Political Quotes

“early this year the nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the NATO alliance achieved a military victory in Yugoslavia. The military objective of the 3-month long campaign in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo was to drive the Serbian armed forces out of Kosovo. This objective was achieved largely through the use of air power applied in a sophisticated and comprehensive manner. The bulk of the sorties flown were executed by fighter-bomber aircraft based in Italy between 200 and 300 miles away from their objectives in Yugoslavia. These sorties were accomplished largely by F-15E, AF-8B, and F-16 aircraft operated by the United States, Belgium, the Netherlands, and other European countries, and Tornado attack aircraft operated by Great Britain and Germany and also French attack aircraft used by the Air Force of France. In addition, heavy, long-range bombers, B-52s and B-1Bs based in England and B-52s based in Missouri delivered a substantial fraction of the weapons on the targets. Finally, unpiloted reconnaissance aircraft were used extensively for the first time in this conflict. Although air power has been a significant component of all warfare since 1939, it can be argued that this was the first campaign where air power was absolutely the dominant factor.”