"We saw it here from the diplomatic track," said one military officer familiar with the recommendation.

"That's why we always say we are 100% committed to the diplomatic track."

Second, we are pursuing a diplomatic track to end the war in Bosnia altogether.

It has consistently dismissed or forced out every senior official who tried to develop a diplomatic track.

Though some Bush officials consider that a likely scenario, one senior official said the military and diplomatic tracks were still being developed independently.

All these terms are the fruit of the under-noticed diplomatic track.

Mr. Bush made the case that he has a strategy to keep the diplomatic track all under control, if the country is just patient enough.

The result was the forced resignation, one after another, of four senior officials who tried seriously to open a diplomatic track to Nicaragua.

"Humanitarian" aid was later reinstated, but without producing a coherent diplomatic track.

The United States has been trying to get the diplomatic track going again for some time.