Bill Clinton: “I'm not sure that's right, for the following reason: I felt it was important myself--and I told all of our people this…”

“I'm not sure that's right, for the following reason: I felt it was important myself--and I told all of our people this, and several of our NATO Allies--that Russia have a different role in Kosovo, because of the importance of making clear our common commitment to protect civilians, both the Kosovar Albanians who are coming home and the Serbs who remain. Therefore, I thought it was important for Russia to have its forces in more than one of these sectors. And of course, as you know now, they'll be working with us and with the Germans and the French. So they may believe that; the Russians may believe that. But in my own mind, I had already determined that if our Allies would go along, they should be in more than one sector. Mr. Blitzer. But not necessarily in control of the airport, which originally was going to be the strategic headquarters for the peacekeepers.”