March 31, 1999
Web posted at: 11:15 a.m. EST (1615 GMT)

MARRAKECH, Morocco (March 31) -- First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that she was horrified at Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's manipulation of the truth in defending Serb attacks on Kosovar Albanians.

"I've seen, as many people have, the pictures and heard the stories, the television and in the news, and I'm just horrified by what I have seen, but I am particularly horrified by the use of propaganda and the manipulation of the truth and the revision of history that the Serbian government is engaged in right now," Clinton told reporters travelling with her in Northern Africa.

The first lady came to the region for 12-day tour, in part, to promote health care, education, and economic opportunities for women. But she said she could not speak out on issues like tolerance without addressing the current crisis in Kosovo.

Mrs. Clinton voiced strong support for NATO action and said the Serbian "atrocities" could not go unchecked.

"I don't want there to be any mistake in anyone's mind, whether they be in Europe or Africa, the Middle East or the United States, that what we are seeing is the result of a cold, calculated strategy," said Clinton. "We saw it in Bosnia, we now see it in Kosovo. And we have learned that we cannot stand by and let such atrocities go on unchecked with impunity."

"In the end, we know what happens when people like Milosevic are given a free hand, or permitted to abuse people to the extent he has on many occasions in the last years," she said.

The first lady has been in close contact with her husband, President Bill Clinton, since the NATO airstrikes on Serbian targets began. It was the second day in a row that she took Milosevic to task.

Mrs. Clinton said similar remarks she made Tuesday were aimed at making it clear that "the United States and its NATO allies have taken this action because they felt they had no alternative ..." as Serb troops massed for the offensive.

She stressed that the Yugoslav air attacks were not something that the United States and its allies sought.

"But they have felt compelled on humanitarian terms to try to bring an end to a behavior that precipitated the crisis in Bosnia, and it is now driving hundreds of thousands of Kosovars across the borders into their neighboring countries," the first lady said.

Marrakech is the last stop on Mrs. Clinton's Africa tour. She has been accompanied by her daughter Chelsea.

Wednesday, March 31, 1999

• First lady 'horrified' at Serb attacks on Kosovo, Milosevic's 'manipulation' of truth
• McCain introduces himself to New Hampshire
• Could Kosovo make Gore another Hubert Humphrey?
• Committee: Government cannot accurately report location of billions in assets
• Witness: Jim McDougal wanted his ex to cooperate with Starr
• Supreme Court to hear first of several states' rights cases
• Bush exploratory committee says it has raised $6 million
• White House, nearly half of federal agencies miss Y2K deadline
• McCain to offer Internet bill
• New Hampshire House rejects income tax plan
• Some journalists say they don't always believe the media either

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