NATO to expand list of Yugoslavia targets

The Washington Post quoted an unnamed US official as saying that the decision to broaden the target list was aimed at literally bringing the air war home to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic by blowing up facilities crucial to his regime and geographically close to where he usually resides.

“We have all been taken aback by the brutality of the Serb operations, there are people without a lot of scruples who are out of control,” one senior alliance diplomat said.

“Milosevic has changed the rules, and maybe it’s time for NATO to change some rules of its own,” the diplomat was quoted as saying.

The broader list of targets also included more sites inKosovo, reflecting NATO desires to begin striking at the scattered tanks and troops carrying out brutal attacks against ethnic Albanians in the separatist province, the Post reported.

The New York Times, quoting two senior US officials, said attacks on downtown Belgrade could target government centres like the interior and defence ministry buildings.

Until now, NATO has largely limited its bombing to air defence systems, factories and military installations on the outskirts of Belgrade and forces directly involved in the campaign against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

Milosevic agreed yesterday to withdraw troops from Kosovo and return to the negotiating table with the ethnic Albanians fighting for autonomy from Belgrade but with the rider that NATO first stop its air attacks.

Clinton swiftly rejected the proposal as “unacceptable” and vowed to see the NATO bombing campaign aimed at diminishing the Serbian army’s capabilities to target the Albanians through to its conclusion.

Meanwhile,NATO commanders confirmed that they have drawn up detailed plans for an eventual ground offensive in Kosovo to disarm the Serbian army but privately said such an operation appears daunting given the political and military risks involved.

Officials prepared a draft for a possible ground attack last October, western media reports here said, but political risks and the logistics involved in any such operation appeared so formidable that they were daunted by the task.

The reports quoting officials said NATO would require an estimated 2,00,000 to 3,00,000 troops, comparable to that involved in Gulf War to give them a 3-1 edge over the well trained 90,000-strong Yugoslav army, in addition to thousands of police and paramilitary formations.

“It would be real all out war,” a NATO diplomat said. “We don’t even have the required forces.” Besides, mustering such a huge army to back up 30,000 NATO troops and 15,000 others in neighbouring Bosnia and Macedonia could take up to six months.

NATO commanders saidheavy casualties would be inevitable in such an offensive, more complex than the Gulf War due to the thoroughly mined mountainous terrain. NATO would also have to overcome stiff resistance from the Serbian army conditioned to guerrilla tactics.

Any such operation would have to be backed by artillery firepower and tanks. The allies would also have to have total air control, a daunting prospect given NATO’s failure to destroy the Yugoslav air defence battery even after six days of relentless bombing.

NATO experts said any ground venture into Kosovo would require a Gulf War type build up of heavy transport planes and ships. Albania and Macedonia, the ultimate assembling points for any such offensive lack resources to sustain it.

With prospect of ground operations appearing daunting, NATO officials are also reluctant to speculate about the likely course of an offensive into Kosovo and are pinning all hopes on the success of NATO air strikes under way.