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☆ Russia's fake tanks in Ukraine aren't always convincing, a struggle another army faced trying to trick NATO jets decades ago
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Yugoslav forces in the Kosovo War faced similar struggles trying different tricks to fool NATO jets. The drone's operator seemed to notice the tanks were not real, zooming in on the puffy tanks in the video. AdvertisementAdvertisementNATO air forces prioritized an aerial bombing campaign called "Operation Allied Force" against Yugoslav troops, which lasted over two months. Outgunned by superior NATO airpower, Yugoslav forces took extra steps to try to make their fakes convincing. Even trays of water, also heated by sunlight, were placed inside the fake tanks to give the impression the tank was crewed, running, and operational.

Persons: —, Mitch Fuqua, Wesley K, Clark, they'd, It's Organizations: NATO, Service, Ukraine's 116th Mechanized Brigade, Ukrainian, Portuguese Air Force Detachment, Aviano Air Base, USAF, Federal, Kosovo Liberation Army, Serbian, Yugoslav, Allied Force, The New York Times, Defense Department, Times, RAND, US Air Force, Usaf, Getty, Government Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Yugoslav, Kosovo, Ukraine's, Russian, Italy, Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

☆ Jack Smith’s Experience in The Hague and the Trump Investigations - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Gary J. Bass | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Although part of Kosovo’s legal system, the institution is headquartered in The Hague and staffed by international judges and personnel — which is how Mr. Smith, a U.S. citizen, wound up serving as its specialist prosecutor. It is always difficult and risky to prosecute national leaders with some popularity among their people. Even so, the Truman administration quietly undercut that pledge of unconditional surrender for Emperor Hirohito, fearing that the Japanese might fight on if he was prosecuted as a war criminal. The Truman administration left the emperor securely in the Imperial Palace while his prime ministers and generals were tried and convicted by an Allied international military tribunal in Tokyo. At an earlier point in his career, from 2008 to 2010, Mr. Smith worked as the investigation coordinator in the prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court, the permanent international war crimes tribunal based in The Hague.

Persons: Smith hewed, Smith, Hashim Thaci, Trump, Thaci, Augusto Pinochet’s, Truman, Emperor Hirohito, John Bolton, ”, Mike Pompeo Organizations: United Nations, Kosovo, Chambers, White, Kosovo Liberation Army, Allied, Criminal Court Locations: Nuremberg, Tokyo, Yugoslavia, Rwanda, East Timor, Sierra Leone, Serbia, The Hague, U.S, Kosovo, Chile, Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, Imperial, Afghanistan, Zambia

☆ Who is Special Counsel Jack Smith in the Trump documents case?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Sarah N. Lynch | Thomson Reuters | Sarah N. Lynch Is The Lead Reporter For Reuters Covering The U.S. Justice Department Out Of Washington | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON, June 8 (Reuters) - Jack Smith, the U.S. special counsel who has pursued criminal charges against former President Donald Trump over retention of classified government records, has earned a reputation for winning tough cases against war criminals, mobsters and crooked cops. This case is unlike any other that Smith has brought because of who is being charged. One of the two investigations that Smith took over involved Trump's handling of classified documents he retained after leaving the White House in January 2021. Trump's own attorney Evan Corcoran emerged as a key witness in the documents investigation. In 2008, Smith left to supervise war crime prosecutions at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Persons: Jack Smith, Donald Trump, General Merrick Garland, Smith, Attorney Bragg, Mark Lesko, Greenberg Traurig, Trump, Joe Biden's, Evan Corcoran, Corcoran, Mike Pence, Robert Morgenthau, Morgenthau, Todd Harrison, McDermott Will, Emery, Harrison, Charles Schwarz, Abner Louima, Ronell Wilson, Salih Mustafa, Sarah N, Lynch, Andy Sullivan, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S, Trump, Manhattan, Attorney, Attorney's, White, Harvard Law School, New, New York City, York City, Criminal, Justice Department, Kosovo Liberation Army, Thomson Locations: New York, Washington, Brooklyn, York, The Hague, Kosovo, Serbia

☆ Factbox: Key facts on Kosovo, independent for 15 years from Serbia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Here are key facts about the small western Balkan republic:POPULATION: Around 1.8 million, according to the most recent census in 2011, which local Serbs boycotted. HISTORY & PEOPLE: Kosovo became part of the Kingdom of Serbia in the early 13th century, with a mixed population of ethnic Albanians, Serbs and Vlachs. Mutual expulsions and migrations to and from neighbouring Albania in the early 20th century changed Kosovo's ethnic makeup. He accused Kosovo Albanians of persecuting local Serbs and restricted their rights in education and local government. It backs nationalist minority Serbs in north Kosovo boycotting the state, creating a de facto partition.

☆ Former Kosovo president Thaci pleads not guilty to war crimes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Ivana Sekularac | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

THE HAGUE, April 3 (Reuters) - Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci on Monday pleaded not guilty to 10 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity as his trial opened at a special court in The Hague. Thaci and three co-defendants, all former close associates in the guerrilla Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and later in peacetime politics, all pleaded not guilty shortly after hearings got underway. "I understand the indictment and I am fully not guilty," Thaci said in court. The trial, conducted by international judges and prosecutors, began with opening statements by the prosecution followed by defence lawyers and a representative of Kosovo's war Victims Council over the ensuing three days. Thaci, 54, resigned as president shortly after his indictment and was transferred to detention in The Hague.

☆ Kosovo war crimes court begins trial of ex-guerrilla chief and president Thaci
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

THE HAGUE, April 3 (Reuters) - Former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci stands trial at a special court in The Hague on Monday for alleged war crimes during the 1998-99 insurgency that eventually brought independence from Serbia and made him a hero among compatriots. Thaci was indicted in 2020 by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers on 10 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity including persecution, murder, torture and forced disappearance of people, including after fighting ended. Thaci and three co-defendants, all former close associates in the guerrilla Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and later in peacetime politics, have pleaded not guilty to all 10 counts. The trial, conducted by international judges and prosecutors, will begin with opening statements by the prosecution followed by defence lawyers and a representative of Kosovo's war Victims Council over the ensuing three days. Thaci, 54, resigned as president shortly after his indictment and was transferred to detention in The Hague.

A special Kosovo court set up in The Hague indicted Thaci in November 2020 on 10 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity including persecution, murder, torture and enforced disappearance of people among other things during the uprising. Thaci, 54, resigned as president shortly afterward and was transferred to detention in The Hague. As the fighting abated and Serbian forces withdrew under NATO bombardment from Kosovo, Thaci traded in his green uniform for a blue suit and tie. Milosevic went on trial before a separate U.N. tribunal in The Hague for war crimes against Kosovo Albanians in the conflict, but he died in 2006 before a verdict was reached. Some senior Serbian officials including then-army chief Nebojsa Pavkovic and deputy prime minister Nikola Sainovic were sentenced to long prison terms over war crimes in Kosovo.

[1/4] A person rides on a motorcycle with Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) flag attached to it on the day of celebrations of the 15th anniversary of Kosovo independence in Pristina, Kosovo, February 17, 2023. "Our independence was achieved through struggle and sacrifice, but our independence will only grow through work," Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said ahead of the parade. Tensions with Serbia linger as Belgrade continues to support the refusal of 50,000 minority Serbs in north Kosovo to accept the country's independence, declared almost a decade after an uprising against repressive Serbian rule. Resolving their volatile stand-off is a major condition for Serbia and Kosovo to progress towards EU membership. The anniversary was ignored in the Serb-majority town of North Mitrovica in north Kosovo.

☆ 'Fearless' Special Counsel Jack Smith arrives in Washington to lead Trump probes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Sarah N. Lynch | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in November to take over two investigations involving Trump, who is running for president in 2024. Grand juries in Washington have been hearing testimony in recent months for both investigations from many former top Trump administration officials. In 1999, Smith started working at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn. In 2008, Smith left to supervise war crime prosecutions at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Smith is also known for being expeditious, and Fodeman predicted the special counsel's investigations involving Trump will probably move swiftly.

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