US Intelligence on Bosnian War 1992-1995 - Assignment Example

US Intelligence on Bosnian War 1992-1995 The Bosnian war was a territorial conflict that ensued after the breakup of Yugoslavia. In the climax of the war, the US government was involved in resolving the conflict after the international bodies had taken too long to resolve the conflict. From the beginning of the war, the US government developed an intelligence network to look into the matters of the war and to acquire sensitive information that would affect the war. This information was used to predict the nature and impact of the war, to help the UN peacekeepers in developing peace keeping strategies and in planning on the best course of action for their intervention. President Bush of US formed a strong intelligence network that assisted them in planning and strategizing on the best way that US would get involved in the war. In essence, the US intervention plan was based on the intelligence network and the information collected by this team. In any nation, the government intelligence is crucial in developing a stable security network. Macpherson (2003) defines intelligence as the process of collecting information from both open and secret sources and processing it for the purpose of detecting the prevailing security issues. During the war in Bosnia, the US intelligence body made an effort to gather information to predict the nature of the war. In the event of the war in 1992, the US government intelligence was dependent on the operations of central intelligence unit. In 1990, the US intelligence gathered information and was able to predict that Yugoslavia would resolve into civil within the next two years. In this light, the US government anticipated the Bosnian war long before the breakup in Yugoslavia (Office of the Historian, 2013). The accurate prediction of the war was a manifestation of the dependability of the US intelligence body. As Macpherson (2003) points out, the US intelligence body has been on the upfront in predicting the war and developing peace keeping strategies even before the event of the war. In this light, it is clear that the US intelligence had long foreshadowed the war in Yugoslavia. In 1992, the US intelligence unit shifted its focus on Yugoslavia to collect and managed information from the public. A report from the William J. Clinton Presidential Library (2003) states that the Balkan Task Force (BTF), the intelligence body in US, played the role of information gathering during development of the war. The BTF recognized the complexity of the war and decided that opening an intelligence operation was the only way to understand the nature of the war. Although the unit had predicted that the war would be serious, there was need to acquire more information in order to formulate strategies for diplomatic operations. BTF used satellite equipment and tapped telephone calls to collect information regarding the war (Roy, 2011). Due to the rapid development of the war, the BTF found that the standing collection equipment would be ineffective in collecting reliable information. They hyped their operations by installing ad hoc systems to collect reliable data and create updated databases that could provide a course of action. Another source of information for BTF was the raw information that was available on the ground. This was a complex matter as the seasoned analysts had to collect information in an armed conflict for the first time. Therefore, BTF trained its analysts on how to discern purpose behind military operations, strategic movement and tactical battlefield operations. These efforts of the BTF manifest the commitment of the US intelligence in the Bosnian war. Another role of the intelligence body was to synthesize reports from the wide range of information that they collected from their intelligence networks. Wiebes (2011) notes that the US intelligence unit tapped over 22, 000 telephone calls a day and gathered more information from satellites (Wiebes, 2011). BTF held consultative meetings every morning and reacted on the information that they had gathered. The body generated intelligence reports after every 8-12 hours to furnish the government with the ground matters to help the in decision making process. This was a hard task that required efficiency and quick reaction. These reports were used by the government to makes more informed decisions at a sensitive time when it was difficult to distinguish between a friend and an enemy. For instance, the information collected from the Serbian and Bosnian government communication links provided a new opinion about Milosevic, a country that was thought to be supporting the west during the war. Information from the close monitoring of the telephone conversations between Milosevic and Belgrade showed that Milosevic gave both military and political support to the Bosnian Serbs. This information helped the US government to be wary of their relationship with this government during the operations. Also, the intelligence unit obtained the information regarding the command control at the time of war and the role of the various participants in the war. Although the intelligence unit was limited to collect information from some gadgets such as the walkie-talkies that had limited distance of transmission, the information collected was adequate and useful in designing their course of action in the war. The main role of the US government was to provide information to its allies and those that it felt could win the peace keeping operation. Hopkins recalls the word of Bush when he said that “the peace was held because good people were given good information and made good decisions.” The words of Bush point out the role of the US intelligence in developing peace keeping mission (Sremac, 1999). Among those that the US government provided with the intelligence information was NATO, negotiators and the European nations that had engaged in the peace keeping mission. In 1993, the US consulted with Russia and NATO to develop a “lift and strike” strategy that was meant to resolve the conflict once and for all. Bush government used its intelligence to help the UN government to develop a more viable approach in designing a course of action. At the climax of the war in 1995, the US government used it intelligence to form a strong agreement between the warring parties which saw the enactment of the Dayton peace accord that ended the war in 1995 (Blair, 2009). In this light, the US intelligence service at the time of the war formed a core part of the solution of Bosnian war. In conclusion, the US intelligence framework played a great role developing a plan to end the war in Bosnia between 1992 and1995. The territorial war in Bosnia was complex due to the many parties that were directly or indirectly involved in the war. The US government, through its intelligence network, had long predicted that there would erupt a serious war in Bosnia. In the event of the war, the US government reinforced its intelligence function to handle the complex matters that characterized this war. The BTF agents used satellites and ad hoc networks to collect secret and raw information from the ground to shape their decision making process. This allowed them to create an updated data base, provide effective intelligence reports and design strategies for involvement in war. This intelligence information helped NATO and the UN in shaping the peace keeping process. By understanding the role of the various stakeholders in the war, Bush’s government helped in the negotiation process and supported the peace keeping mission. This hastened the peace keeping process and by 1995 a peace treaty was sealed and saw the end of the war. Works Cited Blair, C., (2009). Overview of the US Intelligence Community for the 11th Congress. London: Diane Publishing. Macpherson, N., (2003). American Intelligence in War-Time London. London: Routledge Press. Office of the Historian, (2013). The War in Bosnia, 1992-1995. Retrieved from: < https://history.state.gov/milestones/1993-2000/bosnia> Roy, P., (2011). "Bosnian War Requiems: Snippets of the Balkan Commemorations". The Atlantic Critical Review Quarterly. 10(4). pp. 95–115 Sremac, D. S. (1999). War of words: Washington tackles the Yugoslav conflict. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Praeger. Wiebes, C., (2011). Intelligence and the War in Bosnia 1992-1995. The Role of Intelligence and Security Services. retrieved from: < http://niod.nl/sites/niod.nl/files/ C.%20Wiebes%20-20Intelligence%20en%20de%20oorlog% 20in%20 Bosni %C3%AB%201992-1995.%20De%20rol%20van%20de%20inlichtingen-%20en%20veiligheidsdiensten%20-%20Engels.pdf> William Clinton Presidential Library, (2013). Bosnia, Intelligence and the Clinton Presidency. Retrieved from :< https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/historical-collection-publications/bosnia-intelligence-and-the-clinton-presidency/Clinton_Bosnia_Booklet.pdf> Read More