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

To: Broken_Clock who wrote (2323)	4/6/1999 11:22:00 PM
From: George Papadopoulos	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17770

I think SM should demand the resignation of Allbright<g> Armed chiefs fear new Vietnam FROM DAMIAN WHITWORTH IN WASHINGTON AMERICAN military chiefs warned President Clinton before the air campaign began that, by itself, it probably would not work and that they had serious reservations about becoming involved in Kosovo at all. According to The Washington Post, General Hugh Shelton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, led other senior commanders in questioning the basis for action in Kosovo. They are said to remain unconvinced that the air offensive will achieve its goal. But they are also extremely doubtful that ground troops should be introduced. General Shelton and the heads of the services are acutely anxious that the US should not become embroiled in another Vietnam. Before airstrikes began, they challenged the "domino theory" outlined by Madeleine Albright, the Secretary of State, which maintained that losing Kosovo would destabilise the whole region. A similar argument was used over Vietnam. Now they are unhappy about the escalation of the conflict, which they blame on bad weather and the need for Nato consensus on how to wage war. Such incremental increases in involvement were also characteristic of the Vietnam conflict. The commanders had preferred that tougher non-military measures be given a chance to bite, including stringent economic sanctions.

To: Broken_Clock who wrote (2323)	4/6/1999 11:28:00 PM
From: George Papadopoulos	Respond to of 17770

Interesting to see report out of Germany about the KLA and drugs just before the diplomatic meeting: *BONN LOOKS AT THE KLA* Bonn, Germany The Times Syndicate 3-31 Rober Boyes & Eske Wright in Bonn **THE KLADRUGS MONEY LINKED TO THE KOSOVO REBELS*** Bonn, GermanyThe Times Syndicate Roger Boyes and Eske Wright in Bonn March 31, 1999 ******************************************************** KOSOVO CRISIS: THE KOSOVO LIBERATION ARMY, which has won the support of the West for its guerrilla struggle against the heavy armour of the Serbs, is a Marxist-led force funded by dubious sources, including drug money. That is the judgment of senior police officers across Europe. An investigation by The Times has established that police forces in three Western European countries, together with Europol, the European police authority, are separately investigating growing evidence that drug money is funding the KLA's leap from obscurity to power. The financing of the Kosovo guerrilla war poses critical questions and it sorely tests claims to an "ethical" foreign policy. Should the West back a guerrilla army that appears to be partly financed by organised crime? Could the KLA's need for funds be fuelling the heroin trade across Europe? The KKLA has become an essential component of the Kosovo peace agreement; without it, there would be no equal negotiating partner for the Belgrade Government. In military terms, it is in no sense equal to the Serb forces. But it has grown from a theoretical notion to an often successful, very mobile and very visible guerrilla grouping in a remarkably short time. Much of the money funding the KLA is believed to come from legitimate sources--raised by the People's Movement of Kosovo, which is the political wing of the resistance movement. There are about 500,000 Kosovan Albanians in Western Europe who send money back home because it funds healthcare for their cousins. However, some of this cash is believed to be siphoned off for the military. As well as diverting charitable donations from exiled Kosovans, some of the KLA money is thought to come from drug dealing. Sweden is investigating suspicious of a KLA drug connection. "We have intelligence leading us to believe that there could be a connection between drug money and the Kosovo Liberation Army," said Walter Kege, head of the drug enforcement unit in the Swedish police intelligence service. Supporting intelligence has come from other states. "We have yet to find direct evidence, but our experience tells us that the channels for trading hard drugs are also used for weapons," said one Swiss police commander. An official in the Bavarian Interior Ministry also told The Times of a recent fundraising meeting involving some 200 Kosovans in southern Germany. At the end of the session they raised DM100,000 about. This represents a huge sum for ordinary Kosovans and fuels speculation that apparently legitimate fundraising activities are used to launder dirty money. One Western intelligence report quoted by Berliner Zeitung says that DM900 million has reached Kosovo since the guerrillas began operations and half the sum is said to be illegal drug money. In particular, European countries are investigating the Albanian connection: Whether Kosovan Albanians living primarily in Germany and Switzerland are creaming off the profits from inner-city heroin dealing and sending the cash to the KLA. Albania--which plays a key role in channelling money to the Kosovans--is at the hub of Europe's drug trade. Ann intelligence report which was prepared by Germany's Federal Criminal Agency concluded: "Ethnic Albanians are now the most prominent group in the distribution of heroin in Western consumer countries." Europol, which is based in The Hague, is preparing a report for European interior and justice ministers on a connection between the KLA and Albanian drug gangs." Police in the Czech Republic recently tracked down a Kosovo Albanian drug dealer named Doboshi who had escaped from a Norwegian prison where he was serving 12 years for heroin trading. A raid on Doboshi's apartment turned up documents linking him with arms purchases for the KLA. Police sources in Germany have made plain their suspicions: The sudden ascendency of Kosovan Albanians in the heroin trade in Switzerland, Germany and Scandinavia coincides with the sudden growth of the KLA from a ragamuffin peasants' army 2 years ago to a 30,000 strong force equipped with grenade launchers, anti-tank weapons and AK47s.