    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 13 (Monday, April 5, 1999)]
    [Pages 531-532]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    The President's Radio Address

    March 27, 1999

        Good morning. Three days ago I decided the United States should join
    our NATO allies in military airstrikes to bring peace to Kosovo. In my
    address to the Nation last Wednesday, I explained why we have taken this
    step: to save the lives of innocent civilians in Kosovo from a brutal
    military offensive; to defuse a powder keg at the heart of Europe that
    has exploded twice before in this century with catastrophic results; to
    prevent a wider war we would have to confront later, only at far greater
    risk and cost; to stand with our NATO allies for peace.
        Our military operation has been underway for several nights now. In
    this time, Serb troops have continued attacks on unarmed men, women, and
    children. That is all the more reason for us to stay the course. We must
    and we will continue until Serbia's leader, Slobodan Milosevic, accepts
    peace or we have seriously damaged his capacity to make war.
        As always, America's military men and women are performing with
    courage and skill. Their strength comes from rigorous training, state-
    of-the-art weaponry, and hard-won experience in this part of the world.
    This is the same brave and tested force that brought stability to Bosnia
    after 4 years of vicious war. I am confident they will once again rise
    to the task.
        Some of them are fighter pilots, some are bombers, some are
    mechanics, technicians, air traffic controllers, and base personnel.
    Every time I visit our troops around the world, I am struck by their
    professionalism, their quiet, unassuming determination. They always say,
    ``This is the job I was trained to do.'' They don't see themselves as
    heroes, but we surely do.
        I've also been deeply impressed by the solidarity of NATO's purpose.
    All 19 NATO nations are providing support, from Norway to Turkey, from
    England to Italy, from Germany and France to our neighbors in Canada,
    including our 3 allies from central Europe, the new NATO members:
    Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic.
        And we should remember the courage of the Kosovar people today,
    still exposed to violence and brutality. Many Americans now have heard
    the story of a young Kosovar girl trying to stay in touch with a friend
    in America by E-mail as a Serb attack began in her own village. Just a
    few days ago she wrote, ``At the moment, just from my balcony, I can see
    people running with suitcases, and I can hear some gunshots. A village
    just a few hundred meters from my house is all surrounded. As long as I
    have electricity, I will continue writing to you. I'm trying to keep
    myself as calm as possible. My younger brother, who is 9, is sleeping
    now. I wish I will not have to stop his dreams.''
        We asked these people of Kosovo to accept peace, and they did. We
    promised them we would stick by them if they did the right thing, and
    they did. We cannot let them down now.
        Americans have learned the hard way that our home is not that far
    from Europe. Through two World Wars and a long cold war we saw that it
    was a short step from a small brushfire to an inferno, especially in the
    tinderbox of the Balkans. The time to put out a fire is before it
    spreads and burns down the neighborhood. By acting now, we're taking a
    strong step toward a goal that has always been in our national interest:
    a peaceful, united, democratic Europe. For America there is no greater
    calling than being a peacemaker. But sometimes you have to fight in
    order to end the fighting.
        Let me end now by repeating how proud all Americans are of the men
    and women in uniform risking their lives to protect peace in the
    Balkans. Our prayers are with them. And our prayers are with all the
    people of the Balkans searching for the strength to put

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    centuries of divisions to rest and to join Europe and North America in
    building a better future together.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 5:44 p.m. on March 26 in the Oval
    Office at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on March 27. The
    transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on
    March 26 but was embargoed for release until the broadcast.