[PEN-L:4662] Ground war in the Balkans?

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

The Toronto Star

March 30, 1999, Tuesday, Edition 1

EXPERTS PREDICT USE OF GROUND TROOPS

William Walker

Ground offensive looming

OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF

OTTAWA - It has become a matter of when - not if - NATO ground troops will
be sent into the war in Yugoslavia, Canadian military experts say.

And NATO officials yesterday appeared to open the door to ground forces to
stop the growing slaughter of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo by Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic's Serb army.

NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana said the air-only attack strategy ''is
the position that all 19 (NATO members) maintain until this moment.''

Canada's position on ground troops remains uncertain, based on carefully
worded responses similar to Solana's.

Defence Minister Art Eggleton has repeatedly stated there is no plan to
send in troops ''at this time.''

Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy says he doesn't want to have that
debate ''yet.''

But Eggleton said the effectiveness of the air-only attack will have to be
assessed at some point. Yesterday, he told reporters there haven't been any
discussions about sending in troops, ''to the best of my knowledge.''

Military analysts say the risk of casualties among ground troops in
Yugoslavia would be extreme, given the rugged mountainous terrain in that
country and the stiff resistance of well-armed Serbian soldiers.

NATO officials argued the air attack is weakening the communications, air
defence and fuel supply of Yugoslav forces. They argue Serb troops will
eventually begin to panic and Milosevic will return to peace talks.

But critics say the air attack has only heightened Serb atrocities in
Kosovo and that NATO officials are dangerously underestimating Milosevic's
determination. They also argue that hitting tanks and bands of soldiers by
air will take too long to save the people of Kosovo.

To prevent another genocide similar to the disaster in Rwanda, ground
troops should be sent to Kosovo as soon as humanly possible, said
University of Toronto NATO expert John Carson.

''This business of using air strikes to achieve something that air strikes
have never been able to achieve is pussy-footing around the issue,'' Carson
said in an interview yesterday.

''The only way you can combat this is to put ground forces in that are
either too numerous or too effective for the Serbs. I think that has to
happen and I hope it happens soon'' before Kosovo turns into another
Rwanda, where 800,000 people were slaughtered in an ethnic cleansing, he
added.

Retired Gen. Lewis MacKenzie, a former U.N. forces commander in Bosnia,
said the mantra of ''no plans'' on ground troops is ''tap dancing with
words.''

''If that is in fact the case, then the entire military leadership of NATO
should be removed tomorrow for irresponsibility in the extreme,'' MacKenzie
said. He noted that U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Henry Shelton
admitted the U.S. army did an analysis six months ago of using ground
troops in Kosovo.

''I think the ball is rolling in that direction,'' said retired Canadian
Col. Brian MacDonald. ''It's a timing problem now, in that Milosevic has
sped up his ethnic cleansing.''

Both French and British military experts are also calling for ground troops
to end the killing spree in Kosovo, where they say air attacks are useless
to stop Serb soldiers who've reportedly slashed the throats of ethnic
Albanians with knives and burned entire villages.

Where Serbian troops are wreaking havoc inside Kosovo cities, the NATO air
attack cannot be used because of the risk of killing innocent ethnic
Albanians, MacDonald said.

There are reports Milosevic has been able to slow the air attack on his
soldiers and tanks by positioning them near ethnic Albanian civilians,
which NATO forces do not want to harm at any cost.

The United States has also ducked the issue of ground troops to date,
saying they are not planned. MacDonald said the key signpost leading to a
full NATO ground force - including Canadian soldiers - will be when Clinton
begins to waver.

Carson said NATO should act soon and it should send in a large ground force
- some estimates have been up to 300,000 troops, of which Canada could
provide 2,000 - to be most effective in reducing casualties.



Louis Proyect

(http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)