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First, there has been a lot of discussion of the situation in Kosovo since the break- up of Yugoslavia, and it was generally understood that there would be a crisis there eventually. Second, there was solid evidence that the Serbs were planning a spring campaign of ethnic cleansing, and therefore that the crisis loomed. Third, the ongoing attempt to negotiate a settlement failed, in my view partially through NATO intransigence. Fourth, those who point to Clinton's "FDR" envy are correct. He has complained in public about the difficulty of establishing a legacy in peacetime. Fifth, his image has been so tarnished by the scandal, with the way the public views him as a person very unflattering, that a narcissist like him might very well be swayed to action by vanity. Sixth, Albright, as a person with roots in Central Europe, is sensitive to the charge of standing by while large- scale atrocities are being committed, when they are in NATO's backyard, and she is the prime instigator of this, as I understand it from the Washington Post. |
