Kosovo - Additional Information
“There was 50-100% cloud cover 72% of the time, and only 21 of 78 days had good overall weather. In all, 3,766 Sorties were aborted due to weather.”1
“Almost completely unchallenged on land, Yugoslav forces could disperse and hide… When revealed, slowness in the sensor-controller-shooter sequence often gave them enough time to relocate [and hide] before the attacks began.”1
“Last year NATO claimed that it had destroyed 120 tanks, 220 armored personnel carriers and 450 artillery pieces in 744 “confirmed” air strikes. In Washington, Secretary of Defense William Cohen said these attacks had “severely crippled [Serbian] military forces in Kosovo destroying more than 50 percent of [their] artillery and one-third of the armored vehicles.” the reality according to the new Air Force report, is that NATO Destroyed 14 tanks, 18 armored personnel carriers and 20 artillery pieces – more or less what the Serbian government said at the time which was dismissed by NATO as Serbian “disinformation”…2
“Precision guided is no longer good enough, We experience greater than 50% cloud cover more than 70% of the time… and it wasn’t the worst part of the year, Laser or EO-guided munitions cannot hit what pilots cannot see” 3
“We’re not going to bring the dead people back to life, we’re not going to restore virginity to the women raped or recreate the kinds of semi-normal lives those people were leading until now.”4
1 Allied Force Munitions Assessment Team, Kosovo Strike Assessment Final Report, 14 OCT 99
2 International Herald Tribune, 11 May 2000
3 Admiral Ellis, commander, Allied Forces Southern Europe and Commander, Joint Task Force NOBLE ANVIL
4Dr. Eliot Cohen, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Wall Street Journal, 4 Jun 99