Page 182 - The CNN Effect in Action - How the News Media Pushed the West toward War ini Kosovo

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role of the media. On October 2, House representative David Skaggs,
who opposed a policy of military intervention, acknowledged the rela-
tionship between media reports and support of military action, stating,
“Mr. Speaker, recent reports of atrocities against Kosovo civilians by
Serb security forces are certainly appalling . . . It is entirely understand-
able why many people would therefore support military intervention
53
by the UN or by NATO with U.S. leadership.”
Similar sentiments soon followed in the Senate. In a debate on
Kosovo on October 6, clear links were again made between media
images from Kosovo and the need to take military action. Senator Mike
DeWine from Ohio made one such compelling argument, stating,
This past week, Americans and people all over the world have been wit-
ness to some horrific images coming from the tiny province of Kosovo
in the Republic of Serbia. . . . The victims of the latest massacre
included old men, women and children . . . The images broadcast this
week are a sombre reminder of very similar pictures that came from
places not far from Kosovo—places like Mostar and Tuzla in
Bosnia . . . There is little to ponder about what must occur. The threat
or actual use of military action by NATO, such as air strikes, is needed
if some form of Serbian withdrawal or cease fire in Kosovo province is
going to occur. 54 THE KOSOVO CRISIS—THE MICRO REVIEW 147
On October 8, Senator Paul Wellstone from Minnesota again
raised the issue of Kosovo, making a similar link, saying, “Unless
immediate action is taken to forestall a humanitarian tragedy, we may
soon see even more disturbing and gruesome pictures from
Kosovo.” 55 On October 12, Senator Tom Daschle from South
Dakota followed a similar theme when he said,
Within the last several weeks our newspapers have been filled with
accounts of atrocities committed by Milosevic’s units against scores of
unarmed civilians . . . If air operations and missile strikes against the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia are necessary to force Milosevic to the
negotiating table, the United States and our NATO allies should
demonstrate that we are prepared to pursue that option . . . Its time for
the world to say no to the torture and slaughter of innocent civilians in
Kosovo. 56
Phase 5: October 28, 1998 to January 14, 1999
The Holbrooke-Milosevic Agreement solved the short-term humani-
tarian problems that most concerned the West. The agreement was