MILITARY LESSONS: A NEW DEFINITION ON 'WAR'

The Clinton administration is quickly learning that war isn't a video game played with joysticks in the safety of the oval office. But that hasn't kept the commander-in-chief and his aides from swarming all over the TV spectrum trying to convince Americans of two things: We must teach the Serbs in Yugoslavia a lesson, and we don't want to commit any ground troops to accomplish that end.

In a nutshell, those two objectives sum up the inability of the Clinton "war" machine to comprehend the military mess he and his advisers have created. How is it possible that strong-willed Serbs are going to learn anything if the U.S. definition of "war" includes no commitment to see the job through.

But the president is good at creating new definitions for most any word that stands in his way. He has just added "war" to his redefined vocabulary.

Perhaps Clinton's thinking was misled by the success of Operation Desert Storm, a war in which President Bush defined his political and strategic objectives -- get the Iraqis out of Kuwait so U.S. interests in world oil supplies can be protected -- and then let the military experts figure out how to do the job. There was great consternation at the time that there would be endless CNN coverage of body bags being shipped home, but it didn't happen.

In the meantime, Clinton has learned that waging "war" is a useful public relations tool. How many times has he used military action to divert the nation's attention? Each time, the results have been minimal and questionable. Each time, U.S. military personnel have escaped the perils of war. Each time the president has gloated about victory.

What's going on here?

It appears in the case of the centuries-old divisions in Yugoslavia, Clinton's "war" machine has run into more than its share of snags. After days of intensive bombing, the enemy -- that would be Yugoslav tyrant Slobodan Milosevic -- is thumbing his nose at U.S. military might. Milosevic is achieving his own goals -- driving the Kosovar Albanians out -- thanks to NATO bombing raids.

Meanwhile, official spokesmen -- and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright -- appear to be serious when they say they can't tell us any details of the downed stealth fighter whose pilot was rescued over the weekend. To give out details would tip our hand to Milosevic's forces. But the president can announce to the world -- and Milosevic -- that no U.S. ground troops will go to Yugoslavia. That's not a military secret?

So far, President Clinton has not shared with the nation his military or strategic objective in Yugoslavia. He has told us it was morally imperative to join the NATO air strikes -- an action that clearly would not have been taken without U.S. support. If the president truly believe the objective is to end the strife in Yugoslavia, one can only guess what his next bit of military strategy will be.