Da: Boba <petar@...>
Data: Mar 17 Giu 2003 15:36:16 Europe/Rome
Oggetto: MacLeans// THE BLOODSHED CONTINUES, by Scott Taylor
Dear All:
Enclosed is an article by Scott Taylor. Mr. Taylor knows the situation
in
Kosovo and Metohija very well. He is one of few journalists who tries
to be
as objective as possible. Although there are some objections to the
facts
stated in the article, such as "....one million ethnic Albanians fled
Kosovo
for refugee... [in 1999 ? maybe. but due to NATO bombing and not
Serbian
"oppression"] etc., please write to Maclean's in support of Mr. Taylor
and
his attempt to set the record straight. Boba
Write to Maclean's: letters@...
xxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.macleans.ca/xta-asp/
storyview.asp?viewtype=search&tpl=search_fram
e&edate=2003/06/23&vpath=/xta-doc1/2003/06/23/world/
61202.shtml&maxrec=11&re
cnum=1&searchtype=BASIC&pg=1&rankbase=176&searchstring=scott+taylor"
World
June 23, 2003
THE BLOODSHED CONTINUES
Four years after NATO's arrival, Serbs and Albanians are still deeply
divided
SCOTT TAYLOR
During the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, Ottawa
journalist Scott Taylor travelled repeatedly to the region. Later,
during
the 1999 conflict in the Serbian province of Kosovo, he spent 26 days in
Belgrade and Pristina, Kosovo's capital. This year, Taylor returned to
Kosovo in late May, almost four years after the fighting ended. He says
that
despite the presence of thousands of NATO troops, and millions of
dollars in
foreign aid, crime is rampant, while tensions remain between Serbs and
ethnic Albanians -- who make up the majority in Kosovo. Taylor's report:
THE CROWD of Serbs gathered outside the charred remains of a small home
on
the outskirts of Pristina was nervous. Hours earlier, at about 2 a.m. on
June 4, someone crept into the house and beat Slobodan Stolic, 80, his
wife
Radmila, 78, and their son Ljubinko, 53, to death with what police
described
as a blunt instrument, and then torched the house. The brutal message
was
not lost on neighbours, who believe the three were murdered by Albanian
extremists trying to drive the remaining Serbs out of the village. And
it
was a stark reminder that Kosovo is still a violent place, one where the
soldiers who came to protect ethnic Albanians from Serbs in 1999 now
spend
their time trying to shield Serbs from Albanians. "Kosovo," says James
Bissett, Canada's former ambassador to Yugoslavia, "continues to be one
of
the most dangerous places on earth -- with little hope for the future."
In 1999, to escape Serbian forces sent in to suppress them, nearly one
million ethnic Albanians fled Kosovo for refugee camps in neighbouring
Albania and Macedonia (Kosovo's population of 2.2 million was about 90
per
cent Albanian). Most of the refugees have since returned; now, thanks to
nearly $2.7 billion the West has spent on aid, the country seems to be
prospering. But appearances are deceiving. Nearly 18,000 NATO
peacekeepers
patrol Kosovo, and a UN police force, made up of 4,400 officers from
around
the world, tries to enforce the law. Some say they are losing the fight.
Criminal gangs, operating under the guise of Albanian nationalist
militias,
traffic in drugs, weapons, and women for the European sex trade. If it
wasn't for the millions of dollars in foreign aid washing through the
province there would be little work. All this leaves Bissett wondering
what
the West has accomplished. "The justification for NATO's intervention
was to
build a democratic multi-ethnic society," says Bissett. "But little
progress
has been made to establish law and order."
Following the war, over 200,000 Serbs fled the province. The remaining
40,000 live in isolated enclaves along the Serbian border. Nationalist
groups, like the Albanian National Army, are using terror tactics in an
attempt to drive them out. On May 17, in the village of Vrbovac,
41-year-old
Serbian professor Zoran Mirkovic was shot repeatedly in the chest and
head.
Although UN police are still investigating, the ANA, which is made up of
members of the original Kosovo Liberation Army, may have been behind the
killing.
The ANA is one of several militant groups that are determined to make
Kosovo, which is still part of Serbia, an independent state. Like other
militias, they are also involved in organized crime, but still enjoy
wide
public support for their efforts to drive out the remaining Serbs.
Although
police have arrested some key Albanian crime bosses, the problem
persists,
says Derek Chappell, 51, a former constable with the Ottawa Police
Service
who now works with the UN police as chief of public information in
Pristina.
He says because the country was oppressed for so long, the line between
freedom fighter and criminal is often blurred. And whenever the UN makes
high-profile arrests, those apprehended wrap themselves in the flag of
Albanian nationalism, and the streets are suddenly filled with
protestors.
Most Western countries had expected democracy, not the mafia, to thrive
in
Kosovo. And although under the terms of the 1999 ceasefire agreement,
Kosovo
was to remain Serbian territory -- albeit a region with its own
parliament
-- many nations quickly established some measure of diplomatic relations
with the province. Canada was one of the first, when then-foreign
affairs
minister Lloyd Axworthy cut a ceremonial ribbon to open Canada's
offices in
Pristina in November 1999. Since then, the Canadian International
Development Agency has spent more than $100 million in Kosovo on
programs
that include teacher training and helping to rebuild the country's
shattered
infrastructure.
The UN had hoped that both Serbs and ethnic Albanians would be fairly
represented in the Kosovo Assembly, which was elected under UN
supervision
in November 2001. But many of the resolutions passed by the
Albanian-dominated body have been divisive. On May 15, members approved
a
resolution to celebrate the contribution that KLA fighters made in the
struggle for Kosovo's liberation. Serbian delegates immediately stormed
out,
and within hours, Michael Steiner, the UN's special representative in
Kosovo, reminded the assembly that NATO's intervention was initiated as
a
result of "fundamental human-rights violations," not to liberate
Albanians
from Serbs.
Serbs in Kosovo cannot hope for much help from the Serbian government in
Belgrade. There, criminal gangs also run rampant, and are believed
responsible for the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic on
March
12. Beset by its own problems, Belgrade may be ready to back down on its
claim to Kosovo, which was part of medieval Serbia and contains many
important Orthodox shrines. According to Slobodan Tejic, a member of the
Serbian delegation involved in negotiations with NATO, that may mean
abandoning most of the province and absorbing a number of small Serb
enclaves located along the Serbian border. "These people," said Tejic,
"cannot continue to live in limbo forever."
Kosovo Serbs might be willing to go along, but only if it means they do
not
have to give up even a sliver of their remaining enclaves. That is
certainly
the view in the northern city of Mitrovica, where Serbs have resisted
the
movement of Albanians into their region, which stretches 60 km from the
Serbian border into Kosovo. Mitrovica is divided by the Ibar River;
there, a
group known as the Bridgewatchers, who were backed by Belgrade, often
blocked the passage of Albanians. Under the terms of a recent deal with
Serbia, the UN has now opened the bridge -- and that has raised doubts
among
local Serbs about their future. But most are determined to stay. "Even
if
Belgrade chooses to betray us, we will continue to resist," said Bozovic
Miroljub, a 47-year-old shopkeeper. "We are not prepared to give up our
claim to any of the Serbian enclaves."
Until the issue surrounding the Serb enclaves is settled, ethnic
tensions
will remain. That could mean that NATO and the UN will be bogged down
in the
province for years. A harsh reality -- considering that the West is
currently facing a similar problem in Iraq. Problems could be avoided
there,
says Chappell, if a strong police force were to be created immediately
to
contain crime and ethnic divisions. It is a lesson the West was slow to
learn in Kosovo -- and a mistake that may be in the process of being
repeated in Iraq.
Scott Taylor is publisher of Ottawa-based Esprit de Corps magazine.
Da: Boba <petar@...>
Data: Mer 18 Giu 2003 03:57:26 Europe/Rome
A: letters@...
Oggetto: Letter to Maclean's Magazine
Re: THE BLOODSHED CONTINUES , by Scott Taylor**
MacLean's Magazine, June 23, 2003
I was pleasantly surprised to see Mr. Taylor's article "THE BLOODSHED
CONTINUES" printed in "MacLean's". You should have Scott Taylor write
more
often about Kosovo. This would be the only way for Canadian readers to
get a
real picture of what is going on in this Serbian province.
There are few points, however, that I would like to add.
In the specific case of Kosovo, the train of lies and abuses by the
media
and by some government officials " is so long a thick book would hardly
do
it justice.
After NATO's 78-day air assault in 1999, NATO troops occupied the
Serbian
province of Kosovo, and their KLA [ Kosovo Liberation Army now renamed
to
"Kosovo Protection Force"] allies began a reign of terror that has
continued ever since.
In June 1999 alone, over 250,000 Serbs, Roma, Turks, Muslims, and Jews
were
forced to leave Kosovo, often with little or no property.
Throughout Kosovo, Serbs have retreated into towns and villages that
have
become virtual concentration camps. If they venture outside those areas,
which are guarded by NATO troops and not infrequently cordoned off with
barbed wire, they risk death.
Albanian militants have demolished or desecrated over 110 Serbian
Christian
Orthodox churches, chapels and monasteries. They have destroyed
hundreds of
monuments and even libraries, renamed towns, streets, and the entire
province ("Kosova") in an effort to completely eradicate any
non-Albanian
presence in Kosovo.
Murders of Serbs by Albanians were initially excused as "revenge
attacks,"
implying some sort of "payback" for Serb atrocities. But as the attacks
continued and atrocities accusations became increasingly impossible to
substantiate, a new euphemism was created: "ethnic violence." This
implies
that Serbs and Albanians are attacking each other. Yet no one can cite a
single case of Serbs wantonly attacking and murdering Albanians in these
past four years. Not one! When Albanians suffer violent deaths in Kosovo
these days, it is at the hands of other Albanians - members of crime
syndicates or "former" KLA (often one and the same)." *
Canadian officials have justified allocation of 100 million of dollars
for
Kosovo in order to "bring democracy" and achieve reconciliation and
multi-ethnicity in Kosovo.
What reconciliation? What multi-ethnicity? What democracy and
"resolution of
human rights violation"? What planet do the policy makers for Kosovo
live on?
Boba Borojevic
Data: Mar 17 Giu 2003 15:36:16 Europe/Rome
Oggetto: MacLeans// THE BLOODSHED CONTINUES, by Scott Taylor
Dear All:
Enclosed is an article by Scott Taylor. Mr. Taylor knows the situation
in
Kosovo and Metohija very well. He is one of few journalists who tries
to be
as objective as possible. Although there are some objections to the
facts
stated in the article, such as "....one million ethnic Albanians fled
Kosovo
for refugee... [in 1999 ? maybe. but due to NATO bombing and not
Serbian
"oppression"] etc., please write to Maclean's in support of Mr. Taylor
and
his attempt to set the record straight. Boba
Write to Maclean's: letters@...
xxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.macleans.ca/xta-asp/
storyview.asp?viewtype=search&tpl=search_fram
e&edate=2003/06/23&vpath=/xta-doc1/2003/06/23/world/
61202.shtml&maxrec=11&re
cnum=1&searchtype=BASIC&pg=1&rankbase=176&searchstring=scott+taylor"
World
June 23, 2003
THE BLOODSHED CONTINUES
Four years after NATO's arrival, Serbs and Albanians are still deeply
divided
SCOTT TAYLOR
During the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, Ottawa
journalist Scott Taylor travelled repeatedly to the region. Later,
during
the 1999 conflict in the Serbian province of Kosovo, he spent 26 days in
Belgrade and Pristina, Kosovo's capital. This year, Taylor returned to
Kosovo in late May, almost four years after the fighting ended. He says
that
despite the presence of thousands of NATO troops, and millions of
dollars in
foreign aid, crime is rampant, while tensions remain between Serbs and
ethnic Albanians -- who make up the majority in Kosovo. Taylor's report:
THE CROWD of Serbs gathered outside the charred remains of a small home
on
the outskirts of Pristina was nervous. Hours earlier, at about 2 a.m. on
June 4, someone crept into the house and beat Slobodan Stolic, 80, his
wife
Radmila, 78, and their son Ljubinko, 53, to death with what police
described
as a blunt instrument, and then torched the house. The brutal message
was
not lost on neighbours, who believe the three were murdered by Albanian
extremists trying to drive the remaining Serbs out of the village. And
it
was a stark reminder that Kosovo is still a violent place, one where the
soldiers who came to protect ethnic Albanians from Serbs in 1999 now
spend
their time trying to shield Serbs from Albanians. "Kosovo," says James
Bissett, Canada's former ambassador to Yugoslavia, "continues to be one
of
the most dangerous places on earth -- with little hope for the future."
In 1999, to escape Serbian forces sent in to suppress them, nearly one
million ethnic Albanians fled Kosovo for refugee camps in neighbouring
Albania and Macedonia (Kosovo's population of 2.2 million was about 90
per
cent Albanian). Most of the refugees have since returned; now, thanks to
nearly $2.7 billion the West has spent on aid, the country seems to be
prospering. But appearances are deceiving. Nearly 18,000 NATO
peacekeepers
patrol Kosovo, and a UN police force, made up of 4,400 officers from
around
the world, tries to enforce the law. Some say they are losing the fight.
Criminal gangs, operating under the guise of Albanian nationalist
militias,
traffic in drugs, weapons, and women for the European sex trade. If it
wasn't for the millions of dollars in foreign aid washing through the
province there would be little work. All this leaves Bissett wondering
what
the West has accomplished. "The justification for NATO's intervention
was to
build a democratic multi-ethnic society," says Bissett. "But little
progress
has been made to establish law and order."
Following the war, over 200,000 Serbs fled the province. The remaining
40,000 live in isolated enclaves along the Serbian border. Nationalist
groups, like the Albanian National Army, are using terror tactics in an
attempt to drive them out. On May 17, in the village of Vrbovac,
41-year-old
Serbian professor Zoran Mirkovic was shot repeatedly in the chest and
head.
Although UN police are still investigating, the ANA, which is made up of
members of the original Kosovo Liberation Army, may have been behind the
killing.
The ANA is one of several militant groups that are determined to make
Kosovo, which is still part of Serbia, an independent state. Like other
militias, they are also involved in organized crime, but still enjoy
wide
public support for their efforts to drive out the remaining Serbs.
Although
police have arrested some key Albanian crime bosses, the problem
persists,
says Derek Chappell, 51, a former constable with the Ottawa Police
Service
who now works with the UN police as chief of public information in
Pristina.
He says because the country was oppressed for so long, the line between
freedom fighter and criminal is often blurred. And whenever the UN makes
high-profile arrests, those apprehended wrap themselves in the flag of
Albanian nationalism, and the streets are suddenly filled with
protestors.
Most Western countries had expected democracy, not the mafia, to thrive
in
Kosovo. And although under the terms of the 1999 ceasefire agreement,
Kosovo
was to remain Serbian territory -- albeit a region with its own
parliament
-- many nations quickly established some measure of diplomatic relations
with the province. Canada was one of the first, when then-foreign
affairs
minister Lloyd Axworthy cut a ceremonial ribbon to open Canada's
offices in
Pristina in November 1999. Since then, the Canadian International
Development Agency has spent more than $100 million in Kosovo on
programs
that include teacher training and helping to rebuild the country's
shattered
infrastructure.
The UN had hoped that both Serbs and ethnic Albanians would be fairly
represented in the Kosovo Assembly, which was elected under UN
supervision
in November 2001. But many of the resolutions passed by the
Albanian-dominated body have been divisive. On May 15, members approved
a
resolution to celebrate the contribution that KLA fighters made in the
struggle for Kosovo's liberation. Serbian delegates immediately stormed
out,
and within hours, Michael Steiner, the UN's special representative in
Kosovo, reminded the assembly that NATO's intervention was initiated as
a
result of "fundamental human-rights violations," not to liberate
Albanians
from Serbs.
Serbs in Kosovo cannot hope for much help from the Serbian government in
Belgrade. There, criminal gangs also run rampant, and are believed
responsible for the assassination of Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic on
March
12. Beset by its own problems, Belgrade may be ready to back down on its
claim to Kosovo, which was part of medieval Serbia and contains many
important Orthodox shrines. According to Slobodan Tejic, a member of the
Serbian delegation involved in negotiations with NATO, that may mean
abandoning most of the province and absorbing a number of small Serb
enclaves located along the Serbian border. "These people," said Tejic,
"cannot continue to live in limbo forever."
Kosovo Serbs might be willing to go along, but only if it means they do
not
have to give up even a sliver of their remaining enclaves. That is
certainly
the view in the northern city of Mitrovica, where Serbs have resisted
the
movement of Albanians into their region, which stretches 60 km from the
Serbian border into Kosovo. Mitrovica is divided by the Ibar River;
there, a
group known as the Bridgewatchers, who were backed by Belgrade, often
blocked the passage of Albanians. Under the terms of a recent deal with
Serbia, the UN has now opened the bridge -- and that has raised doubts
among
local Serbs about their future. But most are determined to stay. "Even
if
Belgrade chooses to betray us, we will continue to resist," said Bozovic
Miroljub, a 47-year-old shopkeeper. "We are not prepared to give up our
claim to any of the Serbian enclaves."
Until the issue surrounding the Serb enclaves is settled, ethnic
tensions
will remain. That could mean that NATO and the UN will be bogged down
in the
province for years. A harsh reality -- considering that the West is
currently facing a similar problem in Iraq. Problems could be avoided
there,
says Chappell, if a strong police force were to be created immediately
to
contain crime and ethnic divisions. It is a lesson the West was slow to
learn in Kosovo -- and a mistake that may be in the process of being
repeated in Iraq.
Scott Taylor is publisher of Ottawa-based Esprit de Corps magazine.
Da: Boba <petar@...>
Data: Mer 18 Giu 2003 03:57:26 Europe/Rome
A: letters@...
Oggetto: Letter to Maclean's Magazine
Re: THE BLOODSHED CONTINUES , by Scott Taylor**
MacLean's Magazine, June 23, 2003
I was pleasantly surprised to see Mr. Taylor's article "THE BLOODSHED
CONTINUES" printed in "MacLean's". You should have Scott Taylor write
more
often about Kosovo. This would be the only way for Canadian readers to
get a
real picture of what is going on in this Serbian province.
There are few points, however, that I would like to add.
In the specific case of Kosovo, the train of lies and abuses by the
media
and by some government officials " is so long a thick book would hardly
do
it justice.
After NATO's 78-day air assault in 1999, NATO troops occupied the
Serbian
province of Kosovo, and their KLA [ Kosovo Liberation Army now renamed
to
"Kosovo Protection Force"] allies began a reign of terror that has
continued ever since.
In June 1999 alone, over 250,000 Serbs, Roma, Turks, Muslims, and Jews
were
forced to leave Kosovo, often with little or no property.
Throughout Kosovo, Serbs have retreated into towns and villages that
have
become virtual concentration camps. If they venture outside those areas,
which are guarded by NATO troops and not infrequently cordoned off with
barbed wire, they risk death.
Albanian militants have demolished or desecrated over 110 Serbian
Christian
Orthodox churches, chapels and monasteries. They have destroyed
hundreds of
monuments and even libraries, renamed towns, streets, and the entire
province ("Kosova") in an effort to completely eradicate any
non-Albanian
presence in Kosovo.
Murders of Serbs by Albanians were initially excused as "revenge
attacks,"
implying some sort of "payback" for Serb atrocities. But as the attacks
continued and atrocities accusations became increasingly impossible to
substantiate, a new euphemism was created: "ethnic violence." This
implies
that Serbs and Albanians are attacking each other. Yet no one can cite a
single case of Serbs wantonly attacking and murdering Albanians in these
past four years. Not one! When Albanians suffer violent deaths in Kosovo
these days, it is at the hands of other Albanians - members of crime
syndicates or "former" KLA (often one and the same)." *
Canadian officials have justified allocation of 100 million of dollars
for
Kosovo in order to "bring democracy" and achieve reconciliation and
multi-ethnicity in Kosovo.
What reconciliation? What multi-ethnicity? What democracy and
"resolution of
human rights violation"? What planet do the policy makers for Kosovo
live on?
Boba Borojevic