[ALBSA-Info] {QIKSH «ALBEUROPA»} NEWS: U.S. Troops in Balkans Watch Bush (AP, January 20, 2001)

[Wolfgang Plarre]

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010120/pl/bush_us_balkans_1.html

Saturday January 20 7:09 PM ET

U.S. Troops in Balkans Watch Bush 

By FISNIK ABRASHI, Associated Press Writer 

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Yugoslavia (AP) - Spc. Torrey A. Wise is one of 9,000
U.S. soldiers in the Balkans that President Bush has said he would
prefer to see at home. The 24-year-old wants to stay in Kosovo, where he
said he and his buddies are making a difference.
    ``We're doing some good here,'' said Wise, who was dividing his
attention between his plate of pork cutlets and mashed potatoes and a
wide-screen television bringing Bush's inauguration to the mess hall at
the U.S. main base in eastern Kosovo.
    During the presidential campaign, Bush and key foreign policy
advisers suggested Europe wasn't shouldering enough of the peacekeeping
burden in Kosovo and Bosnia, where Yugoslavia's violent collapse has
left behind powerful ethnic tension. Already most of the Balkan
peacekeepers are Europeans.
    In October, Bush said he would ``very much like to get our troops
out'' of the Balkans, a prospect opposed both by America's NATO (news -
web sites) allies and those the peacekeepers were sent to protect:
Kosovo's ethnic Albanians and Bosnia's Muslims.
    In an interview Thursday with The Associated Press, Bush sought to
allay European fears of a swift U.S. exit.
    ``I have never said upon swearing in, we'll pull out of the
Balkans,'' he said. ``I've always said we will work in consultation with
our European allies to convince them that they need to carry more of the
peacekeeping role. I intend to start that process.''
    As they watched the inauguration ceremony, some U.S. soldiers in
Kosovo and Bosnia complained about separation from relatives and other
hardships connected to their tours. But the overwhelming sentiment among
those questioned was that they were better soldiers for being in the
Balkans - and that the Balkans was a better place because of them.
    ``I work with the local population on a daily basis,'' said Spc.
Shawn Carter, 28, of Green Bay, Wis. ``We help them rebuild schools, we
help out ... try with people to restore their life as it was before.
    ``I think that this mission has helped me out,'' he said. ``I have
already gained some experience.''
    Others expressed similar opinions about the U.S. presence in Kosovo,
which began with the entry of NATO troops in mid-1999.
    ``I think that being here has opened the eyes of a lot of the
soldiers'' about life in a part of the world much less privileged than
back home, said Wise, a radar specialist from Westmoreland, Va.
    In Bosnia, the scene and the sentiments were similar.
    Soldiers at the main U.S. base in Tuzla kept one eye on their
dinners and the other on the inauguration ceremonies.
    Despite the statements about the U.S. presence, Maj. John Minto, of
St. Petersburg, Fla., said he doubts a new administration will mean
major changes.
    ``A sign of a democratic nation is that you can change presidents
without seeing tremendous amounts of changes,'' he said. 

Copyright © 2001 The Associated Press.


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