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LA NATO INVADE LA MACEDONIA - di M. Chossudovsky
(22 agosto 2001)
> http://globalresearch.ca/cho/natoinvades.htm
---
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ULTERIORI PROVE DEL FATTO CHE DIETRO GLI
ATTACCHI TERRORISTICI IN MACEDONIA SI NASCONDE LA NATO
> http://www.mediamonitors.net/gowans23.html
Media Monitors, August 23, 2001
More signs NATO is behind ethnic Albanian attacks on
Macedonia - by Stephen Gowans
NUOVI LEADER ATLANTICI:
RITRATTO DEL TERRORISTA PAN-ALBANESE ALI AHMETI
> http://www.ekathimerini.com/news/content.asp?aid%ef%bf%bd757
On the road to power
Ali Ahmeti, Albanian rebel leader in FYROM, cannot be ignored
By Stavros Tzimas - Kathimerini, August 23, 2001
LA RUSSIA CONTRARIA ALLE OPERAZIONI DELLA NATO IN MACEDONIA
> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id%ef%bf%bd0265427
THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2001 - THE TIMES OF INDIA
Russia warns against NATO operation in Macedonia
LA DESTABILIZZAZIONE DELLA FYROM E' PREPARATA IN KOSOVO
Macedonian Sources Say Albanian Rebels Regroup in Kosovo
SKOPJE, Aug 20, 2001 (dpa)
> http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010812/1/1bej4.html
Monday August 13, 3:46 AM
Macedonian PM accuses UN-run Kosovo of waging war
SKOPJE, Aug 12 (AFP)
"TUTTE LE TRUPPE KFOR DI RAZZA SLAVA FUORI DALLA KOSSOVA!"
Albanian Group Wants Slav Troops out of Kosovo
PRISTINA, Aug 17, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse)
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Inoltre:
UN NUOVO NOME PER LO STESSO PROGETTO DELLA GRANDE ALBANIA
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NEW ALBANIAN REBEL GROUP SURFACES IN SOUTHERN SERBIA
PRISTINA, Aug 7 ( AFP)
--
NATO INVADES MACEDONIA
by
Michel Chossudovsky
Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa
22 August 2001
The URL for this article is:
http://globalresearch.ca/cho/natoinvades.html
Some 3500 heavily armed NATO troops have entered Macedonia
with a mandate to "disarm the Albanian rebels". Whereas a token
collection and destruction of obsolete weapons is envisaged, the
evidence amply confirms that the "National Liberation Army" has
been armed, equipped and financed by Washington. NATO's
ultimate goal is to protect rather than disarm the terrorists, weaken
and disable the Macedonian Security Forces and install a
protectorate under direct military rule. The US-EU brokered
"peace" agreement constitutes an act of surrender and submission
to the NATO aggressor.
________________________________________________________________
In the hours preceding the "initialing" of the Ohrid "peace"
agreement on August 8th, the terrorists renewed their assaults
leading to the death of ten Macedonian soldiers in an ambush in
Prilep. On the next day, a major KLA-NLA military offensive
directed against the Macedonian Security forces was launched.
And two days later, several hundred troops belonging to the United
Nations Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) stationed in Kosovo
crossed the border and attacked the Macedonian Security Forces
(ARM) in the Radusha area.1 These carefully planned military
actions were also accompanied by violent assaults directed against
civilians.
In an atmosphere of public protests and renewed terrorist assaults,
the "framework peace agreement" was signed on the 13th of
August, allowing NATO to deploy troops throughout Macedonia
with a mandate to "disarm the Albanian rebels".
The Western media mantra --parroting NATO's official
statements-- concluded without further examination that the
"Albanian rebels" were attempting to stall the ratification and
implementation of the "framework document" (yet to be approved
by the Macedonian parliament), undermining "the painstaking
efforts of the international community": "We have unequivocally
stood against all acts of violence in Macedonia and all breaches of
the cease-fire?" said US State Department spokesperson Richard
Boucher?".2 Meanwhile, Yugoslav President Voijislav Kostunica
accused the American and European mediators of "having been
duped by the Albanian rebels."3
Pentagon and US State department planners (from the most
powerful nation on earth) "duped" by "Albanian rebels"? According
to the Western media, the military alliance had no prior knowledge
of these terrorist assaults launched at the time of crucial "peace"
negotiations. The enemy is presented, as a peace "facilitor", the
identity of the NATO aggressor and its relationship to the
terrorists, are not mentioned.
WHO ORDERED THE TERRORIST ASSAULTS?
The so-called "Albanian rebels" do not make key military decisions
on their own. Amply documented, the KLA-NLA and its various
affiliated factions constitute America's proxy army integrated by
US military advisers, trained by British Special Forces, financed
and equipped by Washington. War is always waged in terms of
carefully designed political objectives; military operations
--including covert activities in support of "freedom fighters"-- are
never haphazard. The terrorist assaults are part of Washington's
military-intelligence agenda in Macedonia.
Senior US military advisers detached from private mercenary
companies are working with KLA-NLA commanders. NLA
Commander Gezim Ostremi, was trained by British Special Forces
to head the UN sponsored Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC).4
Confirmed by British military sources, the task of arming and
training of the KLA had been entrusted in 1998 to the US Defence
Intelligence Agency (DIA) and Britain's Secret Intelligence
Services MI6, together with "former and serving members of 22
SAS [Britain's 22nd Special Air Services Regiment], as well as
three British and American private security companies".5:
"'The US DIA approached MI6 to arrange a training
programme for the KLA,' said a senior British military
source. `MI6 then sub-contracted the operation to two
British security companies, who in turn approached a
number of former members of the (22 SAS) regiment. Lists
were then drawn up of weapons and equipment needed by
the KLA.' While these covert operations were continuing,
serving members of 22 SAS Regiment, mostly from the
unit's D Squadron, were first deployed in Kosovo before the
beginning of the bombing campaign in March. 6
OPERATION "ESSENTIAL HARVEST": REPLICATING
KOSOVO
The First and Third Parachute battalions ("1 PARA" and "3
PARA") detached to Macedonia under Operation "Essential
Harvest" have a history of active collaboration with the KLA. The
British Paras led the invasion into Kosovo in June 1999 in liaison
with KLA forces.7 The evidence amply confirms that the US and
British military-intelligence establishment has continued to support
the KLA in its terrorist operations in Macedonia:
"two of the Kosovo-based commanders leading the
Albanian push [into the Tetovo region] were trained by
former British SAS and Parachute Regiment officers? [A]
commander with the nom de guerre of Bilal was organising
the flow of arms and men into Macedonia, and ? veteran
KLA commander Adem Bajrami was helping to co-ordinate
the assault on Tetovo. Both were taught by British soldiers
in the secretive training camps that operated above Bajram
Curri in northern Albania during 1998 and 1999. "8
In a bitter irony, the officers of the British parachute regiment
dispatched under Operation "Essential Harvest" had previously
collaborated and forged personal ties with KLA-NLA commanders
now in charge of military operations in Macedonia. The evidence
would suggest that the British Para battalions were sent in "to
assist" rather than "'disarm" the KLA-NLA. 9
Moreover, US military advisers --on assignment to the KLA-NLA
(through private mercenary companies)-- remain in contact with
NATO and US military and intelligence planners, who are in turn in
liaison with the US State Department. Ultimately, Washington and
London decide on the broad direction of KLA-NLA military
operations in Macedonia. What this means is that while the
Washington call for a cease-fire a diplomatic level, it also decides
when "to breach" the cease-fire, and when to actually implement
the cease-fire.
In other words, the so-called "breaches of the cease-fire"
--marked by a renewed wave of terrorist attacks-- during the final
stages of the US-EU sponsored "peace negotiations"-- were not
decided by the "Albanian rebel" commanders without consulting
Washington.
What this means is that by allowing the "National Liberation
Army", America's proxy military force in Macedonia, to launch a
new wave of terrorist assaults at the time of crucial negotiations,
Washington had consciously and deliberately stalled its own bogus
"peace" initiative, while precipitating the country to the brink of
civil war.
NATO controls the cease-fire because NATO controls the
terrorists!
NATO has stated that they will only intervene and "disarm the
rebels" if there is a cease-fire. But what NATO really wants is that
the Macedonian ARM remain in the barracks under a unilateral
cease-fire, while their proxy forces continue to make further
territorial gains.
Already, the unilateral cease-fire ordered by President Trajkovski
in the wake of the Ohrid peace agreement has enabled the
KLA-NLA terrorists to take up strategic positions in the Crna
Gora mountain range near Skopje while also reinforcing their control
in the Tetovo region.10 These NLA territorial advances at the time
of crucial negotiations are part and parcel of NATO planning.
Following the visit to Skopje of General Joseph Ralston, NATO's
supreme allied commander in Europe (20 August) the President
ordered (under a new unilateral cease-fire) the Macedonian
Security Forces to remain in the barracks. The ARM has been
instructed:
"?to carry out a withdrawal of troops as a contribution
towards de-escalation in advance of a planned NATO
mission to the country? the [defence] ministry in Skopje
said warplanes and helicopters would accordingly not be
used in crisis areas and the army was to withdraw heavy
weapons from combat positions".11
In other words, the invading army imposes a unilateral cease-fire to
facilitate the process of territorial conquest.
INVADING A MEMBER COUNTRY OF THE UNITED
NATIONS
The command structures of the KLA, the NLA and the United
Nations sponsored Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) overlap and
coincide. The so-called Albanian National Army (AKSh) (a
paramilitary group linked to the KLA-NLA) which claimed
responsibility for the Prelic killings was formed by members of the
United Nations KPC. These killings coincided (almost like
clockwork) with the final stages of the "peace" negotiations at
Ohrid. Everything suggests that this action had been carefully
planned in advance and was known to Western intelligence
agencies.12
Moreover, the decision to dispatch several hundred KPC troops
across the border from Kosovo in the days following the conclusion
of the Ohrid negotations, could not have been taken without the
acquiescence of NATO and UN military personnel stationed in
Kosovo.
What this means is that a UN sponsored military force (using UN
equipment and resources) has invaded a member country of the
United Nations, with the knowledge and approval of NATO forces
in Kosovo.
To say that this constitutes "a violation of the UN charter" would
be a gross understatement. In the words of Macedonia's Prime
Minister Ljubo Georgevski in a letter to addressed to the Secretary
General of the United Nations Kofi Annan:
"I, personally, consider this an official declaration of war by
the international protectorate of Kosovo and by the Kosovo
Protection Corps (KPC), which is unfortunately part of the
UN civil administration in Kosovo."13
While representing a dissenting political voice, Prime Minister
Georgevski, nonetheless signed the "framework document" opening
the door to the invasion of his country by NATO troops.
"DISARMING THE REBELS"
The disarmament process is totally fictitious. Why would NATO
disarm its own proxy force, which has been re-equipped in the last
few months with brand new weapons "Made in America".
Following the signing of the framework document, NATO
announced it had agreed "with the NLA on terms and procedures
for an eventual arms turnover". In this regard, NATO plans to
replicate the token "disarmament" of the KLA implemented in the
wake of the 1999 bombing campaign in Kosovo, where small arms
and AK-47s were handed in on a "voluntary" basis. This process
was then followed by the arming and equipping of the KLA with
advanced weaponry leading into the terrorist attacks in Southern
Serbia and Macedonia.
The whole disarmament process is an obvious hoax. In fact, the
terms of the "disarmament" are being negotiated with the terrorists
rather than with the Macedonian authorities:
"the rebels will collect their own weapons and deposit
them at pre-arranged collection sites. NATO troops will
then move in, seal the area, pick up the guns for destruction
in a third country and leave."14
While NATO "weapons collection teams" have been deployed,
NATO has clarified that the handing in of weapons will be entirely
"voluntary": "what we prefer from a NATO force point of view is
that the insurgents collect the weapons on our behalf?"15
But if the handing in of the weapons is "voluntary", then why does
NATO need to bring in large amounts of heavy military equipment in
British military transport planes? There is reason to believe that one
of the objectives of Operation "Essential Harvest" is to channel
arms and supplies to the terrorists inside their territorial enclaves,
while at the same time disarming all forms of armed resistance,
including the civilian defense groups which have developed in
opposition to the terrorists and the NATO led invasion.
While the Western media is spreading rumours that the rebels are
"armed with assault rifles and knives" 16 (Associated Press, 20
August 2001), the evidence confirms that the US is continuing to
equip the terrorists with advanced weaponry:
"In the well-built guerrilla bunkers overlooking the besieged
city of Tetovo, there is ample evidence of U.S. military
hardware ? An abundant stock of sophisticated night-vision
goggles provide the guerrillas with a tremendous tactical
advantage over the Macedonian security forces? Snake
Arifaj, a 22-year-old guerrilla platoon commander, proudly
displayed his unit's impressive arsenal and said, 'Thanks to
Uncle Sam, the Macedonians are no match for us.'?
Commander "Mouse," a 47-year-old UCK officer in the
Tetovo sector? confirmed that two US Chinook Heavy
Transport Helicopters had in fact delivered "heavy mortars
and ammunition" [in early August] to the guerrillas?
[A]mmunition supply is not a problem for the guerrillas. 'We
have all the equipment and men we need to capture Skopje
in 24 hours,' said Commander "Jimmy", a 22-year-old
Albanian guerrilla who is already a veteran of Chechnya,
Kosovo, and south Serbia. "Militarily, the Macedonians are
no match for our soldiers."17
HIDDEN AGENDA
While paying lip service to the social rights of ethnic Albanians,
Washington has no interest in the process of constitutional reform
as contained in the "framework document". Washington's objective
is not to "disarm the rebels" but to disable the Macedonian Security
Forces (ARM) and dismantle State institutions. In this regard,
NATO forces are working hand in glove with the KLA-NLA.
Moreover, once the so-called "disarmament" process has been
completed, "unarmed observers" from the Organisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the EU Monitoring Mission
(EUMM) are slated to enter "NLA enclaves to begin
confidence-building measures before the return of Macedonian
police."18
MEDIA FALSEHOODS
All the appearances of an "internal conflict" are retained. The links
of NATO to the terrorists are never mentioned by the Western
media. The confrontation between Macedonians and ethnic
Albanians is the cornerstone of most news stories, logically
providing a justification for a "peacekeeping" intervention.
With a shaky framework agreement on constitutional reform and
the country on the brink of civil war, the main players retain their
full legitimacy. In the eyes of public opinion, they are not
"aggressors", they are peace-keepers intervening on
"humanitarian ground".
While the media upholds the NLA as a liberation army fighting for
the social rights of an oppressed minority, the process of
"demonisation" of the Macedonians has commenced with
one-sided news stories relating to presumed war crimes and
alleged atrocities committed by the Macedonian police and security
forces.
Meanwhile, everything indicates that ethnic tensions have been
further heightened with the entry of NATO troops. Terrorist gangs
linked to the KLA-NLA are assaulting Macedonian civilians as
occurred in Kosovo in 1999.
INSTALLING A NATO PROTECTORATE
Washington has pushed Macedonia to the brink of civil war with a
view to justifying a NATO led intervention "on humanitarian
grounds".
Deliberately jeopardised as a result of the terrorist assaults and the
NATO invasion, Washington is fully aware that the "peace"
agreement (including the constitutional amendments) has little
chance of becoming operational under a "functioning democracy". In
this regard, NATO has already hinted that it "has contingency
plans" if it is unable to accomplish its mission under the framework
"peace" agreement.19
In the days following the signing of the framework agreement, the
International Crisis Group (ICG), a "Non-governmental
Organisation" (funded by George Soros') with links to US State
department pointed to the need to "changing the mandate" of the
NATO led "Operation Essential Harvest":
"NATO cannot limit its mission to 30 days. It must be
prepared to do more than collect arms that are voluntarily
given to it. It must seal the border with Kosovo and should
provide the security assurance required to see the 13
August agreement through to parliamentary ratification and
implementation. And it must be prepared to use all
necessary force to make that assurance real?
Unfortunately, despite the agreement, there is little trust or
even expectation of peace among either ethnic Albanians or
Macedonians. That puts a heavy burden on the international
community, which will need to decide? whether the mission
should have a more open-ended time frame and a more
vigorous, traditional peacekeeping role?"20
In turn, the US media has already started to build a "justification"
for a more permanent NATO presence as a means to guaranteeing
the social rights of ethnic Albanians. An Associate Press report,
for instance, quotes:
"Mustafa Arifi, 26, sitting with his uncle in the cool shadow
of the local mosque? Not only does he want NATO troops
to come, he wants them to stay far longer than the 30 days
envisioned by the alliance. 'I know the big powers are on
our side,'' he said with certainty. 'I would love for them to
be here for 20 years.''' 21
And no doubt once the NATO mandate has been redefined --using
a "humanitarian" or "peacekeeping" pretext-- the next stage will
be to extend NATO's "mission" beyond the agreed 30 days, leading
to a more permanent military presence of NATO troops, as a
stepping stone towards the installation of a full-fledged NATO
protectorate on the Kosovo-Bosnia model.
In this regard, it is worth recalling that Bosnia-Herzegovina was
carved up "along ethnic lines" under the 1995 Dayton Agreement.
Similarly, Under Operation "Essential Harvest", the arrangement
imposed by NATO on the Macedonian government, is that the
terrorists will remain in the territories they occupy and NATO will
ensure that Macedonian troops will not enter rebel controlled
territory. This also means that Macedonians who were expulsed by
the terrorists will not be able to return to their homes. And NATO
has confirmed, in this regard, that it will not assist in the return of
"internally displaced persons".22
In other words, by firmly protecting the KLA-NLA in their
territorial enclaves and allowing the process of ethnic cleansing to
proceed, NATO has deliberately created conditions which favour
the partition of Macedonia, opening the door to "the detachment" of
the so-called "Albanian regions" occupied by KLA-NLA forces
and their (possible) annexation to a so-called "free Kosovo".
Meanwhile, the Atlantic Military Alliance --while paying lip
service to the territorial integrity of the Yugoslav federation-- is
also promoting the secession of a "free Kosovo" from Yugoslavia,
which would lead to a fracture of Yugoslavia as well as much
broader conflagration in the Balkans.
ENDNOTES
1, Macedonia Information Agency (MIA), Skopje, 11 August 2001.
2. US State Department Briefing, Washington, 9 August 2001.
3. Interview with Belgrade's Politika, quoted in the Nouvel
Observateur, Paris, 11 August 2001 at
http://quotidien.nouvelobs.com/etranger/20010810.OBS7336.html.
4. UPI, 1 July 2001.
5. The Scotesman, Glasgow, 29 August 1999.
6. Ibid.
7. See the webpage of the Parachute Regiment at
http://www.army.mod.uk/infantry/para/make_up.htm).
8. Sunday Times, London, 18 March 2001. See also The Observer,
London, 11 March 2001.
9. From their experience in Northern Ireland, the British Paras have
also developed techniques of dealing with civilians going back to
the 1971 "Bloody Sunday Massacre" in Derry, Northern Ireland. In
a bitter irony, General Michael Jackson who led the Allied Forces
invasion into Kosovo in 1999, was Second in Command in the
"Bloody Sunday Massacre".
10. Krasnaya Zvezda, Moscow, 16 August 2001, BBC Monitoring
Service, London, 18 August 2001.
11. Deutsche Press Agentur, 20 August 2001.
12. On the origins of the AKSh, see Nedelnik Start's report on an
intelligence document submitted to the Prime Minister in 2000
which confirms AKSh links to the KPC, Skopje, 2 June 2000.
13. MIA, Skopje, 13 August 2001.
14. BBC, 18 August 2001.
15. See Transcript of NATO Press Conference, Skopje 15 and 17
August, at
http://www.afsouth.nato.int/operations/skopje/APICSKOPJE.htm#STARTNATO)
16. Associated Press, 20 August 2001,
17. Scott Taylor, "Thanks to Uncle Sam, Macedonians are no match
for us!", 20 August 2001, at
http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/taylor.htm).
18. Jane Defence Weekly, 15 August 2001.
19. Washington Post, 18 August.
20. See International Crisis Center (ICG) web page at
http://www.crisisweb.org/.
21. Associated Press, 18 August 2001.
22. See NATO Press Conference, Skopje, 20 August 2001, at
http://www.afsouth.nato.int/operations/skopje/TRANSCRIPT-20AUG.htm)
ARTICLES BY THE AUTHOR ON MACEDONIA:
"The Military Occupation of Macedonia", August 2001, at
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/chossudovsky/macedonia-occupation.html
"Washington Behind Terrorist Assaults in Macedonia", Ottawa,
July 2001, at
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/choss/washbe.htm also at
"America at War in Macedonia", June 2001,
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/choss/pipe.htm
"Macedonia: Washington's Military Intelligence Ploy", June 2001,
http://www.transnational.org/forum/meet/2001/Chossudov_WashingtPloy.html
"Washington Finances Ethnic Warfare in the Balkans", Ottawa,
April 2001, http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/choss/fin.htm
C Copyright by Michel Chossudovsky, August, 2001. All rights
reserved.
Permission is granted to post this text on non-commercial
community internet sites, provided the essay remains intact and the
copyright note is displayed. To publish this text in printed and/or
other forms, including commercial internet sites and excerpts,
contact the author at chossudovsky@..., fax:
1-514-4256224.
The URL for this article is:
http://globalresearch.ca/cho/natoinvades.htm.
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LA NATO INVADE LA MACEDONIA - di M. Chossudovsky
(22 agosto 2001)
> http://globalresearch.ca/cho/natoinvades.htm
---
Altri dispacci in inglese / more agencies on the issue:
> http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1251
ULTERIORI PROVE DEL FATTO CHE DIETRO GLI
ATTACCHI TERRORISTICI IN MACEDONIA SI NASCONDE LA NATO
> http://www.mediamonitors.net/gowans23.html
Media Monitors, August 23, 2001
More signs NATO is behind ethnic Albanian attacks on
Macedonia - by Stephen Gowans
NUOVI LEADER ATLANTICI:
RITRATTO DEL TERRORISTA PAN-ALBANESE ALI AHMETI
> http://www.ekathimerini.com/news/content.asp?aid%ef%bf%bd757
On the road to power
Ali Ahmeti, Albanian rebel leader in FYROM, cannot be ignored
By Stavros Tzimas - Kathimerini, August 23, 2001
LA RUSSIA CONTRARIA ALLE OPERAZIONI DELLA NATO IN MACEDONIA
> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id%ef%bf%bd0265427
THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2001 - THE TIMES OF INDIA
Russia warns against NATO operation in Macedonia
LA DESTABILIZZAZIONE DELLA FYROM E' PREPARATA IN KOSOVO
Macedonian Sources Say Albanian Rebels Regroup in Kosovo
SKOPJE, Aug 20, 2001 (dpa)
> http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010812/1/1bej4.html
Monday August 13, 3:46 AM
Macedonian PM accuses UN-run Kosovo of waging war
SKOPJE, Aug 12 (AFP)
"TUTTE LE TRUPPE KFOR DI RAZZA SLAVA FUORI DALLA KOSSOVA!"
Albanian Group Wants Slav Troops out of Kosovo
PRISTINA, Aug 17, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse)
tutti i documenti citati si trovano alla URL:
> http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1251
Inoltre:
UN NUOVO NOME PER LO STESSO PROGETTO DELLA GRANDE ALBANIA
> http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/1252
NEW ALBANIAN REBEL GROUP SURFACES IN SOUTHERN SERBIA
PRISTINA, Aug 7 ( AFP)
--
NATO INVADES MACEDONIA
by
Michel Chossudovsky
Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa
22 August 2001
The URL for this article is:
http://globalresearch.ca/cho/natoinvades.html
Some 3500 heavily armed NATO troops have entered Macedonia
with a mandate to "disarm the Albanian rebels". Whereas a token
collection and destruction of obsolete weapons is envisaged, the
evidence amply confirms that the "National Liberation Army" has
been armed, equipped and financed by Washington. NATO's
ultimate goal is to protect rather than disarm the terrorists, weaken
and disable the Macedonian Security Forces and install a
protectorate under direct military rule. The US-EU brokered
"peace" agreement constitutes an act of surrender and submission
to the NATO aggressor.
________________________________________________________________
In the hours preceding the "initialing" of the Ohrid "peace"
agreement on August 8th, the terrorists renewed their assaults
leading to the death of ten Macedonian soldiers in an ambush in
Prilep. On the next day, a major KLA-NLA military offensive
directed against the Macedonian Security forces was launched.
And two days later, several hundred troops belonging to the United
Nations Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) stationed in Kosovo
crossed the border and attacked the Macedonian Security Forces
(ARM) in the Radusha area.1 These carefully planned military
actions were also accompanied by violent assaults directed against
civilians.
In an atmosphere of public protests and renewed terrorist assaults,
the "framework peace agreement" was signed on the 13th of
August, allowing NATO to deploy troops throughout Macedonia
with a mandate to "disarm the Albanian rebels".
The Western media mantra --parroting NATO's official
statements-- concluded without further examination that the
"Albanian rebels" were attempting to stall the ratification and
implementation of the "framework document" (yet to be approved
by the Macedonian parliament), undermining "the painstaking
efforts of the international community": "We have unequivocally
stood against all acts of violence in Macedonia and all breaches of
the cease-fire?" said US State Department spokesperson Richard
Boucher?".2 Meanwhile, Yugoslav President Voijislav Kostunica
accused the American and European mediators of "having been
duped by the Albanian rebels."3
Pentagon and US State department planners (from the most
powerful nation on earth) "duped" by "Albanian rebels"? According
to the Western media, the military alliance had no prior knowledge
of these terrorist assaults launched at the time of crucial "peace"
negotiations. The enemy is presented, as a peace "facilitor", the
identity of the NATO aggressor and its relationship to the
terrorists, are not mentioned.
WHO ORDERED THE TERRORIST ASSAULTS?
The so-called "Albanian rebels" do not make key military decisions
on their own. Amply documented, the KLA-NLA and its various
affiliated factions constitute America's proxy army integrated by
US military advisers, trained by British Special Forces, financed
and equipped by Washington. War is always waged in terms of
carefully designed political objectives; military operations
--including covert activities in support of "freedom fighters"-- are
never haphazard. The terrorist assaults are part of Washington's
military-intelligence agenda in Macedonia.
Senior US military advisers detached from private mercenary
companies are working with KLA-NLA commanders. NLA
Commander Gezim Ostremi, was trained by British Special Forces
to head the UN sponsored Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC).4
Confirmed by British military sources, the task of arming and
training of the KLA had been entrusted in 1998 to the US Defence
Intelligence Agency (DIA) and Britain's Secret Intelligence
Services MI6, together with "former and serving members of 22
SAS [Britain's 22nd Special Air Services Regiment], as well as
three British and American private security companies".5:
"'The US DIA approached MI6 to arrange a training
programme for the KLA,' said a senior British military
source. `MI6 then sub-contracted the operation to two
British security companies, who in turn approached a
number of former members of the (22 SAS) regiment. Lists
were then drawn up of weapons and equipment needed by
the KLA.' While these covert operations were continuing,
serving members of 22 SAS Regiment, mostly from the
unit's D Squadron, were first deployed in Kosovo before the
beginning of the bombing campaign in March. 6
OPERATION "ESSENTIAL HARVEST": REPLICATING
KOSOVO
The First and Third Parachute battalions ("1 PARA" and "3
PARA") detached to Macedonia under Operation "Essential
Harvest" have a history of active collaboration with the KLA. The
British Paras led the invasion into Kosovo in June 1999 in liaison
with KLA forces.7 The evidence amply confirms that the US and
British military-intelligence establishment has continued to support
the KLA in its terrorist operations in Macedonia:
"two of the Kosovo-based commanders leading the
Albanian push [into the Tetovo region] were trained by
former British SAS and Parachute Regiment officers? [A]
commander with the nom de guerre of Bilal was organising
the flow of arms and men into Macedonia, and ? veteran
KLA commander Adem Bajrami was helping to co-ordinate
the assault on Tetovo. Both were taught by British soldiers
in the secretive training camps that operated above Bajram
Curri in northern Albania during 1998 and 1999. "8
In a bitter irony, the officers of the British parachute regiment
dispatched under Operation "Essential Harvest" had previously
collaborated and forged personal ties with KLA-NLA commanders
now in charge of military operations in Macedonia. The evidence
would suggest that the British Para battalions were sent in "to
assist" rather than "'disarm" the KLA-NLA. 9
Moreover, US military advisers --on assignment to the KLA-NLA
(through private mercenary companies)-- remain in contact with
NATO and US military and intelligence planners, who are in turn in
liaison with the US State Department. Ultimately, Washington and
London decide on the broad direction of KLA-NLA military
operations in Macedonia. What this means is that while the
Washington call for a cease-fire a diplomatic level, it also decides
when "to breach" the cease-fire, and when to actually implement
the cease-fire.
In other words, the so-called "breaches of the cease-fire"
--marked by a renewed wave of terrorist attacks-- during the final
stages of the US-EU sponsored "peace negotiations"-- were not
decided by the "Albanian rebel" commanders without consulting
Washington.
What this means is that by allowing the "National Liberation
Army", America's proxy military force in Macedonia, to launch a
new wave of terrorist assaults at the time of crucial negotiations,
Washington had consciously and deliberately stalled its own bogus
"peace" initiative, while precipitating the country to the brink of
civil war.
NATO controls the cease-fire because NATO controls the
terrorists!
NATO has stated that they will only intervene and "disarm the
rebels" if there is a cease-fire. But what NATO really wants is that
the Macedonian ARM remain in the barracks under a unilateral
cease-fire, while their proxy forces continue to make further
territorial gains.
Already, the unilateral cease-fire ordered by President Trajkovski
in the wake of the Ohrid peace agreement has enabled the
KLA-NLA terrorists to take up strategic positions in the Crna
Gora mountain range near Skopje while also reinforcing their control
in the Tetovo region.10 These NLA territorial advances at the time
of crucial negotiations are part and parcel of NATO planning.
Following the visit to Skopje of General Joseph Ralston, NATO's
supreme allied commander in Europe (20 August) the President
ordered (under a new unilateral cease-fire) the Macedonian
Security Forces to remain in the barracks. The ARM has been
instructed:
"?to carry out a withdrawal of troops as a contribution
towards de-escalation in advance of a planned NATO
mission to the country? the [defence] ministry in Skopje
said warplanes and helicopters would accordingly not be
used in crisis areas and the army was to withdraw heavy
weapons from combat positions".11
In other words, the invading army imposes a unilateral cease-fire to
facilitate the process of territorial conquest.
INVADING A MEMBER COUNTRY OF THE UNITED
NATIONS
The command structures of the KLA, the NLA and the United
Nations sponsored Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) overlap and
coincide. The so-called Albanian National Army (AKSh) (a
paramilitary group linked to the KLA-NLA) which claimed
responsibility for the Prelic killings was formed by members of the
United Nations KPC. These killings coincided (almost like
clockwork) with the final stages of the "peace" negotiations at
Ohrid. Everything suggests that this action had been carefully
planned in advance and was known to Western intelligence
agencies.12
Moreover, the decision to dispatch several hundred KPC troops
across the border from Kosovo in the days following the conclusion
of the Ohrid negotations, could not have been taken without the
acquiescence of NATO and UN military personnel stationed in
Kosovo.
What this means is that a UN sponsored military force (using UN
equipment and resources) has invaded a member country of the
United Nations, with the knowledge and approval of NATO forces
in Kosovo.
To say that this constitutes "a violation of the UN charter" would
be a gross understatement. In the words of Macedonia's Prime
Minister Ljubo Georgevski in a letter to addressed to the Secretary
General of the United Nations Kofi Annan:
"I, personally, consider this an official declaration of war by
the international protectorate of Kosovo and by the Kosovo
Protection Corps (KPC), which is unfortunately part of the
UN civil administration in Kosovo."13
While representing a dissenting political voice, Prime Minister
Georgevski, nonetheless signed the "framework document" opening
the door to the invasion of his country by NATO troops.
"DISARMING THE REBELS"
The disarmament process is totally fictitious. Why would NATO
disarm its own proxy force, which has been re-equipped in the last
few months with brand new weapons "Made in America".
Following the signing of the framework document, NATO
announced it had agreed "with the NLA on terms and procedures
for an eventual arms turnover". In this regard, NATO plans to
replicate the token "disarmament" of the KLA implemented in the
wake of the 1999 bombing campaign in Kosovo, where small arms
and AK-47s were handed in on a "voluntary" basis. This process
was then followed by the arming and equipping of the KLA with
advanced weaponry leading into the terrorist attacks in Southern
Serbia and Macedonia.
The whole disarmament process is an obvious hoax. In fact, the
terms of the "disarmament" are being negotiated with the terrorists
rather than with the Macedonian authorities:
"the rebels will collect their own weapons and deposit
them at pre-arranged collection sites. NATO troops will
then move in, seal the area, pick up the guns for destruction
in a third country and leave."14
While NATO "weapons collection teams" have been deployed,
NATO has clarified that the handing in of weapons will be entirely
"voluntary": "what we prefer from a NATO force point of view is
that the insurgents collect the weapons on our behalf?"15
But if the handing in of the weapons is "voluntary", then why does
NATO need to bring in large amounts of heavy military equipment in
British military transport planes? There is reason to believe that one
of the objectives of Operation "Essential Harvest" is to channel
arms and supplies to the terrorists inside their territorial enclaves,
while at the same time disarming all forms of armed resistance,
including the civilian defense groups which have developed in
opposition to the terrorists and the NATO led invasion.
While the Western media is spreading rumours that the rebels are
"armed with assault rifles and knives" 16 (Associated Press, 20
August 2001), the evidence confirms that the US is continuing to
equip the terrorists with advanced weaponry:
"In the well-built guerrilla bunkers overlooking the besieged
city of Tetovo, there is ample evidence of U.S. military
hardware ? An abundant stock of sophisticated night-vision
goggles provide the guerrillas with a tremendous tactical
advantage over the Macedonian security forces? Snake
Arifaj, a 22-year-old guerrilla platoon commander, proudly
displayed his unit's impressive arsenal and said, 'Thanks to
Uncle Sam, the Macedonians are no match for us.'?
Commander "Mouse," a 47-year-old UCK officer in the
Tetovo sector? confirmed that two US Chinook Heavy
Transport Helicopters had in fact delivered "heavy mortars
and ammunition" [in early August] to the guerrillas?
[A]mmunition supply is not a problem for the guerrillas. 'We
have all the equipment and men we need to capture Skopje
in 24 hours,' said Commander "Jimmy", a 22-year-old
Albanian guerrilla who is already a veteran of Chechnya,
Kosovo, and south Serbia. "Militarily, the Macedonians are
no match for our soldiers."17
HIDDEN AGENDA
While paying lip service to the social rights of ethnic Albanians,
Washington has no interest in the process of constitutional reform
as contained in the "framework document". Washington's objective
is not to "disarm the rebels" but to disable the Macedonian Security
Forces (ARM) and dismantle State institutions. In this regard,
NATO forces are working hand in glove with the KLA-NLA.
Moreover, once the so-called "disarmament" process has been
completed, "unarmed observers" from the Organisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the EU Monitoring Mission
(EUMM) are slated to enter "NLA enclaves to begin
confidence-building measures before the return of Macedonian
police."18
MEDIA FALSEHOODS
All the appearances of an "internal conflict" are retained. The links
of NATO to the terrorists are never mentioned by the Western
media. The confrontation between Macedonians and ethnic
Albanians is the cornerstone of most news stories, logically
providing a justification for a "peacekeeping" intervention.
With a shaky framework agreement on constitutional reform and
the country on the brink of civil war, the main players retain their
full legitimacy. In the eyes of public opinion, they are not
"aggressors", they are peace-keepers intervening on
"humanitarian ground".
While the media upholds the NLA as a liberation army fighting for
the social rights of an oppressed minority, the process of
"demonisation" of the Macedonians has commenced with
one-sided news stories relating to presumed war crimes and
alleged atrocities committed by the Macedonian police and security
forces.
Meanwhile, everything indicates that ethnic tensions have been
further heightened with the entry of NATO troops. Terrorist gangs
linked to the KLA-NLA are assaulting Macedonian civilians as
occurred in Kosovo in 1999.
INSTALLING A NATO PROTECTORATE
Washington has pushed Macedonia to the brink of civil war with a
view to justifying a NATO led intervention "on humanitarian
grounds".
Deliberately jeopardised as a result of the terrorist assaults and the
NATO invasion, Washington is fully aware that the "peace"
agreement (including the constitutional amendments) has little
chance of becoming operational under a "functioning democracy". In
this regard, NATO has already hinted that it "has contingency
plans" if it is unable to accomplish its mission under the framework
"peace" agreement.19
In the days following the signing of the framework agreement, the
International Crisis Group (ICG), a "Non-governmental
Organisation" (funded by George Soros') with links to US State
department pointed to the need to "changing the mandate" of the
NATO led "Operation Essential Harvest":
"NATO cannot limit its mission to 30 days. It must be
prepared to do more than collect arms that are voluntarily
given to it. It must seal the border with Kosovo and should
provide the security assurance required to see the 13
August agreement through to parliamentary ratification and
implementation. And it must be prepared to use all
necessary force to make that assurance real?
Unfortunately, despite the agreement, there is little trust or
even expectation of peace among either ethnic Albanians or
Macedonians. That puts a heavy burden on the international
community, which will need to decide? whether the mission
should have a more open-ended time frame and a more
vigorous, traditional peacekeeping role?"20
In turn, the US media has already started to build a "justification"
for a more permanent NATO presence as a means to guaranteeing
the social rights of ethnic Albanians. An Associate Press report,
for instance, quotes:
"Mustafa Arifi, 26, sitting with his uncle in the cool shadow
of the local mosque? Not only does he want NATO troops
to come, he wants them to stay far longer than the 30 days
envisioned by the alliance. 'I know the big powers are on
our side,'' he said with certainty. 'I would love for them to
be here for 20 years.''' 21
And no doubt once the NATO mandate has been redefined --using
a "humanitarian" or "peacekeeping" pretext-- the next stage will
be to extend NATO's "mission" beyond the agreed 30 days, leading
to a more permanent military presence of NATO troops, as a
stepping stone towards the installation of a full-fledged NATO
protectorate on the Kosovo-Bosnia model.
In this regard, it is worth recalling that Bosnia-Herzegovina was
carved up "along ethnic lines" under the 1995 Dayton Agreement.
Similarly, Under Operation "Essential Harvest", the arrangement
imposed by NATO on the Macedonian government, is that the
terrorists will remain in the territories they occupy and NATO will
ensure that Macedonian troops will not enter rebel controlled
territory. This also means that Macedonians who were expulsed by
the terrorists will not be able to return to their homes. And NATO
has confirmed, in this regard, that it will not assist in the return of
"internally displaced persons".22
In other words, by firmly protecting the KLA-NLA in their
territorial enclaves and allowing the process of ethnic cleansing to
proceed, NATO has deliberately created conditions which favour
the partition of Macedonia, opening the door to "the detachment" of
the so-called "Albanian regions" occupied by KLA-NLA forces
and their (possible) annexation to a so-called "free Kosovo".
Meanwhile, the Atlantic Military Alliance --while paying lip
service to the territorial integrity of the Yugoslav federation-- is
also promoting the secession of a "free Kosovo" from Yugoslavia,
which would lead to a fracture of Yugoslavia as well as much
broader conflagration in the Balkans.
ENDNOTES
1, Macedonia Information Agency (MIA), Skopje, 11 August 2001.
2. US State Department Briefing, Washington, 9 August 2001.
3. Interview with Belgrade's Politika, quoted in the Nouvel
Observateur, Paris, 11 August 2001 at
http://quotidien.nouvelobs.com/etranger/20010810.OBS7336.html.
4. UPI, 1 July 2001.
5. The Scotesman, Glasgow, 29 August 1999.
6. Ibid.
7. See the webpage of the Parachute Regiment at
http://www.army.mod.uk/infantry/para/make_up.htm).
8. Sunday Times, London, 18 March 2001. See also The Observer,
London, 11 March 2001.
9. From their experience in Northern Ireland, the British Paras have
also developed techniques of dealing with civilians going back to
the 1971 "Bloody Sunday Massacre" in Derry, Northern Ireland. In
a bitter irony, General Michael Jackson who led the Allied Forces
invasion into Kosovo in 1999, was Second in Command in the
"Bloody Sunday Massacre".
10. Krasnaya Zvezda, Moscow, 16 August 2001, BBC Monitoring
Service, London, 18 August 2001.
11. Deutsche Press Agentur, 20 August 2001.
12. On the origins of the AKSh, see Nedelnik Start's report on an
intelligence document submitted to the Prime Minister in 2000
which confirms AKSh links to the KPC, Skopje, 2 June 2000.
13. MIA, Skopje, 13 August 2001.
14. BBC, 18 August 2001.
15. See Transcript of NATO Press Conference, Skopje 15 and 17
August, at
http://www.afsouth.nato.int/operations/skopje/APICSKOPJE.htm#STARTNATO)
16. Associated Press, 20 August 2001,
17. Scott Taylor, "Thanks to Uncle Sam, Macedonians are no match
for us!", 20 August 2001, at
http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/taylor.htm).
18. Jane Defence Weekly, 15 August 2001.
19. Washington Post, 18 August.
20. See International Crisis Center (ICG) web page at
http://www.crisisweb.org/.
21. Associated Press, 18 August 2001.
22. See NATO Press Conference, Skopje, 20 August 2001, at
http://www.afsouth.nato.int/operations/skopje/TRANSCRIPT-20AUG.htm)
ARTICLES BY THE AUTHOR ON MACEDONIA:
"The Military Occupation of Macedonia", August 2001, at
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/chossudovsky/macedonia-occupation.html
"Washington Behind Terrorist Assaults in Macedonia", Ottawa,
July 2001, at
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/choss/washbe.htm also at
"America at War in Macedonia", June 2001,
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/choss/pipe.htm
"Macedonia: Washington's Military Intelligence Ploy", June 2001,
http://www.transnational.org/forum/meet/2001/Chossudov_WashingtPloy.html
"Washington Finances Ethnic Warfare in the Balkans", Ottawa,
April 2001, http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/choss/fin.htm
C Copyright by Michel Chossudovsky, August, 2001. All rights
reserved.
Permission is granted to post this text on non-commercial
community internet sites, provided the essay remains intact and the
copyright note is displayed. To publish this text in printed and/or
other forms, including commercial internet sites and excerpts,
contact the author at chossudovsky@..., fax:
1-514-4256224.
The URL for this article is:
http://globalresearch.ca/cho/natoinvades.htm.
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