Posted on 01/27/2006 2:20:49 PM PST by Doctor13
MOSCOW, Russia (UPI) -- Several leaders of conflict-ridden regions have left the political scene recently, with each man`s departure emphasizing how important or relative the influence of the individual on history can be.
The demise of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat removed a big obstacle from the path to settlement, but it was only one of many. Disease has disabled Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, whose will and influence allowed peacekeepers to make a few more difficult steps on this road. But his departure from the political scene will not change the situation a great deal. Sharon has done the most he can regarding the situation in the Palestinian territory. If Hamas comes to power there, which seems probable now, Israel will have no negotiating partner.
The same could be said about the situation in Kosovo after the death of President Ibrahim Rugova. His role in the region was great in some aspects and negligible in others, because not everything depended on his word.
With his artistic scarf wrapped around his neck and an intellectual face, Rugova was a find for Europe that allowed it to camouflage several gross mistakes it made in the Balkans together with the United States.
The Albanians` massacre in Kosovo had to be stopped. But the trouble is that the West gave them weapons and political protection and closed its eyes to their crimes against innocent Serbs. It hoped to appease the province, but only changed the poles of violence and hatred by replacing the genocide of Albanians with the annihilation of Serbs.
The European peacekeepers, which stood by while Albanian field commanders torched Orthodox churches and the homes of peaceful Serbs, looted the country and traded in weapons and drugs, actually did their best to force the Serbs from the birthplace of their civilization.
In that situation Rugova -- a man of iron will and a firm advocate of a peaceful way towards the independence of Kosovo who was sometimes compared to Gandhi -- became the trump card in the hands of European 'peacekeepers.' Rugova hated Serbs, which was understandable because they had killed his father, but he was ready to shake hands with Milosevic and even exchange polite smiles with him if this helped his cause. Such a man was like the magic wand for many European politicians.
Rugova was invaluable to the outside world because his intellectual face masked the wild world of field commanders standing behind his back. The foreign policy image of Kosovo depended entirely on the 'Albanian Gandhi.' At the same time, he was irreplaceable for 'domestic consumption' too, doing his best to keep back the dogs of war who dreamed of independence for Kosovo at all costs.
The president restrained the most radical forces in Kosovo with the promise that they would attain their goal by peaceful means. He died shortly before the independence talks were to commence with Serbia.
I cannot imagine what Europe will do without him, because Kosovo has not produced a second moderate and respected leader of the same magnitude. From now on, the Kosovo Serbs, who number only about 7,000, will not be able to stay in their homes. And the sooner they leave them, the more chances they will have to keep their lives. The dogs of war have broken free from their leash.
Worse still, even a 100 percent ethnic purge of the province, with up to the last Serb forced out, will not restore peace there. History knows many examples of how field commanders fought trying to divide power among them after coming to power. As a result, Europe will suffer not only because a restless enclave torn apart by internal strife might appear in Kosovo, but also because the flight of Serbs has turned it into a drugs transshipment center. Few Europeans may be aware but West European teenagers use the drugs delivered from Kosovo.
The death of Rugova has laid bare the mistakes European politicians made in the Balkans. Now they have an alternative: either continue to claim that they are doing everything right, or to admit to their mistakes and draw appropriate conclusions for the future.
Will Europe stand by and allow the KLA to launch their Final Solution to the Serbian Problem?
Peace and justice will only return to Kosovo alongside the Serbian Army.
Good article!
Is it possibile that someone is actualy writting the truth?
Kosovo drugs at dealer arround YOUR corner!
Pablo Escobar, who was that?
Bill@Maddie! Evry Junkie`s icones!
[International]Crisis Group closes Belgrade office | 10:16 January 27 | Beta
BELGRADE -- Friday – The International Crisis Group is closing its office in Belgrade, while the office chief, James Lion, will be staying in Belgrade this year, working as a special advisor for the Balkans.
“You should be happy that we are leaving. We are going somewhere where shots are being fired, and our feeling is that there will be no more shot fired here.” Lion told daily Blic.
He said that that even though the ICG is leaving, he will be staying in Serbia, adding that the tycoons which he has attacked in the past have not scared him away.
“What tycoons? The ICG is financed by the European Union, George Soros, Bill Gates. None of these people ever put pressure on us to deal with a certain topic. Tycoons can continue to hang around, we are coming, because this is the plan that I relayed to Tadic, Kostunica and Bulatovic. This we know, it is not new information.” Lion said.
Nicholas White, director of the ICG’s office in Brussels, said that Lion’s dismissal has to do with having to decrease the number of employees within the context of calming down regional situation.
“I have found no faults in his work.” White said, adding that the closing of the Belgrade office was planned in 2003, but that the change of plans came as a result of the assassination of prime minister Zoran Djindjic.
[From: B92.net]
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