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Editorials
Saturday, June 10, 2000Exaggerated claims
for Kosovo bombingTHE Pentagon's credibility was severely damaged by inflated claims in the Vietnam War, but that lesson seems to have been forgotten by the commanders in the brief war over Kosovo last year. Newsweek magazine reports it has obtained a suppressed Air Force study that contradicts claims of extensive damage inflicted on Serb forces in the 78-day aerial bombardment.The issue: An Air Force study of the air war in Kosovo that had been suppressed found that previous claims of extensive damage to military targets were exaggerated.
Gen. Henry Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, claimed that NATO's planes had destroyed about 120 tanks, 220 armored personnel carriers and "up to 450" artillery and mortar pieces. But the report Newsweek obtained had dramatically lower numbers: only 14 tanks, 18 personnel carriers and 20 artillery pieces destroyed.
For political reasons -- to avoid casualties -- the mostly American pilots flew at high altitudes, which was much safer for them but made accurate bombing against mobile targets difficult if not impossible. The generals were under pressure from Washington politicians "who were desperate not to commit ground troops to combat," Newsweek said, so they tried to show that war can be won by air power alone -- and even then without casualties.
In fact, the bombing campaign was effective not against mobile military targets but stationary civilian ones, Newsweek says. What got Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's attention was "turning out the lights in downtown Belgrade."
The Pentagon, the magazine charges, "essentially declared victory and hushed up any doubts about what the air war exactly had achieved." But "the surgical strike remains a mirage."
The report helps explain why it took 78 days of bombardment to force Milosevic to withdraw his army from Kosovo. The bombing of military targets simply wasn't effective, despite the claims of NATO spokesmen. It seemed too good to be true that his army could be smashed solely by high-altitude bombing, and it was.
Whatever the merits of the rationale for launching the air war in Kosovo, its results were by no means totally satisfying. Kosovo today is awash in hatred between the returned ethnic Albanians and the Serbs on whom they want to exact vengeance and drive out of the region. U.S. and other peacekeepers will be needed there indefinitely to prevent fresh eruptions of violence.
Meanwhile Milosevic remains in power in Belgrade and seems in little danger of being deposed. He claims to have rebuilt most of the bridges, factories and other facilities damaged in the NATO bombing. Yugoslavia seems to be rebuilding faster than Kosovo.
Eight years earlier the United States and its allies inflicted a crushing defeat on Iraq in the Gulf War, again with minimal casualties. But in that case ground forces were employed after an intensive campaign of aerial bombardment. It wasn't strictly an air war.
The most serious problem with the extravagant claims made in the Kosovo bombing campaign, following the experience in the Gulf War, is that they may delude the American public into believing that all wars can be won bloodlessly, by pilots dropping bombs and missiles with devastating effect from altitudes high enough to keep them safe from anti-aircraft fire.
How dangerous this is will become evident the next time American forces sustain major casualties and a misinformed public overreacts in shock and forces the govern-ment to pull out.
State moved fast on
reopening highwayGRUMBLING about government incompetence and waste is a perennially popular pastime. Today, however, there is reason to applaud a fast and effective government response to an urgent problem.
The subject is the closing of Kamehameha Highway at Waimea Bay, forced by a rock slide that damaged a car and nearly injured its driver. That happened three months ago. Today a new, realigned quarter-mile portion of the highway was opened for use.
North Shore residents, merchants and employees experienced severe inconvenience when the highway was closed, severing the only route around the island. Some were forced to make hours-long detours to get to work or school. Tourist-related businesses suffered as traffic dried up.
The state responded quickly. Governor Cayetano declared an emergency, thereby authorizing the bypassing of standard procedures, and the Department of Transportation's highway division mobilized to deal with the problem with unusual speed. A temporary road across the beach was soon opened, providing limited relief. When the road was washed out by high surf, it was immediately repaired.
Goodfellow Brothers of Maui was awarded a $7.5 million contract and given 60 days to complete the permanent road. It has finished the job on time.
The new road is built a few feet farther from the adjoining cliff so that falling rocks will no longer land on the highway. The state decided against attempting an extensive removal of rocks from the cliff face to avoid disturbing Hawaiian burial sites.
With the opening of the realigned road, the North Shore community can get back to normal. Merchants whose businesses have suffered are particularly pleased. Kudos to the state for meeting the challenge.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
