> http://www.antiwar.com/malic/pf/p-m081502.html
ANTIWAR, Thursday, August 15, 2002
Balkan Express
by Nebojsa Malic
Antiwar.com
Nothing New In Kosovo
In The Occupied Province, Same Old Terror
Over the past couple of days, two prominent leaders of the
"Kosovo Liberation Army" (KLA) have been arrested by the
NATO forces occupying Kosovo. Rrustem Mustafa
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2187270.stm),
better known as Commander Remi, is accused of torturing
and murdering several people. Ramush Haradinaj
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2189870.stm)
was charged with "violent behavior" - a polite way to
describe a shooting of a rival politician two years ago.
Predictably, the arrests have been touted as a signal of NATO's
determination to "tackle armed extremism" in the province.
They are, of course, nothing of the sort. Considering the
violent record of Haradinaj and Mustafa, present charges
against them are a joke. Since their political
views are shared by most Kosovo Albanians, the two are not
"extremists," either. The most accurate description would
be "terrorists," but despite the Empire's propensity for
throwing the term around, it has been carefully
avoided in this instance. Strange, perhaps, but not new.
Not in Kosovo.
Remi and Ramush's Greatest Hits
One interesting thing about both arrests is that they refer
to events that occurred a while ago. In the meantime, Mustafa
helped the "human rights cause" in Macedonia, while Haradinaj
and his party took part in the elections last fall. Haradinaj
was frequently welcomed in Washington's halls of power, in
Foggy Bottom as well as on Capitol Hill, despite common
knowledge such as this:
"Haradinaj could face charges over what may be the biggest
atrocity carried out by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
Forty civilians were killed during several months in 1998
in the village of Glodjane in western Kosovo, where
Haradinaj was then the KLA commander. Many of the bodies -
of Serbs, Albanians and gypsies [sic] - bore marks of torture."
(The Sunday Times, April 29, 2001 - see reference:
http://emperor.vwh.net/analysis/kla-aq.htm)
Mustafa's crimes are similarly documented (see here
[http://www.decani.yunet.com/testimonies4.html%5d; scroll
down to "Commander Remi"): abductions, murders, bomb
attacks against cafés, convenience stores and marketplaces?
Among his victims were both Kosovo Serbs and those
Albanians who had not joined the KLA. Most significantly,
fellow KLA members testified he was responsible for
organizing an exodus of some 220,000 Albanians from northern
Kosovo (The Guardian, June 30, 1999) during NATO's assault
in 1999. As this demolishes the NATO thesis about Serb "ethnic
cleansing" (and thus removes the justification for both the
1999 invasion and the occupation), the absence of these
crimes from Remi's indictment is not surprising.
Given the obvious amount of knowledge about these two
characters and their actions, their arrests on minor charges
amounting to "assault" and "manslaughter" seems more of a
PR move than genuine concern for justice and peace. Let's
not forget, NATO's illegal attack made it possible for Remi
and Ramush to run wild around Kosovo in the first place,
and for over three years.
Occupation "Justice"
The concept of "justice" in Kosovo is generally a sick joke.
Just last week, a local Albanian "judge" decided to expropriate
two plots of land that belonged to the Visoki Decani monastery
(http://www.balkanpeace.org/hed/archive/aug02/hed5135.shtml).
The monastery land had been stolen before, by the Communists
in 1946. Some of it was restored in 1997, by the (gasp!)
government of Slobodan Milosevic. Now the Albanians have
"liberated" it, as they have "liberated" the entire province.
Needless to say, the UN/NATO occupation authorities have done
absolutely nothing to prevent, stop, or reverse this theft.
It says plenty for the Serbian government's commitment to
justice that its only response was a timid pronouncement
by the Ministry of Faith, saying that the land-grab "certainly
is not in the best interests of anyone well-intentioned and
wishing to establish peace and tolerance in Kosovo-Metohija."
Really? What was their first clue?
Plans and Rumors of Plans
If only the schemers in Empire's corridors of power were
nearly as clueless about their plans for Kosovo! Alas,
that is not so. Last month, the U.S. Institute of Peace
published Special Report 91
(http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/sr91.html),
titled "Kosovo Final Status: Options and Cross-border
requirements." Now, USIP is run and funded by the US Congress,
and employs mostly State Department personnel on hiatus
from official government duties. Though "unofficial," the
USIP reports are a good indicator of what Empire's
policymakers are thinking. And judging by SR 91, all
options for Kosovo involve some form of independence.
Again, this is not surprising. Half the people who worked
on the report have worked for the ICG at one time or
another, and the International Crisis Group
(http://www.antiwar.com/malic/m050301.html) has been an
outspoken champion of the Albanian cause. It has issued
its own report
(http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/showreport.cfm?reportid=561)
on final status - favoring independence, of course.
Its late 1999 proposal to seize the Trepca mines was
followed - almost to the letter - by the occupation
authorities in 2000. Just recently, the ICG proposed
the elimination
(http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/showreport.cfm?reportid=672)
of the last Serb enclaves in the province, as a "threat" to
peace and security.
True to form, occupation governor Michael Steiner recently
spoke (http://www.serbianna.com/news/07_31/01.shtml) against
"partition" and "parallel structures" in Kosovo (meaning
the vestiges of Serb government, not the KLA, of course).
He also categorically rejected "status quo ante" 1999,
effectively saying that chances of Kosovo reintegrating
into Serbia were less than zero. Behind Steiner's talk of
"democratic, safe and multiethnic Kosovo
(http://www.iht.com/articles/65414.htm) on its way to
Europe" is independence, hiding in open sight.
Congress Speaks Out
Finally, there is the House Resolution 467, proposed by
Representatives Benjamin Gilman (R-NY) and Tom Lantos
(D-CA) on June 27 this year, expressing the support for
independence of something called "Kosova"
(http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/
getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_bills&docid=f:hr467ih.txt.pdf).
Fortunately for Kenya, this does not mean support for
separatists in the Nyanza province
(http://www.christusrex.org/www1/pater/JPN-kisii.html),
if there are any. It means Gilman, Lantos and their ilk
desperately need a lesson in remedial English. Given
the amount of contributions they received from Albanian
separatists (http://www.aacl.com/), they might need remedial
ethics as well, together with such luminaries as Viagra
pitchman Bob Dole (http://voteforusa.com/albmony1.htm)
and Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE).
There are still some naïve moralists
(http://www.westernpolicy.org/ContributingAuthors/zavales072902.asp)
who are trying hard to reconcile the aggression and occupation
with an ethical solution for Kosovo. However rational their
arguments against independence may sound, however close to
the mainstream rhetoric and thinking, the Empire seems to have
made up its mind already. The question isn't "if," but "when."
Nebojsa Covic, Serbian kommissar for Kosovo, can ask for as many
explanations (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2180760.stm)
as he wants, and try to reason with the occupiers
(http://www.serbianna.com/news/07_30/04.shtml) till the
cows come home. His boss, Zoran Djindjic, is Empire's
obedient servant, who will find a way to rationalize and
spin whatever his masters decide to do with Kosovo. And if
he doesn't, NATO can always bomb Serbia. It worked the
first time, didn't it?
The Crucible
One glimmer of hope in this deluge of depravity is that the
Empire seems to be in no hurry to actually let the Kosovo
Albanians declare independence. Perhaps the feeling is that
such a radical move might remind the rest of the world of the
criminal nature of NATO's attack, the illegal nature of the
occupation, and the fact that the US and NATO, with UN's tacit
approval, invaded and seized a piece of a sovereign nation's
territory. That last bit might be the toughest sell to the
world, since anybody can be the next victim.
Yet given that the Empire has used the Kosovo war to assert
the right to do whatever it pleases, whenever it pleases,
with or without an excuse, the hesitation can only mean the
occupation of this Serbian province still serves a purpose.
As long as that is the case, there is hope - however slim -
that the Empire will refrain from actually proceeding with
an agenda as obviously stupid as Kosovo independence. Not
because it is wrong, immoral, illegal or unjust,
mind you, but because it might be counterproductive.
As prosecuting Remi and Ramush for terrorism might be, for instance.
ANTIWAR, Thursday, August 15, 2002
Balkan Express
by Nebojsa Malic
Antiwar.com
Nothing New In Kosovo
In The Occupied Province, Same Old Terror
Over the past couple of days, two prominent leaders of the
"Kosovo Liberation Army" (KLA) have been arrested by the
NATO forces occupying Kosovo. Rrustem Mustafa
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2187270.stm),
better known as Commander Remi, is accused of torturing
and murdering several people. Ramush Haradinaj
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2189870.stm)
was charged with "violent behavior" - a polite way to
describe a shooting of a rival politician two years ago.
Predictably, the arrests have been touted as a signal of NATO's
determination to "tackle armed extremism" in the province.
They are, of course, nothing of the sort. Considering the
violent record of Haradinaj and Mustafa, present charges
against them are a joke. Since their political
views are shared by most Kosovo Albanians, the two are not
"extremists," either. The most accurate description would
be "terrorists," but despite the Empire's propensity for
throwing the term around, it has been carefully
avoided in this instance. Strange, perhaps, but not new.
Not in Kosovo.
Remi and Ramush's Greatest Hits
One interesting thing about both arrests is that they refer
to events that occurred a while ago. In the meantime, Mustafa
helped the "human rights cause" in Macedonia, while Haradinaj
and his party took part in the elections last fall. Haradinaj
was frequently welcomed in Washington's halls of power, in
Foggy Bottom as well as on Capitol Hill, despite common
knowledge such as this:
"Haradinaj could face charges over what may be the biggest
atrocity carried out by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
Forty civilians were killed during several months in 1998
in the village of Glodjane in western Kosovo, where
Haradinaj was then the KLA commander. Many of the bodies -
of Serbs, Albanians and gypsies [sic] - bore marks of torture."
(The Sunday Times, April 29, 2001 - see reference:
http://emperor.vwh.net/analysis/kla-aq.htm)
Mustafa's crimes are similarly documented (see here
[http://www.decani.yunet.com/testimonies4.html%5d; scroll
down to "Commander Remi"): abductions, murders, bomb
attacks against cafés, convenience stores and marketplaces?
Among his victims were both Kosovo Serbs and those
Albanians who had not joined the KLA. Most significantly,
fellow KLA members testified he was responsible for
organizing an exodus of some 220,000 Albanians from northern
Kosovo (The Guardian, June 30, 1999) during NATO's assault
in 1999. As this demolishes the NATO thesis about Serb "ethnic
cleansing" (and thus removes the justification for both the
1999 invasion and the occupation), the absence of these
crimes from Remi's indictment is not surprising.
Given the obvious amount of knowledge about these two
characters and their actions, their arrests on minor charges
amounting to "assault" and "manslaughter" seems more of a
PR move than genuine concern for justice and peace. Let's
not forget, NATO's illegal attack made it possible for Remi
and Ramush to run wild around Kosovo in the first place,
and for over three years.
Occupation "Justice"
The concept of "justice" in Kosovo is generally a sick joke.
Just last week, a local Albanian "judge" decided to expropriate
two plots of land that belonged to the Visoki Decani monastery
(http://www.balkanpeace.org/hed/archive/aug02/hed5135.shtml).
The monastery land had been stolen before, by the Communists
in 1946. Some of it was restored in 1997, by the (gasp!)
government of Slobodan Milosevic. Now the Albanians have
"liberated" it, as they have "liberated" the entire province.
Needless to say, the UN/NATO occupation authorities have done
absolutely nothing to prevent, stop, or reverse this theft.
It says plenty for the Serbian government's commitment to
justice that its only response was a timid pronouncement
by the Ministry of Faith, saying that the land-grab "certainly
is not in the best interests of anyone well-intentioned and
wishing to establish peace and tolerance in Kosovo-Metohija."
Really? What was their first clue?
Plans and Rumors of Plans
If only the schemers in Empire's corridors of power were
nearly as clueless about their plans for Kosovo! Alas,
that is not so. Last month, the U.S. Institute of Peace
published Special Report 91
(http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/sr91.html),
titled "Kosovo Final Status: Options and Cross-border
requirements." Now, USIP is run and funded by the US Congress,
and employs mostly State Department personnel on hiatus
from official government duties. Though "unofficial," the
USIP reports are a good indicator of what Empire's
policymakers are thinking. And judging by SR 91, all
options for Kosovo involve some form of independence.
Again, this is not surprising. Half the people who worked
on the report have worked for the ICG at one time or
another, and the International Crisis Group
(http://www.antiwar.com/malic/m050301.html) has been an
outspoken champion of the Albanian cause. It has issued
its own report
(http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/showreport.cfm?reportid=561)
on final status - favoring independence, of course.
Its late 1999 proposal to seize the Trepca mines was
followed - almost to the letter - by the occupation
authorities in 2000. Just recently, the ICG proposed
the elimination
(http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/showreport.cfm?reportid=672)
of the last Serb enclaves in the province, as a "threat" to
peace and security.
True to form, occupation governor Michael Steiner recently
spoke (http://www.serbianna.com/news/07_31/01.shtml) against
"partition" and "parallel structures" in Kosovo (meaning
the vestiges of Serb government, not the KLA, of course).
He also categorically rejected "status quo ante" 1999,
effectively saying that chances of Kosovo reintegrating
into Serbia were less than zero. Behind Steiner's talk of
"democratic, safe and multiethnic Kosovo
(http://www.iht.com/articles/65414.htm) on its way to
Europe" is independence, hiding in open sight.
Congress Speaks Out
Finally, there is the House Resolution 467, proposed by
Representatives Benjamin Gilman (R-NY) and Tom Lantos
(D-CA) on June 27 this year, expressing the support for
independence of something called "Kosova"
(http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/
getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_bills&docid=f:hr467ih.txt.pdf).
Fortunately for Kenya, this does not mean support for
separatists in the Nyanza province
(http://www.christusrex.org/www1/pater/JPN-kisii.html),
if there are any. It means Gilman, Lantos and their ilk
desperately need a lesson in remedial English. Given
the amount of contributions they received from Albanian
separatists (http://www.aacl.com/), they might need remedial
ethics as well, together with such luminaries as Viagra
pitchman Bob Dole (http://voteforusa.com/albmony1.htm)
and Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE).
There are still some naïve moralists
(http://www.westernpolicy.org/ContributingAuthors/zavales072902.asp)
who are trying hard to reconcile the aggression and occupation
with an ethical solution for Kosovo. However rational their
arguments against independence may sound, however close to
the mainstream rhetoric and thinking, the Empire seems to have
made up its mind already. The question isn't "if," but "when."
Nebojsa Covic, Serbian kommissar for Kosovo, can ask for as many
explanations (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2180760.stm)
as he wants, and try to reason with the occupiers
(http://www.serbianna.com/news/07_30/04.shtml) till the
cows come home. His boss, Zoran Djindjic, is Empire's
obedient servant, who will find a way to rationalize and
spin whatever his masters decide to do with Kosovo. And if
he doesn't, NATO can always bomb Serbia. It worked the
first time, didn't it?
The Crucible
One glimmer of hope in this deluge of depravity is that the
Empire seems to be in no hurry to actually let the Kosovo
Albanians declare independence. Perhaps the feeling is that
such a radical move might remind the rest of the world of the
criminal nature of NATO's attack, the illegal nature of the
occupation, and the fact that the US and NATO, with UN's tacit
approval, invaded and seized a piece of a sovereign nation's
territory. That last bit might be the toughest sell to the
world, since anybody can be the next victim.
Yet given that the Empire has used the Kosovo war to assert
the right to do whatever it pleases, whenever it pleases,
with or without an excuse, the hesitation can only mean the
occupation of this Serbian province still serves a purpose.
As long as that is the case, there is hope - however slim -
that the Empire will refrain from actually proceeding with
an agenda as obviously stupid as Kosovo independence. Not
because it is wrong, immoral, illegal or unjust,
mind you, but because it might be counterproductive.
As prosecuting Remi and Ramush for terrorism might be, for instance.