NATO targets ground forces

In reports that recalled the horrors of World War II and amplified the more recent events in Bosnia, western news outlets spoke of towns being emptied and Kosovars being killed systematically.

None of the reports were being corroborated but it was taken sufficiently seriously by US and NATO officials to warn that they would haul Serbian leaders before theinternational justice system if the reports were true and evidence was gathered.

US officials and analysts were saying there was still no prospect of sending ground troops just yet although the unconfirmed reports of Serbian atrocities against Kosovars seemed to make that inevitable. There was a general agreement that such a genocide could not be contained or stopped with just air raids.

British Defence Secretary George Robertson said in London that the areas of Kosovo along the Macedonian border were “in flames,” thousands of refugees were streaming across the border into Albania and some were being used as human shields.

Speaking of murderous attacks against the Kosovars, Robertson said,“I don’t use the term murderous lightly. What we see happening, and what we hear from those who have managed to escape and from the reports of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and from the Red Cross are enough — are more than enough — to convince us that we are confronting a regime which is intent ongenocide.”

“These airstrikes have one purpose alone, and that is to stop the genocide…We are increasingly swinging our attention to the military thugs that are causing so much misery and suffering directly at Milosevic’s orders,” Robertson said. But the spotlight during the day centered around the loss of a F-117 Stealth aircraft either downed by Serbs as claimed by Yugoslavia, or crashed due to a possible mechanical failure, as suggested by US officials. There was absolute incredulity in Washington on Saturday evening as Yugoslavian television first began broadcasting the first pictures of the burning wreckage of the Stealth fighter with its markings clearly visible. The F-117A Stealth Nighthawk, as the plane is known, is a $ 45-million a piece fighter considered invincible in US military circles.

The pilot of the plane ejected before the jet crashed and was rescued inside Yugoslavian territory within six hours by a special US search and rescue teams. There was much rejoicing in a country whichrecoils at the prospect of losing even one American life in a conflict. President Bill Clinton issued a statement saying he was “pleased with the news that our pilot has been rescued successfully” and “tremendously proud of the skill and bravery of the pilot” and those who participated in the rescue.

But in other developments that gave US officials cause for worry, there were reports of protests across the world against NATO action.

The most serious report by far came from Moscow, where shots were fired from a Kalashnikov rifle at the US embassy by a masked man after he failed in two attempts to fire a grenade launcher. The incident stunned US officials who urged strong action from Moscow. Russia scrambled to trace the gunman and is said to have apologised to Washington for the aggravation.