Perry Downplays New Bosnia Force

Defense Secretary William J. Perry said it’s too early to say whether the United States, or any other NATO country, will have to keep troops in Bosnia after the bulk of the current peacekeeping force leaves in December. Arriving for a meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization defense ministers at which Bosnia-Herzegovina will be high on the agenda, Perry said some international involvement will be required in that Balkan nation. “At this stage, I don’t know whether that’s going to involve military activity, and I certainly don’t know the extent to which it’s going to involve U.S. participation,” he said. Perry said a decision on a follow-up force will be made “as quickly as possible,” but no one expects it to happen before the American presidential election Nov. 5.