A short true history of NATOs first failed war; Part I

Part I — When NATO Went to War for Peace

In the spring of 1999, NATO rediscovered the thrill of shooting at things. The Cold War was over for a decade, the Warsaw Pact was dust, and generals everywhere were wondering what the world’s most expensive Empire would do next. Enter Slobodan Milošević, an authoritarian nationalist presiding over the last gasps of Yugoslavia. When his security forces crushed Kosovar Albanian separatists, the humanitarian vocabulary practically wrote itself: genocide, ethnic cleansing, moral duty. President Bill Clinton and NATO’s Secretary-General Javier Solana decided it was time to “act decisively.”

Operation Allied Force began on March 24, 1999. It was NATO’s first war—and the first major combat operation launched without United Nations authorization. The alliance called it a “limited air campaign.” Seventy-eight days later, after 38,000 sorties, it looked more like a stress test of coalition diplomacy. The bombing flattened bridges, TV stations, and—most notoriously—the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade when a B-2 stealth bomber dropped five JDAMs on a bad set of CIA coordinates. Three journalists died; Beijing fumed; Washington apologized and cut a check.

While the politicians talked morality, soldiers wrestled with geography. Task Force Hawk—five thousand U.S. soldiers and two dozen Apaches—was parked in Albania, commanded by General John Hendrix, under the watchful eye of NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Wesley Clark. Clark wanted deep-attack aviation to hunt Serbian armor. The terrain, logistics, and Albanian roads had other ideas. The Apaches never flew a combat mission; two crashed in training. It was a reminder that even precision warfare needs pavement.

By June, Milošević blinked. NATO’s bombs had shredded power grids, rail lines, and morale. On June 10, 1999, he agreed to withdraw Yugoslav forces from Kosovo. NATO claimed victory; the United Nations endorsed a peacekeeping presence. What began as an air war for human rights ended as an open-ended occupation. Camp Bondsteel sprouted almost overnight near Uroševac—Halliburton’s biggest overseas project since Vietnam—and the alliance settled in for what was supposed to be a brief stay.

It’s been twenty-six years.

This is Part 1 of a 3 part series. Links below become active as each segment is published and on the date indicated:

October 9: Part I — When NATO Went to War for Peace

October 10: Part II — The Pristina Standoff: How to Nearly Start World War III

October 11: Part III — The Bulldozer Revolution and the Price of Staying

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