- 2 days ago
Nga Lufta ne Kosove
bombardimet e NATO ne serbi
lajmet e Shteteve Perendimore
bombardimet e NATO ne serbi
lajmet e Shteteve Perendimore
Category
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Short filmTranscript
00:00... providing resupply to Vranje and other units operating in and around Kosovo.
00:07The two Apache crewmen are believed to be the first NATO military casualties in the Kosovo conflict
00:12since the alliance operation began on March 24th.
00:16Another Apache went down on April 26th, also during a training mission.
00:20But those crewmen escaped without...
00:22... here, however, have German troops fired a single offensive shot.
00:26Fourteen Bundeswehr tornadoes are flying sorties over Yugoslavia for NATO.
00:33For the German government, it's a sign that the country has finally assumed a mature and responsible role in the military alliance.
00:40So helping Macedonia and Albania cope with refugees from Kosovo
00:44and carrying out reconnaissance missions with these unmanned drones.
00:48... operations.
00:51The two major rail routes into Kosovo have been closed.
00:565-2-s contact.
01:02Contact up front.
01:04Call it a flying gas station, if you will.
01:06The KC-10 extender, the Air Force's premier refueling aircraft,
01:10plays a pivotal role in keeping NATO planes flying.
01:14In a sustained air attack, air refueling is very important.
01:19We allow the bombers to reach their targets and then safely return home with the fuel they need.
01:23Members of the 305th Air Mobility Wing from Maguire Air Force Base make a practice run in the KC-10.
01:30Their mission, top off the tanks of four A-10s in mid-air.
01:35I shall contact. You're loud and clear.
01:38Loud and clear also.
01:39Fuel's coming.
01:41The KC-10's boom operator controls refueling through a digital fly-by-wire system.
01:47Sitting in the rear of the plane, the operator can see the A-10 through a window.
01:51The KC-10 is almost as long as a football field and carries more than 59,000 gallons of fuel.
01:59The job that we need to do is get the fuel off to the fighters so they get the legs to get into country,
02:05then refuel them as they're coming back out.
02:08Fuel is pumped into the A-10s at a rate of 1,100 gallons per minute.
02:13All of this is done while flying about 200 miles per hour.
02:17We know that there is risk involved and we focus on it and we minimize that risk.
02:26Maguire is one of only two bases in the United States assigned the KC-10.
02:30More than 400 Maguire Air men and women and 15 KC-10s are currently deployed in Europe
02:36to support NATO's air operations over Yugoslavia.
02:40For Science and Technology Week...
02:41This is within a total of 31 bridges attacked throughout the area of operations.
02:47The two major rail routes into Kosovo have been closed.
02:54The two major road routes from Serbia into Kosovo have been closed also.
03:01Serb forces have proven particularly adept at using tunnels, natural camouflage and buildings in villages
03:09to make it difficult to locate and attack, sometimes even impossible because they might be in houses where we do not know if persons are still living there.
03:19However, this limits also their own mobility.
03:25Additionally, the uneven nature of their operational tempo appears to be grinding down morale.
03:30There are several reasons for that.
03:33No direct access to the individual target sites and better weather means that we are now making good progress in taking out Serb fielded forces.
03:43I can report to you that, to date, we have struck eight important battalion brigade command posts.
03:51I'm talking Kosovo.
03:53We estimate that some 50% of ammunition storage in Kosovo has been destroyed.
03:58And we have struck more than 300 individual pieces of equipment, including tanks, artillery pieces, armored personnel, carriers, and trucks.
04:10Some 200 of those, which are talking tanks and artillery.
04:17And, an important indicator, we have achieved the vast majority of those strikes in the past two to three weeks.
04:23I have to admit, I did tell you the reason that combat effectiveness of formed units is too all-intents and purposes eliminated at levels of damage of, of course, less than 100%.
04:34Perhaps at around 50% losses or even a little lower.
04:40At that stage, the forces concerned focus on survival rather than fight of Serb forces in Kosovo.
04:47We are prepared to take them all out.
04:50What do all these statistics do, bit by bit, faster and faster?
04:58The ability to operate effectively, let alone carry out acts of brutality, is further reduced with each day.
05:07Along Yugoslavia's border with Albania, rebels with the Kosovo Liberation Army fired mortars on what are said to be Serb positions.
05:14This is believed to be one of the first times the KLA has actually used heavy weaponry in its fight against Yugoslav military and paramilitary forces,
05:25and indicates advances in perhaps two areas.
05:28First, the KLA appears to be gaining at least a military foothold in some parts of the embattled province.
05:35But the KLA advances on the ground are thought to be as much or more the result of NATO airstrikes pinning down the Serbs than to any major improvement.
05:44So Bodan Malashevich must begin pulling his army, police units and paramilitary forces out of Kosovo.
05:51In addition, it calls for an immediate and verifiable end to the violence and repression in Kosovo.
05:56The withdrawal of Yugoslav forces is supposed to lead to a ceasefire.
06:01Only when the Serbian troops have left Kosovo will NATO agree to negotiate an end to the air campaign.
06:06No time plan for either the ceasefire or the withdrawal has been laid down so far.
06:11A further key goal in the peace plan is to guarantee the safe return of the ethnic Albanians to their homeland in Kosovo.
06:17Humanitarian organizations must also be allowed to operate normally inside Kosovo.
06:22The major sticking point in the peace plan is the deployment in Kosovo of an effective international security presence.
06:29This peacekeeping force would be authorized by the UN and operate under its mandate.
06:34Its duties will include ensuring that the Kosovo Liberation Army does not step into the power vector.
06:38Smoking in the sleeping quarters is forbidden.
07:01If you smoke, ventilate.
07:04That's when you open a window.
07:05A reminder of the situation report in the briefing room at 1500 hours.
07:16Following which the unit leaders go to the company commander.
07:22The Germans have...
07:23The family is extremely worried right now because they don't hear everything the way it really is through the media.
07:29They hear lots of horrible things and often nothing at all about how we're really doing here.
07:34Actually, we're not doing badly at all.
07:37We're not exposed to any kind of danger.
07:40Are you angry with the media?
07:43A little bit, yes.
07:45At first it was pretty bad.
07:47We kept having to call home and tell our parents, calm down.
07:51It's not the way they're showing and telling it.
07:55Nothing's happening to us here.
07:56We're far away from the action.
07:58We have our own security.
07:59At first it was pretty bad with the media.
08:04The job-friendly acts or even an attack from among Macedonia's civilian population.
08:10The duty roster doesn't leave much free time anyway.
08:15Bunks have been installed in every available space.
08:18The barracks have been enlarged with containers.
08:34The only luxury is the satellite dishes on top.
08:37The drone battery gets ready for action.
08:42It's the only unit which is still carrying out its intended mission.
08:46The monitoring of the situation inside Kosovo.
08:50The unmanned aircraft takes reconnaissance photos of the ground.
08:55This drone is christened Francis.
08:57The name comes from the girlfriend of one of the guys here.
09:06We're going to take a picture of it and send it to his girlfriend back home.
09:12The men have a great attachment to their drone.
09:16Francis and her sisters cost $1,350,000 apiece.
09:20They've flown almost 100 missions over Kosovo at a cost of over $40,000 a launch.
09:29Francis may look like a missile, but her mission is to observe, not to destroy.
09:36The drones bring back information about troop and refugee movements,
09:41as well as the effects of NATO's bombing.
09:45Francis is expected back soon from a 30-minute flight over Kosovo.
09:49These are always moments of suspense for the soldiers waiting.
09:55Two drones have already been lost over Kosovo.
09:58But finally she shows up, a bit late, but intact.
10:02The sophisticated electronics are well shielded against the impact of the landing.
10:07This time, in the middle of a farmer's field.
10:14The recovery causes a lot of damage to the land, but it can't be avoided.
10:18The lieutenant-colonel settles the matter according to German law, with German currency.
10:26According to NATO forces' statutes, the Macedonians cover 25% of the damage that we cause.
10:33We repair, replace or compensate only 75%.
10:37But we were afraid that if that were the case, then given conditions here,
10:41they might do relatively little or nothing at all to help.
10:45So we made a proposal to the NATO Council that the 25% share of the damages from the Macedonian government be waived.
10:53And we'll pay 100% so we'll have satisfied people here.
10:57Here's a checkpoint, there's a checkpoint, another checkpoint.
11:07200 km south of the checkpoint, several vehicles.
11:10With three buses here, and we're trying to do it the best we possibly can by helping the refugees.
11:17You can see the results, especially when new arrivals pass by.
11:21They laugh and wave.
11:22We were back at the school just a while ago.
11:24They were happy to get some school books and have the classroom set up.
11:28That's our contribution, what little bit we can do.
11:31And we try to carry out the mission as well as possible.
11:34That little bit has saved the lives of countless ethnic Albanians driven out of Kosovo.
11:45And their gratitude is the reward for all the effort being met.
11:49The more the soldiers talk about being sent to Kosovo as combat troops against the Serbs.
11:56When they do so, their voices become thoughtful and subdued.
11:59At the moment, we have just over a third of the contingent that was planned for Kosovo.
12:07The staff for the task forces is here.
12:10We have a rifle battalion here.
12:12And we have support groups here.
12:15The other soldiers who've been selected to take part in the mission to Kosovo,
12:20should a peace agreement be reached, are on 96-hour standby in Germany.
12:24All the material supplies are already in Greece and will, in all probability,
12:30soon be moved up to Macedonia.
12:36Partly you repress it, and partly you have your own private thoughts on it
12:40that go through your mind at night when you're alone.
12:43But at the moment, we have very clear instructions from our political leadership
12:47to implement and secure a peace agreement under the conditions they've set out.
12:51That's what I'm anticipating for the time being,
12:54and I'm not wasting time thinking about what might happen in this or that case.
12:59There are all sorts of possibilities for what might happen.
13:01You could probably brood on them forever.
13:06I'm sure it wouldn't be a picnic.
13:09We have to be prepared for all possibilities.
13:11We're assuming there'll be a ceasefire or a peace agreement.
13:15And even if there is, then of course we'll have to deal with snipers and things like that.
13:21We have to get the soldiers ready for that.
13:23I think they're very well prepared.
13:25They're properly equipped and well trained.
13:27But it's an entirely different situation from before Rambouillet.
13:32Ground troops in Kosovo?
13:34That'd be something.
13:35Do I feel a bit nervous?
13:37A little bit, yeah.
13:39We don't know what's going on up there.
13:41I think it might be like the first days of I-4 in Bosnia,
13:44when the troops were shot at or attacked by all kinds of people.
13:48That's not so great.
13:50Am I somewhat nervous?
13:52This is the barracks area.
13:55It was attacked by three Harriers.
13:57The targets are clearly marked, one, two, and three.
14:00And when we see the clip, I'd just like you to note
14:02where the targets are in relation to the overall barracks area.
14:07Okay, can I run the clip, please?
14:12This is the first one.
14:14The pilot's standing off at the moment.
14:16You can make out the barracks very clearly indicated there.
14:20There's also a river here,
14:21which enables the pilot to orientate himself in the cockpit.
14:26At this stage, standing off some five or six miles,
14:30just to confirm that he's got the crosshairs on the right target.
14:33Now you see him closing in.
14:40Again, the river I mentioned earlier, much more distinctive.
14:47Maintaining the crosshairs position on the target all the way through.
14:54And as you can see from the explosion, a direct hit.
14:58If you remember from the graphic,
14:59this is now looking at the barracks
15:01from what would have been the top of the slide.
15:04Much smaller, again standing off,
15:06but now closing in.
15:08Again orientating himself.
15:09The river on the right-hand side of the screen,
15:11quite clear in the picture.
15:16Closing in and manoeuvring,
15:18so he doesn't become a target himself.
15:25And again, another direct hit.
15:27And the final part of this clip
15:31shows the third Harrier closing again.
15:35This time, we're looking at the bottom part,
15:37obviously the two other parts here.
15:38One totally destroyed,
15:40as far as the barracks is concerned.
15:44What he's done now is go to Black Hot,
15:47which shows quite distinctively
15:48the barracks areas that he's aiming for.
15:52Bombs hit, another direct hit.
15:54Thursday, April 22nd,
15:59the fifth week of NATO airstrikes.
16:02Besides targeting bridges
16:03and military and industrial sites,
16:05NATO's planes and cruise missiles
16:07started to attack what is termed
16:09command and control centres,
16:11such as the headquarters
16:12of the Serbian Socialist Party
16:13and oil refineries
16:15were once more subject to heavy attacks.
16:18By the end of April...
16:18...has been used by the RAF
16:21on armour and concentration areas.
16:24This particular one, the BL755,
16:27147 different bomblets
16:29and it basically covers an area
16:31when it splits open,
16:32spreads the bomblets out
16:33about 150 metres by 75.
16:37Well...
16:38Appalling damage inflicted by them.
16:40Yes.
16:40You are not talking per se precision.
16:42The reason you have so many munitions
16:44is to cover as wide an area as possible,
16:47hopefully then getting as many targets
16:50within the oval of damage as possible.
16:52That's how the cluster bomb works.
16:54But there they were seen
16:55hitting armoured vehicles,
16:56but when you hit a marketplace
16:57and a hospital
16:58and the centre of a city,
17:00you're going to cause widespread damage,
17:01aren't you?
17:01Very much so.
17:03And I don't think they were aimed
17:05at these targets,
17:07but for some reason
17:08the pilot or pilots
17:09managed to not deliver them
17:12onto the airbase.
17:13There was comments earlier
17:14that perhaps NATO's running out
17:15of smart munitions,
17:16therefore they're using these.
17:18Well, no.
17:18A cluster bomb,
17:19if you're going after aircraft
17:20parked at the side of runways,
17:22they are the sort of weapon
17:23you would use.
17:25The question's got to be, of course,
17:27what altitude were they dropped from?
17:29Although you can drop them
17:30from very nearly any altitude.
17:32To get the most accuracy,
17:33you want to go as low as possible.
17:35So we do know NATO is still attacking
17:37from medium to high altitude.
17:40They have come lower
17:41over the past few days,
17:43but if they were dropping
17:44from, say, 6,000, 8,000 feet,
17:45the margin of error
17:46is much greater.
17:48How many of these mistakes
17:49do you think NATO
17:49can get away with?
17:51Fewer and fewer.
17:52The rate of sorties,
17:54of course,
17:54has risen over the last two weeks
17:55as reinforcements have come in,
17:57and also the rate
17:58of civilian casualties
18:00has risen at the same time.
18:02And we do know
18:04that some European countries,
18:05the likes of Italy,
18:06Greece, Germany,
18:07are less and less happy
18:09with the civilian casualty rate.
18:12You've had NATO always saying
18:13they do not time.
18:16A series of explosions.
18:18Smoke rising from the center of niche.
18:22It came at a time
18:23when they thought
18:24it was relatively safe.
18:25It began under
18:26a United Nations mandate
18:27and now includes troops
18:28from NATO
18:29and non-NATO countries,
18:30including Russia
18:31and the Ukraine.
18:32That's the model
18:33as the NATO allies
18:34and Russia
18:35try to work out
18:35significant differences.
18:36simulations of targets
18:37they will later bomb.
18:39Computer simulations like this
18:41based on actual
18:41satellite pictures.
18:43Meanwhile,
18:44the Pentagon says
18:44it is still getting reports
18:46of atrocities in Kosovo.
18:48More than 4,600
18:49ethnic Albanians
18:50have allegedly been
18:51the victims
18:51of mass executions.
18:53And according to the Pentagon,
18:54there are now
18:55two confirmed
18:56mass grave sites
18:57and reports
18:57of seven more.
18:59The Yugoslav Army,
19:00or Vijay,
19:00is reportedly working
19:02to make it more happy.
19:02And they're not just
19:03glad to be free,
19:04they're lucky to be alive.
19:05The commanding general
19:07described what happened
19:08when their jeep
19:08was ambushed.
19:10The vehicle was hit
19:10by between 40 and 50 rounds.
19:13Between 15 and 20
19:14Serb soldiers
19:15immediately surrounded
19:17the vehicle.
19:18Outnumbered and outgunned,
19:19they surrendered.
19:20What happened next
19:21explains why
19:22in those first pictures
19:23they looked not just battered,
19:24but dazed
19:25and disconsolate.
19:26One was struck so hard
19:27it broke the stock
19:28off the rifle
19:29he was struck with.
19:30They were kicked
19:31repeatedly in the face,
19:33the head,
19:33and the rest of their body.
19:34several times
19:36they were threatened
19:36with rifles pointed
19:37at their heads
19:38and their captors
19:39threatened at one point
19:40to cut their ears off.
19:42In later pictures
19:43they looked better,
19:44but treatment
19:44remained brutal.
19:46They were beaten,
19:47sometimes with batons.
19:49They were almost
19:50always hooded,
19:52forced to sleep
19:52in uncomfortable positions
19:53either on the floor
19:54with their feet shackled
19:56or in a chair.
19:57When they moved,
19:58they were hit
19:59on their hands
19:59and their feet
20:00for moving
20:00from those positions.
20:02Major General David Grange
20:03became visibly upset
20:04when he described
20:05their interrogation.
20:06One example
20:07of an interrogation question
20:09that one of our soldiers
20:10received is,
20:12what is the address
20:13of your family
20:14back in the United States?
20:17When our soldier
20:18refused to answer,
20:20he was struck
20:21in the back of the head
20:21with a baton
20:28and then choked.
20:29The three soldiers
20:30were decorated
20:31for their suffering,
20:32but the army
20:32won't be handing out...
20:33The Yugoslav capital
20:35came under
20:35the heaviest series
20:36of attacks
20:37since the start
20:38of NATO's bombing campaign.
20:40The embassy
20:41of the People's Republic
20:42of China
20:43set ablaze.
20:44Some 30 resident staff
20:46were initially reported
20:47to be trapped
20:48inside the building.
20:49The strike
20:50on the embassy
20:51may further complicate
20:52NATO's air war
20:53and the search
20:54for peace.
20:55China has strongly opposed
20:57the attacks
20:58on Yugoslavia
20:59and is sympathetic
21:00to Belgrade's
21:01negotiating stand
21:02over Kosovo.
21:04It looks like
21:05somebody wants
21:06to stop China
21:07to accept
21:08discussions
21:09in the Security Council
21:11next week
21:12about initiatives
21:14to stop war
21:17and to start negotiations.
21:19Shortly after
21:20giving that interview,
21:21Lubisha Ristic
21:22was caught
21:23by another blast
21:24outside a hotel
21:25in the Yugoslav Party
21:30of the Left,
21:32the first ranking official
21:33to be seen injured
21:34by NATO's strikes.
21:37Several hours of raids
21:38were aimed
21:38at a number of buildings,
21:40including the Hotel
21:41Yugoslavia,
21:43claimed by NATO
21:43to house
21:44an underground bunker complex
21:46used by the paramilitary leader
21:48and indicted war criminal
21:50Joko Raznatovich,
21:52better known as Arkhan,
21:53who was visible
21:54during the air raids.
21:56NATO said
21:56it also targeted
21:57the army and police...
21:58and police...
21:59Wing Commander
21:59John Cook.
22:02This is his story.
22:05The working day
22:06has barely begun
22:07before Wing Commander Cook
22:08takes the first
22:09of his many daily excursions
22:11around the Tirana Air Base
22:13in his Land Rover.
22:15This is his turf
22:16and he's a hands-on manager.
22:19On such a crowded airfield,
22:20safety is his watchword.
22:23Seeing two United Arab Emirates
22:25helicopters take off
22:26in a flurry of litter
22:27does not please him.
22:29For a helicopter man,
22:30you know,
22:31plastic and rotor blades
22:33scare me to death
22:34and therefore it's important
22:35that we try and alleviate
22:37that type of problem.
22:39It's a topic
22:40that will surface again
22:41at the morning briefing
22:42for all the helicopter pilots
22:44flying aid.
22:46But before the reprimand,
22:47there's the weather report.
22:49High pressure is building in
22:51through the Mediterranean
22:52and it will push into our region
22:54through today and tomorrow.
22:57There's also the latest intelligence
22:59from the landing zones.
23:00There is no updated threat information
23:03to helicopter operations
23:05in northern Albania.
23:06And then it's the wing commander's turn.
23:09For those of you who deal
23:11with the humanitarian aid
23:13at the ground level,
23:14i.e. those maneuvering it around,
23:17unwrapping it,
23:19okay,
23:19can we please ensure
23:21that once you've unwrapped
23:22that the wrapping is put somewhere secure?
23:26Right?
23:27In particular,
23:27I'm talking about the heavy lift area
23:29and the French handling area.
23:33It is littered at the moment
23:35and I consider it
23:36a flight safety hazard.
23:38The briefing over,
23:39it's back in the Land Rover
23:40for another tour of the base.
23:43Over on the right here
23:44is Shining Hope,
23:46which is an American-led initiative
23:50to take aid out
23:53into the countryside.
23:55John Cook has instigated
23:58a traffic flow system
23:59on the airfield,
24:00which is so effective
24:01even he can't circumvent
24:04the diligent U.S. sergeant
24:05on the barrier.
24:06Sergeant,
24:07I am the airfield manager.
24:08I know why you do it.
24:09I've asked you to be,
24:09if I can just get around there
24:11so I can get up the top end
24:12to do the work.
24:12after that truck
24:13is done getting searched,
24:15you can go through.
24:15But the reason
24:16that we keep them out
24:17is because when the dog's
24:18being searched,
24:19the trucks are not allowed in here.
24:20All right.
24:21All right,
24:21so next time I tell you
24:22to stay out,
24:23you need to stay out.
24:23Thank you, serge.
24:24Can I now move on?
24:25At any one time,
24:30there are close to 40 helicopters
24:32flying in and out of the base
24:33and at the peak,
24:35there were around 100 cargo planes
24:37bringing in aid every day.
24:40Keeping a lid on it all
24:41can often be frustrating.
24:44Right.
24:45Your vehicles being just here.
24:47Yeah.
24:47No vehicles on the hard standing.
24:49The UNHCR need this to turn around.
24:52That was the first agreement.
24:53We have made space
24:54for your vehicles
24:55in the places like this.
24:57Yeah.
24:58Okay?
24:59They've got to be moved.
25:00I'm sorry.
25:01All right?
25:02And there was no ISO containers
25:04to go on the hard standing here.
25:07You are just restricting
25:09their space and movement.
25:14Whilst John Cook
25:16troubleshoots out on the base,
25:18his small helicopter task force
25:20continues to plan
25:21for the days ahead.
25:22Flying aid to the camps
25:24many of which,
25:25as was pointed out to me
25:26in the aircrew briefing room,
25:28are within shelling distance
25:29of the Kosovo border.
25:30Yeah.
25:31As you can see.
25:31See you today,
25:44alerick, from of the ages.
25:45All right.
25:45What the heck,
25:46you know,
25:46the on theennis
25:47line,
25:47you're doing,
25:48you're using it.
25:49I'm currently moving to the
25:50west.
25:50Gosh, I need it.
25:51Megan's going in tomorrow.
25:52Go ahead.
25:52Oh, here's the pathup.
25:53I'm here with yourself.
25:54Isaac.
25:55Up patient.
25:56I'm here with me.
25:58All right.
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