Date: Wed, 7 Apr 1999 09:37:33 -0400
From: lbekich-AT-MNSi.Net (Larry Bekich)
Subject: Fwd: (en) EDWARD SAID -- Protecting the Kosovars


>> ________________________________________________
>>      A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
>>            http://www.ainfos.ca/
>> ________________________________________________
>>
>>Protecting the Kosovars By Edward Said
>>     ONCE again, and led by the United States as usual, a war is being
>>conducted -this time in Europe - against an unprincipled and racist
>>dictator who will almost certainly survive the onslaught even though
>>thousands of innocents will pay the actual price. The pretext this time is
>>of course the persecution, ethnic cleansing and continued oppression of
>>Albanians in the province of Kosovo by the Serbian forces of Slobodan
>>Milosevic.
>>
>>     No one at all doubts that horrible things have been done to the
>>Albanians under Serbian domination, but the question is whether US/NATO
>>policy will alleviate things or whether they will in fact be made worse by
>>a bombing campaign whose supposed goal is to make Milosevic give up his
>>policies.
>>
>>     Since, as in most cases, the bombing campaign is not all that it
>>seems to be, a look behind the headlines is worth the effort, especially
>>given the new ferocity and willingness to intervene militarily on the part
>>of US foreign policy decision makers (Clinton, Cohen, Albright, Berger).
>>
>>     One needs to remember that since the US is a world, and not merely a
>>regional, power one calculation that enters each of its foreign policy
>>decisions is how the deployment of its military might will affect the US's
>>image in the eyes of other, especially other competitive countries. Henry
>>Kissinger made that point a central concern of his Indochinese policy when
>>he undertook the secret bombing of Laos:  your enemies will learn that
>>there are no limits to what you are prepared to do, even to the point of
>>appearing totally irrational. Thus the exercise of massive destructiveness
>>wholly disproportionate to the goal, say, of stopping an enemy from
>>advancing further, is a principal aim of this policy, as it has been of
>>Israel's policy in southern Lebanon, where massive raids on civilian
>>encampments do absolutely nothing to affect Israel's main enemies, the
>>Hizballah guerillas. Punishment is its own goal, bombing as a display of
>>NATO authority its own satisfaction, especially when there is little
>>chance of retaliation from the enemy.
>>
>>     That is one consideration behind the current bombing of Yugoslavia.
>>Another is the misguided and totally hopeless
>>goal of humbling, and perhaps even destroying Milosevic's regime.
>>This, as has been the case in Iraq, is illusory.
>>No nation, no matter how badly attacked from the air is going to
>>rally to the attackers.
>>
>>     If anything, Milosevic's regime is now strengthened. All Serbs feel
>>that their country is attacked unjustly, and that the cowardly war from
>>the air has made them feel persecuted.  Besides, not even the Kosovo
>>Albanians believe that the air campaign is about independence for Kosovo
>
>>or about saving Albanian lives: that is a total illusion.
>>
>>     What transpired before the bombing was that the US seems to have
>>persuaded the Kosovars that if they went along with the "peace plan"
>>Kosovo would get its independence; this was never said, but only implied,
>>leading the Kosovars to expect NATO help. But, as usual, the US has never
>>stated unequivocally that it is for full self-determination for all the
>>peoples of former Yugoslavia. There should have been a straight-out and
>>clearly stated willingness to accept self-determination for Kosovo as well
>>as a safeguarding of rights for the Serbian minority there. None of this
>>was done. And neither were the consequences thought through, i.e., the
>>certainty that the Serb forces would respond to NATO bombardment by
>>intensifying their attacks against Albanian civilians, more ethnic
>>cleansing, more refugees, more trouble for the future.  There is now talk
>>of 200,000 ground troops (mostly American) to enter the battle and expand
>>the war, with the attendant problems of prolonged occupation, guerilla
>>warfare, greater devastation, more refugees, and so on. A lot of this
>>comes from the delusion that the US is the world's policeman. In the
>>meantime, its genocidal policy against Iraq continues, and its sanctions
>>policy against other Islamic or Arab countries also continues.
>>
>>     Nothing of what the US or NATO does now has anything really to do
>>with protecting the Kosovars or bringing them independence: it is rather a
>>display of military might whose long-range effect is disastrous, just as
>>is a similar policy in the Middle East. In 1994 when a US intervention
>>might have averted genocide in Rwanda, there was no action. The stakes
>>were not high enough, and black people not worth the effort.
>>
>>     Therefore it seems to me imperative that the NATO bombing should
>>stop, and a multi-party conference of all the peoples of former Yugoslavia
>>be called to settle differences between them on the basis of
>>self-determination for all, not just for some, nor for some at the expense
>>of others. This is the same principle that has been violated by
>>US-sponsored peace processes elsewhere, notably in the Middle East.
>>
>>     There is nothing about the current policy of bombing Serbian forces
>>that will either guarantee democracy for Serbia or protect the Albanians
>>who are still being treated horribly by Milosevic's forces. In its
>>arrogance and ill-considered military deployment the US has forced NATO to
>>go along with it, whereas it is quite clear that there is increasing
>>disunity within the NATO ranks, not just Greece and Italy and Turkey, but
>>also France and Germany.
>>
>>     The greatest danger of all is that more people will be displaced,
>>more lives lost, and more fragmentation will occur in places like
>>Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. All this for the US to assert its will
>>and to show the world who is boss. The humanitarian concerns expressed are
>>the merest hypocrisy since what really counts is the expression of US
>>power.
>>
>>     What I find most distressing is that destruction is being wrought
>>from the air along with a fastidiousness articulated about the loss of
>
>>American life that is positively revolting.  Clinton knows well that
>>Americans will not tolerate the loss of life for Americans. Yet he can
>>destroy Yugoslavian lives with impunity from the safety of the ultimate in
>>modern technology and airpower, with American pilots and bombers
>>sanitizing their horror with the illusion of safety and distance.
>>
>>     When will the smaller, lesser, weaker peoples realize that this
>>America is to be resisted at all costs, not pandered or given in to
>>naively?
>>
>>                       ********
>>
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