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U.S. Commander Condemns Attacks on Kosovo Force
U.S. Department of Defense ^ | November 29, 2011 | Donna Miles

Posted on 11/30/2011 4:00:27 PM PST by Ravnagora

Georgia National Guard soldiers stack behind a wall during training at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, Nov. 9, 2011. National Guard soldiers from several states -- including the Wisconsin Army National Guard's 157th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade -- are part of the KFOR 15 rotation preparing to deploy to Kosovo in upcoming months. U.S. Army photo by Lynn Davis

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29, 2011 – A senior U.S. military leader in Europe condemned recent violence against NATO troops in Kosovo just as a Wisconsin Army National Guard unit prepares to take command of the 15th rotation of peacekeeping forces there.

Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, commander of Allied Joint Force Command Naples, visited Pristina, Kosovo, today to assess the situation a day after attacks by Serb demonstrators wounded more than two dozen NATO Kosovo Force members. No U.S. troops were wounded in the clashes.

The attacks occurred after the KFOR troops removed blockades that had shut off a main road in northern Kosovo.

“The use of violence against KFOR troops is unacceptable,” Locklear said in a statement released today. “We urge all parties to exercise restraint and cooperate fully with all international actors on the ground to ensure freedom of movement without delay.”

Locklear reiterated NATO’s mandate in Kosovo under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244: to help maintain a safe and secure environment. This, he said, includes ensuring freedom of movement.

KFOR entered Kosovo in June 1999 under the U.N. mandate in the face of mounting ethnic conflict between Federal Republic of Yugoslavia military forces and Kosovo Liberation Army members. At the height of the mission, 39 nations were contributing about 50,000 troops to the mission.

About 180 members of the Wisconsin National Guard’s 157th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade are now preparing to assume authority for the next KFOR rotation in December. They will serve as the brigade headquarters unit for Multinational Battle Group East, also known as Task Force Falcon. In that role, the 157th will oversee operations for the entire Multinational Battle Group East.

The group includes National Guard and Reserve soldiers from Wisconsin, Mississippi, Georgia, Nebraska, Vermont, North Dakota, New Jersey, Wyoming, Massachusetts and Puerto Rico. It also includes international forces from Armenia, Greece, Poland, Turkey, Romania and the Ukraine.

To prepare for the mission, the KFOR 15 troops trained in realistic scenarios at Camp Atterbury, Ind., and most recently, at U.S. Army Europe’s Joint Multinational Training Center in Hohenfels, Germany.

“It’s a three-pronged mission,” Army Col. Jeffrey Liethen, the KFOR 15 commander, said during training at the Camp Atterbury Joint Training Center in October. “We monitor the pulse of the populace, so to speak, keeping track of the feelings and opinions of the people. We also act as third responders to demonstrations and riots, and maintain freedom of movement for other KFOR forces.”

Observer-controllers at both training sites strived to make the training as realistic as possible, he said, based on tactics, techniques and procedures taking place on the ground.

“Early on in our training, the focus was on a relatively steady state and calm environment in Kosovo,” Liethen said earlier this month at Hohenfels.

“Things have drastically changed,” he said. “It’s very obvious that the training program here at Hohenfels has been modified to replicate what is actually going on in Kosovo right now so that will definitely be a help in us conducting our mission.”

*****


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: albanians; balkans; kosovo; serbs

1 posted on 11/30/2011 4:00:30 PM PST by Ravnagora
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To: joan; Smartass; zagor-te-nej; Lion in Winter; Honorary Serb; jb6; Incorrigible; DTA; vooch; ...

Ping!


2 posted on 11/30/2011 4:09:28 PM PST by Ravnagora
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To: Ravnagora

It’s long past time to pull US troops out of there.


3 posted on 11/30/2011 4:09:50 PM PST by GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Pursue Happiness)
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To: Ravnagora
I don't like it when American Soldiers are placed in a situation like this one in Kosovo.

But these Serbs are taking out their frustrations on the only target they can find. They don't like the idea that NATO allowed Albanian Radical Islamic terrorists to take over the country and make life difficult if not impossible for Christian Serbs in Kosovo.

The real targets of their rage should be Wesley Clark, Madeline Allbright and the Clintons.

4 posted on 11/30/2011 4:13:21 PM PST by wmileo
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To: wmileo

should have never got involved in this and should have let the Serbs deal with their own country but of course Clinton wanted a distraction from Monica and to appease muslims.


5 posted on 11/30/2011 4:37:33 PM PST by manc (Marriage is between one man and one woman.Trolls get a life, I HATE OUR BIAS LIBERAL MEDIA.)
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To: wmileo

Couldn’t agree more. We bombed and strafed the wrong side - what a tragedy.


6 posted on 11/30/2011 5:01:31 PM PST by mcshot (Neither handsome nor handy but took an oath and will vote to save our Country.)
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To: Ravnagora

Not good.


7 posted on 11/30/2011 5:22:45 PM PST by bayouranger (The 1st victim of islam is the person who practices the lie.)
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To: Ravnagora

I have trouble having sympathy for anyone defending an illegitimate narco-arms-human slave trafficking, Muslim jihadi state. U.S. soldiers should not have any part in that.


8 posted on 11/30/2011 7:26:24 PM PST by TigersEye (Life is about choices. Your choices. Make good ones.)
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To: GeronL

Amen! What on earth are Georgia National Guard soldiers doing in Kosovo? It’s insane.


9 posted on 11/30/2011 8:28:27 PM PST by Pining_4_TX ( The state is the great fiction by which everybody seeks to live at the expense of everybody else. ~)
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To: Pining_4_TX

Are American troops still polishing the fixtures in the Haitian Presidential Palace too?


10 posted on 11/30/2011 9:01:32 PM PST by GeronL (The Right to Life came before the Right to Pursue Happiness)
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To: GeronL

I imagine so. It is shameful how our politicians abuse our military. Our troops are like so many pawns to them.


11 posted on 11/30/2011 9:05:28 PM PST by Pining_4_TX ( The state is the great fiction by which everybody seeks to live at the expense of everybody else. ~)
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To: Pining_4_TX

They should be arresting the war criminals Hashim Thaci and Agem Ceku, not defending them.


12 posted on 12/01/2011 2:26:05 PM PST by montyspython (This thread needs more cowbell)
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