Press Association (UK) - Thursday September 16, 12:46 AM
'We Would Have Risked Heavy Kosovo Casualties' - Robertson
Britain would have risked heavy casualties in a ground war in Kosovo if Slobodan Milosevic had not capitulated to the bombing campaign, Defence Secretary Lord Robertson has disclosed.
Allied forces planned for a scenario in which the Yugoslav President persisted with his ethnic cleansing of Albanians despite sustained air strikes. A proposed invasion - code-named Option Bravo Minus - would probably have started in the middle of September and might have involved tens of thousands of British troops, he added.
Addressing the Foreign Policy Centre in London, Lord Robertson envisaged there would have been swift Nato casualties from "intense ground combat" if the Allies had had to confront the Serbian army and paramilitaries in Kosovo.
"A fanciful scenario? As the campaign against Milosevic's war crimes in Kosovo continued earlier this year, September 15, was considered a possible D-day for Option Bravo Minus," he said.
Nato ground forces would have struck deep into Kosovo in a "massive combined arms operation" and would have had to defeat Serb forces "valley by valley, village by village".
Tens of thousands of British reserve forces would have been mobilised and ready for the operation.
"What was already in June the largest military operation in Europe since World War Two would have become yet bigger still," said Lord Robertson, who made clear that the eventual outcome was far preferable.
It is understood the speech was intended in part to highlight the folly of armchair generals who called for an earlier invasion.
He said the determination of the Allies would have remained firm had the campaign continued.