Kosovo Force Prepares for Political Status Resolution

American Forces Press Service ^ | Donna Miles

[SandRat]

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo, Nov. 15, 2006 -- National Guard troops deployed here are preparing to respond to any sudden resurgence of violence as a settlement nears regarding this breakaway republic’s political status, their commander told the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff yesterday.

Army Brig. Gen. Darren Owens, commander of the Kosovo Force’s Multinational Task Force (East) and the Texas National Guard’s 36th Infantry Division, told Marine Gen. Peter Pace that the U.N. Contact Group assisting in the status talks hopes for a negotiated settlement by the year’s end. However, they recognize a settlement is more likely in early 2007 after Serbia's elections.

The task force, made up of 2,600 U.S., Greek, Polish, Ukrainian, Romanian, Armenian and Lithuanian troops, is part of the 16,000-member Kosovo Force conducting peace-enforcement operations as that determination is made. Kosovo has been under U.N. and NATO control since 1999, after then-Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic ordered ethnic cleansing that killed about 10,000 Albanians.

Regardless of the outcome -- whether Kosovo becomes independent as the ethnic Albanian majority would like or retain links with Serbia as the Serbs advocate -- one side will be unhappy and violence is likely, Owens told Pace during the chairman’s visit here to assess operations.

Even a delay in reaching agreement, which officials here call likely, could spark new violence. Owens reminded Pace of anti-Serb riots that erupted when talks were delayed in 2004.

“What we’re facing here are 180-degree opposing viewpoints,” Army Lt. Col. Steve Johnston from the task force’s intelligence section. “There’s calm, but tensions are rising about issues surrounding the final status.”

As 1,600 U.S. troops wrap up their year-long deployment here in the seventh KFOR rotation and the first KFOR-8 members begin moving in, some expressed surprise that the long-awaited resolution hasn’t happened on their watch. “We had been expecting it throughout our rotation,” Army Lt. Col. Steve Johnston from MNFT(E)’s intelligence section, told Pace.

Johnston’s assessment echoed that expressed by Gen. James Jones, commander of U.S. European Command and NATO’s supreme allied commander, during a Pentagon news conference in August.

“We’re approaching an important moment politically that will affect the future of Kosovo,” Jones said. “We’ll have to see what that is and what the decision is, and we’ll also wait and see how the Kosovars accept the will of the international community.”

In the meantime, the departing KFOR-7 troops, mostly National Guardsmen, but also Army Reservists and active Army and Air Force members from 29 states, tallied an impressive list of missions in support of peacekeeping efforts, Army Col. Mark Campsey, MNTF(E) chief of staff, told Pace yesterday. Its members conducted almost 15,700 patrols, flew 8,000 hours and participated in 37 brigade-level operations and 20 multinational operations.

Pace expressed appreciation to the troops who conducted these operations during a town hall meeting here yesterday. “The success here lies squarely on your shoulders,” the chairman told about 500 task force members. He said that the bulk of KFOR is made up of National Guard troops, who he thanked for “putting your lives on hold” to serve here. He also noted the contributions their families, employers and communities are making.

Owens told American Forces Press Service that although this mission dropped off the front-page headlines years ago, troops here recognize the importance of what they’re doing. “They’ve given a year and a half of their lives to make a difference, and they’re doing a job they believe in, and that’s making a difference every single day,” he said.

“This is a place where the United States has an opportunity to stop the spread of terrorism,” Owens said. “People here have been killing each other for years, and our presence here demonstrates that the world won’t stand by and let that happen, while showing the importance of our basic values of treating people with dignity and respect.”

Army Command Sgt. Maj. Kenneth Boyer of MNTF(E) admits that many of his troops, particularly the younger ones, don’t fully appreciate the importance of their mission here. “They feel that the real fight is in Iraq and Afghanistan, and so that’s where they ought to be,” he said.

“But others understand that this is a critical mission,” Boyer said. “You can go out and see that need that’s here. And when people walk away from this mission, they’ll leave knowing that they made a positive impact and a difference in people’s lives.”

Army Staff Sgt. Julio Martinez, a Puerto Rico National Guardsman serving here as a military policeman, recognizes that impact more than most. Martinez served on one of the first KFOR deployments here, in 2000, and remembers the devastation he saw: displaced people everywhere, homes burned, children on the streets asking for food.

“I see the big difference that’s happened here,” he said. “Now I can have peace of mind that things are going the way they are.”

Army 1st Sgt. Charles Szewczyk, from the Pennsylvania National Guard, witnessed a similar phenomenon during the past year. As the senior NCO for Medical Falcon, Szewczyk works closely with Kosovar officials to provide medical assistance to the region.

“When I first got here, we’d put on a conference and the Albanians and Serbians would refuse to sit on the same bench,” he said. “Now, they’ll sit together and sometimes you’ll even see them joke together. They’re starting to see a goal.”

Szewczyk said he’ll leave Kosovo satisfied that he’s played a role in changing people’s lives. “I feel good already,” he said. “My task force has had a chance to see what most of the other task forces don’t get to see: how much we’ve accomplished.”

But regardless of how immediate their feedback, the KFOR troops agree that with few exceptions the Kosovars are happy the troops are here. “The citizens here really like us and want us to stay,” said Army Spc. John Grissom, from the Texas National Guard.

Grissom said he feels lucky to be part of a mission that he acknowledges most Americans don’t know much about. “We don’t get a whole lot of attention, but that’s okay,” he said. “We’re having an impact on what happens here and doing something that not a lot of people get the opportunity to do.”

Army Sgt. William Smith, also with the Texas Guard, said he was pleased that Pace took time to visit the troops here and recognize their service. “What he said helped a lot,” Smith said. “It tells us we’re not forgotten.

“It also shows that overall, the Guard is important to the armed forces and that people at the highest levels recognize and appreciate that.”

[SandRat]

How come it's still not done? I thought it Gen. Wesly Clark's and Pres. Clinton's amazing victory that would have our troops home by Christmas of the first year and evetything running Kumbiah in 6 months??? < / SARC

[SittinYonder]

What is Clinton's exit strategy for Kosovo?

[trubolotta]

They are not finished because the KLA hasn't finished killing or driving out the Serbs. There are still some churches and monastaries that need to be burned down too. The UNMIK has skillfully avoided confrontation with the KLA. Congrats.

[trubolotta]

I forgot to mention that the paint on the "Welcome Terrorists" signs hasn't dried yet.

[dgallo51]

It's that Supreme Wesley's Waging Modern Warfare strategy…besides, can it really be called terrorism if they really are 'our guys'?

[trubolotta]

It's that Supreme Wesley's Waging Modern Warfare strategy…besides, can it really be called terrorism if they really are 'our guys'?

They are "our guys" until we leave and they don't need us anymore. Without our help, the Serbs would have kicked their Moslem asses back to Albania. Don't misunderstand, I appreciate your irony.

[dgallo51]

"I appreciate your irony"…that reminds me, I haven't taken my One-A-Day yet today, okay, right after I figure my estimated taxes for the last quarter:-) What a Country!

[Bokababe]

And these guys now also have to worry about getting their countries sued if they don't dot every i and cross every t:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=ayyhzXgc76MA

Kosovo Force's Failures Led to Tragedy, Court Told (Update1)

By Anna Jenkinson

Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) -- The failure by the NATO-led security force in Kosovo to defuse or fence off cluster bombs in areas where young children played resulted in ``an avoidable tragedy,'' a European court heard in a case examining national accountability for military actions abroad.

Gadaf Behrami died and his younger brother Bekim was permanently disfigured in March 2000 while playing with unexploded bombs that had been dropped during the bombardment of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization the year before. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, today heard the family's argument that individual nations should be liable for those events.

Keir Starmer QC, representing the family, dismissed the national governments' plea that they ``should bear no responsibility for acts or omissions'' of their troops. Complying with human rights ``should be at the heart of any peacekeeping mission,'' Starmer told the court.

Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations since the NATO air offensive drove former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's forces from the region in 1999. At the same time an international security force, called Kosovo Force or KFOR, was established.

Key Question

The question of accountability is key not only for the situation in Kosovo, but also other military operations such as that in Iraq, lawyers said.

``These cases are about past events and arose as a result of the very specific situation that exists in Kosovo,'' Nuala Mole, a legal adviser for the Behrami family, said in an interview after the hearing. ``Depending on the approach that the court takes this may have implications for other operations.''

Nations that have signed the European Convention on Human Rights must apply those rights ``to everyone within their jurisdiction.'' Those countries, as well as human rights organizations, are looking for clarification from the court on the definition of jurisdiction.

``Broadening the scope of jurisdiction to peace operations would have serious repercussions,'' said Rolf Einar Fife, representing the Norwegian government in a related case that the court also heard today.

Jurisdiction

The human rights court dealt with similar questions in an earlier case over the fatal bombing by NATO aircraft of a television station in Belgrade in 1999. The court concluded there was no jurisdictional link between the individuals in the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia who had brought the case and the defendant countries. The convention applies in the territories of those countries that are signatories, the court said.

``The FRY clearly does not fall within this legal space,'' the court said in that case, Bankovic and others v Belgium and others. ``The convention was not designed to be applied throughout the world, even in respect of the conduct of contracting states.''

Other cases have given more room for exceptions to this primarily territorial definition. A crucial question is how much control a signatory state must have in another country for it to be held accountable for its actions there.

The Behrami family claims that even though Kosovo isn't covered by the convention, the legislation is applicable because of the link with France. The death and injuries from the cluster bombs took place in the part of Kosovo under the control of French KFOR troops.

`Difficult Day'

Agim Behrami, the father of the boys, said in an interview at the hearing today that he hoped the court proceedings will help improve the protection of human rights.

``For me it's a severe suffering and a very difficult day,'' he said through an interpreter. ``I hope justice will be achieved.''

The other case heard today was brought by an Albanian from Kosovo, Ruzhdi Saramati, who complained about his detention by KFOR between July 2001 and January 2002. He claims he didn't have access to a court and that France and Norway failed to guarantee the convention rights of individuals living in Kosovo. The KFOR commander at the time of his arrest in July 2001 was a Norwegian who was replaced in October that year by a French general.

Norway's Fife said the applicants were using the ``coincidental nationality'' of the officers to establish jurisdiction. Fife and Edwige Belliard, representing France, emphasized the ``unified command and control'' of the international presence and that Norway and France always acted within the KFOR mission and not on orders from their states.

Undivided Control

``The respondent states were acting under one unified command, KFOR,'' Belliard said. ``These rights are one and whole and cannot be divided.''

When the legality of Saramati's detention was questioned, the KFOR legal adviser said KFOR had the authority to detain him ``to maintain a safe and secure environment,'' according to a court summary of events.

KFOR exercised ``arbitrary powers of detention,'' Hazer Susuri, representing Saramati, told the court.

``They have wantonly ignored the very principles they set out to respect,'' Susuri said.

Saramati dropped his original complaint against Germany following an investigation by that country, the court said today.

The cases are Behrami v France, 71412/01 and Saramati v France, Norway and Germany, 78166/01.

Last Updated: November 15, 2006 10:42 EST


Wonder if Serbs should sue for the 150 churches desecrated or destroyed since 1999, or even for the pogrom against Serbs by Albanians in March 2004? http://www.kosovo.net/news/archive/2004/March_30/3.html

[trubolotta]

What a mess but a lawyers dream. FYI, I wrote this article that appears at this site http://www.kosovo.net/news/archive/2004/May_04/1.html over 2 years ago and it was picked up by a few sites. Check near the bottom of the page for "The Kosovo We Don't Know".

[Bokababe]

Wow, that was great -- an excellent job. I actually read that article a while back, but didn't know it was you.

It is also cool to see another writer here on FR!