Some 50,000 Western troops, half of them American, will be needed to oversee any Bosnian peace agreement, says American's top military leader, challenging reports that a smaller force would be required.
"I don't know what the total number will be. I think it won't be far off from the 50,000 or so" originally forecast by NATO last year, said Army Gen. John Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.He was commenting at a meeting with journalists about recently published reports quoting State Department and other Western officials that the number could be much lower.
"We are all hopeful that it will take less, but we must guard against sending less because we think that's politically more sellable," Shalikashvili said.
With Muslims and Croats agreeing to form a federation in Bosnia, reports have said that as few as 20,000 or 30,000 troops, perhaps a third of them Americans, could oversee any final peace between Muslims, Croats and Serbs.
"I am reluctant about all the politically motivated numbers sometimes that float around," Shalikashvili said, reiterating that the United States is likely to provide nearly half of the final peacekeeping force.
"I guess I am somewhat guardedly, pessimistically optimistic about it (Bosnia)," he said, adding that "I would be very much surprised . . . if the number was significantly different" from 50,000.
Shalikashvili, who recently met senior Western military officers in Brussels, said they agreed that political leaders must guard against letting political considerations guide the final decision on a peacekeeping force.
He said enough peacekeepers must be sent to prevent a disaster such as the ambush in Somalia last October in which 18 American soldiers died in a shootout with gunmen in Mogadishu.
"We have to send in the right number to do the job and structured in such a way and protected in such a way that we minimize the chances of them being challenged and taking needless casualties," the general said.
He said NATO's military leadership was determined to make sure any military protocol on a peace agreement gave peacekeepers both the strength and mobility to oversee peace.