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LIEUTENANT-GENERAL Sir Michael Jackson, the British commander of the Kosovo peacekeeping force, faces accusations of "insubordination" by the US Senate for refusing to obey an order from General Wesley Clark, Nato's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.
John Warner, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he planned to hold hearings - at which General Jackson could be invited to speak - into whether the officer was guilty of refusing to confront Russian soldiers at Pristina aiport in the immediate aftermath of the Yugoslav conflict.
When 200 Russian troops staged a surprise takeover of Pristina airfield on June 12 after 78 days of Nato bombing, General Clark ordered General Jackson to send tanks and armoured personnel carriers to block the move. The British general refused, saying that this could ignite a far bigger conflict with Russia.
"I'm not going to do that. It's not worth starting World War Three," General Jackson was quoted as saying.
Mr Warner, a former Marine and a veteran of the Second World War and the Korean War, said he had the "highest personal regard" for General Jackson, but insisted that a full investigation into the incident was required, since such actions could undermine the Nato chain of command. He stressed that the British officer's attendance at the hearings would be voluntary.
"Ever since the time of Bismarck, the order of a superior officer is to be obeyed at all levels, down to the lowest soldier with a bayonet in the trenches," Mr Warner told The Times.
He suggested that the informal practice of showing "the red card" in Nato parlance, by which a subordinate officer asks his national military superior for permission to disobey an order issued by a foreign superior officer, may have become widespread within the alliance's military structure.
"It's very important that there be a clear understanding among all 19 nations about what that doctrine is . . . If we have a departure from standard military training, I think we should know about it. In my judgment a military campaign should never be conducted by nods and winks," Mr Warner said.
The senator said he wanted a full investigation into the "red card" practice and General Jackson's actions "before we put him in the dock".
At the time of his disagreement with General Clark, General Jackson argued that Pristina airport was not important enough to risk British lives and appealed to senior British officials in London.
After tense transatlantic discussions, the Clinton Administration was persuaded to drop support for General Clark's order.
General Jackson will be succeeded as head of the Kosovo force by a German, General Klaus Reinhardt, next month.