11. Meanwhile, NATO leaders extend unprecedented security guarantees to seven neighbors of Yugoslavia, including nations that would serve as staging areas for a possible ground invasion. 12. NATO Secretary General Javier Solana has repeatedly emphasized that NATO has no plans to authorize a ground invasion of Kosovo. 13. Ousting the Taliban would be likely to require a ground invasion leading to the capture and occupation of Kabul, the capital, and other main cities. 14. Ousting the Taliban would probably require a ground invasion leading to the capture and occupation of Kabul, the capital, and other main cities. 15. Russian newspapers have reported this week that preparations are under way for a ground invasion. 16. Such a vote would put the Senate on record as either opposing or supporting a ground invasion of Yugoslav territory. 17. The case for a Korean exception is based on longstanding American plans to use land mines to slow a North Korean ground invasion of the South. 18. The government is also deeply opposed to a NATO ground invasion, which would become a more likely option if the current diplomacy fails. 19. The failure of these efforts would inevitably lead to greater pressure for a ground invasion of Kosovo by NATO forces, a step that Clinton opposes. 20. The statistics illustrate the distance NATO is from launching a successful ground invasion of Kosovo, even if it could muster the political will to assemble one. |