Operation Allied Force

Operation Allied Force was the military response of NATO to the 1999 Kosovo crisis, and the first major combat operation in NATO history.

The goal of the operation was to protect the Kosovo Albanian people from aggression by the Yugoslav military and Serbian police forces. Given that goal, it was largely a failure because NATO did not wish to risk any ground forces to protect these people. Instead, NATO used a showy (but low-risk) air campaign to destroy strategic Serbian targets. While this did hurt Yugoslavia and set the stage for the downfall of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, it did little to protect the Kosovo Albanians that NATO claimed to be protecting. Thousands of Kosovo Albanians were killed by Serbian aggression anyway.

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