-Caveat Lector-
from:
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/Times/frontpage.html?999
A
HREF="http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/Times/frontpage.html?999"The
Times
/A
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BALKANS WAR
May 27 1999
Clinton to order 90,000 troops to Kosovo
BY MICHAEL EVANS, DEFENCE EDITOR
PRESIDENT CLINTON is now ready to consider a full-scale land war against
Serb forces in Kosovo, sending up to 90,000 combat troops from America,
if no peace settlement emerges within the next three weeks.
Although Nato is only officially planning for a peace implementation
force of 50,000-60,000 troops, there is a growing feeling in Washington
and London that the alliance must prepare itself for a much bigger
operation, involving 150,000-160,000 troops.
Mr Clinton's dramatic conversion, after weeks of apparent reluctance to
send in ground troops, has emerged in the light of detailed briefings
from General Wesley Clark, the Supreme Allied Commander, last week.
A new sense of urgency has been injected into Nato's contingency
planning because of a warning from the military that a decision will
have to be made "by mid-June" if the alliance is to contemplate a ground
offensive.
The tight timetable is being dictated by the alliance's determination to
start returning ethnic Albanian refugees to their homes in Kosovo before
the winter.
The huge number of troops required for such an operation will be a
daunting challenge for Nato. However, alliance sources said that with Mr
Clinton committed to defeating Mr Milosevic one way or another, the US
would be expected to contribute more than half of the force.
They estimated the US contribution could be about 90,000 troops who
would be deployed from America, not from Germany. They might include the
12,500-man US 82nd Airborne Division, based at Fort Bragg in North
Carolina, which was deployed in the Gulf War in 1991.
Britain and France would also be expected to play a major part.
Yesterday, George Robertson, the Defence Secretary, took the first step
by announcing an extra 12,000 troops and support personnel for the peace
implementation force, called Kfor. This will bring the total British
military strength committed to the Kosovo crisis in Albania, Macedonia,
Italy and the Adriatic to more than 19,000.
Although Mr Robertson insisted that it was not an invasion force, Tony
Blair indicated in the Commons that the troops could be used for a
combat role.
The alliance sources said that the size of an invasion force would
depend on the amount of damage achieved by the airstrikes against the
Serb troops in Kosovo over the next few weeks. Last week, it was
estimated that the Serb strength in the province remained at about
40,000 in spite of two months of bombing.
However, Nato still hopes that the intensified bombing campaign combined
with Russian diplomatic efforts will persuade President Milosevic to
agree to the alliance's five conditions for stopping the airstrikes.
It is also recognised that if Nato were seen to be preparing for a land
offensive, while backing Moscow's peace diplomacy, it could seriously
undermine the already strained relations between Russia and the
alliance.
Another key factor is that the alliance itself has to be held together,
and any formal request made to the 19 member states for authority to
plan for a ground war could damage the unity that has been maintained so
far. Germany indicated yesterday that it would not veto a move towards a
ground war, although its troops would not take part.
One resolve shared by the whole of Nato is that Mr Milosevic must not
win, and the alliance sources said that if the air campaign and
diplomatic efforts failed to get the Yugoslav leader to back down within
the next three weeks, there would be no alternative but to prepare a
ground offensive.
The alliance sources admitted that the operation would be difficult,
"but not impossible", and that a number of ways into the province were
being studied.
Next page: Extra soldiers 'not part of invasion force'
Cook drums up support in Europe for land war
Another 12,000 UK troops on standby
Tribunal to indict Milosevic
Balkans Summary
Copyright 1999 Times Newspapers Ltd. This service is provided on Times
Newspapers' standard terms and conditions. To inquire about a licence to
reproduce material from The Times, visit the Syndication website.
-
Aloha, He'Ping,
Om, Shalom, Salaam.
Em Hotep, Peace Be,
Omnia Bona Bonis,
All My Relations.
Adieu, Adios, Aloha.
Amen.
Roads End
Kris
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