Kenneth Bacon Quotations

Obviously, we welcome the Russian efforts to try to achieve a diplomatic settlement here, but so far we have not seen much Serb flexibility.

He has a choice now between cooperation and confrontation. Confrontation has not gotten him what he wanted. It might be time for him to try cooperation.

He's a wily fellow, and that's why we'll continue to fly with great care and continue to devote a portion of our assets to dealing with his integrated air defense system.

You'll see an intensification of the campaign today, tomorrow and in the future.

We have plans for a swift and severe air campaign. This will be painful to the Serbs.

There are some signs that in recent weeks Saddam Hussein has been concentrating more on defensive measures rather than offensive measures.

We have a powerful military force in the Gulf ready to protect our interests there. We have in the past used a variety of military assets, including Tomahawk (cruise) missiles and aircraft, to protect our interests. And we will be able to do that in the future.

We are continuing to focus on air defenses. We have made progress, particularly against its command and control elements.

We obviously hit enough tanks and other targets to win.

What our lawyers have been looking at are the options we have for beginning to build the initial phases of this radar within the restrictions or terms of the ABM Treaty. And they have looked at that, and they have made some -- they have come up with some options which the president hasn't -- has not had a chance to decide on yet.

It would be reasonable to expect a slowdown in operations during Ramadan.

The Russians have said they plan to stay out of this conflict and we take that commitment seriously.

We're very concerned about help they've (Iran) been getting on a variety of programs, some from Russia, and some, we believe, from China as well. And we've voiced our concern both to the governments of Russia and China about this. And we will continue to voice our concern about efforts that aid the proliferation of missiles.

We have designed a broad, seamless air campaign that should not be seen in terms of phases. It should be seen as one air campaign that will move through a series of targets and goals.

Speaking as the President's chief of staff, I think you are doing the President an enormous disservice. One, it will leak. Two, it will be politically and diplomatically disastrous when it leaks I think your invasion plan is a dangerous plan even to have on the table in the position of being leaked I would throw it in Tampa Bay and hope the sharks would eat it.

We believe hitting their (Serb) supplies -- their fuel and ammo supplies -- will have a demoralizing impact as well as a debilitating impact on their ability to operate. But I can't give you a firm estimate of how long it will take for their sources to dry up.

Then the international community will have to decide what to do next, based on Milosevic's activities.

The KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army) is responding, but it's basically trying to get out of the way, to retreat to the hills and preserve itself. The bulk of the fighting is at the instigation of the Yugoslav forces.

It's difficult to be completely clear about what happened, but it looks as if a bulldozer or other earth moving equipment has been run over where the original graves used to be.

By far, the Navy and the Marines have been the most successful at public affairs.

A Greek government spokesman said he anticipated that they would be able to land soon and move through Greece to their posts.

The current level of violence is unacceptable, and we're trying to make that clear in all sorts of communications to Milosevic and to his army and his police forces.

The Iraqi planes when they saw they were engaged and being fired upon by the U.S. planes turned and beat a hasty retreat out of the no-fly zone.

We certainly know that Russians participated. Russian volunteers, mercenaries, we believe, did participate with paramilitary and other Serb forces.

It may be that he (Hussein) is preparing to provoke another confrontation with the U.N.. These confrontations have been unsuccessful in the past, and I assume would be unsuccessful in the future as well.

I do not have verification that there were units or groups of the size that Newsday reports. But we do believe that there was some Russian participation.

The challenge of ending displacement is inseparable from the challenge of establishing and maintaining peace. When wars end, farmers return to their fields; children return to school; violence against women declines; trade and economic activity resume; medical and other services become more accessible, and the international focus changes from relief to development and self-sufficiency. All this makes new wars less likely. It is a virtuous cycle that deserves nurture and support.