The Sunday Times October 29, 2000 British troops 'were within hours' of invading Kosovo James Clark, Home Affairs Correspondent BRITAIN was within just hours of launching a ground invasion of Kosovo when Slobodan Milosevic surrendered last year, a senior commander has revealed. "It was three to four hours, tops," Air Marshal Sir John Day said last week. "That's how close we were." Tony Blair had approved the invasion plans and handed control to the military. Soldiers had been trained for the attack; British and Italian special forces were preparing to seize essential high ground, bridges and key enemy positions. Civilian passenger ships were being commandeered and the Ministry of Defence was preparing to begin the call-up of reservists. The prime minister had spoken to President Bill Clinton to ensure that American troops would be involved. Even as Milosevic pondered his surrender, commanders at Britain's Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood, northwest London, were preparing for "H-hour". "The whole thing had been delayed a few times because there were fears over whether the alliance would hold," said Day. "But at the time Washington was coming very close, very close indeed, to our position. "I have no doubt we could have provided the air superiority needed for this operation. It would have involved 54,000 Brits on the ground, but many thousands of American troops would have been needed, too." Jamie Shea, Nato's spokesman during the Kosovo campaign, confirmed that an opposed invasion had been imminent. "It was certainly no more than a single day away." After reconnaissance and assault by the special forces, a bridgehead made up mostly of British armour and infantry that had been based in nearby Macedonia would have been first in. It would have received back-up from other forces, including the Royal Marines. A full invasion, ultimately involving about 150,000 allied troops, would have started before mid-September when the "weather window" would have closed. After that, conditions would have become too tough. However, on June 3 Milosevic announced his capitulation and the withdrawal of his forces from Kosovo. On June 10 the first Yugoslavian and Serbian forces began to leave. Nato formally declared an end to its air offensive on June 21 when the last of the Yugoslavian troops had left. Last week the Commons defence select committee criticised Blair and Clinton for "ruling out" a land attack to remove Serbian forces from Kosovo. The committee had been told by General Sir Mike Jackson, the field commander, that no order to invade was given. Although this was an accurate statement, the order was only hours away from being delivered, said Day. Blair had believed from an early stage that a ground offensive in some form would have been needed. He had worked hard to win support from the other 18 members of the international alliance, although divisions remained. Just hours before the operation was due to go ahead, said Day, Greece had not been informed, for fear that its Orthodox majority, which had religious links with the Serbs, would have forced its leaders to pull out of the allied coalition. Day also points to what he sees as failings in the committee's report, which criticised the RAF for a poor "hit rate" on targets and, he says, ignored the bravery of the airmen. "I feel sorry for the crews, the support teams and the families after this report," said Day. "A lot of people went in under very heavy fire after four hours in the air, then chose not to drop their weapons because they could not be sure of not hitting civilians. None of that courage is recognised in this report." Additional reporting: Adam Nathan ______________________________________________________________________
