Replies

~"There are indicators that genocide is unfolding in Kosovo,'' said the State Department spokesman, James P. Rubin ... He added, ''Let me say that the abhorrent and criminal actions, I mean on a massive scale, are occurring in Kosovo."~ CRISIS IN THE BALKANS- THE OVERVIEW; NATO HUNTING FOR SERB FORCES; U.S. REPORTS SIGNS OF 'GENOCIDE' - New York Times

~Accusing Serbia of "ethnic cleansing" in Kosovo similar to the genocide of Jews in World War II, an impassioned President Clinton sought Tuesday to rally public support for his decision to send U.S. forces into combat against Yugoslavia~ CNN - Clinton- Serbs must be stopped now - March 23, 1999

Yahoo!, the Boston Globe (an affiliate of the NY Times) and the LA Times also reported the 500,000 number. Here is the wording from Yahoo! reported the same day as the NY Times:

~U.S. officials said in Washington that at least 100,000 and possibly as many as 500,000 Kosovo Albanian men were unaccounted for, raising fears they might have been killed by Serb forces.~

Here is the LA Times wording:

~The State Department said that at least 100,000 and possibly as many as 500,000 Kosovo Albanian men are unaccounted for, raising fears that they may have been killed by Serbian forces.~

Taken together it's hard to believe they all ended up with the same typos or misunderstandings.

Smoking gun: Reuters quotes a "written report" the same day:

~At least 100,000 and possibly as many as 500,000 Kosovo Albanian men are unaccounted for, raising fears that they may have been killed by Serb forces, U.S. officials said Monday.~

~But a State Department written report on "ethnic cleansing'' in Kosovo issued Monday said the number of missing men ranges "from a low of 100,000, looking only at the men missing from among refugee families in Albania, up to nearly 500,000, if reports of widespread separation of men among internally displaced persons within Kosovo are true.'' [...] But, said one official, "There's a tremendous amount of concern that the worst case scenario that many feared has happened.''~

This wasn't just about "displaced persons", as he went on to say:

~He said the United States has reports -- at least two from satellite imagery and others from refugees and members of the Kosovo Liberation Army -- of what may be 43 mass burial sites in Kosovo. ... These are places where large areas of earth have been disrupted since NATO began its air war against Yugoslavia on March 24.~

~U.S. officials said there is good reason to presume the worst about any of the Kosovo Albanians reported missing.~

He was talking "mass burial sites", not just people who could not be accounted for. And the "worst case" was "500,000 Kosovo Albanian men are unaccounted for", not including women and children, which would mean the total is implied to be much higher.