Sunday 31 August 2014

The Incident at Pristina Airport - The First Occasion when Vladimir Putin Prevented World War III

"We must find a way to help Kennedy - somehow..."

- Nikita Kruschev, 
Supreme Soviet, October 1962

"I'm not going to start Third World War for you," Jackson told Clark
Behind the scenes battle over Pristina airport between British and US generals comes to light

Monday 2 August 1999 15.11 BST


Nato supreme commander General Wesley Clark is not being allowed to fade away quietly. Days after the Clinton administration relieved him of his command two months early, Newsweek is reporting that the victor of Kosovo was blocked from sending paratroopers to Pristina airport to pre-empt an unexpected Russian advance.

Lieutenant-general Sir Michael Jackson overruled General Clark because the British commander did not want to spark a clash with the Russians.

"I'm not going to start Third World War for you," General Jackson told the US commander, according to Newsweek. In the hours that followed General Clark's order, both men sought political backing for their position, but only General Jackson received it.

News of the clash between the British and US commanders comes just days after the US snubbed General Clark by ordering him to step down next year, two months early, to make way for Air Force General Joseph Ralston, vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

The move is widely seen as a rebuke for the man who led Nato to victory, but who clashed repeatedly with his superiors because he favoured more aggressive tactics. General Clark, for example, pressed for the use of Apache attack helicopters, but his wish was denied amid fears of American casualties.

Trouble flared between the two men as soon as General Jackson was appointed commander on the ground in Kosovo. Talks on Russia's role had broken down and the American general was so anxious to stop Moscow from stealing a march on the allies, he ordered British and French troops to take the airport.

General Clark then asked fellow American commander Admiral James Ellis, in charge of Nato's Southern Command, to land helicopters on the runways to prevent giant Russian Ilyushin transport coming in. However, Admiral Ellis also refused, saying General Jackson would not like it.

The Russian planes were only prevented from landing after US officials persuaded Hungary to deny them permission to overfly the country. Both generals turned to their political masters for support, but while the British government backed General Jackson's judgment, General Clark received no support, effectively meaning his orders were overruled.

In Kosovo itself, the province took a step towards normality when post office workers and university professors returned to their jobs in the capital Pristina.

Bernard Kouchner, who heads the UN mission in Kosovo, accompanied hundreds of ethnic Albanian workers back to their jobs at the main headquarters building in Pristina.

"This is an important day in the rebuilding of Kosovo," Mr Kouchner told the workers. "It is a very important day because the workers are going back to their work."

But ethnic tension remains high. A bombing yesterday of an Orthodox church in the heart of Kosovo's capital underscored Serb fears that Nato is unable to protect them from vengeful Albanians. The bombing "was not a surprise because for the last few days we have been telling every day the K-For officers that this is going to be the next target," said Father Sava Janjic, a prominent Serbian Orthodox priest in Kosovo.

In Serbia, opponents of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic said they would hold a major rally in the capital on August 19 calling for a transition government to lead the country to democracy.


Cologne, Germany - June 20, 1999 - G8 Summit, Day 2.

The Yeltsin Group face off against Clinton and core members of his Rogue Cabinet.

President Clinton (DeMolay Society, Rhodes Scholar. CFR, Bilderberg) Secretary Albright (Israeli Mossad, Trilateral Cm., Bilderberg, CFR)  and National Security Advisor Sandy Berger (CFR, Trilateral Cm., Quill & Dagger, McGovern '72) meet with Russian President Boris Yeltsin (Heritage Foundation) and members of his delegation at Cologne’s Renaissance Hotel

Suddenly, Yeltsin reached below his desk and produced a yellowing loose leaf file of papers.

"A gift, for my old friend, Bill!"

Clinton's eyes widened like saucers -  

"Oh, I can use this...!"






President Yeltsin decorates Moscow Mayor Vladamir Putin for Services to Mother Russia.


NEWLY RELEASED Soviet files may shed light on one of America's most enduring mysteries, the assassination in 1963 of President John F Kennedy. The documents concern Lee Harvey Oswald, who shot the President in Dallas. Many Americans still suspect Oswald was part of an elaborate conspiracy.

The former US marine lived briefly in the Soviet Union, leading to speculation that he was a Soviet agent - and counter-speculation that he was a convenient patsy for American right-wingers. The files - assembled at the request of the Russian President, Boris Yeltsin - were handed to the US at the weekend during the G8 summit.

They are unlikely to prompt any great revelations. "The Russians opened their files to Norman Mailer and Lawrence Schiller years ago, resulting in Mailer's Oswald biography," said John Locke, an independent researcher on the assasination. "Some details may emerge, but they won't be central." Large parts of the KGB files were revealed in Izvestia several years ago. But they will provide new information on one of the strangest eras in Oswald's life.

Oswald was a source of great fascination for the KGB, which concluded he could not possibly have been the only assassin: he must have been part of a larger conspiracy. But the Izvestia reporter, Sergei Mostovshchikov, said this was partly professional jealousy. They could not understand how a man under their noses for so long and disregarded, had emerged as such a significant figure.

Oswald arrived in the Soviet Union in October 1959, having flown from London to Helsinki. He claimed political asylum and when the authorities tried to throw him out, he slashed his wrists. They let him stay.

He was under heavy surveillance while he lived in Minsk, now the capital of Belarus, because the KGB believed he worked for the other side. They were extremely interested when he bought a rifle in August 1960 and joined a hunting club because they suspected he would use this as an excuse to visit secret facilities while out on "hunting" trips. In fact he sold the rifle shortly afterwards and was a poor marksman.

He had a job as a low-level worker at a radio factory, and in March 1961 he met 19-year-old Marina Prusakova at a dance. They married and had a child.

The KGB was increasingly suspicious that Oswald missed "numerous union meetings and cultural events", and doubted his political commitment.

When he finally returned to America in 1962, disillusioned by his experiences, he said to a neighbour: "You go on building your communism by yourselves. You can't even smile like human beings here."

The authorities decided that he was of no interest as adversary or ally.

Oswald came to the attention of the KGB again when he visited the Soviet embassy in Mexico City, wishing to return to the Soviet Union. He was fed up with being followed and harassed by the FBI, he said. The KGB brushed him off. The next time they heard of the former employee of Department 25 at the Gorizont radio factory was 22 November 1963, the day that Kennedy died.

Izvestia and Mr Mailer say the Oswald files contained no big new secrets. After Belarus became a separate state, the files caused a wrangle with Russia. Now it is up to the US what is released. Whatever is made public, addicts of conspiracy theories will continue to believe still more has been hidden.




Nato supreme commander General Wesley Clark is not being allowed to fade away quietly. Days after the Clinton administration relieved him of his command two months early, Newsweek is reporting that the victor of Kosovo was blocked from sending paratroopers to Pristina airport to pre-empt an unexpected Russian advance.


Lieutenant-general Sir Michael Jackson overruled General Clark because the British commander did not want to spark a clash with the Russians.
"I'm not going to start Third World War for you," General Jackson told the US commander, according to Newsweek. In the hours that followed General Clark's order, both men sought political backing for their position, but only General Jackson received it.
News of the clash between the British and US commanders comes just days after the US snubbed General Clark by ordering him to step down next year, two months early, to make way for Air Force General Joseph Ralston, vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.
The move is widely seen as a rebuke for the man who led Nato to victory, but who clashed repeatedly with his superiors because he favoured more aggressive tactics. General Clark, for example, pressed for the use of Apache attack helicopters, but his wish was denied amid fears of American casualties.
Trouble flared between the two men as soon as General Jackson was appointed commander on the ground in Kosovo. Talks on Russia's role had broken down and the American general was so anxious to stop Moscow from stealing a march on the allies, he ordered British and French troops to take the airport.
General Clark then asked fellow American commander Admiral James Ellis, in charge of Nato's Southern Command, to land helicopters on the runways to prevent giant Russian Ilyushin transport coming in. However, Admiral Ellis also refused, saying General Jackson would not like it.
The Russian planes were only prevented from landing after US officials persuaded Hungary to deny them permission to overfly the country. Both generals turned to their political masters for support, but while the British government backed General Jackson's judgment, General Clark received no support, effectively meaning his orders were overruled.
In Kosovo itself, the province took a step towards normality when post office workers and university professors returned to their jobs in the capital Pristina.
Bernard Kouchner, who heads the UN mission in Kosovo, accompanied hundreds of ethnic Albanian workers back to their jobs at the main headquarters building in Pristina.
"This is an important day in the rebuilding of Kosovo," Mr Kouchner told the workers. "It is a very important day because the workers are going back to their work."
But ethnic tension remains high. A bombing yesterday of an Orthodox church in the heart of Kosovo's capital underscored Serb fears that Nato is unable to protect them from vengeful Albanians. The bombing "was not a surprise because for the last few days we have been telling every day the K-For officers that this is going to be the next target," said Father Sava Janjic, a prominent Serbian Orthodox priest in Kosovo.
In Serbia, opponents of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic said they would hold a major rally in the capital on August 19 calling for a transition government to lead the country to democracy.

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