KK-Forum,
klipper noe fra ZNet (egentlig fra The Independent, London) om KLA. Merk
f.eks. at forfatteren hevder at
"... a long-standing KLA policy of emptying Kosovo of non-Albanians, a
policy unchanged since ethnic Albanians enjoyed political autonomy in
Kosovo from 1974 to 1989. Consider that when the KLA had temporary control
over the Drenica area in 1998, its first decisions were to ban political
parties and expel non-Albanians. None of this is surprising, and in fact
the KLA's deeds are fully consistent with its ideology of authoritarianism
and ethnic exclusionism. What is completely inexcusable, however, is the
response of the international community."
og at
" Once NATO went to war portraying Serbs as evil and Albanians as angels,
it became impossible to admit that there are no angels in Kosovo, but only
a shifting balance of evil against evil."
og at
"Kosovo is on the way to becoming a purely Albanian area under the de facto
control of a profoundly antidemocratic, duplicitous and violent organization."
og konkluderer - illevarslende - slik:
"And within Serbia itself, the Serbian refugees from Kosovo will join those
who left Croatia and Bosnia to create a volatile and vengeful mass of some
800,000 -- 10 percent of the electorate -- that will be unlikely to support
any Serbian government prepared to accept a more democratic and less
nationalistic government. Whether Milosevic or the nationalists of Vojislav
Seselj will be able to take advantage of these people's frustrations
remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that they have left their
homes behind, but not their grievances. NATO's bombs are only as smart as
its leaders, and victory in Kosovo has so far gone to the tyrants."
Knut Rognes
************************''
FOREIGN POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Wednesday, September 8, 1999
NATO'S KLA PROBLEM
by Michael Radu
The war in Kosovo ended a few months ago, but the practice of "ethnic
cleansing" is flourishing, this time perpetrated by ethnic Albanians who
are proving even more adept at it than the Serbs. Whereas Serbian brutality
and the war itself pushed only about half of the Albanian population into
temporary exile, fully 90 percent of the non-Albanian minority (which
numbered about 200,000 at the beginning of the year) have now left the
region -- this, during three months of "peace" and under the oversight of
the United Nations and NATO. Simply and undiplomatically put, the Kosovo
Force (KFOR) and the United Nation's viceroy in Kosovo, France's Bernard
Kouchner, are losing their half-hearted struggle to maintain the myth of a
"multinational" Kosovo. The reason: the behavior of the Albanians led by
the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). First, the KLA and its supporters
claimed, probably with some justification, that the Gypsy minority of
30,000 participated in the looting of Albanian property during the war. As
a result, the entire Gypsy population was successfully hounded out of
Kosovo. The larger Serbian minority has been subject to murder, harassment,
and destruction of Serbian historic monuments, churches, and other
property. Almost 300 Serbs have been killed by Albanians since the end of
the war. And yet somehow, in the face of incontrovertible evidence of these
crimes, the KLA-led Albanians have succeeded in maintaining the widespread
perception that they are merely the "victims" of Serbian brutality, and as
such, must be beyond reproach. The problem is that the KLA wants to have it
both ways -- it seeks international recognition as the effective government
of Kosovo while simultaneously denying any responsibility for ethnic
cleansing. On the one hand, the organization claims to be in control, and
its unelected government claims to be the legitimate authority in Kosovo.
It has appointed "mayors," has established what it calls a "police force,"
and generally acts as if it is the government of a sovereign state of
Kosovo -- which has been its stated goal ever since Albania's collapse in
1997 made unification with that country an unattractive option in the short
term. On the other hand, the KLA military commander, Agim Ceku, claims that
whatever abuses against non-Albanians have taken place are the work of
rogue elements over which his organization has no control. His political
boss, the self-proclaimed Prime Minister of the "Kosovo government," Hashim
Thaqi, even sheds crocodile tears over the fate of minorities. No matter
that KLA commanders were directing "spontaneous" Albanian demonstrations
and attacks on French KFOR troops in Mitrovica. KLA commanders are in tight
control of most, if not all, armed Albanian groups in Kosovo and thus
directly responsible for the killings of Serbs and Gypsies. Nor has the
Albanian leadership earned any credibility for its adherence to agreements
it signed. On June 21, 1999, Hashim Thaqi signed an Undertaking of
Demilitarization and Transformation by the UCK (the Albanian acronym of the
KLA). Since then, it has violated each and every provision of that
document. According to point 10 (a), it was to cease firing all weapons,
and yet Albanians even in Pristina fire at will. Point 10 (d) states that
the KLA is not to attack, detain or intimidate civilians; nor is it to
attack, confiscate or violate the property of civilians. But the KLA
"police" are doing nothing but encouraging and participating in the
veritable pogroms that now terrorize the Serbs. Article 23 provides for the
KLA to surrender its heavy weapons. It has not, and mortar attacks on
Serbian peasants have killed dozens. What should be obvious is that these
violations are not emotional outbursts by isolated individuals. Rather,
they are part and parcel of a long-standing KLA policy of emptying Kosovo
of non-Albanians, a policy unchanged since ethnic Albanians enjoyed
political autonomy in Kosovo from 1974 to 1989. Consider that when the KLA
had temporary control over the Drenica area in 1998, its first decisions
were to ban political parties and expel non-Albanians. None of this is
surprising, and in fact the KLA's deeds are fully consistent with its
ideology of authoritarianism and ethnic exclusionism. What is completely
inexcusable, however, is the response of the international community. Mr.
Kouchner said that he was shocked at what he chose to call "Albanian
revenge attacks," as if history began with the Serbian expulsion of
Albanians. And how could General Wesley Clark's willfully ignorant claim
that there is no evidence of KLA involvement in ethnic cleansing be
interpreted as anything but permission to finish the job? True, KFOR and
Kouchner have few choices at this point, and certainly no pleasant ones.
Once NATO went to war portraying Serbs as evil and Albanians as angels, it
became impossible to admit that there are no angels in Kosovo, but only a
shifting balance of evil against evil. To hope, as President Clinton did,
for a "multicultural and multiethnic" Kosovo, or to lament the zero-sum
game played by both Serbs and Albanians, as Kouchner did, is nonsensical.
The Western powers' misplaced good-vs.-evil dichotomy was already evident
last October, when the United States and NATO imposed a de facto
capitulation upon Serbia by requiring it to cease counterinsurgency
operations against the KLA. It continued with the June 1999 agreement
ending the war, which eliminated all Serbian administrative, police, and
military presence in Kosovo -- everything, in short, but the pretense that
the region was still part of Serbia. NATO's misjudgment was compounded by
the fact that, after it eliminated the Serb presence, it was unprepared to
replace it. The porous border with chaotic Albania is left to Italian
troops -- tantamount to making it even more open. And there is virtually no
international police presence to challenge the KLA, the promised Fijians
(!) notwithstanding. But most egregious is the lack of any long-term
strategy to deal with the KLA. The cold reality is that, except for a few
tenuous Serbian enclaves (parts of Mitrovica being the largest), Kosovo is
on the way to becoming a purely Albanian area under the de facto control of
a profoundly antidemocratic, duplicitous and violent organization. And
Thaqi and co. are no doubt aware that as the minority exodus from Kosovo
nears completion there will be even less incentive for KFOR to crack down
on the KLA. Worse still, the growth of this totalitarian cancer is being
encouraged by KFOR's inability or unwillingness to stop it, and paid for by
West European and American taxpayers. But the costs of the "humanitarian"
intervention advocated by Clinton, Blair, and Albright will be measured in
more than just dollars. The credibility of NATO, the United States, and the
United Nations have all suffered severe damage. And within Serbia itself,
the Serbian refugees from Kosovo will join those who left Croatia and
Bosnia to create a volatile and vengeful mass of some 800,000 -- 10 percent
of the electorate -- that will be unlikely to support any Serbian
government prepared to accept a more democratic and less nationalistic
government. Whether Milosevic or the nationalists of Vojislav Seselj will
be able to take advantage of these people's frustrations remains to be
seen. What is clear, however, is that they have left their homes behind,
but not their grievances. NATO's bombs are only as smart as its leaders,
and victory in Kosovo has so far gone to the tyrants.
The Independent (UK)
20 September 1999.
(Beklager at det er litt gammelt nytt, det var blitt liggende)
se
http://www.zmag.org/CrisesCurEvts/klasincewar.htm
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