Posted on 04/15/2005 12:11:45 PM PDT by Lukasz
SARAJEVO, April 15 (Reuters) - Bosnia will send a multi-ethnic platoon to Iraq in June to help destroy tonnes of unexploded ordnance scattered around the country, Defence Minister Nikola Radovanovic said on Friday.
More than 50 Muslim, Serb and Croat soldiers and officers -- of which 36 would be selected for the first of two 6-month tours -- have almost completed training, conducted in part by U.S. military experts, Radovanovic told Reuters in an interview.
"Our target date is June 1," Radovanovic said.
"In Iraq there is a big concentration of storage sites with huge amounts of unexploded ordnance, weapons and ammunition and this unit will be deployed where it can be best used," he said.
Bosnia first indicated it would send soldiers to Iraq in 2003, partly in a gesture of gratitude for Washington's power-broking role in ending Bosnia's ferocious war and cementing peace with troops and generous aid.
The dispatch of the modest Bosnian unit comes as some of Washington's staunchest allies, such as Poland and Italy, have set dates to reduce or withdraw much bigger combat contingents from the international coalition aiding U.S. forces.
Radovanovic, an ethnic Serb who became Bosnia's first Defence Minister following the 1992-95 war last year, said he was aware of the dangers in Iraq but stressed the Balkan country needed to fulfil its obligations.
"In my opinion, these are important strategic decisions and in the international community you cannot change them from day to day," said the bespectacled former Yugoslav and Bosnian Serb army officer who holds a Masters degree from Oxford University.
He said the mission would also bolster Bosnia's bid to join NATO's Partnership for Peace cooperation programme, which is blocked because of a failure to arrest top war crimes suspects.
NATO wanted PfP members to offer specialised skills, the 44-year-old defence minister said. "Our intention is to develop de-mining and destroying unexploded ordnance, where we are already among the best in the world."
Bosnia was littered with unmapped minefields during the war, which claimed around 200,000 lives.
Bosnian opposition parties, media and ordinary citizens last year hotly opposed sending troops to Iraq, but that sentiment cooled as favourable financial terms on offer lured many soldiers.
Radovanovic said those who made the trip could count on up to $150 per day in addition to a regular wage of some $300-$500 a month, as well as a guaranteed job in the military on return.
And I'm certain that the Bosnian Muslim troops will be very familiar with the bomb-making techniques used by the terrorists. And that's all I have to say about that.
This statement can be incorrectly interpreted, I certainly hope that no one will claim that 200,000 people we killed by land mines.
we killed = were killed
Good for now would probably be the best way to put it. Maybe bad later. We will have to wait and see...
I'm sure it'll be fine. Odds are these guys have already trained/worked together.
Best of luck to these guys. It bodes well for the future of two countries I love dearly - the US and Bosnia.
The guys then send will be professionals, that for sure. Balkan troops can be compared to any of the worlds major armed foreces including the US Army.
Yeah. And the Serb Nikola Radovanovic seems to be the most helpful of the whole lot.
The unfied "Bosnia" is NOT a real country, and it is a recipe for islamist domination and general disaster. Free Srpska! (For those who think I am an "extremist", my views on this subject are no different from those of UN Ambassador designate John Bolton.)
Moreover, the figure of "200,000 killed" in the "Bosnian" war is grossly inflated, and part of the "Bosnian" islamist propaganda that the Serbs committed "genocide". It's all a big islamist lie, from those islamists who are the most expert at telling the Big Lie and getting the West to believe it!!!!
Thank you. Helping stabilize the situation is a good thing. I'm sure the French will send a team to strike for pensions.
I am 35 pounds overweight. I have 7.5 weeks of vacation time on the books. I need another basic training style of military instruction to become flab-less. I lost 40 pounds during AF basic training at 21.
Is there a Military Training Instructor or a few to start a new business based on this idea to retune ex-military guys? A large amount of land with a confidence course could be called a "spa" for guys with too many desks, computers, free lunches, meetings, etc.
The headline begs the question: Which side?
Is this the first Muslim dominated nation to join missions with the coalition force?
Bosnia should not go to Iraq. Why take part in this publicity stunt? The US always rewards itself for its interventions, usually with permanent military bases, and easy lucrative deals to its corporate giants. Why grovel, and send 50 as fodder for the insurgency--or death by "friendly fire" when they fail to see the hidden checkpoint.
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