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Dmitriy
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18.09.2000 21:41:59
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Современность;
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За что албанца боролась на то и напоролась...
Вот статейка про амерских героев-пискиперов в Косово. Причем ни каких-нить гопарей-штрафников, а хороших парней из 82-й вдд.
"SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Defense Secretary William Cohen expressed ``grave concern'' Sunday about abusive, threatening behavior toward civilians by an American peacekeeping unit in Kosovo that resulted in the disciplining of nine officers and men.
But in a written statement provided by the Pentagon to Reuters as he visited Singapore, Cohen said an Army investigation of the unit must not tarnish the reputation of more than 10,000 U.S. peacekeepers in the Balkans.
The official report, expected to be released in Washington as early as Monday, found that members of an American 82nd Airborne Division unit harassed, struck and threatened civilians, including groping women at checkpoints.
``The incidents described in that report are a source of grave concern and reflect behavior that cannot be allowed to recur,'' Cohen's statement said.
``Such incidents must not, however, be allowed to tarnish the reputation and accomplishments of the more than 10,000 American men and women in uniform who are serving with distinction under difficult circumstances in the Balkans,'' he added.
Four Army officers and five enlisted men received punishment that included reduction in rank and forfeiture of some pay after the probe sparked by the murder last January of an 11-year-old ethnic Albanian girl in Kosovo by a sergeant in the unit.
Staff Sgt. Frank Ronghi pleaded guilty two months ago to sodomy and murder charges brought by the Army and was sentenced to life in prison.
Cohen said he fully supported additional ``efforts currently underway to address questions of leadership, readiness, training and discipline within the 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment while it was assigned to Kosovo.''
The new probe was ordered by Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki on Sept. 8.
Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon, in Singapore with Cohen, told Reuters that a report of the initial investigation, begun by an Army colonel in January, showed apparent problems of discipline and training in the peacekeeping unit.
``Members of the unit groped some women at checkpoints and were abusive in crowd-control situations,'' Bacon said. ``It (the report) found that there was a poor command-and-control climate in the unit and there was not enough supervision.''
The report suggested, however, that allegations of misconduct and excessive use of force appeared to be isolated to the unit and were not widespread among U.S. peacekeepers in Kosovo and Bosnia.
Defense lawyers for Ronghi said that the environment in Kosovo might have contributed to his crime.
They noted that there had been a number of incidents of excessive violence committed by American soldiers in the province as well as beatings and unauthorized interrogations of ethnic Albanians, which they said could have led to a ``negative command climate.''
Мораль такая - кто плохо кормит свою армию, потом будет кормить таких уродов.