THE GLOBE AND MAIL,
Tuesday, July 31, 2001 p.A13 (Print Edition Only)
We created a monster
Albanian terrorists, armed by the West to fight
in Kosovo, are destroying
Macedonia, says Canada's former ambassador to
Yugoslavia
JAMES BISSETT
When Canadian pilots joined in the NATO bombing of
Yugoslavia in March 1999,
we were told by Lloyd Axworthy and Art Eggleton
that the intervention in
Kosovo was necessary to prevent the violence
there from spreading and
de-stabilizing the Balkans. Yet we now know that
long before the bombing it
was NATO countries themselves that were inciting
violence in Kosovo and
attempting to de-stabilize that Serbian
province. Moreover despite the
bombing the violence has spread -in Kosovo
itself, in southern Serbia, and
more recently in Macedonia.
Media reports have revealed that as early as
1998, the central intelligence
agency assisted by the British Special Armed
Services were arming and
training Kosovo Liberation Army members in
Albania to foment armed rebellion
in Kosovo. The KLA terrorists were sent back
into Kosovo to assassinate
Serbian mayors, ambush Serbian policemen and do
everything possible to
incite murder and chaos. The hope was that with
Kosovo in flames NATO could
intervene and in so doing, not only overthrow
Slobodan Milosevic the Serbian
strong man, but more importantly, provide the
aging and increasingly
irrelevant military organization with a reason
for its continued existence.
After bombing Yugoslavia into submission, NATO
then stood by and
submissively allowed the KLA to murder, pillage
and burn. The KLA was given
a free hand to do as they wished. Almost all of the
non-Albanian population
was ethnically cleansed from Kosovo under the
watchful eyes of 40,000 NATO
troops. Moreover, in defiance of United Nations
resolution 1244 which
brought an end to the fighting, NATO adamantly
refused to disarm the KLA
fighters. Instead, NATO converted this ragtag
band of terrorists into the
Kosovo Protection Force- allegedly to maintain
peace and order in Kosovo.
To add insult to injury NATO appointed an
alleged war criminal, Agim Ceku,
as commander of this force. Agim Ceku is an
Albanian Kosovar who led the
Croatian army in "operation storm" which
ethnically cleansed all of the
Serbian population from their ancestral lands in
Croatia. Some news reports
have suggested that there is a sealed indictment
against Ceku held by the
war crimes tribunal in the Hague but not acted
upon because to do so would
embarrass his NATO bosses. On june10 of this
year the London Times reported
that in early march, Agim Ceku ordered 800 KLA
reservists from Kosovo to
enter Macedonia to help their fellow Albanians
in their rebellion against the government there.
Few Albanian nationalists in the Balkans had
forgotten that under the
fascist and Nazi regimes of the 1940's, Albania
was given control of Kosovo,
parts of Macedonia and northern Greece. Those
latent dreams of Greater
Albania have been given new life by NATO's policy of
encouraging and actively supporting the Albanians of Kosovo to
use violence and force to
achieve their political goals. It appears our
NATO leaders did not realize
[or did not care] that by supporting Albanian
extremists the scourge of
Albanian racism would be unleashed in the
Balkans. Now in Macedonia the
broader consequences of NATO's ill-considered
intervention in that troubled
region of Europe is becoming more evident.
The KLA learned early in the Yugoslavian
campaign that NATO countries are
unwilling to risk the lives of their soldiers to
resolve Balkan problems. It
is one thing to bomb targets in Yugoslavia from
15,000 feet with little or
no risk to its pilots. It is quite another thing
to become involved in armed
conflict on the ground against a well-armed and
determined enemy.
Confirmation of this was evident when the KLA
went into to southern Serbia.
NATO was not prepared to intervene militarily to
halt that aggression. It
was only when NATO was able to strike a deal
with the new democratic powers
in Serbia to have Serbian troops restore order
in that region that the KLA were stopped.
Thwarted, at least temporarily, in southern
Serbia, the KLA then turned its
attention to Macedonia and in March started a
new military campaign in that
country. Their tactics were the same as those used
successfully in Kosovo,
i.e. assassination, ambush, and intimidation of
the local population. Again
as in Kosovo the KLA is armed and equipped by
western powers. The Macedonian
authorities in order to put down the armed
rebellion have used the same
tactics as employed by the Serbian forces in Kosovo;
shelling of villages occupied by KLA fighters with consequent
civilian casualties and refugees.
Unlike Kosovo, however, NATO authorities are
unable to react to the
Macedonian crisis as they did two years earlier
in Kosovo because obviously
bombing Macedonia is not the answer. Macedonia
is not headed by a Slobodan
Milosevic and its record of dealing with its
Albanian minority is, by Balkan
standards, exemplary. The issue is further
complicated by the reality that
the KLA is NATO's own creature and continues to
be looked upon favorably by
its previous masters. There seems little doubt
that NATO intends to ensure
that Kosovo remains under KLA control.
Even more alarming is the fact that the KLA and
its brethren in Macedonia
continue to receive assistance and military help
from NATO countries. Last
month when Macedonian forces were closing in on
KLA rebels near the town of
Aracinovo, NATO intervened and helped evacuate
the KLA fighters. According
to German media reports the intervention was
ordered because among the KLA
forces were 17 American advisors from an
American private mercenary
organization that has been actively engaged in
the Balkans during the
Yugoslav wars. It would not do to have had a
number of former us military
personnel captured along with KLA terrorists.
Although embarrassed by the actions of the KLA
in Macedonia NATO has shown
no inclination to bring a stop to this naked
aggression against a democratic
and peaceful nation. To do so would result in
armed clashes with the KLA
with consequent loss of NATO lives. It would
also underline the bankruptcy
of NATO's policy in the Balkans. This is not
something that Lord Robertson
or our NATO political leaders wish to have
highlighted.
Unwilling to confront the KLA the response so
far from NATO has been to
bring diplomatic pressure on the government of
Macedonia forcing it to yield
to Albanian demands. The secretary general of
NATO, Lord Robertson and the
European Union's foreign minister, Javier Solana
have arrived in Skopje to
press home NATO's insistence that Macedonia's
sovereignty must be
compromised. In the meantime KLA rebels are
reinforcing their forces who
have occupied most of western and northern
Macedonia. So much for NATO's
dedication to democratic ideals, the rule of law
and the peaceful resolution of international disputes.
James Bissett is a former Canadian ambassador to
Yugoslavia.
letters@...
---
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Tuesday, July 31, 2001 p.A13 (Print Edition Only)
We created a monster
Albanian terrorists, armed by the West to fight
in Kosovo, are destroying
Macedonia, says Canada's former ambassador to
Yugoslavia
JAMES BISSETT
When Canadian pilots joined in the NATO bombing of
Yugoslavia in March 1999,
we were told by Lloyd Axworthy and Art Eggleton
that the intervention in
Kosovo was necessary to prevent the violence
there from spreading and
de-stabilizing the Balkans. Yet we now know that
long before the bombing it
was NATO countries themselves that were inciting
violence in Kosovo and
attempting to de-stabilize that Serbian
province. Moreover despite the
bombing the violence has spread -in Kosovo
itself, in southern Serbia, and
more recently in Macedonia.
Media reports have revealed that as early as
1998, the central intelligence
agency assisted by the British Special Armed
Services were arming and
training Kosovo Liberation Army members in
Albania to foment armed rebellion
in Kosovo. The KLA terrorists were sent back
into Kosovo to assassinate
Serbian mayors, ambush Serbian policemen and do
everything possible to
incite murder and chaos. The hope was that with
Kosovo in flames NATO could
intervene and in so doing, not only overthrow
Slobodan Milosevic the Serbian
strong man, but more importantly, provide the
aging and increasingly
irrelevant military organization with a reason
for its continued existence.
After bombing Yugoslavia into submission, NATO
then stood by and
submissively allowed the KLA to murder, pillage
and burn. The KLA was given
a free hand to do as they wished. Almost all of the
non-Albanian population
was ethnically cleansed from Kosovo under the
watchful eyes of 40,000 NATO
troops. Moreover, in defiance of United Nations
resolution 1244 which
brought an end to the fighting, NATO adamantly
refused to disarm the KLA
fighters. Instead, NATO converted this ragtag
band of terrorists into the
Kosovo Protection Force- allegedly to maintain
peace and order in Kosovo.
To add insult to injury NATO appointed an
alleged war criminal, Agim Ceku,
as commander of this force. Agim Ceku is an
Albanian Kosovar who led the
Croatian army in "operation storm" which
ethnically cleansed all of the
Serbian population from their ancestral lands in
Croatia. Some news reports
have suggested that there is a sealed indictment
against Ceku held by the
war crimes tribunal in the Hague but not acted
upon because to do so would
embarrass his NATO bosses. On june10 of this
year the London Times reported
that in early march, Agim Ceku ordered 800 KLA
reservists from Kosovo to
enter Macedonia to help their fellow Albanians
in their rebellion against the government there.
Few Albanian nationalists in the Balkans had
forgotten that under the
fascist and Nazi regimes of the 1940's, Albania
was given control of Kosovo,
parts of Macedonia and northern Greece. Those
latent dreams of Greater
Albania have been given new life by NATO's policy of
encouraging and actively supporting the Albanians of Kosovo to
use violence and force to
achieve their political goals. It appears our
NATO leaders did not realize
[or did not care] that by supporting Albanian
extremists the scourge of
Albanian racism would be unleashed in the
Balkans. Now in Macedonia the
broader consequences of NATO's ill-considered
intervention in that troubled
region of Europe is becoming more evident.
The KLA learned early in the Yugoslavian
campaign that NATO countries are
unwilling to risk the lives of their soldiers to
resolve Balkan problems. It
is one thing to bomb targets in Yugoslavia from
15,000 feet with little or
no risk to its pilots. It is quite another thing
to become involved in armed
conflict on the ground against a well-armed and
determined enemy.
Confirmation of this was evident when the KLA
went into to southern Serbia.
NATO was not prepared to intervene militarily to
halt that aggression. It
was only when NATO was able to strike a deal
with the new democratic powers
in Serbia to have Serbian troops restore order
in that region that the KLA were stopped.
Thwarted, at least temporarily, in southern
Serbia, the KLA then turned its
attention to Macedonia and in March started a
new military campaign in that
country. Their tactics were the same as those used
successfully in Kosovo,
i.e. assassination, ambush, and intimidation of
the local population. Again
as in Kosovo the KLA is armed and equipped by
western powers. The Macedonian
authorities in order to put down the armed
rebellion have used the same
tactics as employed by the Serbian forces in Kosovo;
shelling of villages occupied by KLA fighters with consequent
civilian casualties and refugees.
Unlike Kosovo, however, NATO authorities are
unable to react to the
Macedonian crisis as they did two years earlier
in Kosovo because obviously
bombing Macedonia is not the answer. Macedonia
is not headed by a Slobodan
Milosevic and its record of dealing with its
Albanian minority is, by Balkan
standards, exemplary. The issue is further
complicated by the reality that
the KLA is NATO's own creature and continues to
be looked upon favorably by
its previous masters. There seems little doubt
that NATO intends to ensure
that Kosovo remains under KLA control.
Even more alarming is the fact that the KLA and
its brethren in Macedonia
continue to receive assistance and military help
from NATO countries. Last
month when Macedonian forces were closing in on
KLA rebels near the town of
Aracinovo, NATO intervened and helped evacuate
the KLA fighters. According
to German media reports the intervention was
ordered because among the KLA
forces were 17 American advisors from an
American private mercenary
organization that has been actively engaged in
the Balkans during the
Yugoslav wars. It would not do to have had a
number of former us military
personnel captured along with KLA terrorists.
Although embarrassed by the actions of the KLA
in Macedonia NATO has shown
no inclination to bring a stop to this naked
aggression against a democratic
and peaceful nation. To do so would result in
armed clashes with the KLA
with consequent loss of NATO lives. It would
also underline the bankruptcy
of NATO's policy in the Balkans. This is not
something that Lord Robertson
or our NATO political leaders wish to have
highlighted.
Unwilling to confront the KLA the response so
far from NATO has been to
bring diplomatic pressure on the government of
Macedonia forcing it to yield
to Albanian demands. The secretary general of
NATO, Lord Robertson and the
European Union's foreign minister, Javier Solana
have arrived in Skopje to
press home NATO's insistence that Macedonia's
sovereignty must be
compromised. In the meantime KLA rebels are
reinforcing their forces who
have occupied most of western and northern
Macedonia. So much for NATO's
dedication to democratic ideals, the rule of law
and the peaceful resolution of international disputes.
James Bissett is a former Canadian ambassador to
Yugoslavia.
letters@...
---
Questa lista e' curata da componenti del
Coordinamento Nazionale per la Jugoslavia (CNJ).
I documenti distribuiti non rispecchiano necessariamente
le posizioni ufficiali o condivise da tutto il CNJ, ma
vengono fatti circolare per il loro contenuto informativo al
solo scopo di segnalazione e commento ("for fair use only").
Archivio:
> http://www.domeus.it/circles/jugoinfo oppure:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/messages
Per iscriversi al bollettino: <jugoinfo-subscribe@...>
Per cancellarsi: <jugoinfo-unsubscribe@...>
Per inviare materiali e commenti: <jugocoord@...>
---- Spot ------------------------------------------------------------
HAI TANTI HOBBIES?
Bricolage, giardinaggio, floricoltura e quant'altro!
Da oggi tutte le migliori offerte direttamente
nella tua casella di posta eMail
http://www.domeus.it/ad2998630/valuemail.domeus
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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