About 70 percent of the country lost power for some seven hours. To attack Yugoslavia, CIA analysts mapped out Serbia's grid to find the most vulnerable points in the distribution network. The mission was essential to take down power without threatening the power plants and electrical generators themselves. The lights would be turned out, NATO finally agreed, but there could be no long-term civilian impact. An Unconventional and Ineffective Campaign Electrical attacks would join other miscues in the targeting choreography of Operation Allied Force were it not for the fact that bombing of electrical power also entails a humanitarian gamble.
Civilian deprivations accumulate over time after electrical power is gone.
Now two rounds of electrical power-killing strikes against the urban network threaten the civilian populations with little or no military justification. A Juicy Target Modern electrical power networks are incredibly complex systems of generating plants, transformers and distribution lines designed to deliver uninterrupted service. Redundancies and protective systems are built in to satisfy consumer demand, as well as to compensate for intermittent failure. One plant goes down, excess capacity in others takes up the slack. When a transformer or distribution station fails, currents find their way through alternate routes.