[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

[[Page 532]]

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.