Stepping up patrols on the border to block the flow of men and weapons from Kosovo to the insurgents, the peacekeepers risk becoming targets themselves if the guerrillas feel threatened. On Friday, U.S. troops seized machine guns, rocket launchers and other weapons from a Volkswagen Golf car near the border. But U.S. Army peacekeeping troops here see the recent attacks as confirmation that the Albanians are now the problem. NATO has been cooperating more and more closely with its former adversary in the war. Brandon Griffin, an 82nd Airborne Division officer who has led patrols near the zone.
Tensions are higher at the Macedonian border as well.
On Friday, four German Leopard tanks crossed from Kosovo into Macedonia to protect German logistics troops who are stationed there to support the peacekeeping operation in Kosovo. Officials said this was not an intervention, only a beefing up of security for the Germans. Almost two years into the peacekeeping mission, it's hard to find Americans in the field who feel much sympathy for the Albanians they came to rescue. Christopher Glover, commander of a military police company deployed here from Fort Polk, La., and a veteran of that other U.S. peacekeeping mission in the Balkans. But here we're really protecting the Serbs from the Albanians.