Date: Thu, 8 Apr 1999 12:36:48 GMT
Subject: Re: US-information warfare & KLA


Nico wrote

>German media say that since the first day of Nato bombing 
>small special  military forces from USA, France and Britain 
>(survival fighters) cross the  border of the Kosovo to operate 
>behind the serbian lines on their own,  blow up bridges 
>and prepare the ground for regulary ground troops. 
>The  media also say that the KLA is still fighting against 
>the serbian army in  some parts of the Kosovo and partly 
>drive away their own albanian civilians to uncover their 
>own retreat.

I think you mean to "cover" their own retreat, but yes, 
that is pretty much what I figured. The refugee exodus
from Kosovo is due to a mixture of Serbian intimidation,
KLA "persuasion", and NATO bombing. So far as 
special forces are concerned, on one day last week
several British newspapers carried reports, some 
as their main front page story, that the SAS is operating 
not just in Kosovo but also in other parts of Yugoslavia. 
Then that story disappeared. The media in Britain 
tends to be pretty tightly controlled during wartime,
so I assume that the government told the media 
to kill that story because they were putting British 
SAS men's lives in danger. Most people here, whether 
they are for or against the war, would tend to assume
that the SAS   _are_    operating in Yugoslavia.
That is what they are for. That is what 
they do when the UK  is in a war.

>The German Media say also, that the 3 US-soldiers 
>who have been captivated  near the Mazedonian border 
>should come home via Zypern with the prime minister 
>of Zypern, who have spoken with Milosevic to get 
>this soldiers free.

I presume Zypern is German for Cyprus. Yes, it looks 
like they are going to be freed. I think it was Carp who 
pointed out that all three of the soldiers were sergeants.
In normal army units there are lower ranks. In special
forces units the lowest rank is sergeant. So I think 
we can assume that the Serbs were telling the truth 
when they say these soldiers were captured, not 
in Macedonia, but on the Yugoslav side of the border.


Dave