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"Essential Harvest" - and Plan B
In operation "Essential Harvest" NATO dispatched 3500 soldiers to Macedonia to disarm the forces of the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (UCK). The use of force will not be necessary, because the rebel fighters have pledged to surrender their arms voluntarily. That is Plan A. The question is, what happens if it fails?Plan B, according to Brussels, is to cancel the operation and immediately withdraw the troops. So, should a few Albanian guerillas or a hothead among the ethnic Slavs decide not to cooperate, the most important institution of transatlantic security will turn tail and run. Moreover, by agreeing to the mission, NATO has opened itself to charges of bias. If NATO forces appear to deal too leniently with the rebels, there will be political consequences. If they declare that the rebels have not completely disarmed, both sides will have reason to reinstigate the conflict.
It is easy to understand why NATO agreed to such an undertaking: no other alternative was politically acceptable to all of the members. The perfectly justified military goal of not countenancing any losses has been turned into a dubious political premise. In Macedonia the Alliance has made itself hostage to a political process that could very easily fail. Perhaps all will go well. If not, it would be good to have a better Plan B.
23 August 2001 http://www.nzz.ch/english/editorials/2001/08/23_macedonia_ab.html
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