 |  |  |
| Return to: Left History: a digital archive | Return to: Say no to imperialist wars! | Return to: NATO-Yugoslav War Internet Resources |
| | |
| Return to: Left History: a digital archive | Return to: Say no to imperialist wars! | Return to: NATO-Yugoslav War Internet Resources |
PRISTINA, Yugoslavia -- Lt. Gen. Sir Mike Jackson speaks his mind. At the start of his command in Kosovo, he refused to obey NATO's supreme commander and seize Pristina airport ahead of Russian forces. Now, nearing the end of his tour of duty, he warned that soldiers have done about all they can to restore order, and civilian authorities must take over.
"I fear that the soldiers are now more and more policemen," he said in an interview at his headquarters this past weekend. "They are a sticking plaster on the wound that is due to the continuing desire for revenge. And that has to change."
His remarks were echoed in a separate interview Sunday with another senior officer in the Kosovo peacekeeping force. Both men said that preventing the violent deaths that still occur almost every day in Kosovo, and creating the multiethnic society that NATO said it went to war for, is a task that will take years and is not a job for the military.
"We are guarding flats and we must continue to, but we must tackle the cause of their fear," Jackson said of the Serbian and other Kosovo minorities who now rarely venture outside their homes without protection.
Sir Mike, as he likes to be known, said that he was heartened by the statements of Albanian military and political leaders, who have spoken out against the revenge attacks, but that a permanent solution lies in building civilian institutions.
"Other means are needed; it is not a security job," he said firmly. "You cannot expect soldiers to change people's minds -- that has to be done in other ways."
The other senior commander in KFOR, as the Kosovo peacekeeping force is known, agreed. "There is no chance to change minds in the short term," the officer said, requesting anonymity. Efforts to encourage Serbs and Albanians to work together in joint bodies are small-scale and need constant supervision, he said, adding that the answer lies in giving people homes and jobs.
Set to leave Kosovo on Oct. 8 and hand over command to Gen. Klaus Reinhardt of Germany, Jackson is heading home to England and a promotion to general and commander in chief of Britain's Land Forces. His departure may well prove a watershed in Kosovo, and signal a shift of responsibility from KFOR toward the U.N. civilian administration.
Jackson said he was reluctant to discuss his refusal to obey NATO's supreme commander in Europe, Gen. Wesley Clark, who ordered him to seize Pristina airport ahead of the arrival of a Russian force on June 11.
But he seemed convinced that he had been right to act as he did. His actions became the subject of heated debate in Washington last week after Gen. Henry Shelton confirmed Jackson's resistance to Clark under a little known NATO procedure that allows a NATO officer to consult his national commanding officer if he wishes to disobey an order from a superior Alliance officer of another nation.
Jackson confirmed that he had communicated the contents of Clark's order to the commander of the British national contingent of the force at the time. That commander, Maj. Gen. Richard Dannit, then consulted with his superiors in Britain.
Jackson's reservations won the day, when senior military commanders in Britain and the United States decided together to rescind the order.
At the weekend, Jackson deflected a question about whether he had dismissed the idea because it threatened to provoke World War III. But he stressed that it had been, at the time, of paramount importance to keep to the withdrawal plan worked out for the Yugoslav army.
"There were a number of factors, but what was very clear in everybody's mind was that we had just signed the military-technical agreement which required the entry into Kosovo to be synchronized," he said.
He also appeared fully to support NATO's system that allows each member nation to retain sovereignty over the commitment of its own troops. "Nations have volunteered forces, and if they feel uncomfortable they have the right to say no. Nations, not least America, retain full command of their national forces," he said.
Jackson, a speaker of Russian who began his military career as a member of the British Intelligence Corps, is clearly also something of a diplomat and is sympathetic to Russian participation in peacekeeping in Kosovo. For him, the May meeting of Russia and the seven leading industrial nations at which the principles for a deal with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic were adopted also encapsulated the rules on the ground.
"It is clear from that meeting that it would be inconceivable that there would not be a Russian contingent in KFOR," he said. Despite the aggravations that the Russian takeover of Kosovo's main airport caused, he insisted that cooperation was going "exceptionally well."
"There is considerable praise for them from the men under whose command they are," he said, referring to the NATO brigade commanders under whose command the Russian troops fall.
In the interview at his headquarters above the Kosovo capital, Pristina, Jackson sat sideways in a chair in his workmanlike office, his leg flung over the arm of a chair. As he discussed the achievements of his force, his face, seemingly so war-weary, with heavy bags under the eyes, lit up in a smile for the only time during the 45-minute interview.
"When you look at what the tasks were, I have some satisfaction over our achievements, and over some I certainly don't," he said. "The first task was to get the refugees back. Well, they're back. The second was to create conditions for UNMIK (the U.N. Mission) and others to do their work. And they are working."
The general has won the respect of both Albanians and Serbs, despite the continuing violence. His forthright speaking on local television persuaded many Serbs that NATO would be evenhanded, and his pressure on the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army has forced them to take a public stand against revenge attacks.
As he winds up his command, Jackson has one more job, to oversee the complete demilitarization of the KLA, which he insists has so far been as complete and satisfactory as is realistic in the Balkans.
The former rebel force has said it has 1,000 more weapons to hand in, and Jackson said he was confident they would produce them by the Sept. 19 deadline.