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Paris: Calling for "reflection" among NATO members, the French government has criticized the United States for not always seeking consensus among its allies before launching bombing raids in Kosovo.
France's defense ministry, in a report published this week, singled out bomb attacks by American B-2 stealth bombers, which were based in Missouri. "The conclusion cannot be avoided that part of the military operations were conducted by the United States outside the strict framework of NATO and its procedures," the report said.
France dropped out of NATO's integrated command in 1966, but has had an increasing role in military operations, most recently in Kosovo where it undertook 12 percent of all aerial attacks, officials say.
French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin has said NATO's action in Kosovo did not have explicit authorization from the United Nations Security Council, but believes the need to act swiftly in Kosovo justified the military offensive.
Defense Minister Alain Richard, releasing the report on Kosovo, said Wednesday: "There must be some reflection among NATO nations." "The Americans have employed cruise missiles and heavy bombers which weren't under a coordinated command," he told reporters, adding that there should have been wider consultation regarding the choice of targets.
He also renewed calls for better European defense capabilities, saying France, for example, did not have sufficient technology to allow its planes to evade detection by anti-aircraft radar defenses, or the precision weapons guidance systems used by the American B-2 planes.