An alternative argument is that NATO had every right to take action to pre-empt what
was on track to be an aggressive and destabilizing Serbian nation bent on dominating
and possibly aggressing against its neighbors. We can say this because few nationalist
movements are able to contain themselves solely within their own borders, but require
security by intimidating and controlling their neighbors.
That's exactly what we CAN'T say. There was no evidence that Milosovic was planning or intending any actions outside of Kosovo. And even if he did, the only Nato country bordering Yugoslavia is Hungary, and they were in no way threatened. Greece is the other side of Albania, but Greece is generally a supporter of Yugoslavia, and certainly didn't ask for help in this case. Italy is across the water, but again, they didn't feel threatened in the least and didn't ask for Nato's intervention. The two main countries slavering to go to war were Clinton (to get China off the front pages of the paper and try to create a humanitarian legacy to wind up his term with) and Blair (his motives I really don't understand), and there is no argument at all that Yugoslavia threatened the security of either the US or Britain. So the argument that this was a defensive action to defend Nato countries is pure fiction, and dishonest to boot.
As to whether the Serbian people supported Milosovic, there was a strong pro-democracy movement in place, and accepted by Milosovic. But from what I read and hear the democratic forces within Serbia almost universally feel that the bombing was terrible for their movement, because it united people behind Milosovic and against the West. The pro-democracy leaders I have heard speaking on NPR say that this war has set their movement back by at least ten years.
From what I can see, the bulk of the Serbs interviewed didn't particularly support the Kosovo campaign, and don't understand why they are suffering for it.
The West has basically demonized itself in the eyes of many Serbs. Any hope that we could have served as an objective peacemaker is long gone. |
