- 16 hours ago
Nga Lufta ne Kosove
bombardimet e NATO ne serbi
lajmet e Shteteve Perendimore
bombardimet e NATO ne serbi
lajmet e Shteteve Perendimore
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Short filmTranscript
00:00As a result of this attack, NATO is on full alert, is on alert along the border of Macedonia,
00:12just over the border from Kosovo. Tanks have been patroling throughout the day.
00:17NATO planes for today's operation was stationed at Aviano Air Base in northern Italy.
00:22About 80 warplanes took off from the base, and CNN's Jim Bitterman was there.
00:27Shortly before the first strike aircraft took off from Aviano,
00:33reporters were conducted onto the base with the condition that there be no contact with the outside world
00:38until after the raids on Yugoslavia were officially confirmed.
00:45What then followed was an hour and a half display of some of the most sophisticated and expensive hardware in the NATO arsenal,
00:52and the plane took off in almost continual motion.
00:57F-15 fighters and F-16 fighter-bombers, electronic warfare aircraft, and even some combat support planes.
01:08Shortly after sunset, the first of 10 F-117 stealth bombers left Aviano.
01:13If the attack went according to plan, the radar-evading aircraft were headed for some of the most difficult targets on NATO's list.
01:19One Air Force officer roughly calculated that a billion dollars in aircraft had taken to the skies.
01:26And then, after 90 minutes of roaring takeoffs, the base momentarily went quiet.
01:31We and our allies have a chance.
01:35In a hangar at one corner of the base, Air Force personnel and reporters listened
01:39as President Clinton officially announced the raids were underway.
01:42It was the first time in NATO's history that alliance personnel were going into offensive action against a sovereign nation.
01:49And it was not at all certain, as the planes were leaving here, that they alone can solve Kosovo's problems.
01:56And as the evening wore on, the base was once again coming alive with takeoffs and landings,
02:02continuing long into the night.
02:03Jim Bitterman, CNN, Aviano, Italy.
02:09A fear fit for a map.
02:12First, look at neighboring Macedonia.
02:14Thirty percent of its population are ethnic Albanians.
02:17If they were to take up arms in support of fellow Albanians fighting in Kosovo to create a greater Albania,
02:24that would threaten Macedonia's existence.
02:27Because the neighboring Bulgarians, who are ethnic cousins of the Macedonians,
02:30might then be tempted to seize the rest of a weakened Macedonia.
02:35Which, in turn, would frighten Greece, which has fought two wars with Bulgaria over, you guessed it, Macedonia.
02:42The Greek concern is that the Bulgarian influence in Macedonia will increase,
02:47that the Albanian influence in Macedonia will increase,
02:49therefore it will be surrounded by enemies, Turkey, Bulgaria, Albania.
02:54Did someone say Turkey?
02:56It could enter the spreading conflict to support its fellow Muslims, the ethnic Albanians.
03:01That would pit Turkey and Greece, long-time enemies, on opposite sides of a Balkan war.
03:07That's the big fear, two NATO partners fighting each other.
03:11All of this could happen as the Balkan dominoes tumble.
03:15Or, none of it may happen.
03:17The key is Macedonia.
03:19That is why there have been several hundred American troops in Macedonia since 1993.
03:25A symbolic show of support for stability.
03:27If there is a domino, then the number one domino is Macedonia.
03:31If we can halt the destabilization of Macedonia,
03:35for example, by providing economic assistance to deal with refugees,
03:38I think we can stop the spreading of the war.
03:42So if the ethnic Albanians in Macedonia can be persuaded not to enter the conflict in Kosovo,
03:48it is less likely the horrors of Kosovo and what happened in Bosnia will spread to the rest of the Balkans.
03:55But in the Balkans, that, as always, is a big and unpredictable if.
04:02Garak Utley, CNN, New York.
04:05I understand some 80 planes took off from there last night.
04:08Are they all back safely?
04:10Yes, let me confirm that.
04:13First and foremost, all the planes that took off from here at Aviano last night
04:18to attack the positions in Serbia did return safely.
04:23At the moment, the skies above Aviano's NATO airbase are quiet, as you can see.
04:28What's happening now is that the combat crews are being debriefed.
04:32The planes are being rearmed, refueled,
04:35and then the missions will be set up for the next strike.
04:39And mainly US planes, David?
04:43Mainly US planes, but of course one of the most important things here
04:46is that the Luftwaffe was in action for the first time since the Second World War.
04:51German planes did take part in the actual strikes against Serbian targets
04:56and that is the first time in 50 years they have been in combat.
04:59And they are just one of eight nations that were taking part
05:03in the combat operations over Serbia.
05:06At the moment, we don't know if any more will be involved in tonight's strikes.
05:10Do you get any sense of the mood there yet, David?
05:13Have you spoken to any of the pilots on their return?
05:18They're still too busy being debriefed.
05:21They're still trying to assess exactly what damage they did
05:23to the Serbian air defence systems.
05:25Of course, they're worried about one thing,
05:27that the Serbian air defence systems are relatively sophisticated.
05:31They're also very robust.
05:33And the point was being made by defence experts
05:35just before I started talking to you
05:38that it's taken several months for the Allies to hit against targets in Iraq
05:42and they still haven't made a real impact on their defence systems.
05:46So the pilots tonight, when they take off from this Aviano NATO airbase,
05:50will once again be in harm's way.
05:52There's no doubt about that.
05:54Cruise missile.
05:55Defence Secretary William Cohen told us at a news conference yesterday
05:59that the targets that they were hitting were military targets.
06:03We are attacking the military infrastructure
06:05that President Milosevic and his forces are using
06:08to repress and kill innocent people.
06:12NATO forces are not attacking the people of Yugoslavia.
06:15They are attacking the military forces
06:17that are responsible for the killing and the carnage in Kosovo.
06:21The man-made sun.
06:23The first Tomahawk cruise missile lifted off shortly before 7 p.m. local time,
06:33its booster rocket arcing into the air,
06:36signaling the fiery start of its journey.
06:40Eight more missiles followed,
06:42launched from both the forward and aft section
06:44of this Aegis-class cruiser located off the coast of Croatia.
06:47The booster rockets eventually wink out, marking the Tomahawk's transition to subsonic flight.
06:53It could take minutes, it could take more than an hour to strike its target depending on its circuitous route.
06:59A lot of people were focused.
07:00It was about four and a half, five hours, a solid focus on your job.
07:07Maintain a high level of attention to the task at hand.
07:13The Tomahawk carries a thousand-pound warhead designed to take out hardened targets.
07:18The crew of the Philippine Sea has no idea where its final destination will be,
07:22just as those in the receiving end have no idea of its approach.
07:27From all appearances on board ship, all went according to plan.
07:32The crew performed beautifully.
07:34Their long, long hours of training, their weeks and months of training,
07:39their time away from their families devoted to their ship, really paid off today.
07:43For the USS Philippine Sea, this was the ship's first time into combat since the Gulf War in 1991.
07:49For most of her crew, though, this was their first time into combat ever.
07:53At the time, we counted down to launch.
07:58It kind of was a sinking feeling in my stomach, but, you know, we knew it was coming.
08:07Prior to the strike, not even the ship's captain had seen a Tomahawk launch before.
08:11Now he and the rest of the crew wonder how many more they will see before their mission is done.
08:17Martin Savage, CNN, aboard the USS Philippine Sea in the Adriatic.
08:23But there might be a link to the report that an F-15 trailing white smoke
08:27has been forced to land in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo.
08:32But I can't confirm that those two incidents are, in fact, related.
08:36But at the moment here at the air base, it's relatively quiet.
08:39The pilots have been going through their debriefings from their combat missions.
08:43And they're now watching as their planes are being rearmed and refuelled.
08:48And they'll be given their instructions for their next missions,
08:51which will start, if it's anything like yesterday,
08:54just before dusk falls here at Avellano in northeast Italy.
08:59Obviously, we are being led to believe, yes, that the operation continues tonight.
09:03At a press conference earlier hints that the sorties would be less risky,
09:08although, of course, just flying a plane of this nature is not without its risks.
09:12Well, I think it's been proved from what we've seen with Allied air attacks in Iraq
09:18that air defence systems can be robust.
09:21And certainly the Serbian air defence systems are robust.
09:25And they do have dangers still for the Allied pilots that will be flying over there perhaps tonight,
09:30perhaps only in about four hours' time.
09:33Most dangerous, of course, are the mobile SAM-6 units,
09:37because they can't be struck by bombs or cruise missiles.
09:40That's why the EA-6B, which you can see behind me, the Prowler aircraft,
09:46its speciality is electronic warfare,
09:48is used to go ahead of the planes, to go ahead of the missions.
09:52So if the SAM units lock on to any pilots, they will take them out.
09:57David Chater, thank you very much.
09:59David Chater reporting from Avellano.
10:00The B-52 bombers shows the eight aircraft all returning safely to their British base in Gloucestershire.
10:08The cruise missiles, which slammed into targets throughout former Yugoslavia,
10:13almost certainly were launched from these huge warplanes.
10:16Along with RAF Harriers, they were involved in the first wave of attacks.
10:20We're trained to do a job, and when we can do that job well,
10:22it always, you know, gives you a little bit of a relation.
10:25But like you say, you don't want to go too much farther than that.
10:28This morning, there were the necessary checks to ensure all were in order.
10:33The fresh cruise missiles on standby waiting to be loaded.
10:37The NATO troops massing on the Macedonian border with Kosovo
10:40have been anxiously redeploying troops for fear of Serbian reprisals.
10:44The British Prime Minister went on forces radio to thank troops for their efforts
10:48and warn the Serbs against any retaliation.
10:50We are also giving a very clear and stark warning to Milosevic
10:55that if he attempts to retaliate in any way at all against NATO forces
11:01in other parts of this region,
11:04then our response to that will be immediate and it will be very severe indeed.
11:09And with the Russians furious at NATO's actions,
11:12he acknowledged he had diplomatic bridges to build.
11:14We understand the position of Russia.
11:17I want to speak to the Russian Prime Minister, Mr. Prima Kov,
11:20at some point in time today.
11:22And we understand their concerns,
11:25but the very reason we're taking action
11:26is to prevent a humanitarian disaster.
11:30This morning, his defence secretary and the deputy prime minister
11:33met the top officials in the Ministry of Defence
11:35to get a first-hand account of how the mission went.
11:38And George Robertson warned the bombings will continue
11:41until the Serbian leader can do no more harm.
11:44These, obviously, pictures that came in from last night.
11:52The targets, obviously, the Kosovo capital, Christina...
11:56Well, let's get the view now.
11:57The NATOs were also used in the Gulf War.
12:01The Germans, this is their first combat mission
12:03since the end of World War II.
12:05This is a very historic time.
12:08They feel themselves they can actually undertake offensive missions,
12:12previously, especially in the former Yugoslavia.
12:15Germany has been very nervous about undertaking even peacekeeping
12:18because of their history there during World War II.
12:22The fact they now feel they can have combat aircraft in combat missions,
12:26that is, as I say, a piece of history.
12:28And in this particular case, they weren't used for direct, as were,
12:31bombing in the way RAF tornadoes have in the past.
12:34There's a German and Italian variant of the tornado called the ECR,
12:38the Electronic Combat Reconnaissance.
12:39They're equipped with anti-radar missiles, jamming pods,
12:43and their specific mission is to attack enemy radar sites,
12:45enemy surface-to-air missile batteries.
12:47And, indeed, all the reports we've had suggest
12:50they were working alongside other NATO aircraft
12:52to perform exactly that mission
12:54and seem to have done a very good job.
12:56In Yugoslavia, numbers and estimates of how many there are vary.
13:02Probably a couple of dozen, three dozen.
13:05It's a worry because it is a very maneuverable, very capable aircraft,
13:08though with the proviso, if the pilot flying it is any good.
13:12If the pilot is not well-trained,
13:14has not had enough currency on the aircraft,
13:16then the whole aircraft system is going to be pretty bad.
13:20They did seem to come up last night.
13:22They got involved, and the first reports,
13:25none of which have been fully confirmed,
13:27are that two probably shot down by United States Air Force F-15s,
13:32and one probably shot down by a Netherlands F-16.
13:36So those are the first reports of air-to-air combat.
13:39Again, slight difference from the Gulf War,
13:41where the Iraqis made very little attempt to come up in the air and contest it.
13:44The Yugoslavs seem to have been a bit more...
13:47They seem to have been concerned to do this.
13:50What we're targeting here are the military security forces
14:02and the associated facilities.
14:05We're taking all possible measures to minimize collateral damage,
14:10damage to innocent civilians or nearby property
14:13that's not associated with the target.
14:15We obviously want to have the maximum effect on their ability
14:19to prosecute these offensive operations against their own people
14:24and cause this humanitarian tragedy.
14:27But we're starting with the integrated air defense system,
14:30the anti-aircraft sites, command and control facilities, and infrastructure,
14:34and we'll be then progressively, as I said,
14:37and systematically moving from there.
14:40Now, just a few words about the operation.
14:45As the Secretary General has said, it was an allied operation.
14:48I think it was very well planned and organized.
14:52The sorties, the ships, all of this came together on time.
14:58It was very well rehearsed before it began,
15:01and it's the culmination of a long period of planning, frankly.
15:04There was not a lot of air defense fire at the ingressing forces.
15:16Frankly, we know what his air defense system is.
15:19We know he has some formidable capabilities.
15:22We just didn't see them last night.
15:25But I want to emphasize that operations like this cannot be conducted without risk.
15:31Last night, the principal opposition seemed to be some fighter aircraft that were brought up against us.
15:38We did detect and engage these aircraft.
15:41At least three were destroyed, including some of the most modern and capable aircraft in his inventory.
15:49All NATO planes successfully and safely returned to their bases.
15:56I know there's been an issue today about an F-15 that sat down with engine problem in Sarajevo.
16:02It was a routine maintenance issue and had nothing to do with any engagement with the enemy.
16:08But I do want to salute the brave men and women who flew in harm's way on that mission
16:13and their missions last night
16:16and the superb leadership and staff work that are evident
16:20throughout the many, many parts of Allied Command Europe
16:24and national structures which are supporting this operation.
16:28The NATO troops here up until these airstrikes.
16:33Now, I know many Macedonians, and I must add that this doesn't represent the point of view of the Macedonian government,
16:39just a group of angry protesters we've been seeing today.
16:42Many Macedonians feel that the mark has been overstepped.
16:47Relitza?
16:48Matthew, how strong are the concerns of a possible spillover of the conflict in Kosovo on Macedonian soil?
16:56And does this have to do with those protests, too?
17:00Well, I can tell you there's a great deal of unease here about the possibility of the war in Kosovo spilling over here.
17:08Though I remember an ethnic minority of about 25% ethnic Albanians here.
17:13It's very easy for many Macedonians to see a scenario in which the ethnic Albanians here in Macedonia
17:18join with the ethnic Albanians now fighting in Kosovo in a much wider regional war.
17:23But there's also concern that the very presence of NATO troops here
17:27at a time of conflict, really, between NATO and Yugoslavia
17:31is an invitation, perhaps, for the Yugoslav authorities to take reprisals against Macedonia,
17:38if only against the NATO troops here,
17:39in response to their giving NATO some kind of base in the region.
17:45Relitza?
17:46Last month, they now find themselves playing a key role in this latest conflict.
17:53The RAF safe families of the service personnel on the Cambridgeshire base
17:56are receiving help and support from welfare officers.
18:01In the adjoining village, local people say the atmosphere is tense.
18:05People are more pensive and worried, you know, about what might happen.
18:12People don't really say very much about it, you know, it's all part of service life.
18:16The squadron dates back to 1912,
18:19when it was number one airship squadron of the Royal Flying Corps.
18:22The number one fighter squadron was the first in the world to use the Harrier jump jet.
18:27They now have eight of the latest generation of Harrier GR7s,
18:32currently based in Italy, and very much involved in this latest conflict.
18:37So far, six of the GR7s have been in action.
18:40They carry 1,000 and 2,000 pound Paveway 2 and Paveway 3 bombs,
18:46which were used against the Iraqis in the Gulf War.
18:49They're also armed with Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.
18:53Back at the UK base, they're confidently waiting for the safe return of their pilots.
19:00David Crantry, Sky News, RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire.
19:06...as part of the NATO force, use that aircraft.
19:09Well, if we base this on what happened yesterday,
19:12where we timed the first strikes hitting at about 10 past 7 in the evening,
19:18it's about 10 to 5 now, if you assume.
19:20It is, give or take, an hour and a half flight time, two hours flight time to many of the targets.
19:26That takes you to pretty much just short of 7 o'clock.
19:28Yes, you would expect people to be taking off about now.
19:31Though, unlike yesterday, there's been no movement by the B-52s at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.
19:37The hour round trip, but there are other B-2s there that could be taking place.
19:42Pentagon sources indicate, and the U.S. Defence Secretary, William Cohen,
19:46indicated this morning that tonight's attacks could be more intense than the first night.
19:52We'll have to see what is in store.
19:54The Pentagon is watching the situation carefully, including the aftermath of these...
19:59...sane for 38 days, and he didn't withdraw from Kuwait until we launched ground forces.
20:04...sane for 38 days, and so what...
20:05...and so what...
20:05...
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