... Secretary of State James Baker said "we have no dog in this fight" -- but in the end America was the
top dog in the fight. ...
top dog in the fight. ...
http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20060814-100812-4051r.htm
WASHINGTON TIMES (USA)
OPINION
The Balkan Mirror
By Michael Djordjevich
Published August 15, 2006
Part one in a three-part series.
Together with the Middle East, the border lands of southeast Europe
known as the Balkans have been a region of the world where seminal events
and trends in human history have taken place. It has been called many names,
including "the powder keg of Europe" or "the graveyard of empires." The
conflicts in the region have also been a mirror of history.
Long before Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations," in the period
between the 14th and 19th centuries, the incessant ebb and flow in the
conflict between Islam and the West took place in the Balkans. Early in the
20th century, Serbian gun shots in Sarajevo ushered in World War I,
Communism and Nazism. At the end of the century, Bosnian Muslim
fundamentalists fired gun shots in Sarajevo, killing several Christian Serbs
at a wedding party and began a bloody war in Bosnia among Christian Serbs
and Croats and Muslims. This war may have well reflected in earnest the
renewed clash of civilizations.
The Berlin Wall fell at the end of 1989. The Soviet Union imploded and
the end of Communism as a global force followed. Balkan countries joined the
trend. However, the pivotal and largest state, Yugoslavia, rapidly descended
into a bloody civil-religious war and dissolution. This decade-long war at
the end of 20th century mirrored a number of important political, legal,
religious and geopolitical precedents for the post-Communist world. Of
particular significance are those involving America, the European Union and
the United Nations.
At first, the United States favored the preservation of Yugoslavia, or
at least its peaceful and orderly dissolution. Changing this position
abruptly, America did not oppose Germany's drive for the dismemberment of
Yugoslavia and then sided with Islamists in Bosnia. Secretary of State James
Baker said "we have no dog in this fight" -- but in the end America was the
top dog in the fight.
The international community's engagement in the Balkans have so far been
a textbook illustration of the dangers of contradictory policies, chronic
indecisions, confusion and ignorance about historical forces in play, double
standards and flawed precedents. America was not prepared for the peace and
the role of the only superpower in the world. Our leadership has failed in
this task so far.
Apparently, not much has been learned from this experience. We could
replace the location, inserting Iraq instead of the Balkans, and the
aforementioned assessment would be similar today.
The Balkan mirror also shows the impotence and irrelevance of the United
Nations. Any country and any people would be foolhardy to place their
destiny in the hands of this inept institution. With America's complicity,
the United Nations did nothing when its embargo on arms shipments was
violated by Iran sending planeloads of arms to Bosnian Muslims.
Subsequently, when veteran jihadists came to the country to fight Serbs, the
West was also supportive.
The Serbian province of Kosovo has been ethnically cleansed from Serbs,
Roma and other non-Albanians while 150 churches and many medieval
monasteries have been destroyed during 10 years of U.N. governance.
The mirror showed the duplicitous methods by which world media
influenced world opinion. With few exceptions, it has abused its power and
professional responsibility, failing to heed Ed Murrow's admonition to
examine all sides of a story and aim to elucidate, not advocate. It did the
latter and in general continues to advocate an Islamic agenda in Bosnia and
Kosovo.
The Balkan realities also show a great adaptability of Islamists to
present a worldly, democratic face. Readily accepted by the West, Bosnian
leader and fundamentalist Islamist Alija Izetbegovic was tolerated and
praised as a democrat. Nevertheless, in his book "The Islamic Declaration"
Izetbegovic asserted absolute validity of dominance of Islam: "There can be
neither peace nor coexistence between Islamic religion and non-Islamic
social and political institutions," he wrote. Later in the war, Mr.
Izetbegovic was influenced and financially and militarily supported by
fundamentalist Islamists (including Osama bin Laden). Similarly, some Kosovo
leaders, previously called terrorists and thugs by U.S. special envoy Robert
Gelbard, are now afforded respect in the United Nations and elsewhere.
The ugliest and most dangerous reflection in the mirror is that of
double-standards. As we are facing challenges and dangers of radical Islam
and terrorism worldwide, let's not dismiss the Balkan experience. Our
policies must contain moral dimensions. International agreements, legal
precedents and evenhanded treatment of warring people were not followed in
the Yugoslav tragedy. If we are to get out of the Middle East quagmire we
must change these policies. Failing to realize that by endeavoring to
resolve complex problems by double standards, we more often than not double
them in the end.
In addition, the Balkan Mirror has provided important and troubling
reflections upon Islam and the new world (dis)order.
Michael Djordjevich, an American of Serbian origin, founded and was the
first president of the Serbian Unity Congress.
letters@washingtontimes.com
WASHINGTON TIMES (USA)
OPINION
The Balkan Mirror
By Michael Djordjevich
Published August 15, 2006
Part one in a three-part series.
Together with the Middle East, the border lands of southeast Europe
known as the Balkans have been a region of the world where seminal events
and trends in human history have taken place. It has been called many names,
including "the powder keg of Europe" or "the graveyard of empires." The
conflicts in the region have also been a mirror of history.
Long before Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations," in the period
between the 14th and 19th centuries, the incessant ebb and flow in the
conflict between Islam and the West took place in the Balkans. Early in the
20th century, Serbian gun shots in Sarajevo ushered in World War I,
Communism and Nazism. At the end of the century, Bosnian Muslim
fundamentalists fired gun shots in Sarajevo, killing several Christian Serbs
at a wedding party and began a bloody war in Bosnia among Christian Serbs
and Croats and Muslims. This war may have well reflected in earnest the
renewed clash of civilizations.
The Berlin Wall fell at the end of 1989. The Soviet Union imploded and
the end of Communism as a global force followed. Balkan countries joined the
trend. However, the pivotal and largest state, Yugoslavia, rapidly descended
into a bloody civil-religious war and dissolution. This decade-long war at
the end of 20th century mirrored a number of important political, legal,
religious and geopolitical precedents for the post-Communist world. Of
particular significance are those involving America, the European Union and
the United Nations.
At first, the United States favored the preservation of Yugoslavia, or
at least its peaceful and orderly dissolution. Changing this position
abruptly, America did not oppose Germany's drive for the dismemberment of
Yugoslavia and then sided with Islamists in Bosnia. Secretary of State James
Baker said "we have no dog in this fight" -- but in the end America was the
top dog in the fight.
The international community's engagement in the Balkans have so far been
a textbook illustration of the dangers of contradictory policies, chronic
indecisions, confusion and ignorance about historical forces in play, double
standards and flawed precedents. America was not prepared for the peace and
the role of the only superpower in the world. Our leadership has failed in
this task so far.
Apparently, not much has been learned from this experience. We could
replace the location, inserting Iraq instead of the Balkans, and the
aforementioned assessment would be similar today.
The Balkan mirror also shows the impotence and irrelevance of the United
Nations. Any country and any people would be foolhardy to place their
destiny in the hands of this inept institution. With America's complicity,
the United Nations did nothing when its embargo on arms shipments was
violated by Iran sending planeloads of arms to Bosnian Muslims.
Subsequently, when veteran jihadists came to the country to fight Serbs, the
West was also supportive.
The Serbian province of Kosovo has been ethnically cleansed from Serbs,
Roma and other non-Albanians while 150 churches and many medieval
monasteries have been destroyed during 10 years of U.N. governance.
The mirror showed the duplicitous methods by which world media
influenced world opinion. With few exceptions, it has abused its power and
professional responsibility, failing to heed Ed Murrow's admonition to
examine all sides of a story and aim to elucidate, not advocate. It did the
latter and in general continues to advocate an Islamic agenda in Bosnia and
Kosovo.
The Balkan realities also show a great adaptability of Islamists to
present a worldly, democratic face. Readily accepted by the West, Bosnian
leader and fundamentalist Islamist Alija Izetbegovic was tolerated and
praised as a democrat. Nevertheless, in his book "The Islamic Declaration"
Izetbegovic asserted absolute validity of dominance of Islam: "There can be
neither peace nor coexistence between Islamic religion and non-Islamic
social and political institutions," he wrote. Later in the war, Mr.
Izetbegovic was influenced and financially and militarily supported by
fundamentalist Islamists (including Osama bin Laden). Similarly, some Kosovo
leaders, previously called terrorists and thugs by U.S. special envoy Robert
Gelbard, are now afforded respect in the United Nations and elsewhere.
The ugliest and most dangerous reflection in the mirror is that of
double-standards. As we are facing challenges and dangers of radical Islam
and terrorism worldwide, let's not dismiss the Balkan experience. Our
policies must contain moral dimensions. International agreements, legal
precedents and evenhanded treatment of warring people were not followed in
the Yugoslav tragedy. If we are to get out of the Middle East quagmire we
must change these policies. Failing to realize that by endeavoring to
resolve complex problems by double standards, we more often than not double
them in the end.
In addition, the Balkan Mirror has provided important and troubling
reflections upon Islam and the new world (dis)order.
Michael Djordjevich, an American of Serbian origin, founded and was the
first president of the Serbian Unity Congress.
letters@washingtontimes.com
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