History of Air Warfare by Olsen John Andreas;

Author:Olsen, John Andreas;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Potomac Books Inc.
Published: 2010-03-13T05:00:00+00:00

THE END GAME

Reports of deserters from the Serbian army and the impact of NATO bombing on their morale continued to appear in the Western media, but there were no signs of any large-scale loss of control from Belgrade. Nonetheless, moves toward a diplomatic resolution to the conflict continued. President Milosevic was reported to have accepted the G–8 proposals after diplomatic pressure from Russia, but the position of Serbian forces in Kosovo after a peace agreement remained in doubt.

On June 3, the Yugoslav parliament accepted the peace proposals, but uncertainties remained over the nature of the Russian participation in the peacekeeping force. NATO, however, maintained its position that a “verifiable, substantial, Serbian withdrawal” had to begin before the bombing would cease.

On June 5, Lieutenant General Sir Mike Jackson, commanding NATO forces in Macedonia, met Serbian commanders on the Kosovo frontier to begin preparations for their withdrawal. An agreement on Serbian withdrawal was reached on June 9, and the bombing campaign ceased a few hours later. The refugees began to return home. All the objectives of Operation Allied Force had been achieved.

It seems that a combination of factors brought about Serbian capitulation. Milosevic had been depending on Russian support, which was withdrawn. He may have feared for his forces if NATO proceeded with tardy plans to deploy ground troops. He may have become concerned by his international isolation and rapidly dwindling support from both his inner circle and the general public. He may have reacted to his indictment as a war criminal. The absence of any one of those factors could have delayed the outcome, but the air campaign was the indispensable catalyst for its success. The sole military coercive instrument was air power.

USAF Chief of Staff General Michael Ryan had no doubts: “The lights went down, the power went off, petroleum production ceased, the bridges were down, communications were down, the economics of the country were slowly falling apart and I think he came to the realization, in a strategic sense, he wasn’t prepared to continue this.”80

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