http://www.deltax.net/bissett/a-consequences1.htm
THE LEGAL AND POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES OF KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE (part 1)
1. INTRODUCTION
Last month I appeared as a witness at the International Criminal Tribunal
for the Former Yugoslavia. During the questioning by the defendant, former
President Slobodan Milosevic, he asked me to quote excerpts from an article
I had written in 2000 entitled, New Diplomacy, Old Agenda. One of the
excerpts read as follows:
"The U.S. led attack on Yugoslavia was designed to improve President
Clinton's public image and restore credibility to NATO, whose existence
since the end of the cold war was in jeopardy. This was the real agenda of
the NATO war. In terms of Balkan history it is an old agenda. Traditionally
western intervention in
the Balkans has proven to be disastrous. From the Congress of Berlin to both
world wars, the western powers have intervened in the Balkans for their own
selfish policy objectives. These aims have had little relevance to the
issues affecting the peoples of the Balkan countries. What was true of the
past has proven true again in Kosovo."
The events that have taken place in Kosovo since I wrote that article have
only served to reinforce the truth of what was then written. Western policy
since the end of the illegal bombing of Yugoslavia has been a total failure.
The massive ethnic cleansing of the non-Albanian population, the reign of
terror against those few Serbs who have remained, the rampant burning and
blasting of Christian churches, the refusal to disarm the Kosovo Liberation
Army, the acceptance of widespread drug and human trafficking in the
so-called UN protectorate stand as evidence against the NATO and United
Nations authorities. These are hard facts. They stand as testimony to failure.
Unfortunately, the Serbian tragedy is not yet over. Sometime this year a
decision will be announced about Kosovo independence. I say announced
because there is some evidence suggesting the decision has already been made
to tear away that integral part of Serbia and to grant Kosovo independent
status. The Economist magazine of 18- 24 February 2006 reported that John
Sawers the political director of the British Foreign Office told a group of
Serbs in Kosovo earlier in the month that the Contact Group had already
decided on independence for Kosovo. Since the talks between Serbia and
representatives of the Kosovo Albanians are being undertaken under the
auspices of the Contact Group Mr. Sawers words are not to be taken lightly
There are other indications that independence is already a foregone
conclusion. The Contact Group Guiding Principles announced in November 2005
stated, among other things, that there could be no return of Kosovo to the
pre-1999 situation. This is an ambiguous statement but since prior to 1999
Kosovo was an integral part of Serbia this guiding principle could be
interpreted to mean that Kosovo will no longer remain part of Serbia. Other
remarks by senior United States officials have made it clear that the option
of independence for Kosovo is open for discussion. These are ominous signals
that the guarantees set out in UN Resolution 1244 reaffirming the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of Yugoslavia as set out in the
Helsinki Final Act may be ignored or conveniently overlooked as have other
parts of the resolution.
The influential International Crisis Group has not been hesitant in setting
out its views on the issue of independence. It has made its recommendations
abundantly clear in a report dated February 17, 2006 entitled Kosovo: The
Challenge of Transition. That report recommends that, "The international
community and in particular the UN Special Envoy charged with resolving the
status process, Martii Ahtisaari, must accordingly prepare for the
possibility of imposing an independence package for Kosovo, however
diplomatically painful that may be in the short term" There is no concern
expressed by the Contact Group or UN officials that because Martii Ahtisaari
is a prominent member of the ICG that this report would appear to place him
in a conflict of interest position. There is further reason to suspect his
impartiality as a mediator since Der Spiegel magazine has reported that Mr.
Ahtisaari has said that Kosovo is headed for independence.
There may least be some comfort that the ICG seems to have dropped the idea
it once advocated that the discussions include the possibility of adjusting
Kosovo's northern border to include the Presevo valley. However, if the ICG
has dropped the idea of incorporating part of southern Serbia into a new and
independent state of Kosovo the Albanians in southern Serbia have not. Three
ethnic Albanian municipalities in southern Serbia have passed resolutions
calling for political and territorial autonomy and the withdrawal of Serbian
security forces from the area.
The demands of the Albanians in southern Serbia underline the dangers
inherent in the violation of the territorial integrity of states even if it
is carried out under the aegis of supposedly responsible international
agencies like the Contact Group and is sanctioned by the European Union.
Should a decision be taken to grant independence to Kosovo a precedent will
have been established that will pose a serious threat to the very structure
of world peace and security. The stakes here are high and any decision on
Kosovo independence will have implications that go far beyond the
geographical confines of the Balkans
2. TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY
The territorial integrity of states is an old principle that is generally
acknowledged to have been firmly established by the Peace of Westphalia in
1648 which declared that outside interference in a state's internal affair
was illegitimate. Through the years the principle of territorial integrity
has not diminished. It is still considered one of the most basic principles
of international law and continues to be a major instrument for the
prevention of armed conflict between states.
Article 2[4] of the United Nations Charter includes territorial integrity as
one of the principles that prohibits the threat or use of force in the
resolution of international disputes. Territorial integrity is included in
the Declaration of Principles of International Law concerning friendly
relations among states. The United Nations Charter regards it as one of the
paramount elements included in the concept of sovereign equality.
The Helsinki Final Act of 1975 reinforced the principle of territorial
integrity and went further by including a section on the inviolability of
frontiers. It is hoped that members of the Contact Group and the UN Special
Envoy are familiar with the wording of these two sections of the Act. They
read as follows:
SECTION III: INVIOABILITY OF FRONTIERS
The participating states regard as inviolable all one another's frontiers as
well as the frontiers of all States in Europe and therefore will refrain now
and in future from assaulting these frontiers.
Accordingly, they will also refrain from any demand for, or act of, seizure
and usurpation of part or all of the territory of any participating State.
SECTION IV: TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY OF STATES
The participating States will respect the territorial integrity of each of
the participating States.
Accordingly, they will refrain from any action inconsistent with the
purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations against the
territorial integrity, political independence or the unity of any
participating State, and in particular from any such action constituting a
threat or use of force.
The participating States will likewise refrain from making each other's
territory the object of military occupation or other direct or indirect
measures of force in contravention of international law, or the object of
acquisition by means of such measures or the threat of them. No such
occupation or acquisition will be regarded as legal.
These are fundamental principles. They form an integral part of the
framework of international law. They are designed to be a guarantee of
international security and mutual respect among nations. They are to have
universal application and cannot be put aside because of special
circumstances or when they prove embarrassing or inconvenient.
Their message is simple and clear. Borders can only be changed by agreement
between states.
THE LEGAL AND POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES OF KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE (part 2)
3. PRESSURE ON SERBIA
Unfortunately we have seen in the case of Kosovo in 1999 and more recently
with the invasion of Iraq that the countries of NATO and the United States
are prepared to violate international law when they consider it in their
interests to do so. Furthermore the NATO countries are able to use their
economic and political power as leverage to force smaller countries to
comply with their demands. The promise of membership in the new Europe can
be an offer difficult to refuse even when acceptance means a humiliating
loss of self respect if not the loss of territory as well.
In June 2005 the European Council set out the criteria to be met by any
decision on the final status for Kosovo. The solution according to the
Council had to be fully compatible with European values and norms, comply
with international legal instruments and obligations and the United Nations
Charter and contribute to realizing the European prospects of Kosovo and the
region. However the Council also stressed that any agreement must ensure
that Kosovo does not return to the pre-March, 1999 situation.
What the European Council seems to be saying is that any decision about
Kosovo must be legal but since it can't be legal without Serbia's consent
the Council holds out the possibility of admittance to the European
Community in exchange. If Serbia gives up Kosovo its reward will be eventual
acceptance into the European Community. The European Council describes this
as a satisfactory solution. Others might describe it as blackmail. In any
event what is clear is that both the United States and the European
Community want a solution to what they interpret as an intractable and
festering problem in the heart of Europe. The Europeans may be fussier about
the legalities than are the Americans but the final outcome desired is the same
If Serbia is willing to accept this deal then there are the usual promises
that the new Kosovo would be multi-ethnic, would respect human and minority
rights, would guarantee the safe return of the evicted population, that the
Christian religious sites would be safeguarded and that crime, corruption
and terror would be eliminated. All of the guarantees sound good. The
problem is all of them have been promised before and expressed in United
Nations resolution 1244. We know how faithfully the guarantees in that
resolution have been enforced in Kosovo during the past seven years.
Casting a dark and foreboding shadow over the Kosovo talks is the reality
that if the incentive of joining the new Europe does not work and Serbia
refuses to consent to the loss of its Kosovo territory then punishment
rather than incentives can be used. Serbia has already had its grim share of
what this can entail. Loss of IMF and World Bank loans, discouragement of
Western investment, ostracism from international institutions, threats from
the International Criminal Tribunal of more indictments, manipulation of
elections and a host of other penalties designed to force conformity to the
will of the United States led NATO powers.
Nevertheless it would be a mistake for the United States and the Europeans
to assume that the decision about Kosovo independence will solve all the
problems in the Balkans. Kosovo independence is a Pandora's Box and once
opened there is every likelihood of further Albanian demands in the region.
Furthermore as the United Nations special envoy, Kai Eide has reported,
Kosovo is simply not ready for independence. Quite apart from its
questionable economic viability, its record of ethnic cleansing, violence
and intolerance of minorities should disqualify it from becoming an
independent country. Wide spread crime and corruption and its dominance of
the European drug trade give sufficient evidence by any standard that it is
not ready to join the ranks of independent states.
A further mistake is to believe that a decision to grant Kosovo
independence will not become a precedent or that it will not be seen as an
example for others who might be striving for self determination. There have
been statements from US officials suggesting that Kosovo is unique and
therefore cannot be used as a precedent. This is wishful thinking and it is
dangerous thinking. A decision to grant Kosovo independence will have far
reaching implications. It will serve as an example and encouragement to
other independent movements around the world. It could become a symbol and
template for secessionists everywhere.
4. A PRECEDENT FOR RUSSIA ?
Not withstanding the attempts by US officials to pretend that independence
for Kosovo would not be a precedent, the President of Russia, Vladimir
Putin, on January 30, 2006 declared that the decision on Kosovo if it is to
be considered legal should be of a "universal nature" and applicable to post
ÄÅ¼Ë Soviet territory. The Russian President based his statement on the fact
that, UN Resolution 1244 has affirmed that Kosovo is an integral part of
Serbia. He added that, "Our starting point is that United Nations Security
Council's decisions are not of a decorative nature, do not depend on the
political circumstances, but are adopted in order to be fulfilled."
President Putin was referring to the unrecognized regions of the former
Soviet Union that desire independence: Abkhasia that broke away from Georgia
in 1992 and successfully defeated Georgian military attempts to prevent
secession. It has not been recognized as an independent state. South Ossetia
declared its independence from Georgia in 1991 following armed conflict with
Georgian troops but its independence has not been recognized. Transnistria
declared unilateral independence from Moldova in 1991 and with the
assistance of Russian and Ukrainian troops resisted attempts by Moldova to
prevent secession. Its independence has not been recognized.
In response to President Putin's intervention in the Kosovo process the U.S.
Deputy Secretary of State for European Affairs, Rosemary di Carlo has stated
that the Kosovo situation and the region itself is a unique phenomenon and
that the Kosovo model would not apply to the unrecognized regions of the
former Soviet Union. She also pointed out there were no UN resolutions
relating to them. What she did not say of course was that the UN resolution
relating to Kosovo explicitly reaffirmed it as part of Serbia.
It is difficult to say if President Putin's remarks are a warning that
Russia, as a member of the Contact Group, will insist that the criteria and
standards used to decide on Kosovo independence will have universal
application and especially to the unrecognized regions of the former Soviet
Union. If it is a warning is it to be taken seriously? Or, is it simply a
move designed to be used by Russia as a future bargaining chip in
negotiations with the Western powers? Previous experience has shown it is
unlikely Russia will risk openly defying the United States and Europe over
the issue of Kosovo independence. At any rate this remains to be seen.
Whatever the motives, however, President Putin's intervention serves to
highlight the reality that, despite protests to the contrary, a decision to
grant independence to Kosovo will stand as a precedent.
5. A DANGEROUS PRECEDENT
There are currently 191 member states of the United Nations but an estimated
five thousand ethnic groups scattered across the globe. Many of these ethnic
groups are desirous of attaining statehood and becoming members of the
United Nations. Many have much stronger claims for independence than does
Kosovo. The Kurds for example number close to thirty million people and have
maintained a distinctive culture for three thousand years despite being
dispersed in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. They were promised a separate
state by the allies after world war one but this promise was thwarted by the
Turkish dominance of the region under Kemal Ataturk. The leaders of the
Kurdish independence movement will not overlook what happens in Kosovo. The
American insistence on maintaining the territorial integrity of Iraq at the
expense of the Kurdish wish for independence will ring hollow to the Kurds
of north eastern Iraq.
Taiwan with its prosperous economy and high standard of living has enjoyed
de facto independence since being expelled from the United Nations in 1971
and yet it has not been recognized by the international community as an
independent state. Tibet, Chechnya, Nagorno- Karabakh , Tamil Eelam,
Kashmir, the Philippines, Thailand, - the list is a long one. In Western
Europe itself there are serious demands for independence from Basques,
Corsicans, and Montenegrins.
THE LEGAL AND POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES OF KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE (part 3)
In the case of Montenegro it shares the same language, religion, history,
culture and ethnicity as the Serbs. There is not the slightest reason why
this tiny country of 600,000 inhabitants whose leader is alleged to be
involved in criminal activities should be granted independence apart from
the fact the President once enjoyed the favor of the United States.
Yet according to a report in the influential Herald Tribune the European
Community is suggesting that Montenegro can secede if fifty percent of the
eligible voters cast their ballots and if fifty five percent of those choose
independence. In effect this means that Montenegro can attain independence
with less than 30 percent of the voters supporting it. Can anyone imagine
that Javier Solana the EC foreign Minister would advocate a similar deal
being offered the Basque separatists?
There are over three million Hungarians living outside of Hungary in the
neighboring countries of Romania, Slovakia, Serbia and Ukraine. Many of
these would like once again be governed by Hungary. Already there has been a
resurgence of Hungarian nationalism in the Serbian province of Vojvodina.
This is not surprising, if Kosovo warrants independence why not Vojvodina?
The Serbs and Croats in Bosnia - Herzegovina despite every encouragement
from Paddy Ashdown the UN High Representative are not yet resolved to the
idea that this artificially created Protectorate is viable. Many among them
would favor joining their fellow countrymen in Serbia or Croatia and
independence for Kosovo will add strength to these desires.
Among the conditions laid down by the Contact Group and supported by the
European Council for any decision about Kosovo is that there is to be no
change in current borders, no union with another country or part of another
country and that Kosovo must not constitute a military threat to its
neighbors. These conditions are of course as a result of legitimate concerns
that an independent Kosovo might well be the first step in the realization
of the dream of a greater Albania in the Balkans. No change in borders means
no joining up with Albania and no linking up with the Albanians in southern
Serbia or Macedonia. There are solid reasons for theses concerns. The
military incursions of the KLA into southern Serbia and Macedonia in 2001
provided strong evidence that an independent Kosovo could well lead to
irredentist ideas among the Albanian populations in the Balkan states.
Conditions laid down during talks on the status of Kosovo are one thing but
the enforcement of such conditions after a decision has been made is
another. Under the watch full eyes of thousands of NATO and United Nations
troops the Albanians in Kosovo have since the withdrawal of Serbian forces
acted in a barbarous fashion towards the non-Albanian population, have
carried on with drug smuggling and other criminal activities and have
conducted military operations across their borders. Is there any doubt that
should Kosovo achieve independence these activities will be even more
difficult to control? The borders between Albania and Macedonia already, in
effect, are open borders and are likely to become invisible after independence.
Another serious implication of an independent Kosovo relates to the
possibility that the new entity could become a haven for Islamist
extremists. There have already been concerns expressed by Western security
experts about the infiltration of Islamist extremists in Bosnia many of whom
remained there after the end of hostilities. There have also been reports of
mujahideen fighters supporting the KLA against Serbian security forces and
that al Qaeda has established bases in Kosovo and Albania. Whatever the
truth of these reports it is reasonable to suppose that an independent
Kosovo would be ideally suitable for the establishment of al Qaeda
operations and a fertile ground for Islamist extremism.
The United States and the EC have expressed concern about the danger to
international security caused by the existence of so called "failed states."
Failed states are defined as those countries whose governments have weakened
to the point where they that they can no longer provide adequate public
services, physical security or economic livelihood to their inhabitants.
They become attractive to terrorist organizations as safe havens and as
staging grounds for attacks on other targets.
The United States National Security Strategy emphasizes the problem by
declaring: "America is now threatened less by conquering states than we are
by failing ones, poverty, weak institutions and corruption can make weak
states vulnerable to terrorist net works." If, as it seems evident, Kosovo
meets all of the characteristics of a failed state the determined rush of
the United States and the European Community to grant it independence will
prove to be a grave policy error and will inevitably have a negative effect
on Balkan stability.
7. CONCLUSION
After the end of the cold war and the emergence of the United States as the
most powerful military force the world has ever known there was a brief
period, as the twentieth century was drawing to an end, to hope that the
world would experience a "Pax Americana." A benevolent and democratic
America in full support of the ideals expressed in the United Nations
Charter would ensure peace and order throughout the world. The threat of
global extinction and the horrors of widespread bloodshed and violence would
be ended.
This dream was shattered by the United States led bombing of Yugoslavia in
the spring of 1999 which was done in violation of the UN Charter and
contrary to international law Despite trying to justify the bombing as a
humanitarian intervention to stop alleged genocide and ethnic cleansing in
Kosovo it was apparent the real reason was to demonstrate the value of NATO
as an organization and of continuing United States dominance in Europe. It
was a critical turning point because it signaled the willingness of the
United States to use military force to resolve international disputes and to
intervene wherever and whenever it so desired.
Subsequent events have shown that the United States has not abandoned this
policy. The invasion of Iraq without United Nations authority is the most
striking example of the US determination to act unilaterally. There will
always be an attempt to gain support for these actions either through the
use of NATO or by persuading the European Community or the newly emerging
states of Central and Eastern Europe to get on side. The reality is,
however, that the most powerful nation in the world is not willing to abide
by the norms of international law or to conform to the principles laid down
by the United Nations Charter.
United States policy in the Balkans has been dysfunctional since March 1992
when their Ambassador, Warren Zimmerman, persuaded Izetbegovic the Islamist
leader of the Bosnian Muslims to withdraw his signature to the Lisbon
Agreement. This decision which led to US acceptance of the results of an
illegal referendum and recognition of the first Muslim state in Europe
triggered civil war in Bosnia and led directly to the death and destruction
that followed. In the following years US decisions have proven to be equally
disastrous for the region.
The United States subversion of the Vance-Owen plan and the following
Vance-Stoltenberg agreement prolonged the war in Bosnia unnecessarily. The
violation of the United Nations arms embargo and the decision to permit
several thousand mujihadeen fighters into Bosnia and to provide them with
modern military equipment was also a decision bound to have "blow back"
implications damaging not only to the region but also to the ongoing US war
against terrorism.
The decision of the United States government to support the cause of the
terrorist KLA in its armed rebellion to secede from Yugoslavia is another
example of US policy making gone wrong. There is evidence that the KLA
military incursions into southern Serbia and later in Macedonia were backed
by American agents. Their current policy supporting independence for Kosovo
is but another chapter in an unfolding series of strategic errors. More
seriously it reveals an indifference to the concept of sovereignty and of
respect for the rule of law that is not in keeping with the principles laid
down by the founding fathers of that great nation.
United States policy in the Balkans has been characterized by cynicism,
duplicity and short term tactical gain. By backing Islamist aims in the
region and supporting terrorist groups in Kosovo there might be the
immediate advantage of establishing a large military base in Kosovo or
appeasing further Albanian demands by advocating independence for Kosovo but
in the long term it will backfire.
For centuries past Serbia, as one of the largest country in the Balkans
and situated on the strategically important crossroads between Europe and
the Near-East, was proud of its well earned reputation as the "guardian of
the gate." A democratic Serbia can be a powerful ally to democratic and free
countries everywhere. In these perilous days when even the United States
with all of its awesome military might can be terribly damaged by a handful
of fanatical Islamist terrorists it would seem only prudent and in the
national interest of Americans and of Europeans to reverse their ongoing
policy of humiliating this key Balkan nation and find a solution to the
Kosovo problem that falls short of independence.
****
Mr. James Bissett is former Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and
Albania and chairman of the Lord Byron Foundation for Balkan Studies. He can
be reached by e-mail: bissett@deltax.net
September 17, 2006
James Bissett // THE LEGAL AND POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES OF KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE
September 15, 2006
Kosovo: Mission Accomplished?
Kosovo: Mission Accomplished?
Condi shakes hands with yet another unsavory ally
Any visitor to the Balkans knows that to sit down for coffee or throat-rasping rakia with a person from any ethnicity in the region is to risk a not so quick, uninterruptible, vitriolic five-hundred-year history lesson so skewed that it doesn’t deserve the name of history . . . real history just about ceased to exist within Albanian and Serbian discourse. It has largely been replaced by monologues of myth and prejudice. It is now a weapon of survival.
So wrote Matthew McAllester in Beyond the Mountains of the Damned, a recounting of the late-1990s bloodshed in Kosovo. While Balkan history has lately lost its vogue in Washington, this is a good time for some brushing up. And since the conventional wisdom is so relentlessly romantic about the valiant Kosovars struggling against Serb oppression, I'll present here a side of the story that is rarely heard.
Seven years ago, an American-led NATO campaign drove Serbia out of Kosovo, which has since enjoyed semi-autonomy. Now the United Nations wants to broker an agreement over Kosovo's status. Independence for the majority-Albanian province seems to be the preferred position of most European governments and of the Bush Administration, though U.S. officials insist that no decision has been made.
The administration's tilt was evident last June, when Agim Ceku, who carries the title of Kosovar prime minister and who seeks to gain full independence from Serbia, made a quiet visit to Washingtonâ€â€so quiet that it was almost entirely unreported at the time. Ceku met with Condoleezza Rice, joining the growing list of thugs and crooks welcomed to town by the secretary of state.
Who is Ceku? As a brigadier general in the Croatian Army, he commanded Croat forces in the 1993 Medak offensive, in which the “Croatian Army perpetrated abuses against Serbian civilians and conducted a ‘scorched earth’ policy,” according to Human Rights Watch. In August 1995, Ceku was the organizational force behind “Operation Storm.” In the course of that campaign, which the New York Times described as “the largest single ‘ethnic cleansing’ of the war,” more than 100,000 Serbs were driven from the Krajina region of Croatia
Ceku, who is a Kosovar Albanian, took command of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in 1999. He is widely credited with transforming it into a guerrilla group, and for drawing NATO into direct conflict with Serbia. After the war, the KLA morphed into the Kosovo Protection Force, still commanded by Ceku. This is a sort of first-responder outfit but any future army for an independent Kosovo would clearly be drawn from the ranks of the KPC. A leaked UN report, written in 2000 but not released (probably because it was too embarrassing) found that members of the Corps were involved in murder, torture, illegal detention, and extortion of local businesses.
The late writer Michael Kelly said at the time that former KLA leaders had formed a “criminal mobocracy” and “joined forces with former Serb paramilitary gangsters to establish themselves in drug peddling and prostitution.” Meanwhile, Kelly wrote, an “ongoing campaign to ethnically cleanse Kosovo of all but Kosovar Albanians” had forced more than 100,000 Serbs and other non-Albanians to flee the province; about 400 Serbs have been murdered, and many of those who remain live under constant, heavy guard.
Periodic violence has erupted in the succeeding years. Two years ago, anti-Serb riots across Kosovoâ€â€which occurred despite the presence of NATO and UN forces on the groundâ€â€left 19 Serbs dead and hundreds injured and displaced.
In recent years, Ceku has made public statements to the international community about guaranteeing the rights of Kosovar minorities, but many suspect that he remains a hard-nosed, thuggish Balkan commander whose constituent base remains dangerously nationalistic. Two months after meeting with Rice, Ceku paid a jailhouse visit to Selim Krasniqi , a KLA general who had just been convicted by an international tribunal of war crimes committed in 1998. “Kosovo,” Ceku remarked afterwards, “needs more men like Krasniqi.”
Ceku's visit and the Bush Administration's general pro-Kosovo tilt reinforces what Balkanists have maintained since the early 1990s, namely that the United States is not an evenhanded player. Instead, it has sought to shine a bright light on Serb atrocitiesâ€â€of which there have been many and which should be condemnedâ€â€while applying different standards to Bosnian, Croat, and Kosovar Albanian thuggery. The White House subscribes to the same theories of history that can be heard in those Balkan cafesâ€â€theories that remain largely ungrounded in reality.
* * *
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September 11, 2006
My letter published in ODYSSEY
September 09, 2006
The U.S. Contribution to the Afghan-Kosovo Drug Traffic.
A Meta-Group Managing Drugs, Violence, and the State
Peter Dale Scott - Reportedly Far West was founded in 1998; and Surikov and Saidov were already directors when they attended the Beaulieu meeting in July 1999. I believe that this meeting discussed the Russian presence in Kosovo, and the imminent increase in the flow of Afghan drugs through Kosovo.That this flow is huge has been attested to by many observers. Russian sources estimate that from 1991 to 2003 the same group shipped to Western Europe up to 300 tons of heroin and sold it to wholesale buyers of Kosovo Albanian nationality. In the same period they sold up to 60 tons of heroin to Azeri and Roma (gypsy) wholesalers in the Volga and the Urals Federal Districts of Russia. The group’s total receipts for heroin in 1991-2003 are estimated to be $5 billion. (1)
The chief narco-baron of the group is said to be Vladimir Filin, the head of Far West. Like Surikov, Filin has been known to share his knowledge of drug-trafficking with the public. (2) And grounds have been alleged to suspect that his contacts with the CIA through drug-trafficking date back to Afghanistan in the 1980s.
The informed Indian observer B. Raman charged in 2002 that
the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the USA, which encouraged these heroin barons during the Afghan war of the 1980s in order to spread heroin-addiction amongst the Soviet troops, is now using them in its search for bin Laden and other surviving leaders of the Al Qaeda, by taking advantage of their local knowledge and contacts. (3)
The narco-barons selected by the CIA, according to Raman, were “Haji Ayub Afridi, the Pakistani narcotics baron, who was a prized operative of the CIA in the 1980s,†Haji Abdul Qadeer, Haji Mohammed Zaman and Hazrat Ali. (4)
Philip Smucker, a journalist for the Christian Science Monitor, has confirmed that in 2001 the drug trafficker Haji Mohammed Zaman (once “at the top of the heroin trade in Jalalabadâ€) was recruited in Dijon, France for the anti-Taliban cause, by “British and American officials.†(5) And the Asian Times corroborates Raman’s claim that Zaman’s long-time Pakistani drug-trafficking partner, Haji Ayub Afridi, was also released from a Pakistani jail at this time. (6)
If Raman is correct, the CIA not only blessed but directed the 1980s flow of drugs from Afridi, Zaman, and Abdul Qadeer into the hands of Soviet officers like Vladimir Filin and Aleksei Likhvintsev. It would appear that corruption was being used as a political tool to weaken and subvert the Soviet Union.
Although the United States may have used known traffickers like Zaman and Qadir to regain access to Afghanistan, its stated ultimate goal, and the one assumed by the mainstream media, was to reimpose its own kind of order. Whether the country is Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Colombia, or Kosovo, America’s national interest is said to be to install and then protect pipelines. And pipelines require peace and security.
The prime geostrategic interest of the drug traffic in Afghanistan and elsewhere was precisely to prevent peace and security from happening. (7) It is true that the international illicit drug industry, like the international oil industry, is polymorphous and flexible, relying on diversified sources and markets for its products in order to maintain its global dominance. But for the global drug traffic to prosper, there must always be key growing areas where there is ongoing violence, and state order does not prevail.
The Bush Administration’s policies cannot be characterized as reflecting the national goals of peace and security, as outlined above. On the contrary, its shocking underfunding of Afghanistan’s recovery, like its complex and destabilizing interventions in Georgia, suggest that it too, as much as the drug traffic, hopes to utilize instability – as a pretext for maintaining U.S. bases.
America now faces in Afghanistan, what Russia faces in Chechnya, a conflict which is favorable to drug trafficking but increasingly deleterious to orderly reconstruction. (8) Meanwhile elements profiting from the flow of Afghan drugs continue to grow stronger and more dangerous.
Footnotes1: www.compromat.ru/main/zuganov/surikov2.htm.
2: Alexander Nagorny "Narcobarons from the CIA and MI-6" Pravda-info 2004.09.13
3: B. Raman, “Assassination of Haji Abdul Qadeer in Kabul,†South Asia Analysis Group, Paper No. 489,
4: Raman, “Assassination of Haji Abdul Qadeer in Kabul.â€
5: Philip Smucker, Al Qaeda’s Great Escape: The Military and the Media on Terror’s Trail (Washington: Brassey’s, 2004), 9. This decision by British and American officials (the latter almost certainly CIA) may have contributed to bin Laden’s escape from Tora Bora in December 2001. Cf. CNN, 12/29/01.
6: "US turns to drug baron to rally support," Asia Times Online, 12/4/01; Peter Dale Scott, “Pre-1990 Drug Networks Being Restored Under New Coalition?â€
7: Thus Shamil Basaev, who controls the Abkazian drug traffic, and his lieutenant Khattab, are famous among Russians and Chechens alike as “the incorrigibles†who want only “endless war†(Murphy, Wolves of Islam, 136, 165).
8:The Iraq War is also beneficial to the drug traffic. See the following story from the Balochistan Post, quoting the London Independent: “"BAGHDAD: The city, which had never seen heroin, a deadly addictive drug, until March 2003, is now flooded with narcotics including heroin. According to a report published by London’s The Independent newspaper, the citizens of Baghdad complained that the drugs like heroin and cocaine were being peddled on the streets of the Iraqi metropolis. Some reports suggest that the drug and arms trafficking is patronized by the CIA to finance its covert operations worldwide."
Part I: History and the Political Requirements of the Global Drug TrafficPart II: The Meta-Group, West, and EastPart III: The Meta-Group, BCCI, and Adnan KhashoggiPart IV: Dunlop’s Account of the Beaulieu Meeting’s Purpose: The “Russian 9/11†in 1999Part V: Dunlop’s Redactions of His Source YasenevPart VI: The Khashoggi Villa Meeting, Kosovo, and the “Pristina Dashâ€Part VII: The Role of Anton Surikov: The Dunlop and Yasenev VersionsPart VIII: Saidov, Surikov, Muslim Insurrectionism, and Drug TraffickingPart IX: Allegations of Drug-Trafficking and Far West Ltd.Part X: Far West Ltd, Halliburton, Diligence LLC, New Bridge, and Neil Bush
Peter Dale Scott, a former Canadian diplomat and English Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, is a poet, writer, and researcher. The U.S. Contribution to the Afghan-Kosovo Drug Traffic. / Part XI
http://oraclesyndicate.twoday.net/stories/2639366/
Bosnia: Former Muslim President Was Paid By Al Qaeda
http://www.westernresistance.com/blog/archives/002917.html
: Reports of Muslim-Extreme Right Antisemitic Alliance| Sudan: While Islamists Behead Journalist, National Tensions Rise ?
September 08, 2006
Bosnia: Former Muslim President Was Paid By Al Qaeda
When Alija Izetbegovic (pictured) died and was buried on the 22nd October 2003, only hours beforethe funeral the United Nations war crimes tribunal in the Hague had confirmed that he had been under investigation.
Izetbegovic had governed Bosnia-Hercegovina as President from 1990 onwards, and had seen the start of the civil war begin under his rule in 1992. He signed the Clinton-brokered Dayton Agreement in 1995 which effectively ended the conflict. He continued as vice president until 2000. Though he had a knack of persuading Western leaders that he was a benign character, the reality seems far removed from the image of a benevolent Muslim "grandfather".
Today, AKIreports that a Sarajevo-based weekly newspaper, Slobodna Bosna(Free Bosnia) has stated that Izetbegovic received money from the Saudi businessman Yassin al-Khadi (Yassin al Qadi). On October 12, 2001, Yassin al-Kadi was listed by the US government as a specially designated global terrorist for his support of al-Qaeda.
Al-Kadi's assets in Bosnia-Hercegovina were frozen in October 2001, at the request of the nation's Banking Agency. He had shares in the Vakufska Bank but these too were frozen, on the advice of the US.
In 1996, the report from Slobodna Bosnaalleges, Izetbegovic received $195,000. The information on this transaction came from a British bank while al-Kadi's charity Mufavak was being investigated. In 2002 this charity was banned, but began operating again in Bosnia under the name "Blessed Relief". Mufavak had gathered $15 to 20 million from various sources, and at least $3 million had gone to Al Qaeda.
But the claims of Al Qaeda and Islamist involvement on the part of Izetbegovic go much deeper. In 1992, he invited in the Mujahideen from Saudi Arabia, who went on a spree of murder and decapitation. The government is now trying to revoke the citizenships of 1,500 of these, as was reported by AKI this week.
In 1970, Izetbegovic wrote "The Islamic Declaration: A Program for the Islamization of Muslims and the Muslim Peoples", which was disseminated clandestinely amongst Muslims, but was not officially published until 1990 when the communist system which had been led by Tito collapsed.
This document has been used by his opponents to validate their claims that he was at heart an Islamist. The invitation of the Mujahideen (shown below, marching through Zenica) to add jihadism to the volatile ethnic situation escalated the strong feelings in the region. According to Pogledi: "The mujahedin were "incorporated and subordinated" within the structure of the 7th Muslim Brigade when it was formed on November 19, 1992 . On August 13, 1993, the mujahedeen were organized in the "El Mujahed" unit. The Bosnian Muslim military command put this unit in the 3rd Corps area of operations and subordinated it to the command of that Corps."
But the claims of Al Qaeda involvement go directly to Izetbegovic's door. Terrorism expert Evan Kohlmann wrote a book, Al Qaeda in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network, in which he details the involvement of Saudi Mujahideen in Bosnia and the rise of Al Qaeda.
Robert Spencer in JihadWatchquotes from this book:
Using the Bosnian war as their cover, Afghan-trained Islamic militants loyal to Osama bin Laden convened in the Balkans in 1992 to establish a European domestic terrorist infrastructure in order to plot their violent strikes against the United States. As the West and the United Nations looked on with disapproval, the fanatic foreign 'mujahideen', or holy warriors, wreaked havoc across southern Europe, taking particular aim at UN peacekeepers and even openly fighting with Bosnian Muslims at times. Middle Eastern religious and charitable organizations, largely based in and funded from the Arabian Gulf, were responsible for bankrolling this effort, and providing travel documentation for would-be mujahideen recruits.... many of the cell members - responsible for some of the most notorious terrorist attacks of the past decade - spent their formative years waging jihad in the unlikely Muslim land of Bosnia."Slobodan Milosevic is widely regarded as a Serbian monster, but while he was on trial in the Hague, a British journalist Eve-Ann Prentice was giving evidence. She told the court in February that she had been scheduled to meet Alija Izetbegovic in November 1994. She said that while she and a journalist from Der Spiegel waited in a foyer for their interviews with the Bosnian leader, they saw Osama bin Laden being escorted into Izetbegovic's office. Judge Robinson cut short her testimony and declared it "irrelevant".A damning critique of Izetbegovic and his Al Qaeda connections, written from a Serbian perspective, can be found in Serbianna, and more can be found in an articlefrom the Toronto-based Centre for Peace in the Balkans. A highly critical biography of Izetbegovic, by Vojin Joksimovich, can be found HERE.
September 08, 2006
Washington Waking Up to Dangers of Kosovo Independence
Washington, September 8, 2006
Washington Waking Up to Dangers of Kosovo Independence: U.S. Congressmen Join a Growing Chorus of Experts Warning Against Kosovo Independence; Serbian President Boris Tadic Conveys Kosovo Independence Dangers to U.S. Leaders; Christian Serbs in Kosovo Denounce Muslim Albanian Violence Against Non-Albanians; Kosovo-based Wahhabism in FYROM
Editorial comment from the American Council for Kosovo: This week saw further indications that official Washington is becoming increasingly aware of the disastrous consequences a forcible and illegal detachment of Kosovo from democratic Serbia would have on the Balkan region. Worthy of note:
1. In the September 3, 2006 edition of The Washington Times, House International Relations Committee members Representatives Dan Burton (R-IN) and Joe Wilson (R-SC) wrote “If the U.N. Security Council decides in favor of Kosovo's independence, it will have a far-reaching negative effect throughout the region. It will also affect the dialogue between Kurds, Sunnis and Shi'ites in Iraq and may strengthen the hand of separatist movements around the world. Such a decision has serious global security concerns, and the United States should carefully consider how a U.N. decision in favor of Kosovar independence will affect countries like Russia, India and Indonesia, all struggling with minority ethnic populations that use terrorism to weaken democratically elected governments. The U.N. must not force a decision on Serbia that is unacceptable to its people and democratically elected representatives. A final decision must be a workable compromise and mutually acceptable to Serbia, ethnic Albanian leaders in Kosovo and the minority Serbian population. If this is not the case, the status quo will continue, or worse, the region will regress to the ethnic cleansing of Serbian Christians in Kosovo.â€
2. During his September 7, 2006 speech at the Heritage Foundation, Serbian President Boris Tadic echoed the Congressmen’s concerns and likened the claim that Serbia has lost its right to Kosovo on account of Slobodan Milosevic to a suggestion that Iraq no longer has a right to its territorial integrity because of Saddam Hussein. "Future status of Kosovo is very important for the stability of Kosovo. But, at the some time, that can be a precedent, if Kosovo is going to become an independent country, a precedent very dangerous, not only for the Balkans, but for other regions in the world," President Tadic said.
3. Meanwhile – the violence of Muslim Albanians against Christian Serbs continues. In a recent meeting of the Serbian National Council of Kosovo and Metohija, under the spiritual guidance of Bishop Artemije of Rashka and Prizren, delegates warned: "These attacks are more and more frequent and are becoming more specific as regards the way in which they are carried out, since in committing them, children and young people are taken advantage of and abused, which, regarding the way of organization and operation, reminds of the attacks Muslim terrorists are making around the world. Any [solution to the Kosovo issue] that envisages any division of modification of borders, which would violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state of Serbia and be in contradiction with the international law, as well as any other imposed solution, will be unacceptable for and decisively rejected by the Serb nation and the [Serbian National Council of Kosovo and Metohija].
Besides the destabilizing precedent Kosovo independence would present, the American Council for Kosovo repeatedly has warned that an independent Kosovo would further the agenda of radical Islamic forces who would use it as a base of operations in neighboring areas. The following, an excerpt from a Defense & Foreign Affairs Special Analysis (Sept. 7, 2006), illustrates how Kosovo-based Albanian Wahhabist activists already are increasing their influence in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), with aim of creating "a religiously 'clean' Muslim base to which they can convert to Wahhabism and, eventually, jihad against Israeli, US and other Western interests."
Kosovo-based Albanian Wahhabists Step Up Activities in Macedonia:
Reliable local sources in the Albanian community have reported a very recent ramp-up in activity from well known Wahhabi leaders from Ferizaj and Gnjilane in Kosovo, and Lipkovo and Cair in FYROM, in the area of the mosque. These leaders have taken over an apartment on a street opposite it, and also near the DUI local headquarters, where they “disappear†for several hours each day inside with their students and plot the next stages in their plan for “capturing†this strategic neighborhood. According to the local sources, they drive cars with Kosovo license plates. The Wahhabi leaders are creating a bookstore in the area of the mosque where they will present fundamentalist literature and CDs, and provide “spiritual guidance†for young Muslims. In fact, a major tactic of these leaders is to preach inside the private homes of Muslims and try to convert them to the Wahhabi faith.
The strategic nature of the Taftalidze neighborhood is, first of all, because it is so far largely non-Albanian, and it represents a missing link between Albanian-inhabited areas to the south and southwest, and to the north of the Vardar. The primary goal of the radicals is to create a religiously “clean†Muslim base to which they can convert to Wahhabism and, eventually, jihad against Israeli, US and other Western interests. While the group is currently decentralized and trying to remain out of the spotlight, internal tensions in the FYROM Islamic community ensure that violent incidents will continue and the influence of the extremists will continue to grow.
1. Stability for the Balkans
By Representatives Dan Burton and Joe Wilson
The Washington Times– September 3, 2006
http://www.washingtontimes.com/commentary/20060902-101856-7764r.htm
As the United Nations tackles crises around the world from North Korea to the Middle East, it cannot ignore the Balkan region -- specifically the challenges facing Serbia. Seven years have passed since the U.N. took control of the Serbian province of Kosovo, and it will soon be time to make a permanent decision concerning its indeterminate status.
If the U.N. Security Council decides in favor of Kosovo's independence, it will have a far-reaching negative effect throughout the region. It will also affect the dialogue between Kurds, Sunnis and Shi'ites in Iraq and may strengthen the hand of separatist movements around the world. Such a decision has serious global security concerns, and the United States should carefully consider how a U.N. decision in favor of Kosovar independence will affect countries like Russia, India and Indonesia, all struggling with minority ethnic populations that use terrorism to weaken democratically elected governments.
Serbian President Boris Tadic is pro-Western and wants to formally integrate Serbia into NATO and the European Union. He is willing to meet stringent legal, economic and political requirements to become a permanent member. However, the Kosovo issue makes it difficult for him to continue down a solid, reformist path. Mr. Tadic wants to move Serbia away from its past global isolation to international cooperation. Serbia is committed to working with the Hague Tribunal and seeks to open its growing economy to foreign investment.
The U.N. must not force a decision on Serbia that is unacceptable to its people and democratically elected representatives. A final decision must be a workable compromise and mutually acceptable to Serbia, ethnic Albanian leaders in Kosovo and the minority Serbian population. If this is not the case, the status quo will continue, or worse, the region will regress to the ethnic cleansing of Serbian Christians in Kosovo. We may also see the rise of Serbian nationalists, whose only platform will be to use Kosovo as a rallying cry at the ballot box.
When Mr. Tadic next visits the U.S., he should be welcomed as a friend by President Bush and congressional leaders, and Serbia should be treated as an ally that needs Western support during a difficult transition. Serbia is trying to turn Slobodan Milosevic and the wars he caused into a distant memory by moving forward and embracing democratic reforms, a commitment to human rights, and economic reforms to help its people reach their full potential.
We must respect Serbia's territorial integrity as well as the cultural and historical links Kosovo has with Serbia. More importantly, we must recognize the ramifications of Kosovar independence. Anywhere in the world an ethnic or religious majority is turned into a minority, they can face violence and intimidation by a new majority seeking independence. By forcing Serbia to accept Kosovar independence, the U.N. may establish a precedent that can endanger important allies around the world. Radical independence movements that exploit religious minorities and employ terrorism to achieve political goals will be emboldened. These anti-Democratic, fundamentalist religious forces must be curtailed, not rewarded.
As President Tadic noted in a July 19 speech to the North Atlantic Council, "I am here to ask you to work with me and my country to be able to look ahead with certainty to a future in which your security and ours become synonymous. I believe we need each other and I believe that Serbia has a major contribution to make to this end."
The United Nations can bring the affected parties together to construct a mutually acceptable agreement or force a decision upon Serbia that will not only affect that nation, but Serbia's integration into Europe, the Balkans, and our allies around the world. It is a process the U.S. will be watching.
Dan Burton of Indiana and Joe Wilson of South Carolina are Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives' International Relations Committee.
2. Serbian leader warns against Kosovo independence
By David Gollust
Voice of America– September 7, 2006
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/KHII-6TF8AH?OpenDocument
Serbian President warned Thursday in Washington that independence for the Serbian province of Kosovo would create a dangerous precedent for the Balkans and elsewhere. The Belgrade official is holding talks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other senior U.S. officials focusing on the issue of Kosovo's future status.
Although U.S.-Serbian relations have been strained by that country's failure to apprehend Balkans war crimes figures, Mr. Tadic is getting top-level access on his Washington visit, including meetings with Secretary Rice and Vice President Dick Cheney.
The visit comes as U.N.-mediated talks in Vienna on the final status of Kosovo are entering a critical phase. The Serbian president is stressing his opposition to independence for the majority ethnic-Albanian province of Serbia, which has been under U.N. administration since 1999.
In a talk with reporters after meeting Secretary Rice, Mr. Tadic said his government, which has advocated autonomy, but not independence for Kosovo, has no intention of running the political life of the Kosovo Albanian community.
But he said Serbia wants to uphold the rights of the Kosovo's Serb minority and defend Serbian national interests. And he said making the province independent would have negative implications for the region and beyond.
"Future status of Kosovo is very important for the stability of Kosovo. But, at the some time, that can be a precedent, if Kosovo is going to become an independent country, a precedent very dangerous, not only for the Balkans, but for other regions in the world," he said.
Mr. Tadic, a pro-Western Serbian politician elected in 2004, said the issue of indicted Balkans war crimes suspects still at large is not related to Kosovo.
The fact that former Bosnian-Serb president Radovan Karadzic and his military chief, Ratko Mladic, have not been apprehended has strained Serbia's relations with the United States and the European Union, and led the U.S. Congress to cut aid to Belgrade.
Mr. Tadic and Secretary Rice did sign a status-of-forces agreement defining the legal status of any U.S. military personnel, who may operate on Serbian soil.
The United States has similar accords with more than 100 other countries. The Serbian president said he hoped the agreement would be a springboard to more military cooperation, and open the way to private U.S. investment in his country.
3. Demand presented for fighting Albanian terrorism in Kosovo
Press Department of the Diocese of Ras-Prizren – September 5, 2006
http://www.eparhija-prizren.com/vest_eng.php?id=96
STRPCE, Sept 4 (Tanjug) - The Kosovo-Metohija Serb National Council (SNV) concluded at a session held in Brezovica on Sunday 'that the security situation in the province is extremely difficult, that (ethnic) Albanian fundamentalists continue to commit murders and terrorist attacks against Serbs, Serb property and Serb sacred objects across the province."
"These attacks are more and more frequent and are becoming more specific as regards the way in which they are carried out, since in committing them, children and young people are taken advantage of and abused, which, regarding the way of organization and operation, reminds of the attacks Muslim terrorists are making around the world," said the conclusions of the meeting.
The recent bomb attack (carried out by a sixteen-year old ethnic Albanian) on a catering establishment in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica, when a number of Serbs were hurt, is only one of the 170 attacks over the past six months.
"Because of such a situation in the province, the Council demands from representatives of the international community, particularly of the United States as the most important leader in the fight against terrorism, to become aware of the reality in the province and decisively oppose to the terrorist operations in Kosovo-Metohija, just like they do every where else in the world where terrorism presents itself."
In the conclusions that were adopted at the meeting, which was attended by a great number of delegates from across the province, it was pointed out that SNV "closely follows the Vienna negotiations and backs all the activities of the Serbian negotiating team, which are realized in keeping with the Plan for the resolution of the future status of Kosovo-Metohija."
"Any other solution that envisages any division of modification of borders, which would violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state of Serbia and be in contradiction with the international law, as well as any other imposed solution, will be unacceptable for and decisively rejected by the Serb nation and the SNV of Kosovo-Metohija," the delegates underscored.
The American Council for Kosovo is an activity of Venable LLP and Global Strategic Communications Group, which are registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as agents for the Serbian National Council of Kosovo and Metohija. Additional information with respect to this matter is on file with the Foreign Agents Registration Unit of the Department of Justice in Washington DC.
September 07, 2006
Keep Kosovo in Serbia - Ltr by Michael Pravica
The Washington Times
Letters
7 September 2006
Keep Kosovo in Serbia
Thank you for publishing "Stability for the Balkans" by Reps. Dan Burton and Joe Wilson (Commentary, Sunday). I sincerely appreciated the congressmen's well-reasoned arguments opposing the illegal granting of independence to Kosovo against the wishes of the Serbian government.
In considering Kosovo, let's bear in mind that the Serbs and Albanians have coexisted in the Serbian province for more than 1,300 years. Former Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito's denial of the right of return of 200,000 Serbians who were cleansed by Albanian fascists during World War II, his encouragement of illegal migration into the province after the war and the granting of local autonomy to the province in 1974 were all in the interest of weakening and reducing Serbia.
These actions fomented an Albanian drive to ethnically "purify" Kosovo of Serbs and their 1,300-year-old cultural presence in the Serbian province for the past 60 years. Granting independence to Kosovo would be an acquiescence to the principle that terrorists can successfully alter the borders of sovereign nations and that national borders mean nothing -- a dangerous precedent for our own nation, which also is battling illegal immigration.
Today's Kosovo is a terrorist haven and black hole of Europe where thriving sex-slave and drug-running trades give plenty of financial support to terrorist training camps for Osama bin Laden's followers within the province. We even have lost our own soldiers in Kosovo because of these fanatics, but our mainstream media has yet to report this.
Our nation's struggle against this sort of barbaric Islamofascist terrorism is completely in contrast to some of our politicians' misguided support for Kosovo's independence. It is high time for President Bush to write a new page in Balkan history by recognizing that Serbia is one of the few truly democratic nations in the Balkans and that it is trying to put the past behind it as it looks toward a more Western-leaning future.
Serbs make up one of the largest ethnic groups in the Balkans, and thus Serbia would be an anchor of stability amidst a Pandora's box of ethnic rivalries there. Serbia also was one of America's staunchest allies in World War I and World War II. Let's stop making Serbia former President Bill Clinton's personal punching bag and endeavor to rewrite the tremendous wrongs that were done in the Balkans. For the sake of global stability and respect for national sovereignty and respect for international laws, Kosovo must stay within Serbia.
MICHAEL PRAVICA
Henderson, Nev.
