J. Bissett -Letters to the editor..BALAKAN REALITIES

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Letters to the editor

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
July 20, 2006


   New York


   Balkan realities
   Tod Lindberg is right that the EU and NATO countries should not turn
their backs on Balkan countries wishing to share in the peace and prosperity
of the new Europe. However, he is wrong to suggest that it was only Slobodan
Milosevic's "genocidal policies" that set the Balkans in flames in the early
1990s and wrong to condemn Serbian determination to maintain Kosovo as an
integral part of its territory ("Where Milosevic's butchery held sway,"
Op-Ed, July 11).
   It has become fashionable to blame Milosevic and Serbia for everything
that went wrong in the former Yugoslavia while overlooking the concerns of
the Christian Serbian population in Bosnia and in Kosovo at the grim
prospects of having to live in Muslim-dominated states.
   Alia Izetbegovic, the Muslim Bosnian leader, was an Islamist extremist
who made no attempt to hide his plans for destroying the Christian entity in
Bosnia, writing, "There can be no peace or co-existence between the Islamist
faith and non-Islamist institutions." As for Agim Ceku, the so-called prime
minister of Kosovo, the Canadian military knows what crimes he is guilty of
even if the Hague Tribunal refused to indict him.
   In 1993, Mr. Ceku commanded Croatian forces that violated a
U.N.-brokered cease-fire and overran three Serbian villages in the Medac
pocket. When the Canadians counterattacked and re-entered the burned
villages, they discovered all of the inhabitants and domestic animals had
been slaughtered. Mr. Ceku later also ordered undefended Serbian villages
shelled in violation of the rules of war, causing heavy casualties among the
civilian population.
   In 2002, Mr. Ceku was indicted by Serbia for responsibility as a Kosovo
Liberation Army commander for the murders of 669 Serbians and other
non-Albanians during the fighting that broke out in Kosovo in 1998. The
indictment includes murder, abduction, torture and ethnic cleansing of the
non-Albanian population from Kosovo. This is the man recently invited to
Washington to meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a meeting
obviously planned to show U.S. support for Kosovo independence.
   For many outside observers, including this writer, the continued support
by the United States for an independent Kosovo is incomprehensible. Granting
independence to Kosovo would be a serious violation of Serbia's territorial
integrity, which is one of the most cherished principles of international
law and is enshrined in the United Nations Charter. U.S. violation of this
principle would have far-reaching implications for the very framework of
international peace and security.
   Independence for Kosovo also would create a criminal and terrorist state
in the heart of the Balkans. This is not a happy prospect in today's world.
   Kosovo independence would set a precedent for other aspiring ethnic
groups for independent status and would destabilize not only the Balkans,
but many other parts of the world. It also would mark a low point in U.S.
foreign policy. It is difficult to be held up as the champion of the rule of
law, of democracy and the global war on terror, while at the same time
giving support to war criminals and terrorists.

   JAMES BISSETT
   Former Canadian ambassador
   to the former Yugoslavia
   Ottawa
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