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From: Robert John Bennett 
Subject: A Question of Strategy
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Dear President Clinton:

One of my Serb acquaintances has recently gotten in touch with me again. I
asked him what he thought about the ongoing negotiations in the Balkans
with the American Undersecretary of State, Richard Holbrooke.

"Negotiations always go well for us," he said confidently. "We're at our
best when we can negotiate while at the same time making gains on the
battlefield."

I deadpanned that the Serbs didn't seem to have made many battlefield
gains recently.

He looked at me for a moment with an irritated expression.

"Well, Srebrenica and Zepa were important victories for us," he said. "And
it will take some time to digest them."

I wanted to mention something about the Krajina but decided it might be
better not to. Instead, I asked him what the Serbs hoped to gain from the
current negotiations with the Americans.

"What we always gain from negotiations," he said. "Time. Milosevic as
always will keep hinting at possible concessions, without actually
agreeing to anything. Meanwhile we have the opportunity to consolidate our
military forces in Bosnia. That strategy has been hugely successful for us
in the last four years, and there seems little reason to change it now."

I told him that the Serbs certainly seemed to know what they were doing.

He smiled with satisfaction.

Sincerely yours,

Robert J. Bennett

Munich