Unsubtle Wetwork

[Tim May]

On Friday, July 18, 2003, at 11:29  AM, Thoenen, Peter CIV Sprint wrote:

> Tim May wrote:
>
> " U.S. occupation troops are spread so thin in 
> Kosovo,.....Kosovo...not our problem"
>
> Having spent the better part of last year working in Kosovo, I 
> wouldn't exactly call the forces there thin.  NATO forces (non-US) are 
> a majority of the peacekeeping occupiers and more and more of the 
> mission is getting turned over to the EU (allowing for slow US 
> withdrawal).  With Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia eagerly sucking the EU 
> and US cocks to get into the EU and NATO, the US in the Balkans is if 
> anything over strength.

"the US in the Balkans is if anything over strength" does NOT 
contradict the "spread too thin" point, which is about the number of 
troops the U.S. has available to deply, the need for replacements, etc. 
The fact that U.S. soldiers in all of these places who were expecting 
to be relieved have instead been told they will stay at least several 
more months, perhaps another year, is the point.

As for the general Yugoslavia situation, we supported the wrong sides 
in the Balkans. Not that supporting _any_ side in that European war was 
any of our business.


--Tim May
"To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, 
my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists."  --John 
Ashcroft, U.S. Attorney General