Forum Lurker,

"..the NATO land forces which, as I recall, were already present in the region."

Had their hands full in Macedonia looking after refugees. They had no armour, they had no heavy support weapons, their logistics were stretched to the limit with the task they had on hand.

Your use of phrases such as "standard military strategy" and "normal strategy" further indicates your lack of understanding of what is involved - anyone who has been involved will tell you only to readily that each situation dictates what stratgey and tactics are and the phrases you use go out of the window the second you move from the start line.