John,
I would like to consider the big picture.... If Kosovo today really looks like Berlin in 1945 then Milosevic should be found suicided in his bunker pretty soon.
I think that the US had the willpower to go ahead in a massive ground attack but they had to agree on a compromise with their European partners. Now, talking of WWII similarities, while it is clear that Nazism was born in Germany and a milder version emerged in fascist Italy, it is a fact that the rest of Europe did collaborate with Nazi invaders in the ethnic cleansing of the time, that was the extermination of Jews. France, through the Vichy regime (Pierre Laval, Maréchal Pétain, etc.); Belgium, through Flemish nationalists (VNV) and the ''ambiguous'' attitude of King Leopold III (who met with Hitler in Berchtesgaden), Croatia, etc...
After WWII, Europe had to reconcile as a whole with her conscience and the motto was Plus jamais ça, ie Never again. And anti-semitism was stigmatized as a racist, non-democratic stance, not as just another ''opinion'' as before the war. Actually, most European countries went even farther than the US in that matter: waving swastikas, wearing Nazi symbols, and propagating anti-semitic propaganda is a CRIME and anyone who does it can be indicted. In Western Europe, free speech stops at racism and anti-semitism. Well, considering the revival of several far-rightist parties throughout Europe, one might question the usefulness of such an attitude....
Anyway, I think that today Europe is facing the same issue: 50 years ago, Christian Europe had to cope with the Jewish question and Europeans managed to cure their century-old anti-semitism. Yet, remember that the first official meeting between a Catholic Pope and a Rabbi occured only a few years ago. Likewise, today Europe has to demonstrate that it can stomach Muslims within its borders.
That will be a much harder challenge than the Jews's because Milosevic didn't liquidate 6 million Muslims! He only ''played'' with them, pushing them around like a herd of worthless sheeps... So, will Europeans behave decently toward their Muslim minorities? Or will they agree to go on dealing with a bigot head of state who considers Muslim Albanians as lower-grade citizens? |
