American soldiers say they are still needed in Kosovo

VITINA, Yugoslavia -- Keeping their minds focused on peacekeeping in the Balkans while their own country is at war, U.S. troops in Kosovo say they need to stay to bring lasting stability to the Yugoslav province.

NATO allies have said they are ready to boost their contingents in the Balkans if the United States withdraws troops to reassign them in the war against terrorism.

But last week, U.S. officials assured NATO that the United States plans to remain in the Balkans. About 5,300 of the 20,000 international troops in Bosnia are American, as are another 5,000 of the 45,000-member NATO-led force in Kosovo.

In Kosovo, U.S. soldiers also said they weren't ready to leave.

"Right now a presence of U.S. troops is still needed," said U.S. Army 1st Lt. Andre Rivier from Chicago. "I think we are getting closer, making a lot of progress, but there is still a lot to be done."

The U.S. soldiers and other international peacekeepers make a difference each day, by patrolling and providing security in cities and towns throughout Kosovo.

"I fear that if we leave right away the ethnic violence would continue. Until the violence stops and until people of Kosovo live peacefully, they still need us here," Rivier said. "We are very upset not to be taking part in the actions against the terrorist groups, but our mission here continues, it changes nothing."

Fear troops will leave

The United States played a crucial role in ending former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic's crackdown against the ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo by leading the 1999 air campaign.

After the campaign ended, thousands of international troops moved in on a peacekeeping mission. Ethnic violence and related problems have continued however, and tens of thousands of Serbs fled the province in fear of revenge from ethnic Albanian extremists.

The anxiety in Kosovo continues with many locals believing that U.S. troops will withdraw from the Balkans as the United States focuses its attention on a military response to the Sept. 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington.

Haxhi Elmija, 67, said his fears were fueled last week when he read about NATO officials' offer to replace pulled-out U.S. troops.

Waiting at a tidy garden for the midday prayer to begin in a mosque in the U.S.-run sector of Kosovo, the ethnic Albanian condemned the terrorists for disturbing the peace.

"Freedom was brought to us by America. We like other countries too, but we want them here, we need them," he said. "If they leave, war will start again."