Strategy
Operation Allied Force predominantly used a large-scale air campaign to destroy Yugoslav military infrastructure from high altitudes. Ground units were not used because NATO wanted to minimize the risk of losing forces, as well as avoiding public criticism related to its relative ineffectiveness against mobile ground targets. After the third day, almost all of NATO's strategic military targets in Yugoslavia were destroyed. Despite this, the Yugoslav Army still managed to function and attack Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) insurgents that were still inside Kosovo, mostly in the regions of Northern and Southwest Kosovo. Strategic economic and society targets, such as bridges, military facilities, official government facilities, and factories, were bombed. Long-range cruise missiles were used to hit heavily defended targets, such as strategic installations in Belgrade and Pristina. Infrastructure such as power plants (using the BLU-114/B "Soft-Bomb"), water processing plants and the state-owned broadcaster were also targeted, causing much environmental and economic damage throughout Serbia and Kosovo.
The Kosovo War of 1999 has been subject to arguments over whether the capitulation of Yugoslavia resulted solely from the use of air power, or whether other factors contributed.
Read more about this topic: NATO Bombing Of Yugoslavia
Famous quotes containing the word strategy:
“The best strategy in life is diligence.”
—Chinese proverb.
“Our strategy in going after this army is very simple. First we are going to cut it off, and then we are going to kill it.”
—Colin Powell (b. 1937)
“To a first approximation, the intentional strategy consists of treating the object whose behavior you want to predict as a rational agent with beliefs and desires and other mental states exhibiting what Brentano and others call intentionality.”
—Daniel Clement Dennett (b. 1942)