John, FYI...More info on air war....
Air War Toll Still in Dispute
28 Apr 99 - 2258 GMT
Yugoslavia continues to claim that it has downed dozens of NATO aircraft,
helicopters, missiles, and UAV's during the course of Operation Allied Force.
According to a Yugoslav source, Yugoslav television today carried an interview with
General Dragoljub Ojdanic in which the general claimed that Yugoslav air defense
has destroyed 46 aircraft, 6 helicopters, 8 UAVs, and 182 cruise missiles in the last
five weeks. The interview will reportedly be published in the Yugoslav newspaper
Politika tomorrow. Yugoslavia has consistently claimed it has destroyed more than
the one F-117 and handful of UAVs it has released pictures of. A comprehensive
listing of these claims can be found on the web at
www2.cybercities.com, a site maintained by
Kiev-born "Venik," who now lives in the United States.
Our major criticism of Belgrade's claimed tally continues to be the overwhelming lack
of supporting evidence, notably pictures. Venik addresses this by arguing that many
aircraft were hit at high enough altitudes to be obliterated on impact, other wreckage
was destroyed on the ground by NATO attacks, and still more wrecks were just too
remote and difficult to find. Still, Venik admits that some wrecks must have been
found, and even some NATO pilots captured, and argues that the reason Belgrade is
not releasing pictures or video of the wrecks is that it would build support in NATO
countries for continued bombing or even ground attack. If this is the case, it is
Belgrade's poorest judgement yet. One thing that has maintained support for the
bombing campaign has been its generally "sanitary" nature. There has been little
collateral damage and almost no reported NATO losses. It is the low cost that has
helped maintain support for the strikes. Release of proof of downed NATO aircraft
would have the double impact of showing the cost of the war to NATO and of
exposing NATO officials as barefaced propaganda-slinging liars. After all, if NATO is
lying about its aircraft and personnel losses, then what can be believed about its
claims of Serbian genocide against the Kosovar Albanians?
Also, Belgrade has shown pictures of the Stealth and the UAVs, so why hide others,
especially when its repeated claims without proof make Yugoslav officials look like
barefaced propaganda-slinging liars? And if Belgrade consistently fabricates stories
of downed NATO aircraft, then what can be believed about its claims of innocent
Serbian casualties or KLA terrorist atrocities? This impression is only enhanced by
the false "evidence" that has been released or supported by Yugoslavs, including the
tape recording of communications during the downing of an RAF Sea Harrier – in
1994; pictures of downed MiGs identified as F-117s or F-15s; and acceptance as
fact of a Zagreb radio station's April Fools joke, which claimed that an F-117 had
crashed at Zagreb airport.
NATO planes have almost certainly been damaged. Hungary has already admitted
that its airfields were used for emergency landings, and aircraft suffering "mechanical
difficulties" have reportedly landed at Sarajevo and Skopje. We wouldn't be
surprised if more aircraft have been shot down – Yugoslavia did get a Stealth, after
all. But out of some 60 claimed airframes, not counting missiles, you'd think Belgrade
could provide proof of more than one fighter and a couple of UAVs.
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