Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

23 April 2004

BALKANS

• The International Crisis Group think tank said Thursday Kosovo is in danger of becoming Europe’s West Bank, a destabilizing source of unrest in the Balkans, because of flawed and failed western policy-making and peacekeeping, reports The Guardian. According to the article, the group called for an overhaul of western policy in response to last month’s ethnic riots. In a 50-page study of the sudden Albanian offensive against the Serbian minority, it reportedly strongly criticized the Kosovo Albanian leadership and the Serbian government in Belgrade. However, it said the UN administration should be scrapped and reformed with a new mandate and mission and claimed that KFOR responded badly to the incidents. “KFOR stood revealed as a paper tiger, and will have difficulty redressing its credibility deficit. It did a creditable humanitarian job, but a terrible military one,” the study reportedly added, claiming that the force was “defeated” in all but one of the 33 riot locations. “The UN mission was no longer an efficient or a stabilizing factor,” it added. The newspaper notes that U.S. and NATO officials called Thursday for the prosecution of those responsible for the riots, after meeting official in Belgrade and Pristina. Pristina’s KosovaLive news agency, April 22, reported that Gen. Jones confirmed Thursday NATO’s commitment to provide security in Kosovo. “Gen. Jones said there are many potential threats in (Kosovo) but KFOR is here to prevent them,” the dispatch said. It added that speaking after arriving at Pristina’s airport with NATO Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer, Gen. Jones stressed that NATO is committed to provide a safe and secure environment for all citizens of Kosovo. “This is the reason why so many soldiers are here and why there is all this NATO interest in Kosovo,” Gen. Jones was quoted saying.

IRAQ

• According to The Daily Telegraph, Britain is discussing the possibility of sending more troops to Iraq to replace a Spanish force. The dispatch quotes a Defense Ministry spokesman saying no decision on the deployment of extra troops had been made but adding, however: “In the light of recent events, including the anticipated departure of the Spanish contingent, we have been holding discussions with coalition partners.” The Guardian writes meanwhile that the Ministry of Defense is resisting U.S. pressure on Britain to extend its sphere of military influence in Iraq to some of the most violent parts of the country, including Baghdad. According to the newspaper, Britain is being leaned on by the U.S. military, although no formal request has been issued, to provide a new headquarters unit in south-central Iraq to replace Spanish troops being pulled out by the new Madrid government. The newspaper notes that would take British troops into the troubled town of Najaf. According to the article, the Defense Ministry said all sorts of options were being considered, but played down suggestions that a large increase in the 8,000-strong present British contingent was likely. British defense sources reportedly said they were unenthusiastic about filling the vacuum created by the quicker than expected departure of Spanish troops.

AFGHANISTAN

• AFP reports the staff headquarters of the French armed forces announced Thursday that France had made the Charles de Gaulle naval aviation unit, which is currently deployed in the Indian Ocean and the Middle East, available to the anti-terror operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan until May 2. “The naval aviation unit “has just finished a major exercise with the Indian navy and is currently in transit to Saudi Arabia…. During the transit, it is going to move into the naval operation zone of Enduring Freedom. The French authorities have thus decided to make the means and the capabilities of the naval aviation unit available to the operation during this transit until May 2,” the spokesman reportedly said. According to the dispatch, he added that as early as Thursday morning, “reconnaissance patrols” formed by Hawkeye surveillance planes “were committed to action over Afghanistan.”