U.S.: Troops may be needed in Kosovo
WASHINGTON (AP) - The
Clinton administration raised
prospects Tuesday that airstrikes
against Serbs might require a follow
up international ground force of
peacekeepers in the Yugoslav province
of Kosovo. Defense Secretary William
Cohen told Congress that U.S. partici
pation in such a force was “a possibili
ty” but not one he favored.
President Clinton warned that,
unchecked, Serb violence in the
province could lead to instability
throughout the region.
“The stakes are high,” Clinton
said. “The time is now to end the vio
lence in Kosovo.”
Cohen, facing skeptical question
ing from senators weary of the long
U.S. presence in nearby Bosnia, said it
was “my recommendation, my insis
tence” that any ground force be large
ly composed of Europeans.
Diplomatic activity intensified,
here and in Belgrade, in an attempt to
persuade Yugoslav President
Slobodan Milosevic to comply with all
terms of the U.N. resolution designed
to force him to end all hostilities
against ethnic Albanians and to let
some 250,000 refugees receive
humanitarian aid and return to their
homes.
Clinton’s warning came in an
address to a joint meeting of the
International Monetary Fund and the
World Bank. The president said world
leaders “all agree that Kosovo is a
powder keg in the Balkans. If the vio
lence continues, it could spill over and
threaten the peace and stability of
Bosnia, of Albania, of Macedonia and
other countries in the region.”
NATO is prepared to act if
Milosevic fails to honor the United
Nations resolutions, he said, adding
that U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke
was conveying that message directly
to Milosevic in Belgrade.
At the Pentagon, a senior military
official said Washington has informed
NATO that it could provide up to “sev
eral hundred aircraft” for military
action involving Kosovo.
The official, who spoke on condi
tion of anonymity, said die U.S. pack
age is composed of about half war
planes and half “support” planes -
such as tankers for refueling, recon
naissance and radar missions.
Clinton also talked by phone with
British Prime Minister Tony Blair,
who was in China on an official visit
A day earlier, he talked with Russian
President Boris Yeltsin and derided the
steps Milosevic has taken in response
to a Sept. 23 U.N. Security Council
resolution aimed at ending the 7
month-old conflict in Kosovo.
In an apparent effort to head off
NATO airstrikes, Milosevic has
ordered most of his Serb army units
back to their barracks, withdrawn
police units and apparently ordered a
halt to the burning of villages.
Cohen, testifying before die Senate
Armed Services Committee, was
asked if these concessions had less
ened the likelihood of NATO strikes.
“I don’t believe so,” Cohen said.
“He cannot simply avoid NATO action
by picking one or two items.”
V
«
The time is now to end
the violence in Kosovo
President Clinton
Democrats attempt to limit
impeachment inquiry scope
High court examines
home visitors’privacy
WASHINGTON (AP) - With the
House set to begin a historic journey
into presidential impeachment, out
numbered Democrats struggled
Tuesday to craft an alternative to the
Republicans’ open-ended investiga
tion.
The Democrats, facing defections,
could not immediately agree on how to
limit die time and scope of an inquiry.
The White House, meanwhile,
complained the House proceedings
were neither fair nor bipartisan.
“I can’t speak for the Republican
caucus, but it does appear after watch
ing this for the last month that the lead
ership is pursuing a strategy for elec
toral advantage,” said White House
spokesman Joe Lockhart
Later Lockhart said the White
House saw little chance now of stop
ping a House vote in favor of impeach
sense that the
adding that the White House was not
yet giving up.
The Judiciary Committee voted
21-16 Monday night to send the GOP
resolution to the fiill House, which is
virtually certain later this week to
approve only the third presidential
impeachment investigation in the
nation’s history.
Asked Clinton’s reaction, Lockhart
said Tuesday: “He’s not surprised.
“It would have been hard to predict
anything else, given the way die last
month has gone.”
Minority Leader Dick Gephardt,
D-Mo., said Democrats would meet
I again today to discuss alternatives to
the GOP resolution.
Several members said that beyond
trying to win support for a
Democratic alternative, they did not
expect party leaders to twist arms to
stop lawmakers from voting for an
inquiry.
Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.,
who said he believed Clinton’s con
duct does not warrant an impeach
ment inquiry, said he wondered
“whether you can be half pregnant”
with any alternative proposal.
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., play
ing a key role in writing an alternative,
said his proposal, which lost in com
mittee, would require - before an
inquiry begins - a determination of
whether the conduct of which Clinton
is accused by investigators is grounds
for impeachment
Democrats clearly have a problem
with conservatives in their party.
Rep.Charles Stenholm of Texas,
who has a tough re-election race, said
he supports die Republican resolution.
It has no time or subject limits, but
Stenholm said he accepts the goal of
the Judiciary Cominittee chairman,
Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., of finishing
the House’s work by the end of the
year.
“My personal belief is no limita
tions makes good sense,” Stenholm
said.
“We have to realize who’s in the
majority and who’s running the show.
Republicans are running the show.”
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THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
WASHINGTON (AP) - Most
people who temporarily visit someone
else’s home should not be protected
against police searches without a war
rant, the Supreme Court was told
Tuesday by a prosecutor in a
Minnesota drug case.
Such protection doesn’t extend to
two men arrested after a policeman
peeked through a gap in window
blinds and saw them packaging a white
powdery substance, prosecutor James
C. Backstrom told the high court
“Criminal activity is not the kind of
activity normally associated with the
privacy of a dwelling,” Backstrom said.
Attorney Bradford Colbert repre
senting the two men, said that in many
cases short-term guests in a home
should have the same protection
against unreasonable searches as the
Constitution’s Fourth Amendment
gives to homeowners.
Both lawyers and the justices
themselves struggled over which
house visitors are entitled to privacy
protection.
Justice Stephen G. Breyer said
there was no doubt homeowners were
entitled to constitutional protection.
But he added, “Why do we want to
protect the pizza man?”
The Avon lady should not expect
her activities to be more private if invit
ed indoors than if she made her sales
pitch on the front step, suggested
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
And Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
asked, “Would it be any different... if
they had gathered to play a game of
poker rather than put together coke?”
Backstrom said most short-term
guests do not have an expectation of
privacy, but a frequent visitor might
have a stronger argument
“If they play (poker) five time a
week they get standing, but if they play
once they don’t?” asked Justice David
H. Souter.
The justices are expected to issue a
ruling by July. Minnesota’s highest
court threw out the drug convictions of
Wayne Thomas Carter and Melvin
Johns.
The Clinton administration sup
ported the state’s appeal of that ruling.
Justice Department lawyer Jeffrey A.
Lamken argued that it is not a search
when a police officer sees something
that is exposed to outside view.
The high court ruled in 1990 that
an overnight guest in a private home
has the same privacy rights as the
homeowner. The justices have not
given such protection to someone who
visits but does not stay overnight
Man killed in Fremont store
FREMONT (AP) - Buying milk
for supper, Joel Cherny was attacked
from behind and stabbed to death in an
apparently random attack, and the
clerk ringing up his purchase was
wounded.
Ronald L. Ericksen, 33, of
Fremont was booked on suspicion of
homicide, assault and use of a weapon
to commit a felony. No formal charges
had been filed.
The attack, which took place at
about 7 p.m. Monday, stunned people
in this city of 23,900. It was the first
homicide here since 1990, when an
Omaha man was shot to death.
“It’s scary to think that it just hap
pened across the street,” said Peggy
Schneider, an attendant at a gas sta
tion. “And it happened at another con
venience store. It really makes you
think.”
The suspect stabbed Cherny sever
al times, then followed him behind the
counter, where store clerk Charles
Horwarth, 35, also was stabbed, said
Deputy Police Chief S. F. Tellatin. A
knife was used, but had not been
found, he said.
“There were two other employees
and maybe - we’re not sure - two or
three other customers in the store at
the time of the attack,” Tellatin said.
Police were locating and interviewing
witnesses.
The suspect left the store, but
police found him behind the building a
short time later in die parking lot of an
apartment complex.
No motive was known, and the
suspect apparently did not know
Cherny or Horwarth, Tellatin said.
Dodge County Attorney Dean
Skokan said Cherny died shortly after
arriving at the Fremont hospital.
Horwath’s injuries were not life
threatening.
Skokan said he would study police
reports and probably file formal
charges in the stabbing case today.
Republicans pursue
alternate tax cut plan
WASHINGTON (AP) -
Acknowledging their $80 billion
tax cut has no chance of passing the
Senate, Republican leaders are
assembling a minimal package that
would renew expiring business tax
credits and possibly include a few
nuggets for favored groups such as
farmers and the elderly.
Senate Majority Leader Trent
Lott, R-Miss., wouldn’t officially
pronounce the death of the House
passed bill Tuesday, insisting that
“parts of it might still be salvaged”
in the smaller package.
But Lott’s chief of staff, J. David
Hoppe, wrote the White House that
the package fell victim to
Democratic resistance. President
Clinton vowed to veto the tax cuts
because they would spend part of
the projected budget surplus
instead of reserving “every penny”
for Social Security.
“Our attempt to help the
American people by cutting then
taxes will have to wait for another
day,” Hoppe wrote.
Albright: Peace attempts
in Mideast are troubled
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel and
the Palestinians have failed to make
the “tough choices” needed to con
clude a West Bank accord and
unless they do, Mideast peacemak
ing could fall apart, Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright said
Tuesday.
Her remarks, as she met with
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu in Jerusalem and with
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in
Jericho on the West Bank, seemed
designed to spur the leaders to tack
le their differences.
The key challenge appeared to
be settling on security arrange
ments that would enable Netanyahu
to sign off on a 13 percent pullback
on the West Bank with high hopes
of getting the deal through his right
ist Likud coalition government.
Still, Albright set up a three-way
meeting for today with Arafat and
Netanyahu at Erez, on the border
between Israel and Palestinian-held
Gaza.
Russian government warns
opposition on eve of protest
MOSCOW (AP) - The Russian
government warned hard-line
opposition leaders Tuesday they
could face criminal charges for
inciting armed revolt if they go
ahead with nationwide demonstra
tions today.
Russian labor unions predict
that up to 28 million people will
take part in the strikes and rallies.
Communist Party leader Gennady
Zyuganov said up to 40 million will
turn out, although most observers
expect a much smaller turnout.
A similar protest last year drew
an estimated 2 million people in
hundreds of demonstrations across
Russia.
Trade unions and the
Communist-led opposition have
pledged that the protests will be
peaceful. Officials are preparing for
unrest that could be sparked by
growing popular anger over the gov
ernment’s inability to pay wages and
pensions that are months overdue.