Bill Bartlett writes: > [...] they don't need any further justification (for a ground war). > The barbararity going on is Kosovo is all the excuse they could > hope for [...] > > [...] But the expulsion of Kosovan Albanians is definitely shaping > up as one of the all-time propaganda and tactical blunders of the > 20th century. In strategic terms it is a classic case of allowing > tactical objectives to violate the overall strategic plan. These two can't both be right. If NATO *hoped* for a justification to start a ground war, then getting the civilian population out of the way is also what NATO wanted - unless you mean NATO *wants* the civilians to be in the way when they start the ground war. I can believe a lot of things about NATO, but I don't believe it is that evil. I think NATO didn't want to start a ground war, and their lack of preparedness to start one is the evidence. I think they ( the governments, not the respective militaries) expected Milosevic to capitulate, given that they thought it was air strikes that made him capitulate last time. I think the US government ignored the advice of the CIA, et al, that the Serbs would accelerate their efforts in response to the air strikes. > God help the Serbian people now. Their leaders certainly aren't > serving them well. How many Serbs have been killed or injured so far? I've not seen an estimate of the total. martin