-Caveat Lector- -------- Original Message -------- Subject: French caution hampered Kosovo bombing campaign: Short Leon Bruneau Date: 23 Oct 1999 15:00:54 -0000 From: Eternera <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Eternera <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Eternera - http://get.to/eternera French caution hampered Kosovo bombing campaign: Short Leon Bruneau WASHINGTON, Oct 21 (AFP) - France's insistence on strict criteria for selecting bombing targets hindered NATO's air campaign over Yugoslavia, a top US military commander said Thursday. Lieutenant General Michael Short, who commanded the NATO air forces during the Kosovo campaign, told a Senate committee that in the campaign, "Targeting was a problem to us ... and as you know, the red card was played by France in particular." "There were targets in Belgrade, which I believed were strategic, that the French forbade us from striking," he added. "I'd have gone for the head of the snake on the first night. I'd have turned the lights out the first night," Short said. During the campaign, which lasted from March 24 until June 10, "The restrictions that were placed on us were extraordinary ... and it placed our troops at increased risk and made us more predictable," Short said. Allied political leaders should have approved categories of targets that military forces could strike, rather than approving each target, Short said in his testimony a Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing on "The Lessons of Kosovo." US Defense Secretary William Cohen recently made a similar remark, saying that allied political leaders should have decided which targets were acceptable before the fighting began and then left the rest to the military. After Short's testimony, the Pentagon tried to temper his remarks with more soothing comments from spokesman Kenneth Bacon. "General Short has been known for his candor throughout his career.... I think that there is no reason to object to what he said," Bacon said "It's the right of countries to raise objections in an organization that operates by consensus. Ultimately, the consensus was met and the air campaign was successful," Bacon said. Short said that France had been opposed to any bombing of Montenegro, which had therefore been almost completely exempted as a NATO target. General Wesley Clark, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's supreme allied commander in Europe, told the commission that he concurred with almost all Short's testimony. But Clark said American military commanders had close contact with France throughout the campaign, and that overall political leaders accommodated the military's needs. "The first and foremost lesson learned from Operation Allied Force is that the NATO alliance worked," he said. "Looking back, we should take a lot of pride by what was done by NATO political leaders." "Every nation had a set of different interests ... and yet they pulled together," Clark said. Short said that although he was aware of political considerations in the NATO campaign. But he said of France: "A nation that provides less than eight percent of the overall contributions to an effort should not be in a position of restricting American aviators who are bearing 70 percent of the load ... and who are in harm's way." Short told the committee that he personally had favoured a major air strike against the city of Belgrade itself on the first night of bombing. ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/ DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
