by Jan Oberg
With "the father of the nation" in Kosovo, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova and his
colleagues, we worked out the model - until KLA/UCK was formed in 1993 and
began to undermine his unique non-violent leadership - for a Kosova with
open borders, no army, non-aligned with any military system, promising never
to unite with Albania or other Abanian-inhabited territoires and - not the
least! - achieved through negotiation, dialogue and international mediation
assistance by the UN and others. . . .
The historic nationalist leanings, the ethnic cleansing policies, and
militarism of the murky UCK, the Kosovo Albanian Liberation Army, KLA, that
became NATOs ally on the ground after having been supported by CIA and the
German Intelligence Service - all conveniently forgotten in most media and
European/US statements today.
The US and the Clinton Administration's documented lies about Milosevic'
Hitleristic genocide plan (he was bad enough, but not that stupid and
neither a Hitler), the left's, one-sided human rights and peace activists'
and Green enthusiasm for NATO's "humanitarian intervention" will be
neglected.
It will be forgotten that the international community overlooked the Kosovo
conflict while a few of us predicted war there 7 years before it actually
happened as a result of the fact that no mediation initiative was taken.
It is also forgotten on Sunday that the highest civilian leader responsible
for the destruction of Yugoslavia was NATO S-G Javier Solana; he was
rewarded by being kicked upwards to the post of EU foreign policy chief.
This non-convicted war criminal has a personal interest in seeing Kosovo
independent - otherwise his and Wesley Clark's destruction of Yugoslavia was
a mistake! . . .
With Palestinians, Serbs and Muslims/Muhamad, grosso modo, racist attitudes,
lack of empathy and collective punishment is politically very correct -
indeed the only way to think.
FULL TEXT
---
Enver Masud, "Kosovo Bombing:
Good Intentions, Bad Strategy?," The Wisdom Fund, March 27, 1999
Enver Masud, "Kosovo Bombing:
Bad Intentions, Good Strategy?," The Wisdom Fund, March 28, 1999
[President Clinton knew that "air strikes might provoke Serb soldiers into
greater acts of butchery." . . .
Professor of International Law, Francis A. Boyle, says "the former
Yugoslavia disintegrated as a state as the Badinter Commission found. As a
result of this disintegration, the Kosovar People exercised their right of
self-determination to establish the Kosova Republic in accordance with
standard international law and practice.--Enver Masud, "Milosevic Indicted, Clinton Poised
to Sellout Kosovars," The Wisdom Fund, May 28, 1999]
Enver Masud, "Winning and Losing
in Yugoslavia," The Wisdom Fund, June 6, 1999
Eric Margolis, "The Real Victors
in Kosovo," Toronto Sun, June 13, 1999
[The message could scarcely have been blunter: if you want Albanian consent
for the Trans-Balkan pipeline, you had better wrest Kosovo out of the hands
of the Serbs.--George Monbiot, "A
discreet deal in the pipeline," Guardian, February 15, 2001]
Lutz Kleveman, "The New Great
Game," Guardian, October 20, 2003
[Just as in the 1990s, and just as erroneously, a
self-righteous West has seized on the Balkans as an opportunity to parade
before the world in the unfamiliar guise of champion of democracy and
national self-determination, and protector of Muslims. . . .
Kosovo's status is governed by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244, which
envisages only self-government for Kosovo, and acknowledges the "sovereignty
and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia." Kosovo's
status can't be changed without a new resolution.
To be sure, the status quo is unsustainable. But this status quo is one
entirely of NATO's making. Eager to demonstrate that it had relevance even
though the Cold War had long ended, NATO pulverized Yugoslavia with cluster
bombs, depleted uranium and cruise missiles for 11 weeks, in the name of its
newly proclaimed mission of humanitarian intervention.--George Szamuely, "A Saga of
Injustice and Hypocrisy: The Absurdity of 'Independent' Kosovo,"
counterpunch.org, February 15, 2008]
Nicholas Kulish and C. J. Chivers, "Kosovo
Is Recognized but Rebuked by Others," New York Times, February 19, 2008
[First, Kosovo is not gaining independence or even minimal self-government.
It will be run by an appointed High Representative and bodies appointed by
the U.S., European Union and NATO. . . .
Second, Washington's immediate recognition of Kosovo confirms once again
that U.S. imperialism will break any and every treaty or international
agreement it has ever signed, including agreements it drafted and imposed by
force and violence on others.--Sara Flounders, "Kosovo's
'independence': Washington gets a new colony in the Balkans,"
workers.org, February 21, 2008]
VIDEO: "Samantha Power v. Jeremy Scahill: A
Debate on U.S. Actions in the Balkans, the Independence of Kosovo, the Iraq
Sanctions and Humanitarian Intervention," democracynow.org, February
22, 2008
Danica Kirka, "Putin's Likely Successor, Pledging Support for
Serbia, Signs Pipeline Deal," Associated Press, February 26, 2008
