ALSO: U.S. military 'satisfied' with airstrikes RELATED VIDEOS CNN's Andrea Koppel reports on how U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is focusing to keep NATO unified Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN interview Thursday morning with U.S. Senator George Voinovich, who is opposed to the NATO strikes Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K Join CNN's Martin Savidge as cruise missiles are launched Wednesday from the Philippine Sea warship Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Bruce Morton reports on the U.S. stake in Kosovo Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

March 25, 1999
Web posted at: 1:16 p.m. EST (1816 GMT)

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As NATO prepared a second wave of bomb and missile assaults on Yugoslavia, President Clinton on Thursday declared the first night of attacks a success and said the objective was to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe or a wider war.

Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic "has to choose peace .... or we make war," Clinton said at the White House just before a briefing from his senior international policy advisers.

Administration officials tell CNN they were generally satisfied with public and political reaction to the mission so far, although they acknowledged persistent questions from Congress about an endgame for the U.S.-led assaults.

The officials said the answer depended on Milosevic who, they said, could end the strikes by accepting the Kosovo peace plan.

If he refuses, the officials said the bombing was likely to continue for more than a week, until the United States and NATO were convinced they have significantly degraded Belgrade's military capabilities.

In an address to the American public on Wednesday night, Clinton said the attacks were necessary to "defuse a powder keg" that has engulfed Europe in war before.

"We act to protect thousands of innocent people in Kosovo from a mounting military offensive," said Clinton.