The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, December 6, 1995 -Page 7 _______________ I NATO endorses Bosnia operation From Daily Wire Services BRUSSELS, Belgium-NATO for- mally endorsed the deployment of 60,000 combat troops to Bosnia yester- day in a conspicuous display of unity that included a French pledge of further military reintegration in the alliance that Paris has held at arm's length for nearly three decades. At a rare meeting of alliance foreign and defense ministers - the first such gathering since 1966 - NATO also confirmed Spanish Foreign Minister Javier Solana as its new secretary gen- eral and announced additional steps toward expansion into Eastern Europe. With a vanguard of 2,600 NATO logisticians and communications tech- nicians already deploying to Bosnia and Croatia, alliance ministers put their signature on the peace implementation plan pending the signing of a peace treaty in Paris Dec. 14 and a U.N. Secu- rity Council resolution authorizing Operation Joint Endeavor. Bush, Ford support Bosnian mission WASHINGTON - President Clinton yesterday picked up support of former Republican Presidents Bush and Ford in his campaign to win congres- sional backing for deployment of U.S. peacekeeping troops in Bosnia but ran into opposition from a key Senate GOP leader. The support from Bush and Ford - and opposition from Majority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) - surfaced as Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) acknowledging difficulties in drafting a resolution of support for the deploy- ment, said a vote now appears unlikely before next week. 200 Mich. soldiers to train for Bosnia WASHINGTON - The Pentagon on Monday ordered three Army Na- tional Guardand Reserve unitsin Michi- gan to begin training for possible duty in the Bosnia peacekeeping operation. The units are: 210th Military Police Headquar- U.S. Army Sgt. Ron Wallace of Oakland, Calif. adjusts a communication antenna on top of his vehicle at the Sarajevo airport yesterday. ters and Headquarters Detachment, with the Army National Guard in Taylor. The 210th has 74 reservists. 1776th Military Police Company, also with the Army National Guard in Taylor. The company has 125 reserv- ists. 0415th Civil Affairs BattalionArmy Reserve, Kalamazoo. The total number for the battalion was not disclosed, but the military said it was small. Rep. Levin gives support after trip WASHINGTON - U.S. military leaders believe they can enforce the peace in Bosnia, Michigan Rep. Sander Levin (D-Royal Oak) said. "They feel that their mission is de- finedand limited and achievable," Levin said Monday night after returning from a four-day congressional fact-finding trip to the Balkans. "We're thereto give peace a chance," he said. "If they decide they want to renew war, we should leave immedi- ately." The 15-member congressional delega- tion flew to the former Yugoslavia to meet with political and military leaders. Sarajevo Serbs .say they will fightpeace . SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -Bosnian Serb leaders announced this week that they would hold a referen- dum Dec. 12 - two days before the scheduled signing ceremony for the accord - to ask citizens whether they should accept the Dayton peace plan. An overwhelming no vote is almost certain. The Serb mayors of many neighbor- hoods have demanded the accord add a few lines, guaranteeing Serbs be given the right to stay in Sarajevo under their own rule. If not, Serb leaders here have called on citizens to "remain in their ancestral land and to continue their battle." But the U.N. spokesman here, Alexander Ivanko, said yesterday: "If there is a referendum, no matter what the results, our understanding is that it won't change the Dayton agreement. ... It's not up for renegotiation, it's only up for signing." Relief workers prepare for troops SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - Humanitarian groups are bracing for the impact ofthe 60,000-member NATO force on the Bosnian landscape. The Red Cross is earmarking emer- gency aid to cope with the possibility that tens of thousands of Bosnian Serbs will trek across the brutally cold moun- tain passes ringing Sarajevo, said agency spokesman Beat Schweizer. Some relief workers fear privately that the Bosnian Serb leaders will use women and children to block the U.S.- led force from enforcing the accord in the suburbs, a tactic employed previ- ously against U.N. peacekeepers. .' Per Perm