Goldsnow,
I'm afraid you're dead off-base... The departure of Rev. Jesse Jackson signaled the political defeat of NATO in the Kosovo war.
I know that Reverend Jackson travelled to Belgrade ''on his own'', that is without the official support from the White House. Yet, I'm not that stupid to believe that if such a ''religious'' trip was hurting the U.S. policy in the Balkans, Clinton wouldn't have strongly opposed it. So, the fact is that Clinton LET Rev. Jackson go to Belgrade in order for the US diplomacy to reach an honorable exit strategy...
The main reason for this sudden turnaround in the Balkan crisis is the unwillingness of NATO's European members to go ahead with the ground operation: such an outcome would have triggered serious political crises throughout the EU: with the coming EU Parliament elections on June 13th, France's Communist ministers would likely have resigned; Italy's post-Communist ministers'd have followed suit; same with Germany's Green ministers... Not to speak of outbursts of anti-Americanism in Greece (resentful about the wrecked holiday season), Russia, Montenegro, Macedonia,...
So, all in all, I'm afraid we're in for an ''Iraqi scenario'': after all, Saddam bombed his own Kurdish folks with chemicals and is still in power... Although I much respect Civil Rights Activist Jesse Jackson, I think his trip to Belgrade was the WORST thing to happen for those of us looking for a sound POLITICAL settlement of the Kosovo war. Let me be clear with a wild historical metaphor:
Imagine that, back in 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt had preemptively struck Berlin and other German military targets. As expected, the Wannsee extermination agenda would have been accelerated: more and more Jews, Gypsies, gays, and Communists would have been sent in concentration camps. Then, suddenly, some Reverend McPherson --a white, non Jewish individual in order not to offend the Fuhrer-- casts off in New York, aboard an ocean liner... His destination: Hamburg, Germany. His mission: to meet Adolf Hitler in his Austrian country resort in Berchtesgaden...
After a couple of days praying, crying, gossiping, and laughing around, the two men agree on freeing three U.S. crewmembers who were aboard a Boeing B-29 shot down over Germany... Obviously, such a goodwill gesture by the Fuhrer is gleefully welcomed by the American public opinion: Hey, look! this Hitler is no psycho! He's a blood and flesh human being with a heart, with feelings! He's no Saddam!
As a consequence, all the Allied countries involved in a proto-WWII agree to work out some sort of peaceful agreement with A. Hitler and one of their first measure is to call all the Jews, Communists, and other minorities who've been persecuted by the Nazis to pack their bags and get ready to settle back in Germany --the operation's name is Home Sweet Home. How would the Jews and the others have reacted to such a ''humanitarian'' policy? Would they have agreed to live in a country that's still under a Nazi rule, that's still headed by A. Hitler? You tell me! |
