Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Kosovo -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Philosopher who wrote (2172)	4/6/1999 6:26:00 PM
From: Eddy Blinker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17770

To: The Philosopher who wrote (2172)	4/6/1999 6:27:00 PM
From: nuke44	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 17770

For once I agree with you on something. There is no doubt that Serbia's intensified onslaught against the Kosovars was a premeditated act. There's also no doubt that it was timed to coincide with any NATO actions against Serbia. This premeditation and cold-blooded calculations make Serbia even more liable for the fate of the Kosovars, not less. It also makes their claims that they were acting within their rights as a sovereign state invalid. Any "sovereign" state that would use their supposed sovereign subjects as human cannon fodder to enact some sort of warped revenge against outside intervention has abdicated any legitimate claims it has to sovereignty over those people and by extension to their land and homes. Your claims that NATO is to blame for Serbian atrocities likewise invalidate any other arguments you have on the subject.

To: The Philosopher who wrote (2172)	4/6/1999 6:57:00 PM
From: Paul Merriwether	Respond to of 17770

How could Kosovo be partitioned? Serbia could keep a narrow swath of land along the province's northern, eastern and southern edges. That would allow Belgrade to retain sovereignty over most important Serb monasteries, churches, and other historic sites. Because it is located in central Kosovo, the famous Field of the Blackbirds, scene of the mythologized 1389 battle in which Serbian forces were defeated by invading Turks, would probably remain in ethnic Albanian hands. But Serbia can't have everything. The whole point of this intervention would be to drive Serbian forces out of the bulk of Kosovo and reclaim it for the ethnic Albanians. The Clinton administration objects to the idea of Kosovar independence, worrying about a secessionist domino effect that could hit Macedonia, Turkey, Hungary and other countries. But Serbia's extreme brutality toward the ethnic Albanians has deprived Belgrade of its legitimate claim to rule them. Moreover, it is a little late to worry about the precedent of allowing partition. The former Yugoslav republics of Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia have already gone their separate ways, and Bosnia has both gained independence and been partitioned all but in name. In fact, the administration could go even further, offering to revise the Dayton accords to allow the Serbian part of Bosnia to secede--provided that Mr. Milosevic lets the Kosovars, and if they so choose the Montenegrins, do the same. This operation would not require 200,000 NATO troops; 100,000 to 125,000 should suffice. That is roughly the number of military personnel that Serbia deploys. (Likewise, the U.S.-led coalition had rough numerical equality with Iraqi forces in Desert Storm.) A NATO force of that size would have superiority over Serbian units now in Kosovo, who now number 50,000 to 60,000. Serbia might reinforce them if NATO invaded, but it would probably keep some troops up north as a hedge against a NATO ground attack on Belgrade. All told, the U.S. would have to send only 50,000 to 75,000 troops to Kosovo. This approach may be too muscular for some and too soft for others. But it stands the best chance of ending the ethnic cleansing and saving Kosovar Albanian lives, without provoking staunch Serbian resistance on the battlefield or forcing NATO to keep large numbers of soldiers in an independent Kosovo for years. (Excerpted from the WSJ)