" Sandy said, "in the first week, with 40,000 Serb forces amassed in and around Kosovo with 300 tanks, time was on Mr. Milosevic's side. He was able to perpetrate some of the most pernicious evil we've seen in our lifetime. But over the long term, with the overwhelming power of NATO, time is on NATO's side. And if we continue the bombing campaign, and pound away, day after day, night after night, I believe we... will achieve our objectives."

David asked if their worst case scenario included what is happening now. Sandy replied, "having seen what [Milosevic] did in Bosnia, killing 250,000 people, displacing 2 million people, and having seen what he did last year, displacing hundreds of thousands of people into the hills, and with the information that we had that he had a premeditated plan to go forward and drive the KLA and as many Kosovars out of Kosovo as possible, when the peace process broke down and when it was clear that that was his intention, we initiated the bombing. I think the President hoped that we could prevent or deter that assault, but as he said on the night that he talked to the American people, if necessary we will continue until we severely damage his capability."

David: "If you anticipated all this, why weren't you better prepared to handle this flood tide of refugees?"

Sandy dispelled this notion, pointing out that there is enough pre-positioned food in the region to feed half a million people for 30 days, NATO is now flying 747's and 130's into Macedonia on a daily basis, the President spoke with the President of Macedonia yesterday and the European allies are working together trying to relocate some of those refugees out of the region. He said we did prepare as much as we could, but of course anything of this magnitude, of this unspeakable horror is going to create horrible human problems.

Gloria asked if he has any word on what happened to the three American soldiers held captive? He said there is no specific information and reiterated what President Clinton said, that "we hold Mr. Milosevic responsible for their well-being. There was no reason for them to be seized and there is no reason for them to be held." When asked how worried he was about them, he said "we are worried about everyone of our soldiers who are over there. But they are performing magnificently, night after night. I think what we have to do here, and I believe we will do, is stay the course. And one of the things that gives us strength is the will and determination of our NATO allies. We are operating within a coalition of 19 democracies, very diverse but all determined that the first chapter, which should be called "the face of evil," should not be the last chapter, and that Milosevic cannot prevail in what he has done over the last ten days."

Gloria welcomed Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), who is in the Armed Services Committee and who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for 5 years, and asked him whether we should go in and try to get the POW's out.

What?

McCain: "Well, if that's possible. But I would imagine Mr. Milosevic has them pretty well protected and obviously we'll do everything we can to bring them back. In the meantime, Mr. Milosevic has to understand that if he or any of his people pretend to put them on trial, then we will never ever give up our efforts to make sure that they pay for that. That is in violation of the Geneva Convention and it should never happen to American fighting men."

David asked him, if he were President, would he be willing to commit ground forces to an invasion of Kosovo. He replied he would. "Long ago, actually, I would have started preparing in case I need to use that option.... I hope that that option isn't necessary but for us not to be prepared is a terrible mistake." Gloria asked him how he would respond to Sandy Berger's statement that an invasion force is not in our national interest. Sen. McCain said that it is in our interest now and in the interest of the future of NATO that we win this conflict. "So, therefore, for us to rule out any capability we have to bring this war to a successful conclusion is a mistake." He goes on to say that, "every wise man that I have heard from and that I respect feel the same way." And that, for him, includes Warren Christopher who wrote a piece in the Washington Post Sunday morning with which Sen. McCain agrees.

Gloria asked if he agrees with what Sandy Berger said, that time is on NATO's side. He didn't answer directly but just went on about how he doesn't like to be critical of other people's comments (!) but this situation needs to be remedied quickly and the only way to do that is by bringing the "full might of the American military and NATO capabilities to bear," otherwise the tragedies that are ensuing "will weigh heavily on our conscience."

Huh? Our conscience?

Gloria asked him would he do in the short term to stop the depopulation of Kosovo, since mounting an invasion force now is an operation what would take weeks if not months? McCain doesn't like "this gradual escalation." He wants even heavier widespread bombing, even if that incurs civilian casualties. And to get ground troops ready.

The next guests were Senators Richard Shelby (R-AL), Co-Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and Joe Lieberman (D-CT), who is in the Armed Services Committee.

Gloria, talking as if neither NATO or the Administration knew of this, mentioned that the Intelligence Committee warned "this Administration about the potential for a huge humanitarian disaster." And asked, "what happened?" Sen. Shelby, going along with this nonsense, said that despite the fact that the Administration was warned, they "obviously... chose to think that Milosevic would react in a different way than he has." And added that "obviously we are not winning the war. The question is, are we losing the war?" He thinks that if "we don't watch what we are doing, things will get out of hand" and that we should turn the running of this war over to General Clark, the head of NATO, and away from the bureaucrats in Brussels.

Gloria: "So you are saying we are losing this war." Sen. Shelby didn't give a straight answer. He hopes we are not going to. He said we don't need a stalemate, we need to go all out and "decide we are in it to win."

Is this guy in the "Intelligence" Committee? Is NATO not "in it to win"?

David asked how close Milosevic is to achieving his objective of finishing the ethnic cleansing? Sen. Shelby doesn't know but he feels it is happening "much faster than the allies thought." And "we cannot stand by and let that happen. I think we've got to seek a decisive victory. Like John McCain says, and he knows, we've got to have a will to do it first, whatever the cost."

This was getting REALLY irritating. WHO is standing by and who doesn't have the will to win? In their zeal to try to discredit the Administration some politicians are reaching new heights of nonsensical observations.

Gloria asked Sen. Lieberman if he also thinks it should be done "whatever the cost?" Joe does. He goes on to say that "we are engaged here in a just cause that is not only a fulfillment of our moral obligation, it is in our strategic interest. Look, we have just begun to fight. All of us knew that there was a prospect with Milosevic, who started four wars now in the Balkans in the last decade and killed hundreds of thousands of people, that he wasn't massing those 40,000 troops around Kosovo to carry out military exercises. He was going to act."

Good for you, Joe!

He goes on, "Well, he's acted. Now, we have to sustain our counterattack and we cannot stop until we've achieved victory. And for me victory means to restore the Kosovar Albanians to their homes, to let them live in peace and freedom. And I hope there is one other result, which is that the people of Serbia, particularly those in the Serbian military, understand that Milosevic is not just our problem, he is their problem, and that they rise up and throw him out of office. He has turned the proud Serbian military into a gang of war criminals and they ought to get rid of him."

That would be great Joe, but you are forgetting that ethnic hate runs amok among the people there as well.

Gloria asked Sen. Lieberman if he still wants to arm the KLA, "isn't it too late?" He said he still wants to and he doesn't think it is too late. And he also thinks "we have to hold open the option of using ground forces there to finish this battle." He now thinks that, with the latest developments, there may be support for that in Congress when it reconvenes next week.

Sen. Shelby added that if we happen to go in the direction of ground troops, the President should make that proposition "with clarity to the American people and to Congress. And if he does it and shows leadership and clarity of purpose in what our real objectives there are, why we need to be there, I believe the Congress and the people will follow."

David asked Sen. McCain what in his mind constitutes a decisive victory -- simply a speedy end to ethnic cleansing or an end state in which Milosevic is no longer in power? Sen. McCain went for the latter because if he continues there we are going to have constant problems. He also thinks that they could never have autonomy again. He again said that the President should consult with "some very wise men who won the cold war." And that it is now time for Congress and the American people to become involved. Gloria asked, "a vote on ground troops?" He said yes to a debate and discussion on that and, if necessary, make preparations for it.

Next guest was Karen Abuzayd, the U.S. Representative of the UN High Commission for Refugees. The refugees are up to 360,000 now – about 204,000 in Albania, 115,000 in Macedonia and 33,000 in Montenegro. This exceeds their original worst case scenario. They had prepared for 100,000. And they know even now that it may go up to a million, as the refugees are still streaming out and reporting that the villages behind them are being emptied out.

As for getting them shelter, food and clothing, it is taking longer than they had hoped. The situation is worse in Macedonia, where a lot of people are being kept in "a kind of no-man's land, not able to move quickly into the country. At least in Albania, where there are even more people and [it is] a poorer country, the people are being moved on, they are being moved into people's houses."

They have now asked NATO to help them build some camps and get tents up. And that, she said, is a sign of their desperation and of the desperate state of the refugees because they always try to keep the military operations separate from the humanitarian ones. Gloria asked if that is a bad precedent. Karen said they have done it before when it's been a really bad situation.

Gloria asked her how many refugees the US should take in. Karen said this is another bad precedent. "The refugees themselves would much prefer to stay in the neighboring countries, near their home, so they can go home quickly when it is possible." But the High Commissioner this morning made an appeal to other countries to take some of these refugees temporarily.

When asked about the death toll, Karen said it was not too high -- eleven as of Saturday night, mostly the elderly and children and mostly from exposure and dehydration.

The McLaughlin Group

Our editorial staff was wondering out loud this week whether John McLaughlin is in the final stages of Alzheimer's -- seriously.

For the past five weeks, McLaughlin has been getting progressively more wild, silly, and outright stupid, taking all sorts of nonsensical postures, questions of the day and interchange between him -- not to mention an ever-changing panel of dimwits intermingled among the tiresome General Electric commercials that seem to receive more air time on the show than John himself!

This Sunday John had a "theme" program: "How Rotten the US Military Is."

"Issue one!" he screamed. "Is the U.S. Military a hollow core... doing more with less?"

McLaughlin claimed that the President is asking the Pentagon to cover Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Korea, Japan and Haiti. Of course, he failed to say that there are very few troops on the ground in any of those places -- and that in the case of Japan, we have bases and that is why we are there. Of 1.2 million men in uniform, less than 10% are deployed overseas.

He said personnel has been cut 39% -- which is not true! Even so, we would point out that there is no need for the 1.2 million troops we have now. The fact of the matter remains that recruiting is the problem.

But McLaughlin turned to his panel, which included three "hawks" with no names -- or, to be more accurate, three no-name "experts" claiming that the decreases in military spending have made our war machine hollow.

Well, of course, that is not the "problem" -- the fact is that there is no Soviet-style enemy.

"We're overstretched," claimed no name number 1. "The quality of life is no good," sneered no-name number 2. McLaughlin asked how "demoralized" the military is, and the third no-name from the right-wing funded Center for Strategic Studies -- a marginal organization that polls the military as a reason for existing -- claimed that a great portion of the military is "ready to go."

Well, no kidding. You see, there's this concept called national service: lousy pay, but all the food you can eat, a roof over your head, and training that builds livelihoods and yes, even million-dollar careers. The big difference is that thanks to Clintonomics, there is a huge demand for skilled workers -- and it should come as no surprise that our men in uniform are doing one stint to get training, then leaving for lucrative jobs in the private sector.

McLaughlin tried to get these fools to claim that the men are discontented with Bill Clinton. But none bit as such. Of course, it boils down to money -- and yes, if they got more money they would be happier. Well, isn't that true for everyone on earth? Nobody made the connection between strong economic times and military service. One of the nobodies said "[they] want predictability in their lives" -- that one made our editors laugh out loud! How, pray tell, do you predict material need?

The fact that most of the military is drawn from the lower and poorer classes in the nation was touched upon; McLaughlin wanted to know if this will be a political issue in 2000 -- but the smart people in the group knew it would not. McLaughlin said he thinks it will -- but that is because he thinks Pat Buchanan will actually be strong enough to carry this weak sister of an argument.

Five more GE commercials ensued.

"Issue Two: Star Wars -- The Sequel!" John blustered about 1995 and claimed the CIA downplayed the problem of missiles being fired on the U.S. by "rogue" states. We could only wonder if it was the same group of intelligence operatives who concealed Chinese penetration of defense labs in an effort to make the Clinton Administration look bad.

Mc-Laugh-In continued, saying "Congress did not buy it" and got Don Rumsfeld to issue a report -- 4 years later -- that a rogue missile could strike the US by 2004. We believe that this could happen now.

But McLaughlin said he thinks we should engage in an all-out missile shield project - which, by the way, would never work. McLaughlin got his panel to say that it will happen and that we will be surprised when it does happen. They all pointed to the "threat" of North Korea -- but North Korea has no reason to attack the US, and if it did it would be obliterated within 24 hours.

The group of no-name hawks then viciously jumped on Madeleine Albright for sending a note to the Chinese saying the Administration has decided not to support a missile defense system.

McLaughlin asked, "If a missile strikes the US, who will get the blame: Democrats or Republicans?" The answer is no one -- but McLaughlin said it will be Democrats.

McLaughlin then blamed the microchip for bringing a new kind of warfare into the world. This offers immense opportunities, he said, to the U.S. for military leverage and lessened the need for ground troops. McLaughlin said he thinks that wars will still be fought by land forces -- not smart weapons.

And he is right -- but for the next decade only. By 2012, we will be able to fight wars without any manned armaments whatsoever save those controlling robot planes, guns, missiles and lasers. Yes, enemy troops may survive -- but they will survive in an environment worse than Hell itself.

McLaughlin then brought up the simplistic "war on two fronts" theory under which we operate today -- for example, one in Iraq and one in Asia. McLaughlin said he thinks it is doubtful we could do this. McLaughlin "knows" that if a major nuclear power is forced into a corner it will use the nuclear power it has and said he thinks we would use nuclear missiles if pressed. This had us rolling on the floor -- we have far more brutal weapons at our disposal, including biological ones. McLaughlin got more laughs when he said he thinks we cannot fight two medium-sized enemies without the use of nuclear weapons.

Now stop and think -- the fact that General Electric makes so many of the command and control devices for wartime, as well as the engines that power our air force, has absolutely nothing to do with McLaughlin's position -- does it?

Four GE commercials follow. They talk about children -- but say nothing about GE's commitment to billing the Pentagon at outlandish levels.

Predictions:
John Warner will start a coalition for 21st century defense.
The anti-China hysteria in the country will die down and military and scientific trades will begin as they should.
A homeland defense command will be formed within five years after an attack on the US by a rogue state.

Well, that last one was amusing, at least.

Perhaps, we think, we might want to examine our role in the world to see why so many nations "are out to get us."

Meet the Press

Tim Russert began "War Day" coverage: "The bombing of Serbia... but Slobodon remains tough. - Are we losing this war? Should we be there at all?" He turned first to the three American servicemen taken prisoner by Serbian forces, then to the air campaign -- should we use ground troops? He would spend the last portion of the show with some athlete named Mark McGuire --- is Russert trying to become the Today of the Sunday tube wars?

Madeleine Albright was the first guest. Russert said Senator Lugar claimed we are losing the war. That is not true, replied Albright -- we are trying to make sure that Milosevic does not have the military power to control Kosovo. Russert countered with the German suggestion that we target Milosevic's palace. Albright did not respond, saying instead that the President responds to the military chiefs and he is in process of finalizing his views on the request to use attack helicopters. Albright reminds Russert that the troops there support the air campaign -- indirectly chastising not only Russert but the rest of the Sunday naysayers for putting the ground troop cart before the air-strike horse.

Russert said that there was a calculation made, by you, that Milosevic would blink when we began bombing. Was that not a mistake -- by you? Albright said no, we knew he would not bargain and that he would continue to ethnically cleanse Kosovo. And she was about the only person to point out that that this is only the tenth day of this campaign -- and that the American people were that they must have patience. The President told the Italian Prime Minister that we would continue to bomb. Albright said that there still might be opportunity to work out an agreement with Milosevic -- but if he does not take that route he has left himself open to a sustained military campaign.

Russert then pulled out General Odem's remarks that put down the Administration plan. Albright said "Well, he's wrong." Ha, ha, ha! Russert did not answer.

And Albright had a message for the press naysayers: "To say that we are responsible for the Kosovar misery is to say that the police are responsible for a serial killer."

But Russert foolishly continued to pummel her and the President, claiming that we didn't have enough food ready for the Kosovars fleeing the area. How low can you go? Albright corrected him, saying we were NOT unprepared -- but we were appalled by the level of people fleeing.

Russert then tried to bait her into saying she'll use ground forces. Albright said we are committed to an air campaign -- invading and occupying are not the way to go here. The impact is being felt -- we are targeting.

Albright also announced that the United States will take a significant number of refugees. Well, thank God. Albright added that other members of NATO will do the same, adding that it is important that they not be too far from Kosovo.

Andrea Mitchell asked "How do we get out of this mess?" Bombing, said Albright. Second, we are always open to discuss how to create a multi-ethnic democratic state there with a high degree of autonomy -- or other ways to allow them to go back and live in peace. The condition will be that Milosevic must stop the slaughter.

Here we depart with Mrs. Albright -- although we love here dearly. Milosevic must be eliminated -- he has proven he can never be trusted.

Mitchell wanted to know how we occupy in "a permissive environment" once peace is at hand. Albright said, "Well we bomb him until he is unable to continue his ways. We have determined unity to make certain that Milosevic cannot continue."

Mitchell asked how we negotiate with him, when we have "made him a Hitler." Albright hinted that maybe we won't -- the first time we see any flicker of hope that she is willing to see him assassinated, much as Hitler should have been in 1940. Mitchell said she doesn't believe we can sit down with him -- and how is it that the Albanians will believe they can come home safely as part of Serbia? Of course not we say -- but Albright will not telegraph to Milosevic that there is a target on his head. She did say that if Milosevic moves on Montenegro he would suffer severe consequences.

Russert -- out of thin air -- asked what would happen if Milosevic cut a "side Deal" with Albania or the Kosovars. Russert said that Milosevic will claim he has won after he drives all the Kosovars out of Serbia. Albright said we will not let that happen and that Milosevic thought he cut drive a wedge into the NATO alliance -- and he was wrong.

Russert then asked whether the President will ask the Chinese premier to stop stealing our secrets. We nearly busted a gut.

Sure -- Clinton will ask him in just those words, Tim.

He then brought up that the LA Times claimed that Johnny Chung said that the Chinese directed funds into the Clinton campaign. Albright dodged the question -- a stupid one.

Russert then turned to Yugoslav Ambassador Vladislav Jovanovic. He asked about the three American soldiers held prisoner by Serbia and why he won't allow the Red Cross to visit them. The ambassador said that he does not see that this is a problem -- but he will check. Then Russert showed footage of atrocities against Kosovars. "Why are you killing, slaughtering and driving persons from their homes?" The ambassador said these charges are not substantiated -- and hinted that these might be KLA solders killed in battle with Serb security forces.

Yeah, sure.

Russert: "So the Serbian army has not killed anyone." "It is not our policy," said the ambassador. He claimed the catastrophe forced Serbia to "put these people on trains to save their lives.... The Serb army is not trying to cleanse the Kosovars." He claimed that many Albanians and Serbs are in the central part of the country -- together -- hiding from NATO bombs. Russert called him a liar. The ambassador said that the Red Cross and everyone else is "used to lying about this."

Russert asked, "How is this war going to end?" The ambassador answered, "The criminal bombing should be stopped." The ambassador said that Milosevic has invited the Kosovars not to leave the country and they are all free to come home.

Following the usual commercials for ADM, Russert turned to two Republican Senators, asking what America's national interest in Kosovo is.

Perhaps Russert should have answered that question himself -- to stand, as we always have tried to, for freedom.

Senator Chuck Hagel said we are sending a clear signal to a tyrant that we will not tolerate a butcher in the back yard of NATO and that we help keep peace around the world. Saddam found this out. If we let this unravel, the consequences will be dire. He thinks ground troops may be needed -- and he said he will support it.

James Inhofe, an Okie tyrant himself, attacks the President -- as we fully expected from one of Washington's most obnoxious Clinton-bashers. We are in danger with all these deployments, he claimed, aping the jerks on The McLaughlin Group. Inhofe said we should tell our partners that our resources are exhausted and "we're out of here" by May 1st.

Now, let me tell the reader that this is the latest strategy of the ultra-right wing who are out to blame the President for Kosovo. They know that America is not going to walk out on our NATO allies. For them it is a win/win situation -- except that Inhofe and the rest of them are playing with your sons' and daughters' lives. Inhofe is a scum.

And Russert seems to join him as he attacked Senator Hagel, a good Republican, because we didn't go into Rwanda and other places. Russert is no dummy -- only a sleazebag attack dog operating for the ultra-right.

Inhofe quoted Henry Kissinger, who seems to be under the illusion that his words actually count for anything anymore, saying we have about as much interest in Serbia as Europe has in Haiti. But Senator Inhofe, himself a known pathological liar even among politicians, knows full well that Kissinger supports this NATO attack and even supports a ground troop invasion.

Russert then turned to Mark "Big Mac" McGuire -- and we fled. We think Russert, like his just-as-evil twin George Will, shows his feminine tendencies by publicly worshipping jocks like McGuire.

-- The Editors