Right. American involvement in the former Yugoslavia predates Clinton, you know. It didn't accomplish much, though, until somebody put a little muscle behind it. That somebody wasn't George Bush, needless to say.
You're also quite uninformed about where the current conflict is about. Trying to smear the ethic Albanian rebels in Kosovo as Muslims is odd. A background article:
Ranks of Albanian Rebels Increase in Kosovo nytimes.com
This is datelined April 6, so it's not like it hasn't been covered before. The usual Serbian tactics have been in use for a while, too.
The Serbs, rather than hunt down armed groups, blasted villages into rubble with 20-millimeter cannon, grenade launchers and .50-caliber machine guns. Those trapped in the houses died and many of those who fled were gunned down, according to witnesses. Many bodies, laid out at mass funerals, bore signs of mutilation and summary execution.
Them Serbs, your kind of guys, eh John? This is an old story, from April, of course, things are heating up again because old habits die hard with the Serbs.
Serbian officials have tried to blame the rebel fighters for the carnage, saying the guerrillas executed those who tried to run away.
More to the point, oh objective and factual one:
The ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people, had their autonomy stripped by Belgrade in 1989 when they began to call for an independent state. A shadow government led by Ibrahim Rugova has mounted a disciplined program of civic resistance that has seen the ethnic Albanians boycott all state institutions, set up their own schools and administration, and collect taxes.
The failure after eight years to achieve independence, coupled with the police sweeps, appears to have doomed the peaceful resistance. Many of the funds collected for the administration among ethnic Albanians abroad are being diverted to the coffers of the rebel movement, according to officials close to Rugova.
As to the odd "Wag the Dog" smear, we have this other story, from today's paper.
Security Council Is Expected to Condemn Kosovo Killings nytimes.com
But any ultimate action would depend on support from the Clinton administration. A spokesman for the State Department, James Foley, said Wednesday, "Military action is a live and real prospect."
But it is uncertain whether the administration, preoccupied by the Lewinsky scandal and facing November elections, will determine to strike at the Serbs. And even if it does, Milosevic appears so defiant of world opinion that he might be willing to withstand an air strike in order to crush the Albanians.
Sorry to bother you with these smears, unsubstantiated rumors, and innuendo on the matter. You are now welcome to return to the objective, substantial, factual discussion favored by the fans of Ken Starr.
Cheers, Dan.
|
