Clinton ready to consider ground war

It said Clinton8217;s dramatic about-turn, after weeks of apparent reluctance to send in ground troops, had emerged in the light of detailed briefings from General Wesley Clark, the Supreme Allied Commander, last week.

A sense of urgency has been injected into NATO8217;s contingency planning because of a warning from the military that a decision will have to be made by 8220;mid-June8221; if the alliance is to contemplate a ground war, the paper said.

The tight timetable has been dictated by NATO8217;s determination to start returning the ethnic Albanian refugees toKosovo before the Balkan winter, which begins in October.