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Report details misconduct by U.S. peacekeepers in Kosovo

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Army unit accused of abusing Kosovar Albanian civilians while on peacekeeping duty was not properly trained for a mission that required "tempering their combat mentality," according to an Army investigative report released Monday.

The report detailed numerous acts of misconduct by several members of the 82nd Airborne Division and said their commanders shared blame for not taking action once apprised of the misbehavior.

MESSAGE BOARD The U.S. military Peace in the Balkans

In a written statement accompanying the report, the Army said Gen. Eric Shinseki, the chief of staff, ordered a review of the report's findings. He asked Gen. John W. Hendrix, commander of U.S. Army Forces Command, to complete the review and "take corrective actions as appropriate" within 30 days.

The Army statement also said the misbehavior "should never have occurred," but adds that the problem was limited to a small number of soldiers and should not detract from the exemplary work being done by the Army as a whole in Kosovo, where peacekeepers have been operating since June 1999.

Defense Secretary William Cohen, who is traveling in Asia, issued a brief statement in which he called the incidents of misbehavior "a source of great concern" and endorsed Shinseki's decision to review the matter further.

As reported publicly in August during the rape-and-murder trial of Staff Sgt. Frank J. Ronghi, the Army investigators found evidence that several other soldiers were guilty of abusing Kosovar Albanian civilians.

Ronghi was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl. Nine other soldiers from his unit were given various forms of administrative punishment; the investigator recommended that commanders consider court-martialling some of the nine, but they were not.

The Army released the 1,100-page report after removing some material for privacy and secrecy reasons.

The report concluded that members of A company, 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment went beyond the bounds of their peacekeeping duties and violated the Army's basic tenets of decency.

"Unit members violated the limits and terms of their military assignments by intimidating, interrogating, abusing and beating Albanians," the report said. It said the actions constituted criminal violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice" and violated basic standards of conduct, human decency and the Army values."

The investigator, Col. John W. Morgan III, also concluded that leaders within A company and the 3rd Battalion knew or should have known about numerous instances of misconduct, including the excessive use of force, by members of their unit. He concluded that these leaders' failure to investigate the alleged misbehavior amounted to "perpetuating a volatile situation" and led to further trouble.

The report singled out Lt. Col. Michael D. Ellerbe, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 504th, for directing his soldiers to carry out a task -- to "identify and neutralize" Albanian splinter groups -- that went beyond the intent of his commanders.

"Ultimately, the result of Lieutenant Colonel Ellerbe pursuing (that task) permeated the unit's command climate and created a set of conditions that provided his subordinates the opportunity to commit the alleged misconduct," the report said. It recommended Ellerbe be given a letter of reprimand or other administrative punishment.

Maj. Gary Tallman, spokesman for the 82nd Airborne Division, said Monday he would not comment on what punishment, if any, Ellerbe received until he had read the report. He said Ellerbe was reassigned to a position with the 18th Airborne Corps in June, and that this did not reflect any punishment.

Tallman said that as result of the investigation, one officer and five enlisted soldiers were given administrative punishment for having committed assaults in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and three officers were given letters of reprimand from the commander of the 82nd Airborne, Maj. Gen. Dan K. McNeil. The spokesman declined to identify those who received the punishment.

In concluding that the 3rd battalion of the 504th was not adequately trained for peacekeeping duty, the report said interviews with soldiers revealed that many believed prior to going to Kosovo that they would face a combat situation. At the time they were told to prepare for deployment to Kosovo, in July 1999, the soldiers were focused on training that emphasized high-intensity combat.

One soldier, whose name was not disclosed, told the investigator: "I don't think we were prepared for what we came into when we got down here. We expected to get fired at and things like that. We didn't expect things to be so calm and laid back."

Because they were not adequately trained for the full range of peacekeeping tasks, some soldiers "experienced difficulties tempering their combat mentality for adapting and transitioning to" peacekeeping duty, the report said. The unit's overly aggressive tendencies were manifested in its slogan: "Shoot 'em in the face," the investigator concluded.

Drawing a line between peacekeeping duty and police work in Kosovo -- as well as in Bosnia, where U.S. peacekeepers have been operating since 1995 -- has long been a major concern of Army leaders and Clinton administration officials.

After the news of the Ronghi allegations broke last January, Cohen said U.S. and NATO forces were doing police work in Kosovo only because there are not yet enough civilian police available.

"We have long stated the position that the United States and our NATO forces can carry out a military operation quite successfully, but they are not for the most part -- there are some exceptions -- trained to carry out police work," Cohen said. "They are not trained for that, they are not competent really to carry out police work, nor should they be doing it."

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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