-Caveat Lector- from alt.conspiracy ----- As always, Caveat Lector. Om K ----- <A HREF="aol://5863:126/alt.conspiracy:517876">Kosovo (Crazier and Crazier) Britain plans to order 40,000 troops </A> ----- Subject: Kosovo (Crazier and Crazier) Britain plans to order 40,000 troops From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Tsun) Date: Sun, Apr 25, 1999 9:15 PM Message-id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Topic: KOSOVO Britain makes plans to order 40,000 troops to the Balkans http://www.the-times.co.uk/ April 25 1999 : Stephen Grey in Brussels; Michael Prescott, Jonathon Carr-Brown and David Leppard Britain makes plans to order 40,000 troops to the Balkans THE Ministry of Defence has drafted detailed plans to send up to 40,000 British troops to the Balkans as part of a Nato force to secure victory over President Slobodan Milosevic in Kosovo. The proposals, due to go before ministers this week, call for the deployment of the 1st Armoured Division, based in Germany. Britain and America would each provide 40% of a 100,000-strong land force, with the remainder coming from European allies. Defence strategists believe an initial period of intense fighting for up to a week is possible, followed by a month of "mopping up" before all resistance is overcome. British military commanders have swung increasingly behind the use of ground troops during a month of airstrikes on Yugoslavia that have failed to prevent ethnic cleansing, massacres and the flight of more than 600,000 ethnic Albanians from their homes in Kosovo. Nato, divided over whether ground troops should be sent into the province, is expected to delay any decision for several weeks. Nato leaders at the organisation's 50th anniversary summit in Washington yesterday were still hopeful that an intensification of airstrikes, with American Apache attack helicopters likely to go into action this week, would force Milosevic to capitulate. General Wesley Clark, the supreme allied commander, said airstrikes had left Yugoslav defences ineffective and created a fuel crisis for Milosevic's forces. "They are vulnerable to collapse. In short, we're winning, he's losing and he knows it," Clark said. Tony Blair's official spokesman suggested Milosevic had placed retired and fired generals under house arrest, fearing an insurrection. "The sense we have of him is that he is getting more and more bunkered," the spokesman said. According to Downing Street, intelligence reports show that internal opposition to Milosevic is strengthening and his grip on the army is weakening. His forces have been hit by a wave of desertions and some of his closest associates are calling for an end to the conflict, the spokesman said. However, there was no evidence in Belgrade to support claims that the Yugoslav leader might be facing a coup. Downing Street refused to be drawn on whether ground troops would fight their way into Kosovo. "At some stage, ground troops are going to go in," Blair's spokesman said. "They are going to have to be part of any endgame in this, but we do not know what the circumstances are going to be." The ministry has prepared four options for consideration by George Robertson, the defence secretary, and his generals: Using ground troops solely to enforce a peace agreement with Milosevic's approval. Going in without permission but after bombing raids have virtually incapacitated the Yugoslav military forces. Invading Kosovo and confronting remnants of organised opposition. The so-called "Armageddon option" of a full-scale invasion of Serbia with 200,000 troops. Planners favour the third option, which they call "semi-permissive peace enforcement". It would require a huge quantity of artillery shells as well as tank and other ammunition during the initial phase. According to the planners, it would take up to three months to prepare the land forces. Any decision to deploy must be taken quickly so that troops could move into Kosovo by the end of July if Milosevic has not backed down by then. Waiting any later, the planners say, would carry the danger that fighting might persist until the autumn, when conditions in the province's mountainous terrain would make progress difficult. Kosovo's refugees would then stand little chance of going home before winter. To provide 40% of the troops required would reflect not only Blair's hawkishness on Kosovo, but also the relatively high quality of Britain's armed forces, ministry sources say. But President Bill Clinton's reservations about ground forces could make it hard for him to commit an equivalent number. Some allies, notably the Germans, oppose any such intervention. Macedonia, where Nato already has 12,000 troops, has said that the alliance could not invade Kosovo from its territory. Moving into Kosovo from Albania is considered to be a tougher option. As Nato stepped up pressure on Milosevic from the air, allied jets raided the industrial southern city of Nis yesterday with a missile a minute during a half-hour bombardment. The targets included a water treatment plant that supplied the army. This week the battle is likely to be extended to the personal fortunes of Milosevic's family and business associates. Robin Cook, the foreign secretary, has said Milosevic family members are living in luxury abroad, although he has yet to produce any hard evidence. He will urge European Union foreign ministers tomorrow to help trace and freeze assets worth millions of pounds. In Russia, where a bomb exploded yesterday near a building housing the American and British consulates in Yekaterinburg, hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough were fading. Viktor Chernomyrdin, leading Russia's talks with Milosevic, said he had no trump card. "Greater efforts will be needed," he said. It also emerged yesterday that Baroness Thatcher has indirectly influenced the conduct of the campaign. Blair has telephoned her to seek her advice at least weekly since the conflict started. Senior sources in London said Thatcher had been "supportive" of Blair's policy, but had urged a heavier initial air campaign and then consideration of the deployment of ground forces. She was pleased that both points had been taken up by him. Tankers from Nato countries are the biggest importers of oil by sea into the former Yugoslavia. The disclosure yesterday came as Nato finalised plans for an oil embargo. Moscow said last night it would continue to supply oil to Belgrade, raising the prospect that Nato vessels may stop and search Russian tankers in the Adriatic. Jacques Chirac, the French president, warned that halting ships on the high seas would be an act of war. Blair appealed to the Russians not to oppose the embargo. Nato aims to blockade the port of Bar, in the republic of Montenegro. Seven tankers owned by companies registered in Nato countries have docked there this month ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End Kris 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. 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