SURVEY REJECTS GROUND TROOPS

We have bombed their bridges, targeted their troops and attempted to send the Balkans into oblivion -- but at what political and military cost?

Operation Allied Force and the reputation of NATO are under fire from both sides of the political table as President Clinton decides the fate of the U.S. military in Yugoslavia.

Because of the rapidly changing situation in the conflict, the Southeast Missourian circulation and telemarketing department conducted a random telephone opinion survey Tuesday night to determine area attitudes on U.S. military options.

The survey of 239 people revealed that 78 percent oppose the use of American ground troops in Kosovo. It also showed that 54 percent favor the use of airstrikes and 53 percent favor the military action in general.

"Sen. Bond is concerned that the Clinton administration has not defined clear objectives, the extent of our commitment, or the exit strategy," Dan Hubbard, a spokesman for Sen. Christopher (Kit) Bond, R-Missouri, said Tuesday from Washington.

The inability to define the U.S. role -- and an end game -- is fueling negative responses to the possibility of sending ground forces against the well-trained Serbian army of Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic.

Missouri's other Republican senator also has expressed concern about the use of ground forces in the Balkans.

David James, assistant press secretary to Sen. John Ashcroft, stated Tuesday that the Ashcroft "has serious reservations about the situation, but believes (if ground forces are sent) we need to support them."

Perhaps most alarming to many on Capitol Hill is the administration's belief that NATO air power alone would be sufficient to force a quick Serb retreat from Kosovo.

And what to do if it doesn't?

Gen. Wesley Clark, Allied commander in Europe, asked for 300 additional war planes on Monday, bringing the total to 1,100.

However, military experts stated this week that there remains a real shortage of military supplies and troops because of downsizing and U.S. involvement in Croatia and Iraq.

According to news sources, the U.S. military has less than 100 cruise missiles and no production plans are expected for at least a year. And the inability to get tank-busting Apache helicopters deployed gives more ammo to the administration's list of detractors.

One of the president's most vocal critics, Cape Girardeau native and radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, continuously criticizes the administration for a lack of leadership.

When Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a presidential hopeful and former Vietnam prisoner of war, began receiving negative feedback for his oft-televised attacks on the president's Kosovo policy, Limbaugh took to the air in his defense.

"McCain is all over the place calling for ground troops and criticizing the Clinton administration because it does take a lot of time to enter with troops, and McCain is seemingly the only leader today," said Limbaugh during Tuesday's radio show.

However critical the Republicans -- and to some extent Democrats -- appear to be, the president has plenty of political friends willing to take the heat.

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said Tuesday that if it makes no sense to have troops to keep peace in the Balkans now, how did it make sense to do it before in World War II?

And Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., after meeting with Clinton Tuesday ominously stated that "for the time being we are moving along with air only -- for the time being."

NATO is currently demanding that Yugoslavia withdraw its forces from Kosovo and agree to an international peacekeeping force, including the U.S., and allow all refugees to return.

However, Russia repeatedly rejects U.S. insistence that any peacekeeping force be NATO-led.