‘Twas a famous victory, but...
The Kosovo war was not the ultimate triumph of technology that the enthusiasts claim. But the remaining weaknesses can probably be overcome
DEFEATED armies, like the Russians who limped out of Chechnya in 1996, eventually work out where they went wrong and—as the unfortunate Chechens are now discovering—try to do better next time. But military planners who reckon they have won, like the Americans who oversaw NATO's air war against Serbia, have less incentive to re-examine their assumptions.
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “‘Twas a famous victory, but...”
From the December 18th 1999 edition
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