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Navy Vice Admiral Takes on Toughest Job in Europe
‘I just hope people understand that he carries out
By Charles Aldinger
He must also help NATO decide whether to withdraw all troops at year's end as planned or to extend some form of the mission into next year.
Lopez, who joined the Navy as an enlisted man and has risen through the ranks over 36 years, is a decorated Vietnam War veteran. He will replace retiring U.S. Navy Adm Leighton Smith as head of NATO's peace implementation force (IFOR), which includes 18,000 U.S. soldiers around Tuzla. Although shaky peace has held for seven months in Bosnia, experts say the most difficult task for Lopez and IFOR is ahead, including international pressure to arrest accused war criminals -- a job NATO commanders insist is not theirs.
"The whole mission may be almost impossible because, in the end, the world will call it all a failure if war breaks out when the troops leave. The Muslims, Serbs and Croats hate each other and don't trust anybody," said former Assistant Defense Secretary Lawrence Korb of the private Brookings Institution.
"The problem," added Korb, "is that the West tells soldiers to go there and keep peace, make sure war criminals exercise no influence, make sure elections go smoothly -- and do it without getting troops hurt."
Smith and U.S. Army Gen. George Joulwan, Supreme Allied Commander of all NATO forces in Europe, have come under fire along with western leaders for not arresting Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander Gen Ratko Mladic so they could be tried before the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
Lopez is known as an affable but no-nonsense commander. A native of the land-locked, mountainous state of West Virginia, he was commander of the U.S. Sixth 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean and head of NATO strike forces in southern Europe in 1992 and 1993.
The admiral was a river division commander in the Vietnam War and led a joint U.S.-Vietnamese naval assault into Cambodia in May 1970. He wears medals with three combat V for valor pins.
In addition to serving as commander of IFOR, President Clinton named Lopez to become a four-star full admiral, replacing Smith as commander of NATO's Southern Command and head of U.S. naval forces in Europe. "He is well aware of the situation there and goes in with his eyes wide open," said a senior defense official, who asked not to be identified.
"I just hope people understand that he carries out orders from a lot of people at higher levels and he can't just go pulling the trigger even though the situation seems to call for it."
Perry told reporters recently on his plane returning from a European trip that Smith had not been pressured to retire. On the contrary, he said, Smith had been asked to stay on the job past April. "But we didn't see the basis for extending it indefinitely.I think Admiral Smith did a first class job and is doing a first class job ... We are grateful to him for having done that," Perry said.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Joseph Lopez will take over the toughest military job in Europe next week when he assumes command of 60,000 NATO-led peacekeeping troops in Bosnia. Lopez, 56, will walk a frayed tightrope between military force and peaceful intimidation while nursing the shattered country through September elections.
Defense Secretary William Perry has denied that Smith was sacked for not handling the job properly. Criticism was especially harsh when IFOR troops stood by and allowed Serbs to destroy Muslim houses as Muslims were allowed to return to Sarajevo suburbs earlier this summer.
Berserkistan, July 17 · Departing Adm. Leighton Smith Honored with NATO Medal
Berserkistan, June 12 · Pentagon Insists Adm. Smith Not Forced from Bosnia
Berserkistan, June 6 · Lopez Replaces Smith as NATO Chief
Berserkistan, May 14 · Lopez May Replace Smith as NATO Commander
PENTAGON RESOURCES
Interview with Vice Adm. Joseph Lopez Navy Editor Service
US Navy Navy Public Affairs Library
BosniaLINK Pentagon's Bosnia Site
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