For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 31, 2003
Message to the Congress of the United States
Pursuant to section 1212 of the National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2001, Public Law 106398, I hereby submit a report,
prepared by my Administration, on the progress made in achieving the
militarily significant benchmarks for conditions that would achieve a
sustainable peace in Kosovo and ultimately allow for the withdrawal of
the United States military presence in Kosovo.
The term "militarily significant" relates to tasks and objectives
significant from a military standpoint that once accomplished, would
allow for withdrawal of military forces from Kosovo. In the
establishment of the Kosovo benchmarks, four critical tasks for NATO
forces were identified: military stability; public security;
border/boundary issues; and war crimes/support to the International
Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Objectives for these
tasks were drawn from United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244,
the NATO Operations Plan, the Military Technical Agreement, and the
Kosovo Liberation Army Undertaking.
I anticipate that Kosovo Force and U.S. participation in it will
gradually reduce in size as public security conditions improve and
Kosovars assume increasing responsibility for their own
selfgovernment.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 31, 2003.
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