Previous threats of military action have failed to persuade Milosevic to mend his ways, and the latest saber-rattling from the alliance did not appear to have slowed his onslaught on Kosovo, a province of Serbia where ethnic Albanians make up 90 percent of the population.

If the political decision is made to launch a NATO military action against Yugoslavia, it would be a phased campaign, gradually increasing in intensity.

“The targets would be military targets," said Walter B. Slocombe, U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy. “Very, very effective and very, very strong blows would be aimed at the very instruments that Milosevic is using to carry out this repression."

Asked if he thought NATO could bomb Milosevic into submission, Gen. Henry Shelton, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: “I believe that we have a wide range of options available to us, the end result of which will be that Milosevic will comply with the demands made of him by NATO."

“Certainly we will start with the lighter of the options to give him a chance to respond," he added. “But it might not end with the light option."