Congressional members hear details of the NATO mission in Yugoslavia  ALSO NATO aircraft hit civilian vehicles by mistake Capitol Hill pushes for cost of Kosovo NATO says it mistakenly bombed convoy Kosovo or bust, KLA guerrillas ready to fight  MESSAGE BOARD Crisis in Kosovo RELATED VIDEOS CNN's Gene Randall reports on U.S. reservists joining NATO campaign (April 15) Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Candy Crowley looks at the bottom line of U.S. involvement in Kosovo (April 15) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

April 15, 1999
Web posted at: 12:08 p.m. EDT (1608 GMT)

In this story: 'Prospects for casualties remains high' Warner: 'All options should be on table' RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Defense Secretary William Cohen on Thursday expressed regret over the loss of civilian lives in an accidental NATO bombing of a convoy of vehicles in Kosovo, but he defended the pilot involved in the incident.

Both NATO and the Clinton administration said the alliance's military operations against Yugoslavia, now in their fourth week, would continue despite the mishap.

"This is not going to be quick or easy or neat," Cohen said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Cohen said Wednesday's convoy attack occurred while NATO planes in the area were under anti-aircraft fire and that the pilot was forced to make a split-second decision.

"An error did occur, but it was under extraordinary circumstances" and the stress on the pilot should be taken into account, he testified.

Cohen did not identify the nationality of the pilot involved in the attack.

"Any time there is a loss of innocent life ... it is regrettable," he said.

'Prospect for casualties remains high'

Army Gen. Henry Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also testified before the committee.

The aftermath of an attack on a vehicle convoy in Kosovo

"I think the prospect for casualties remains very real and high," Shelton said. "There is no such thing as a risk-free military operation."

Yugoslav officials said at least 64 people died and 25 were injured in Wednesday's convoy attack.

"Serb police or military vehicles may have been in or around the convoy," a NATO statement said, in confirming the attack. "NATO has no way of knowing the number of casualties caused by the incident," the statement added.

Cohen testified that a NATO investigation of the incident had not yet determined "whether or not Serb forces were intermingled with the civilians they were forcing out of Kosovo itself."

Levin says NATO's mission to avoid civilian casualties is in contrast with Milosevic's goals

Warner: 'All options should be on table'

Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-Virginia) opened the Senate hearing by expressing "profound regret for the loss of any innocent civilians, be they Kosovar, Serb or the like."

Michigan's Sen. Carl Levin, the panel's ranking Democrat, said NATO's actions "in trying to avoid civilian casualties is in stark contrast to the genocidal actions of (Yugoslav President Slobodan) Milosevic's forces, his special police and his paramilitary forces."

While Warner called for continuation of the NATO air campaign, he urged preparation for the possible use of ground forces in the conflict. "I've always believed that all options should be on the table ... including the planning that would be necessary to put into place a ground option," he said.

Cohen said such planning has not "gone forward, as we have with an air campaign, (because) there was not a consensus in the NATO alliance to do anything but this."

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