A MARRIAGE MADE IN HEAVEN? [Main Title]

A MARRIAGE MADE IN HEAVEN? Can the contradictions between NATO, a fighting organisation and the UN, a peacekeeping organisation be overcome?.

The relationship between NATO and UNPROFOR has come under intense scrutiny from the media, which has suggested that there goals conflict, but members of both organisations argue that both organisations have the same ultimate goal. Shots of NATO fighters in flight. Admiral L.W. Smit, the Commander in Chief of the Allied Forces in Southern Europe, says that there is a "unity of effort" and that they are trying to accomplish the same ends with the minimum force possible. The most high profile NATO operation is Deny Flight which monitors the skies to enforce a no-fly zone agreed in 1933, to support UNPROFOR troops on the ground and to carry out airstrikes against hostile ground positions at the request of UNPROFOR.There have been two serious incidents over the last year. In February four fighters were shot down over Banja Luka and on the 9th of November Serb forces carried out an airstrike against Bihać, which was not picked up by NATO screens, leading to suspicions that they had come across Croatian air space. UNTV then joins FREBAT on patrol, looking over the Bihać valley. They say that knowing that they can call in NATO close air support gives them a greater feeling of security but, again, they would only request an airstrike under very specific circumstances. Admiral Smit says that UNPROFOR have used NATO planes, mainly as a presence in the air to deter any side from using air warfare. 93 fighter planes have been involved in more than 15,000 sorties since 1993. Force has only been used when UN troops were under attack at Goražde and only two airstrikes have been authorised, both in the Sarajevo area. Brigadier General J.M. Nichols, Chief of the French Detachment of Deny Flight Operation says that NATO's role is very different to their role in the Gulf War, rather than independently engaging hostile targets themselves, here they need authorisation to act from UNPROFOR. Special Representative of the Secretary General, Michael Williams, says that NATO can only give a "military recommendation" to Akashi to make a final decision on whether or not an airstrike should go ahead. At a NATO training base in Italy more than 160 Forward Air Controllers have been trained. One of the soldiers there says that the marriage between NATO and UNPROFOR may not have been one made in heaven. SRSG M. Williams says that NATO is slowly finding a role in peacekeeping as it has no clear enemy with the end of the Cold War. Admiral Smit says that NATO will respond to each conflict as it comes.

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