 |  |  |
| 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 |
CAMP BONDSTEEL, Serbia, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The first small sign that this is no ordinary part of the Kosovo countryside comes with the words ``U.S. Army Car Wash.''
A short distance further on, trucks and mechanical diggers loom out of the mist among huge piles of gravel. A white board bearing the Stars and Stripes and NATO's four-pointed star symbol declares: ``Welcome to Camp Bondsteel.''
A drive down the wide dirt road beyond the sign reveals a huge expanse of green military tents and wooden huts, their corrugated tin roofs glinting in the autumn sun.
Spread over more than 700 acres (283 hectares) of land and surrounded by five and a half miles (eight km) of barbed wire, this is the biggest military camp the United States has built since the Vietnam War.
In a feat many of those involved see as an engineering marvel, a giant stretch of wheat fields near the southeastern town of Urosevac has been largely transformed into a base for 5,000 U.S. soldiers in little more than three months.
Labourers shifted 150,000 cubic yards (114,700 cubic metres) of earth to create the site for the camp.
``We flattened a mountain and filled in a valley,'' said Colonel Robert McClure, the officer in charge of building Bondsteel as the commander of the Engineering Brigade for Taskforce Falcon, the U.S. peacekeeping contingent in Kosovo.
``BUY WELL ONCE''
It may smack of neo-imperialism to some, but U.S. military officials insist that the decision to group so many troops at one new location and house them in the smart prefabricated huts complete with power and running water, rather than use tents, is driven by practical considerations.
For a nation which receives threats almost anywhere it establishes a presence, security has been one key concern. Keeping costs down by centralising operations has been another.
The decision to build SEA huts -- so-called because they were first used in South East Asia -- reflects a lesson learned from Bosnia, where troops spent years building and rebuilding tented camps and then moved into the prefabs.
``For 60 percent of the cost, we're building to a higher standard right away here in Kosovo,'' said McClure, adding with a smile that the military has adopted a policy long practised by his wife: ``Buy well once.''
Some soldiers say privately they prefer the approach of other peacekeeping forces in Kosovo which have located more of their bases in towns across their zones of responsibility.
Officers, however, are keen to dispel the notion that all their troops are stuck in the middle of nowhere in a little patch of America while the ethnically motivated violence which continues to plague Kosovo goes on unchecked outside.
``We do also have units that live down in the communities,'' said Captain Patrick Sweeney, a U.S. military spokesman, stressing that only support operations are centralised at Bondsteel.
``For every one squaddie out there, you've got 10 support soldiers,'' he said.
NEXT COME HEADQUARTERS AND HOSPITAL
The U.S. military also points out that its strategy leaves more facilities in towns free for local people.
``We have intentionally not occupied schools or industrial complexes,'' McClure said in his small office cabin, lined with maps and plans of the construction site. ``That's the key to getting the country up and running again.''
Thousands of U.S. military engineers and civilian workers, using giant floodlights at night, laboured round the clock to get about 160 SEA huts built by this month so troops could move in before the Balkan winter starts to bite.
McClure estimates the camp is between 80 and 90 percent complete.
Having built the residential huts, the next task is a headquarters complex. McClure's team aims to complete its work early next year with a hospital to replace the current tented medical facility.
Some aid officials grumble that the vast amounts of material for the camp are clogging up roads and border crossings at a time when they are struggling to get supplies to local people whose homes were destroyed in the conflict here.
But for the many locals who have found jobs at the camp, Bondsteel is a godsend in a war-ravaged territory were there is little working industry or any other employment at the moment.
``We're pretty satisfied with our work here and what this camp has to offer,'' said Imri Zariqi, a 35-year-old ethnic Albanian, during a break from unloading supplies at the base. ``People from all over Kosovo have been employed here.''
CAMP HAS COMMUNITY ATMOSPHERE
Officers say the U.S. is investing about $300 million to build the camp, named after a U.S. Army staff sergeant, James Bondsteel, cited for heroism in Vietnam, and a smaller one for around 1,500 soldiers about 18 miles (30 km) away in the city of Gnjilane.
Getting hold of resources was one major challenge for the engineers. Finding a gas pipeline right underneath the site presented another. The layout of the camp was readjusted so the pipeline did not have to be touched.
``It was easier to move the city than it was to move the pipeline,'' McClure said.
The camp is already functioning much like a medium-sized American town. Off-duty soldiers jog along the muddy roads in light grey army leisurewear or work out in the camp gym.
Customers at the base's PX, the store that supplies military personnel with home comforts, are snapping up everything from Doritos corn chips to ``Hard Rock Cafe, Kosovo'' baseball caps.
``They buy a little bit of everything,'' said Kip Commerer, the store's assistant manager. ``You don't even have to put a price on it, they're happy.''
The troops have, however, been deprived of one essential of American life. The camp's Burger King van was recently forced to shut down because of a problem with its extractor fan.