Excerpted from the ENN DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-Saturday, March 15, 1997 Vol. 3 , No. 074
CHAOS REIGNS IN ALBANIA ...
By Steve Macko, ENN Editor
The United States had to suspend its militaru evacuation of U.S. citizens from Albania on Friday after two Marine helicopter gunships were fired upon from the ground. The commander of the Marine expeditionary force, Colonel Emerson Gardner, said that shots were fired from a machine gun at one U.S. Marine Cobra gunship helicopter and then later at another chopper, which fired back and destroyed its target. Colonel Gardner said that all of the attacks came from a small hilly area located about two miles from where U.S. nationals were being picked up.
U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen said, "According to reports that we received from the pilots, they were fired upon. That fire was returned. They were not struck by any of the fire."
The evacuation operation began on Thursday after anarchy spread to the Albanian capital of Tirana. The U.S. Defense Department said 408 Americans were evacuated from Tirana before the operation was suspended. About 150 Marines are on the ground maintaining security around the U.S. Embassy.
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said, "The situation in Tirana itself is somewhat chaotic in terms of not having a government that is totally in control." Albright was asked if Albanian President Sali Berisha had fled the country. She replied: "Our information is we believe that he is in Tirana. Ambassador Lino is watching that very carefully."
State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said that the only way to bring order to Albania was for people to lay down their arms and have the political coalition in Tirana find the leaders of the insurgents and negotiate with them. Burns said, "We believe it is incimbent upon President Berisha and the other politicians in Albania to find those people, seek them out, and try to establish a political dialogue. There is a possibility of Western economic aid through the World Bank, through the International Monetary Fund, through the United States and other governments. But that kind of assistance cannot arrive in a situation of chaos and disorder and civil war."
ERRI analysts say that there is only one problem with the premise put forth by Burns -- that is the assumption that someone is directing the chaos and insurrection. That is not the case. At the moment, it is every man for himself and there is no control or direction being given by anyone to a populace that is armed to the teeth and angry about losing its money in insane pyramid schemes.
Secondly, is Burns saying that the United States would be willing to provide financial assistance to Albanians who lost their investment capital? That could prove to be a very hot potato for the Clinton adminstration.
U.S. forces were not the only ones who came under fire on Friday. German soldiers opened fire under "hostile conditions" for the first time since World War II, in an operation to get Germans and other foreign nationals out of Albania.
German troops exchanged fire with Albanian gunmen during a dangerous rescue mission at an airfield located outside Tirana. German Defense Minister Volker Ruehe said that five military helicopters from Bosnia had been sent with 25 soldiers to evacuate 120 people. Gunmen fired upon the evacuees as the third of the five choppers landed. German soldiers returned fire.
German Ambassador Hartmut Bagger was listening to the operation on an open line on his car phone. He said, "We could hear a wild shootout without knowing where the gunshots came from, who was shooting whom and what sort of weapons they were using." Bagger said that a crowd of Albanians attempted to storm one of the helicopters.
People in Tirana were said to be in shock on Friday. They feared the country's slide into anarchy can only be solved by outside intervention. One young woman said, "We can't comprehend what has happened here."
It was reported that a Kalishnikov rifle can be bought for $3 in Tirana. However, if you wanted to buy a potato -- you were out of luck. Food stores and warehouses were emptied on Thursday in a wave of panic buying and looting. One shopkeeper said, "There are no potatoes, eggs, apples, cheese or bread, not in shops or warehouses. We're afraid of being looted. The situation is terrible, the only hope for us is Europe, if we had peacekeeping troops, people will hand in their arms."
One man said, "We need to be armed, because everyone else is armed. I want a weapon in case we get attacked, by theives or someone trying to rape my wife or sister, We are very, very frightened. If we don't get peacekeeping troops from abroad, Albania is finished."
An even gloomier prediction came from a middle-aged man. He said, "If they are shooting in the air today, they will be shooting at each other tomorrow. When someone is killed, there will be revenge killing, there could be a civil war. There is no reason for a civil war here, but in Albania these things can spread very easily."
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