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Pastimes : Kosovo -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Yaacov who wrote (8652)5/16/1999 4:53:00 PM
From: goldsnow  Respond to of 17770
 
Gulf general condemns Nato

"The Powell Doctrine ... Go all out, war involves casualties"

America's former military chief Colin Powell has
criticised the conduct of the war in Yugoslavia, saying
Nato needs to go "all out" to achieve its defined
objectives.

Speaking on US television, General
Powell - who led United States
forces during the Gulf War - said the
exclusive use of air power had given
Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic the decision as to when
the Kosovo conflict would be ended.

Colin Powell is credited with
developing the Powell doctrine during
the Gulf War - the use of
overwhelming force in a conflict to achieve defined
objectives.

"Go all out ... war involves casualties," he said, echoing
complaints by many military strategists that an air
operation will never be enough to force President
Milosevic to back down.

The US Defence Secretary, William
Cohen, responded by saying that
Nato was going all out with its air
campaign. Washington, however,
remains determined not to send in
ground troops to fight a war.

Exactly how and when troops might enter Kosovo will be
discussed when UK Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook,
visits the United States later this week.

Following another night of intense bombing in
Yugoslavia, Nato chief Javier Solana said the bombing
campaign was working and they would stick with it.

He told the BBC he wanted Kosovo
Albanian refugees to return this year.

"It is our wish, and we are doing our
best so they can return home as soon
as possible, in any case before the
winter."

'More determined than ever'

In a joint editorial in Sunday's Washington Post, the UK
Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, and the US Secretary of
State, Madeleine Albright, said the "brutality" of
President Slobodan Milosevic made them more
determined than ever to continue the attacks.

And in the wake of the bombing of the
village of Korisa in which more than
80 civilians were reported killed, they
also warned that more civilian
casualties could result from the Nato
campaign as "perfection is
unattainable".

(Click here to see a map of the most recent Nato
strikes)

Serbian reports said Kosovo had experienced its
heaviest attacks of the 54-day campaign.

Nato was also reported to have struck oil and power
installations around Belgrade and other Serbian towns.

The Yugoslav army has
accused Nato of deliberately
preventing their withdrawal
from Kosovo.

They say the intensified
attacks have made it
"impossible" to carry out a
planned withdrawal of part of
their forces in Kosovo.

"It is obvious Nato ... is doing
everything possible to prevent
the withdrawal," an army
statement said.

Nato dismissed the statement as "perverse".

Spokesman Jamie Shea said: "It's rather like an
alcoholic blaming his problem on the whisky company".

Refugees denied food

Several hundred refugees from Kosovo who have arrived
in Macedonia over the weekend say many of them were
forced to leave because Serb forces would not allow
them to buy food in the shops.

One woman told UN officials that her father had gone out
to buy food and was later found shot dead.

The groups arriving over the past two
days were the first refugees to arrive
in Macedonia since the government
temporarily closed the border ten
days ago saying it could not cope
with a mass influx.

Reports say thousands more are waiting to cross from
Kosovo.

UN team arrives

A UN team heading for Kosovo arrived in Belgrade on
Sunday for the first part of its humanitarian mission to
Yugoslavia.

The mission is made up of 16 people from the UN's main
agencies as well as the British Save the Children Fund.

Mission spokesman, David Chikraidze, said the team,
which would be escorted by Yugoslav police, had been
assured access to some of the towns where refugees
had spoken of systematic ethnic cleansing.

Italy unease grows

The Italian Prime Minister, Massimo D'Alema, is
reported to be coming under serious pressure from
parties in his ruling coalition to press Nato to halt air
attacks on Yugoslavia with momentum growing for a vote
in parliament this week.

Tens of thousands of people took part in a silent march
from Perugia to Assisi in central Italy on Sunday to
express their opposition to air strikes.

There has also been further criticism of the bombing
campaign after Nato admitted dumping unexploded
bombs into the Adriatic Sea.

Fishermen have found several in their nets off the coast
of Venice.
news.bbc.co.uk