Date: Tue, 6 Apr 1999 21:27:49 -0500 (EST)
From: danceswithcarp <dcombs-AT-bloomington.in.us>
Subject: Who armed the KLA? Prisoners, and Grunts...



In that Yugoslavian White Paper written last September by the Foreign
Ministry 

www.fas.org/irp/wold/serbia/dos/index_e.html

the serbs say they know who rearmed the KLA:  All of those Albanians who
lost their money in the big pyramid money scheme crash in, what, 1997?
Remember when the people rioted against the state there and looted the
armories?  I remember seeing this one guy on TV trying to drive a T-55
russian-made tank away.  Way-kool.  I want an M1.

I digress:  The Serbs say that 650,000 AK47s and SKSs got swiped, along
with 25,000 machine guns, 1.5 BILLION rounds of ammo, 2,450 RPGs (grenade
launchers to you Weaponry Impaired)  and 770 mortars.   The serbs say only
5-10% was recovered and that at least 25-30% left Albania.

This may sound like a lot and it is, but it's all small arms.  I would
guess if you had none, and then got these you'd feel like you could rule
the wirld.  But cannon beats machine guns, tanks beat mortars, and paper
covers rock.  And those 20 "katysha"-type Multiple Launch Rocket systems
we are sending over beat the shit out of all.  Those are some Bad Boys.
And they are area weapons, as opposed to smart-types.  LARGE AREAS.

As to Chris' question about whether it would take special forces to lasar
a target for smart bombs, yes and no.  For F117 and the other high-flyer
planes, no, there's usually a second laser-equipped plane for that sort of
thing.

These Apaches and A10s can be different.  There's a Kiowa-type copter
that has a laser dome on top of the rotor assembly (Did you know the top
nut of that assembly is called the "Jesus Nut?"  Because if it comes off,
you get to meet Jesus).  This is a pop-up pop-down kind of copter that
just has to expose the laser head over a hilltop to laser the target.  The
hills of the Balkans would be perfect for this.

But in the Gulf War there were special forces who rode in specially
modified dune-buggies to laser targets out in flat areas where the Kiowa
couldn't hide.  

Which brings me to those prisoners.  Does anyone not think it odd that the
day +before+ these three peace loving Sergeants (No privates?  There are
only Sergeants or above in the US army SF) were captured, the "Stars and
Stripes" military newspaper decided to do a photo shoot of these same
three guys in the same exact area the army claims they were in when they
were captured?  Why of all of the troops in all of the Balkans did S&S
pick that one "patrol" to photo?

Finally, if these guys weren't in Kosovo, then who in the hell captured
them?  They were just in the alleged area the day before so "getting lost"
is a very weak story.  But to be "surrounded" takes a lot of men.  Then
they also would have had to be carted back across the border while
everyone in Macedonia was looking for them.

Hmmmmmm.  then again maybe the U$ wanted them captured.  We wanted Lee
Harvey Oswald to defect, didn't we?

There were U$ SEALs in Somalia operating in 1985--7 years before Bush
invaded.  There have been so many SEALs and SF-types running missions in
Boliian and Columbia since Reagan you can't count the operations.  So the
question is are their SF-types in Kosovo?  

I'd hope so.  I hate to think we're paying $750 million a day and we can't
even get people into a third rate military state.  I don't agree with the
idea of sneaking about, of course, I'm just a concerned taxpayer wanting
my money's wirth.


carp