Verbatim Special: The Balkan War

For a fuller version see www.airforce-magazine.com

“We need a that is safe, progressively attack, disrupt, de- the bombing started Milosevic would secure, free, united, a good partner grade, devastate, and, ultimately— play the victim, not turn into Adolf Hit- with us for trading. ... That’s what this unless President Milosevic complies ler Jr.”—Unnamed US official, NYT, Kosovo thing is all about.”—President with the demands of the international March 30. Clinton, speech to American Federa- community—we’re going to destroy tion of State, County, and Municipal these forces and their facilities and “I think right now it is difficult to say Employees, March 23. support.”—Supreme Allied Com- that we have prevented one act of mander Europe Gen. Wesley Clark, brutality at this stage.”—Bacon, DoD “What if someone had listened to NATO briefing, March 25. briefing, March 30. Winston Churchill and stood up to Adolf Hitler earlier? How many people’s lives “These bombs are not going to do “That [possibly running out of certain might have been saved?”—Clinton, the job. It’s almost pathetic. You’re just munitions] is something that we do AFSCME speech, March 23. going to solidify the determination of worry about. We have a supply now, the Serbs to resist a peace agreement. but it won’t last forever.”—Bacon, DoD “We’re coming close to starting You’d have to drop the bridges and turn briefing, March 30. World War III.”—Sen. Ted Stevens, off the lights in Belgrade to have even floor statement, March 23. a remote chance of changing Milos- “He’s hurting. We know that he is evic’s mind. What you’ll get is all the running short of fuel. We’re now starting “We have plans for a swift and se- old Vietnam stuff—bombing pauses, to hit him very hard on the ground. ... vere air campaign. This will be painful escalation, negotiations, trouble.”— You will start to see the resolve start- for the Serbs. We hope that, relatively Sen. John Mc­Cain, Times ing to crack very quickly.”—Air Com- quickly, ... the Serbs will realize that (NYT), March 25. modore David Wilby, NATO briefing, they have made a mistake.”—Pentagon March 31. spokesman Kenneth Bacon, briefing, “It was always understood from the March 23. outset that there was no way we were “The thing that bothers me about going to stop these paramilitary forces introducing ground troops into a hos- “North Atlantic Treaty Organization who were going in there and murder- tile situation, into Kosovo and into the forces have initiated military action ing civilians in these villages.”—Clark, , is the prospect of never being against the Federal Republic of Yugo- CNN interview, March 26. able to get them out.”—Clin­ton, CBS slavia. ... The military objective of our “60 Minutes II,” March 31. action is to deter further action against “We are on the brink of a major hu- the Kosovars and to diminish the ability manitarian disaster in Kosovo, the likes “We may not have the means to stop of the Yugoslav army to continue those of which have not been seen in Europe it, but we have shown we have the will attacks, if necessary.”—Secretary of since the closing stages of World War to try.” —NATO Secretary General Defense William S. Cohen, DoD brief- II.”—Allied spokesman Jamie Shea, Javier Solana, NYT, March 31. ing, March 24. NATO briefing, March 28. “We clearly intend to loosen his “I don’t see this as a long-term op- “We’re in it, and we have to win it, grip on power and break his will to eration. I think that this is something and we have to do whatever is nec- continue and, as weather permits, to ... that is achievable within a relatively essary in order to ensure that this is chip off his assets in Kosovo. If we short period of time.”—Secretary of not a failure. ... That means that we start to chip away at the institutions State Madeleine Al­bright, PBS “New- have to exercise every option. ... We that keep him in power, he may think it shour,” March 24. must win this conflict with whatever it over.” —Gen. Klaus Naumann, then takes.”—McCain, ABC’s “This Week,” chairman of NATO Military Commit- “If NATO’s invited to [send a peace- March 28. tee, NYT, April 1. keeping force], our troops should take part, ... but I do not intend to put our “I don’t know if we can do it with- “[In a 1998 NATO study of troops troops in Kosovo to fight a war.”—Clin- out ground troops.”—Gen. Michael needed for a ground invasion], the num- ton, address to nation, March 24. Ryan, USAF Chief of Staff, NYT, bers came in high. No one said yes, no March 28. one said no; it was taken off the table. ... “This is in fact NATO’s attempt to It was a complete eye-roller.”—“Senior enter the 21st century as global po- “We never thought we could stop this. Administration official,”Wash ­ington liceman. Russia will never agree to You can’t conduct police actions from Post (WP), April 1. it.”—Russian President Boris Yelt­sin, the air in any country.”—Clark, press Kremlin statement, March 24. interview, March 29. “When you fly less than 50 bombing sorties per day for seven days, you’re “We’re going to systematically and “We miscalculated. We thought when not serious about what you’re doing.

AIR FORCE Magazine / June 1999 47 Verbatim Special continued

At best, it’s sporadic bombing.”—Re- lest Spain develop close military ties “I would characterize the [rules of tired USAF Gen. Buster Glosson, to the . By an American engagement] as as strict as I’ve seen key figure in Gulf War air campaign, secretary of state who supported the in my 27 years [in the] military. ... The , April 1. nuclear freeze and opposed the Gulf rules have been, and are, that, un- War. And by an American President less you’re 100 percent sure in your “The ring is closing around the Yu­ who—well, forget his military his- mind what you’re hitting ... you won’t goslav armed forces.”—Solana, NATO tory.”—Columnist Charles Krautham- drop.”—Wald, DoD briefing, April 14. briefing, April 1. mer, WP, April 8. “All the suggestions—‘Did you con- “I’m surprised we didn’t bomb it [the “We’ve been officially reassured at a sider this? Did you consider that?’ downed F-117 fighter], because the high level that Russia will not be drawn We did.”—Albright, statement to a standing procedure has always been into the conflict in the Bal­kans.”—White House committee, April 15. that, when you lose something of real House spokesman Joe Lockhart, or perceived value—in this case, real Reuters, April 9. “The military mission ... is to reduce, technology, stealth—you destroy it. diminish, degrade the military capability ... Once you get the pilot out of there, “They want to bring in ground troops. that Milosevic’s forces have to conduct you blow the thing to smithereens.”— They are preparing for that. They want their campaign of brutal repression.”— Retired USAF Gen. John Michael simply to seize Yugoslavia to make it Cohen, Senate Armed Ser­­vices Loh, former head of Air Combat their protectorate. We cannot let that Committee (SASC), April 15. Command, Defense Daily, April 2. happen to Yugoslavia. ... I told NATO, the Americans, the Germans: Don’t “We could sit on the sidelines. We “We are prepared to sustain this push us toward military action. Oth- could fold our arms and say, ‘It’s not effort for the long haul. Our plan is to erwise, there will be a European war our problem.’ But I think that that would persist until we prevail. ... Let me be for sure and possibly world war.” — have been a real challenge to our own clear. The ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Yeltsin, televised statement, April 9. humanity.”—Cohen, SASC, April 15. cannot stand as a permanent event.”— Clinton, remarks to press, April 5. “NATO early on made an as- “We’re certainly engaged in hostili- sessment ... as to what [number of ties. We’re engaged in combat. Whether “I think we wish we had a larger ground troops] it would actually take that measures up to, quote, a classic inventory of certain types of weapons. to do the job, and those numbers definition of war, I’m not qualified to There has been significant utilization varied from lows down in the twen- say.”—Cohen, SASC, April 15. of some of our more advanced cruise ties—20,000 or so—up to a couple missile systems.”—Deputy Sec­retary of hundred thousand.”—Gen. Hugh “Limited actions beget limited re- of Defense John Hamre, speech in Shel­ton, JCS Chairman, ABC’s “This sults.”—McCain, SASC, April 15. Philadelphia, April 6. Week,” April 11. “If the public knew our state of “So far, we haven’t heard complaints “Russia is an absolutely essential readiness, or our lack of readiness, from the CINCs, that I know of, that player in the search for peace with there would be an outrage out there. they can’t do the mission. ... So as Belgrade. We must respect its desire The fact that we are roughly at one- we speak today, the readiness of the to play a constructive role in the se- half the force strength that we were US military has not been really af- curity and stability of our continent.” in 1991—How many people know fected by this. We have the capability —French Foreign Minister Hubert that?”—Sen. James Inhofe, SASC, to cover all the regions as we speak Vedrine, WP, April 13. April 15. today. The number of US aircraft in theater is nothing near the total aircraft “This campaign has the highest “I’d say Milosevic has lost. He’s los- or military capability we have today proportion of precision weaponry ing his military infrastructure and his in the US military. Even though it is that’s ever been used in any air op- ability to sustain his forces. He’s los- a fairly sophisticated, a fairly large eration anywhere. ... [NATO is] using ing his air defense system slowly but commitment, we still have a significant almost all precision strike weapons surely. We see signs of lower morale, amount of forces [in] reserve that can when the targets are point targets, evidence of desertions, leadership handle the two MRCs.”—USAF Maj. and in some cases we’re actually gaps, command-and-control problems. Gen. Charles Wald, DoD briefing, attacking individual tanks on the It’s not over. ... We’re in the first 25 April 6. ground with laser-guided weaponry. minutes of a two-hour movie. You can’t The reason for this is it’s a very ef- predict how it’s going to end.”—Bacon, “This is no time to pause. ... We ficient means of attack, it reduces WP, April 18. will reject any settlement that freezes collateral damage, and it reduces the the result of Milosevic’s genocide and continuing exposure of aircraft going “We won’t serve as a postman. We rewards him for his brutality.”—Cohen, after the same target.”—Clark, NATO won’t deliver NATO’s ultimatums to April 7. briefing, April 13. Belgrade. That is not our mission.”— Russian Foreign Minister Igor Iva­ “This is war as waged by humani- “We can’t have troops passing out nov, statement, April 26. tarians, idealists, and the flotsam of blankets one day and then tell those the counterculture. This NATO war same forces to conduct combat opera- “Of course, [we] may have one machine is being directed by whom? tions the next. You’ve got to train the flaw in our thinking. ... Our flaw may By a German foreign minister from the force. You’ve got to prepare them.”— be that we think [Milosevic] may have pacifist Green Party. By the head of Retired Army Gen. George Joulwan, at least a little bit of responsibility for NATO, Javier Solana, who vigorously former SACEUR, WP, April 14. his country and may act accordingly, opposed his nation’s entry into NATO because otherwise he may end up

48 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 1999 being the ruler of the rubble.”—Nau­ then we asked, ‘Then what?’ Then they “We can have a bombing pause if it’s mann, statement to Defense Writers said, ‘Well, we will bomb for another clear that it will be in aid of [a] larger Group (DWG), April 26. week and that will force him to come to purpose.”—Clinton, news confer- the table and this will be all over with.’ ence, May 3. “We are winning. Milosevic is losing, And then we asked, ‘Then what?’ There and he knows it. He should face up to was silence.”—DeLay, floor statement, “I don’t think you can characterize this, and he should face up to it now.” April 28. [the Administration goal] as ‘total —Clark, NATO briefing, April 27. victory.’ That’s not what I’m asking “I say to my colleagues, we have for.”—Clinton, news con­fer­ence, “Step by step, bit by bit, we are a war in Yugoslavia. We can call it May 3. cutting off his ability to reinforce or to whatever we want, but it is a euphe- sustain his forces easily down in Ko­ mism unless we recognize it is a war. “The President of the United States sovo. Of course he can still walk them It is an unmitigated disaster. Our and is prepared to lose a war rather than in through the gullies and the rivers NATO’s involvement in this war is an do the hard work, the politically risky and so forth, and it is never going to unmitigated disaster. That is the ugly work, of fighting it as the leader of be complete, but it is certainly com- truth, and everybody knows it. They the greatest nation on Earth should plicating their life down there.”—Clark, certainly know and talk about it in the fight when our interests and values NATO briefing, April 27. Pentagon.”—Rep. Doug Bereu­ter, are imperiled. ... Shame on the Presi- floor statement, April 28. dent if he persists in abdicating his “He’s bringing reinforcements in con- responsibilities, but shame on us if tinually. If you actually added up what’s “Clinton is a better communica- we let him.”—McCain, floor state- there on any given day, you might actu- tor than anyone else. Once Clinton ment, May 4. ally find out that he’s strengthened his decides that’s what he’s going to do forces in there.—Clark, NATO brief- [to negotiate an end to war with Milo­ “We need to find a way to reconcile ing, April 27. sevic], he’ll sell it. If Nixon could sell the conditions of a coalition war with the fall of Saigon as peace with honor, the principle of military operations “We have never said that we can fight Clinton can sell this.”—“Senior Ad- such as surprise and overwhelm- two wars simultaneously. What we have ministration official,” NYT, April 29. ing force. We did not apply either in said is that we would want to structure Operation Allied Force, and this cost our resources in a manner so that “Airpower works best when it is used time, effort, and potentially additional we can unequivocally fight one major decisively. Shock, mass are the way to casualties.”—Naumann, NATO brief- regional contingency—a war—and to achieve early results. Clearly because ing, May 4. be able to have enough resources to of the constraints in this operation, we deter our opponent from accomplish- have not been able to, haven’t seen “The mission is to pin them down, ing [its] objectives in a second theater that at this point.”—Gen. Richard cut them off, take them out. ... We have until we can clean up the operation in Hawley, ACC commander, statement pinned them down, we have pretty the first and move resources to take to DWG, April 29. much largely cut them off, and are care of the second. ... And I think we about to begin to take them out.”— do have the resources for it. But right “We are going to be in desperate NATO spokesman Maj. Gen. Walter now, we’re committing the equivalent need, in my command, for a significant Jertz, NATO briefing, May 6. of the MRC worth of air assets for retrenchment in commitments for a this operation.”—Hamre, to Senate significant period of time. ... I think we “Let there be no doubt: This war must appropriations committee, April 27. have a real problem facing us three, be won. ... The overriding justification four, five months down the road in the for military action is quite simply the na- “What good has been accomplished readiness of the stateside units.”— ture of the enemy we face. We are not so far? Absolutely nothing. What long- Hawley, DWG, April 29. dealing with some minor thug whose term goal will be accomplished by local brutalities may offend our sensi- having our troops there? None, unless “We have no interest in destroy- bilities from time to time. Milosevic’s you’re willing to occupy all of Yugosla- ing more targets in Serbia than is regime and the genocidal ideology via.”—Rep. Tom DeLay, House Major- absolutely necessary. We dislike that sustains it represent something ity Whip, floor statement, April 28. using power, really.”—Gen. Chris- altogether different—a truly monstrous tian Hvidt, Danish chief of defense, evil, one that cannot be merely checked “There are deep reservations in the NYT, May 2. or contained, one that must be totally Congress about the prosecution of this defeated. ... There are, in the end, war. It’s been screwed up from the first “We clearly can do two major the- no humanitarian wars. War is serious day.”—Rep. Heather A. Wilson, floor ater wars. Now, if you had something and it is deadly. Casualties, including statement, April 28. happen in the Gulf, and if you had civilian casualties, are to be expected. something happen in Korea, then we Trying to fight a war with one hand tied “The Secretary of State, the Secre- would have to make a decision.”—Gen. behind your back is the way to lose tary of Defense, and the Chairman of Joseph Ralston, vice chairman of it. We always regret the loss of lives, the Joint Chiefs of Staff told us that this the Joint Chiefs of Staff, NBC’s but we should have no doubt that it was no big deal, that we were going to “Meet the Press,” May 2. is the men of evil, not our troops or bomb for a couple of days, 48 hours, pilots, who bear the guilt.”—Margaret and then stop bombing, and Milosevic “The fact that the lights went out Thatcher, Wall Street Journal op-ed would come to the table. When asked across 70 percent of the country, I think, article, May 6. the question, ‘What if he does not come shows that NATO has its finger on the to the table?’ they said, ‘Well, we will go light switch in Yugoslavia now, and we “It’s not a conventional thing, where to Phase II, and Phase II is that we will can turn the power off whenever we one side’s going to win and one side’s bomb for a few more days. Then he will need to and whenever we want to.”— going to lose.”—Clinton, remarks to be going to the table, by crackie.’ And Shea, NATO briefing, May 3. press, in Germany, May 6. ■

AIR FORCE Magazine / June 1999 49