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French troops parachute into Kosovo
Reuters AlertNet ^ | 06 Oct 2004 16:47:00 GMT | By Matthew Robinson

Posted on 10/06/2004 10:08:38 AM PDT by 11th_VA

STANOVC, Serbia and Montenegro, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Hundreds of French troops parachuted into Kosovo on Wednesday in the first major operational drop by the French military since intervention in Zaire in 1978.

The mid-morning calm in open meadows north of the U.N.-governed province's capital, Pristina, was shattered by the thunder of seven Transall C-160 planes arriving at the end of a five-hour flight from bases in France.

Arching low over cornfields, they emptied their human cargo, filling the skies with the dirty-white canopies of 361 French paratroopers, each with combat rifle and 50 kg of equipment strapped to his back.

The units included marines, signals, a medical team and an Air Force squadron.

Their 200-metre (600-feet) jump into a drop zone guarded by Moroccan troops marked the start of a 2,000-strong reinforcement of the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force ahead of a general election in Kosovo on Oct. 23.

"It was an excellent drop," remarked a breathless Corporal David Suzanne, the sloping fields around him dotted with soldiers lumbering to their collection point.

A KFOR spokesman said it was France's first large airborne operation since 1978, when French paratroopers were deployed in war-torn Zaire in Central Africa.

"For the French army it's a very important operation," said Colonel Yves Kermervant.

German and Italian troops will deploy to Kosovo by land from Albania and Greece over the coming week, as part of KFOR's one-month reinforcement, a precaution triggered by ethnic riots in March in which Albanian mobs attacked minority Serb enclaves.

That spasm of violence, resulting in 19 deaths and 800 homes damaged or destroyed, caught NATO and Kosovo's United Nations administration by surprise. The alliance rushed 2,000 extra troops to the province, but it was after the fact and criticism was stinging.

"We're here so the elections can go ahead in a safe environment," said the paras' commanding officer, Captain Eric Dinechen.

"This demonstrates that Kosovo is still an operational theatre," said another French officer, who asked not to be named.

The deployment will temporarily raise the total strength of the five-year-old peacekeeping mission to 20,000.

Ethnic Albanians make up over 90 percent of Kosovo's two million population and are virtually unanimous in their demand for independence from Serbia.

The issue of the province's final status is expected to come to a head in mid-2005 for the United Nations and the major Western powers which authorised NATO's military intervention in 1999 to stop Serb repression of Albanians.

((Writing by Douglas Hamilton; Editing by Janet Lawrence))


TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: balkans; france; frenchtroops; kfor; kosovo; napalminthemorning; nato; parachute; peacekeepers; surrendermonkeys; wot
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To: MS.BEHAVIN
What do you call 10,000 French paratroopers aloft?

AIR POLLUTION!

81 posted on 10/06/2004 7:37:29 PM PDT by MS.BEHAVIN (Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. Re-elect G.W.Bush)
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Comment #82 Removed by Moderator

To: LurkedLongEnough
Hundreds of French troops parachuted into Kosovo on Wednesday in the first major operational drop by the French military since intervention in Zaire in 1978.


83 posted on 10/06/2004 7:42:47 PM PDT by No Blue States
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To: 11th_VA

Why do I have a vision of French troops parachuting into Dade County Florida on November 1, 2004 -- to protect the November 2nd election, at the request of Kerry/Edwards?


84 posted on 10/06/2004 7:47:06 PM PDT by Ciexyz (At his first crisis, "President" Kerry will sail his Swiftboat to safety, then call Teddy.)
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To: 11th_VA
If they wanted to protect people from Islamic terrorists they should have dropped them in Paris and used them to protect the Jewish and Christians citizens in their own country from the Islamic thugs.

I'm sure their first order of business is to make sure that the Serbs are completely disarmed and have no means to protect themselves.

Our country under the Clinton administration has a lot to answer for in the way we attacked the Serbian people and in the placing of the monster Yassar Arafat and his PLO in power.

A lot of innocent people have already and will continue to die for these colossal blunders.

85 posted on 10/06/2004 8:26:44 PM PDT by mississippi red-neck ( Knowledge and truth does not come wrapped in sheepskin. It comes to those that seek it.)
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To: 11th_VA
Damn it there goes the country.How many American will it take to rescue the frogs or they have already raised the white flag.
86 posted on 10/06/2004 9:09:35 PM PDT by solo gringo (Don't be a girlie man vote Bush/Cheney in/04)
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To: atomicpossum
I hear they're preparing to attack Normandy any day now....

LOL, best line of the night.

87 posted on 10/06/2004 9:20:39 PM PDT by dougherty (I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. - Michelangelo)
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To: 11th_VA

But do they have an EXIT strategy. That is the most important part of a military plan isn't it?


88 posted on 10/06/2004 9:26:47 PM PDT by justshutupandtakeit (My father is 10X the hero John Fraud Kerry is.)
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To: justshutupandtakeit

Stop the war in Kosovo now. End the french Occupation.


89 posted on 10/06/2004 9:36:02 PM PDT by Selene
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To: Mo1
A little late aren't they?

LOL .. I kept checking for the date thinking .. this has got to be an old article

Well, at this rate, the Frenchies should show up in Bastogne...well, practically any year now!

90 posted on 10/06/2004 10:26:40 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: 11th_VA

91 posted on 10/06/2004 10:26:41 PM PDT by Mr.Atos (http://mysandmen.blogspot.com)
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To: Hi Heels
"We're here so the elections can go ahead in a safe environment," said the paras' commanding officer, Captain Eric Dinechen."

Seems I've heard something like that somewhere...oh, yeah. Bush, Iraq.

[Anti-Euroweenie sarcasm torpedo ARMED. FIRE!]
No, Florida. Didn't you hear Nobel-peace-prize winner Jimmuh Carter call for international observers in the US elections?

92 posted on 10/06/2004 10:29:30 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: 11th_VA

Your flag is unspeakably funny.
This is the hardest I've laughed for _weeks_ !
Can I appropriate it for private, noncommercial use?

S'il vous plait?


93 posted on 10/06/2004 10:32:47 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: joan

bttp


94 posted on 10/07/2004 4:10:55 AM PDT by ehoxha
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To: PeoplesRepublicOfWashington
Yep. That was the 173rd Airborne Brigade (aka the Sky Soldiers). It was on the night of March 26-27, 2003.

And after the drop they went on a nice little 20 mile hike (IIRC) while lugging approx 70# of gear, to secure the airfield at Bashur - which they did.

95 posted on 10/07/2004 4:46:29 AM PDT by Condor51 (May God have mercy upon my enemies, I won't. -- Gen G. Patton Jr)
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To: mountaineer

Caught by surprise? When I read that 6 Serb children had been gunned down while ice skating on a pond a while back I knew the Muslims were trying to clean them out. They have been killing Serb doctors and chasing out farmers. It is called ethnic cleansing. No mention of the thriving drug business run by several mafia type Albanian Muslim families?
They supply 85% of the albanca (white lady) to Europe. They keep the muslim terrorists armed to the teeth with the latest weaponry. Clinton, Albright and General Clark sure
did a great job.


96 posted on 10/07/2004 4:51:47 AM PDT by oldironsides
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To: Coop

"It must be difficult to control the parachute while simultaneously surrendering."

Oh no, drop your weapons after exiting the aircraft, then hang onto the risers which ensures you are in the surrender position. Bow down after landing. Kiss the feet of all the natives. Mais oui!


97 posted on 10/07/2004 9:43:30 AM PDT by Chu Gary (USN Intel guy 1967 - 1970)
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To: Coop

I heard that upon landing they surrendered to a 6 year old and her kitten! I have heard that the kitten had very sharp claws.


98 posted on 10/07/2004 11:19:55 AM PDT by Holicheese (Lovey, there s not enough clams in my chowder!!)
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To: 11th_VA

Can they really "parachute", you are kidding me aren't you!


99 posted on 10/07/2004 2:28:15 PM PDT by NAVY-VET2
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To: grey_whiskers
Can I appropriate it for private, noncommercial use?

I found it on the internet - you may do as you wish ...

100 posted on 10/07/2004 5:45:54 PM PDT by 11th_VA (John Kerry - America's first European ruler since King George)
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