March 27, 1999
Web posted at: 4:03 p.m. EST (2103 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. President Bill Clinton restated his case Saturday for NATO airstrikes against Yugoslavia and praised both American soldiers taking part in the operation and the courage of the Kosovar people.

"Through two World Wars and a long Cold War, we saw that it was a short step from a small brush fire to an inferno, especially in the tinderbox of the Balkans," Clinton said in his weekly radio address. "The time to put out a fire is before it spreads and burns down the neighborhood.

"By acting now, we are taking a strong step toward a goal that has always been in our interest -- a peaceful, united, democratic Europe," he said. "For America there is no greater calling than being a peacemaker, but sometimes you have to fight in order to end the fighting."

Clinton said Americans are proud of U.S. soldiers risking their lives to bring peace to the Balkan region of Europe.

"Our prayers are with them, and our prayers are with all of the people of the Balkans searching for the strength to put centuries of divisions to rest and to join Europe and North America in building a better future together," said the president.

On Friday, President Clinton dispatched 100 "combat equipped" Marines to help protect the besieged U.S. embassy in Skopje, Macedonia.

His order came after the embassy was attacked by an angry mob of Serb supporters demonstrating outside the mission Thursday in the wake of U.S.-led NATO airstrikes.

Clinton's dispatch of the troops was advised in a letter to Congress that formalizes his earlier order of U.S. troops into military combat. The letter is required under the U.S. War Powers Act.

In explaining his action, Clinton said, "The Kosovo region is a tinderbox that could ignite a wider European war with dangerous consequences to the United States."

"Sound military planning may also call for sending a limited number of additional U.S. military personnel to Macedonia in support of ongoing operations,'' his letter conceded.

The Marines will join 350 U.S. troops already on the ground in Macedonia as part of a NATO force that would help enforce any peace agreement brokered for Kosovo.

CNN's Matthew Chance in Skopje reported a strong security operation under way in the Macedonian capital Saturday involving patrols of heavily armed police.

He said the U.S. embassy in the city had also authorized its non-essential staff to leave Macedonia.

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