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For ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, the wait for NATO intervention may end soon  Message Board: Crisis in Kosovo  ALSO: Senate votes to approve NATO airstrikes over Kosovo E-mails from Kosovo NATO Arsenal: A Military Databank RELATED AUDIO CNN's Christiane Amanpour talked with Holbrooke in Belgrade Tuesday after his meetings with Milosevic. Here's what he had to say about: Milosevic's understanding of what's at stake 283 K/26 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Milosevic's demeanor during their meetings 280 K/26 sec. AIFF or WAV sound The Serb Assembly's reaction to the Kosovo crisis 321 K/29 sec. AIFF or WAV sound RELATED VIDEO Watch Solana's statement announcing military strikes against Yugoslavia Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Ralph Begleiter reports on the history of Kosovo and why NATO and the U.S. want to be involved in the conflict Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN Military Affairs Correspondent Jamie McIntyre reports on the potential high-tech air war Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Brent Sadler reports from Kosovo, where even as the threat of airstrikes looms, the fighting continues Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

March 24, 1999
Web posted at: 6:47 a.m. EST (1147 GMT)

In this story: Yugoslav army on high alert Heavy reliance on U.S. weapons Holbrooke: Situation 'bleakest' Serbs continue offensive RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- NATO warships and bombers stood ready Wednesday to deliver a "swift and severe" blow to Yugoslavia, starting with a U.S.-led barrage of sea- and air-launched cruise missiles that would target Yugoslav air defenses and open the way to a larger-scale bombing campaign.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday that attacks would begin in the "not too distant future."

NATO said that its attack would be aimed at reducing the military capacity of Serb-led military and special police forces, so that they could no longer carry out their attacks on seperatist ethnic Albanians in the embattled Serbian province of Kosovo.

"We are resolved to act now... It's plain that action will begin in the not too distant future," Blair told BBC radio from a meeting of European Union leaders in Berlin.

The decision on when to start the attacks lay with U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark, NATO's top commander. NATO Secretary General Javier Solana gave Clark the formal go-ahead Tuesday evening.

"No alternative is open but to take military action," Solana said solemnly at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Solana announced his move just hours after last-ditch talks in Belgrade between President and U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke ended in failure.

President Bill Clinton prepared Americans for an imminent attack on Serb targets, saying that although U.S. troops would be at risk, the air campaign is necessary for Europe's long-term stability. Congress lined up behind him, dropping a move to block funds for U.S. military action against Yugoslavia.

"I want to level with you," Clinton said in a speech Tuesday. "This is like any other military action. There are risks in it."

But he said American diplomatic efforts had reached a dead end and Serb troops were terrorizing and murdering civilians in Kosovo, a province of Serbia, the dominant Yugoslav republic. "We have to take a stand now," Clinton said. "If we don't do it now, we will have to do it later."

Pentagon sources told CNN late Tuesday that a punishing wave of cruise missile and bomb attacks would probably begin within 24 hours. More than 400 NATO aircraft and half a dozen warships are in position around the Balkans.

At the Pentagon, spokesman Kenneth Bacon said Tuesday that the Yugoslav Army was dispersing its air defense equipment in anticipation of NATO airstrikes.

"We have plans for a swift and severe air campaign," Bacon told reporters. "This will be painful to the Serbs."

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, said: "The purpose of this is to deter Slobodan Milosevic from continuing on his rampage and going in and torching, having his soldiers and his special police torch the villages. It is designed to deter that and also to damage his capability to do that."

Blair, who declined to say how long the action would take, said: "Now we are left with no other alternative than to take military action."

He said targets in Yugoslavia would be chosen in "those areas where his (Milosevic's) military capability is...to carry out repression" against Kosovo Albanians.

"We must reduce his ability to wage that war," Blair said.

The commander who would direct the air campaign, on orders from Clark in Brussels, is Navy Adm. James O. Ellis Jr., commander in chief of Allied Forces Southern Europe. From his headquarters in Naples, Italy, he also is commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe.

Also, the U.S. Senate voted 58-41 Tuesday night to support Clinton's decision, while asking for more information later. Thirty-eight Republicans and three Democrats opposed the resolution. Supporting the measure were the remaining 42 of the Senate's 45 Democrats and 16 Republicans.

The brief measure states that "the president of the United States is authorized to conduct military air operations in cooperation with our NATO allies against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro)."

In Belgrade, Yugoslav Prime Minister Momir Bulatovic announced a state of an immediate threat of war, a declaration that mobilizes troops and puts the army on a high state of alert.

"It's estimated that the army and police targets would be first hit in NATO airstrikes," defense minister Pavle Bulatovic told Serbia's state television. "However insane the possible NATO action is, it's estimated that the civilian population will not be targeted in the strikes."

Dragan Covic, a Belgrade city council member, urged residents not to flee their homes and said schools and public transportation would operate as normal today.

"We will keep monitoring the situation as it develops and inform the citizens of what they should do," Covic told the independent radio station B-92.

Police ordered the radio station to cease broadcasting today and arrested the chief editor, Veran Matic, said a staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity. Authorities told the staff that the station, the main independent broadcaster in Belgrade, was shut down because it had exceeded its permitted signal power.

Amid the preparations for war, Milosevic sacked his military security chief Tuesday and replaced him with a more compliant ally.

Montenegro, Serbia's junior partner in the Yugoslav federation, refused to join in a declaration of emergency. Montenegrin authorities, who have criticized Milosevic's tactics in Kosovo, announced last month that they would be neutral in any conflict with NATO.

The United States and several European nations closed their embassies in the Yugoslav capital, and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan ordered U.N. staff in Kosovo to leave the region. Major European airlines suspended flights into Belgrade.

Halfway across the Atlantic for a visit to the United States, Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov abruptly turned his plane around when U.S. Vice President Al Gore refused to promise that airstrikes would not take place. Primakov reiterated Moscow's opposition to the use of force, saying, "We are categorically against this, categorically."

Russia is ready to put its armed forces on higher alert if NATO starts bombing Yugoslavia, a Defense Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.

"If war unfolds in the Balkans, the Defense Ministry will undertake a series of measures to increase military readiness in the interests of the country," Vyacheslav Sedov said by telephone.

Russia routinely raises its alert status during times of tension but does not often make such moves public.

And Russia's U.N. envoy said he would call for a U.N. Security Council meeting in the event of airstrikes.

News Highlights: Gallery: The conflict in review News story archive Yugoslavia's Future: What's next for Yugoslavia Map: Who controls what The Peace Settlement: A guide to the peace plan Map: Serb troop withdrawal The Military Campaign: Strike damage assessment Atlas: NATO and the Balkans Background: Timeline: Trouble in the Balkans A who's who of key players Map: Kosovo and its neighbors A history of the KLA

Any attack is expected to rely heavily on U.S. weapons. Of the 400 aircraft amassed to take part in any NATO operation, almost 200 are from the U.S. arsenal.

U.S. ships are poised to launch satellite-guided Tomahawk cruise missiles at Serbian targets.

They will be joined by a single British submarine using Tomahawks purchased from the United States. The sea launched missiles will be supplemented by air launched cruise missiles from B-52 bombers, which have been deployed to the United Kingdom for this operation.

After initial missile strikes, U.S. Air Force F-117 stealth fighters would operate using their radar-evading technology under the cover of darkness to deliver laser-guided, 2,000-pound bombs to pound anti-aircraft defense sites.

The plan would be to knock out sophisticated Serb anti-aircraft defenses, allowing manned aircraft from a number of NATO countries to take part in subsequent attacks.

Bacon said NATO has the option of using the Air Force's B-2 stealth bomber, which has never seen combat. The radar-evading plane, at $2 billion apiece the most expensive plane ever built, can drop satellite-guided bombs on a round-trip sortie from the only B-2 base, at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.

U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke spent two rounds of intense talks with Milosevic Monday and Tuesday, but he was unable to win the Yugoslav president's endorsement of a proposed Kosovo accord that would grant ethnic Albanians local autonomy but not independence.

Speaking with CNN shortly before he left Belgrade, Holbrooke said the situation was now "the bleakest since we began this (peace effort)" almost four years ago.

He said Milosevic rejected international demands for an immediate cease-fire in Kosovo and a NATO-led peace force.

Asked if Milosevic understands the consequences that may result from his actions, Holbrooke said, "Yes." Holbrooke said his delegation stayed over an extra day to make sure Milosevic understood what the consequences might be.

Milosevic "has chosen a path he fully understands by rejecting our reasonable, rational requests and suggestions," he said.

Milosevic's rejection of Holbrooke's mission was delivered formally during an emergency session of the Serbian parliament.

The parliament unanimously adopted two resolutions, one rejecting NATO troops and the other expressing willingness to review the "range and character of an international presence" in Kosovo after a political agreement on the province was signed.

The general-secretary of Milosevic's Socialist Party, Gorica Gajevic, told the session, "We are not accepting foreign military troops on our territory under any excuse and at any price, even at the price of bombing.

"In case war is imposed on us, we will defend from the aggressors with all available means," she said. "And everybody must know that."

Neighboring Macedonia closed its border with Kosovo, stranding hundreds of ethnic Albanian families in the snowy hills near the border.

Even as NATO forces mass, Serbs continue to pound KLA positions in Kosovo

Serb sources reported fighting Tuesday in the Podujevo area of Kosovo and in the rebel stronghold region of Drenica. The northern areas have been the focus of a powerful offensive against the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army.

More smoke rose on the horizon from the town of Srbica, seized by Serb forces on Saturday and closed to reporters since.

Shells slamming into hills near the village of Rezala and small-arms and machine-gun fire sent Kosovo Albanian rebels scurrying.

Aid workers say the fighting has driven 40,000 people, most of them ethnic Albanians, from their homes over the past week since international monitors left the province in anticipation of possible NATO bombing.

Correspondents Christiane Amanpour, Tom Mintier and Wolf Blitzer, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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