Enjoy Discounted Exercise Equipment From Leading Sales Outlets
SEARCH IT

CHANNELS
Encyclopedia Astronautica
SERVICES
 
Spacer Homebase
US considers keeping key air base in Bosnia after NATO pullout
WASHINGTON (AFP) Jul 13, 2004
The United States is considering keeping a key military air base in Bosnia-Herzegovina after NATO wraps up its peace mission there as part of a new force projection concept designed to facilitate the war on terror, military officials said Monday.

The plan, whose final approval at the Pentagon is still pending, was disclosed to members of Congress amid growing concern that Bosnia may become a "safe haven" for al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic militant groups that could use it as a base for operations in Europe and elsewhere.

Major General James Darden, a senior representative of the US European Command, told the House Armed Services Committee the military was examining "the usefulness of maintaining a small US presence at Eagle Base" outside the Bosnian town of Tuzla after NATO forces pull out of the country and hand over their security operations to a European Union force.

"What we would like to do is have it so that we can surge up to a battalion, if they were required," Darden noted.

He said the current blueprint called for stationing at the base about 150 US troops equipped with helicopters and thus making it usable as a jumping-off point for larger operations.

Eagle Base could be shared by the United States with its EU partners when they take control of the operation, Darden said.

"This is part of the Headquarters European Command strategy, for the continued security cooperation activities in the region," he pointed out.

A NATO summit held in Istanbul last month decided to wrap up a nine-year-old NATO peacekeeping mission in Bosnia, while EU foreign ministers agreed earlier Monday to deploy there a 7,000-strong force that would be headed up by a British officer.

The United States still has about 1,400 troops in the country, with about 850 of them deployed at Eagle Base, officials said. But their numbers will be drawn down soon.

Eagle was the first permanent military base created by US forces that crossed the Sava River into Bosnia in 1996 in an effort to restore peace to the war-torn country in line with the Dayton accords.

A former Yugoslav air base, it was modernized and improved by the Pentagon over the years to be able to handle large troop contingents and military supplies.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

Quick Links
SpaceWar
Search SpaceWar
Subscribe To SpaceWar Express

SpaceWar Search Engine
SUBSCRIBE TO THE SPACEWAR NEWSLETTER
SubscribeUnsubscribe
  

WAR.WIRE
  • US may pull 10,000 troops from eastern Europe: NBC
  • Talks with Trump a necessity for sanctions-hit Iran
  • Iranian FM warns Trump against 'military option'
  • Trump says talked trade with S. Korea interim leader
  • UN voices alarm over death of Iraqi in custody
  • CORRECTED: Pentagon chief to participate virtually in Ukraine meeting
  • Pentagon chief fires US military representative to NATO
  • Pentagon chief to participate virtually in Ukraine meeting
  • Poland plays down US troop withdrawal fears
  • Iran says deal can be reached if US shows goodwill
    SPACEDAILY NEWS
     Feb 11, 2005
  • NASA Observations Help Determine Titan Wind Speeds
  • Cassini Spacecraft Witnesses Saturn's Blues
  • US Orientation Engine Fails On ISS
  • NASA Names Two Future Space Shuttle Crews
  • Simulations Show How Growing Black Holes Regulate Galaxy Formation
  • In The Stars: Odd Stars, Odder Planets
  • Natural Climate Change May Be Larger Than Commonly Thought
  • Earth Gets A Warm Feeling All Over
  • Satamatics Flying At Over 50,000 Terminals
  • Digital Angel To Expand OuterLink Subsidiary's Flight Tracking System
  • LockMart Delivers First Modernized GPS Satellite To USAF For May Launch
  • World's Fastest Oscillating Nanomachine Holds Promise For Quantum Computing
  • Carnegie Mellon's Red Team Seeks $2 Million Robot Racing Prize
  • Kionix Ships The World's Smallest High-Performance Tri-Axis Accelerometer
  • Northrop Grumman/Raytheon Team To Compete For GOES-R System
  • Blue Planet: The Fading Songs Of Whales
  • New Cameras Turn Night Into Day
  • North Korea Suspends Talks, Says It Will Build More Nuclear Bombs
  • Analysis: How Super Is The Superpower?
  • Walker's World: Why Rice Should Thank Zarqawi
  • NATO Agrees Expansion Of Afghan Force
  • North Korea Probably Bluffing Over Nuclear Threat: Australia
  • US Options Seen Limited Against Nuclear-Armed North Korea
  • Six Iraqi Policemen Killed, US Helicopters Fire Missiles To End Siege
  • Germany And Malaysia Urge Peace In Tsunami-Ravaged Aceh
  • Task Of Collecting Indonesia's Tsunami Dead Will Take Six Months: Red Cross
  • EU Brings Forward Preferential Trade Scheme For Developing Countries
  • Cambodia's Former Forestry Monitor Blasts World Bank Over Logging
  • Thales Posts Lower Sales In 2004, Missing Own Target
  • Rolls-Royce Profits Rise; Orders At Record Levels

  • The contents herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2002 - SpaceDaily. AFP Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement