Posted on 08/24/2007 6:15:23 PM PDT by Kaslin
U.S. involvement in the Balkan wars occurred on President Clinton's watch, and we're still waiting for results. They hardly trump the progress we now seem to be making to win the war in Iraq.
Back in 1999, Clinton ordered NATO to bomb Serb positions around the breakaway province for 78 days as the United Nations dithered. Then he passed the buck to the U.N. for final resolution of Kosovo's status.
"I think that it's obvious that we are doing the right thing, and we are going to prevail," said Vice President Al Gore in April 1999.
Eight years later, 16,500 NATO boots remain on the ground as jawboning between the three U.N.-mandated diplomatic players — the U.S., the European Union and Russia — goes on. And on.
This month, the U.N. set up a 120-day diplomatic talk "surge" with a Dec. 10 deadline to resolve whether Kosovo and its 2 million citizens will go independent or become autonomous within Serbia.
Sensing indecision, hotheaded Serb nationalists and Kosovar independence militants are hinting at renewed warfare. Law enforcers report intercepting big arms shipments in Kosovo. Indecision is creating a void and emboldening troublemakers.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
What has the current administration done to change Clinton’s policy?
Of course, if hostilities resume, it will be Bush’s fault.
Christiane Amanpour stated the other day that Bosnia was one of the examples where they have worked things out and it is peaceful - a success story for negotiation.
They could have pulled those troops out of Kosovo and used them for Iraq/Afghanistan and therefore pulled the rug out from under the Albanians.
the title “balkan ghosts” refers to an overrated book by robert kaplan
which was ceremoniously read by bill and hillary before they decided to invade kosovo.
“balkan ghosts” imo is not a great book, it’s a mediocre travelogue copied after robecca west’s famous “black lamb and grey falcon”.
kosovo is sacred to the serbs.
the u.s. is on the wrong side of this war.
When the author says there are 16,500 boots remaining on the ground, does he mean only 8,250 troops remaining? Assuming all soldiers have two legs of course.
The Kosovo ‘War’
1) Trumped up intellegence, falsely claiming Serb genocide
2) Unilateral action, by-passing the UN where Russia would have vetoed our incursion
3) No authorization of the use of force by the US Congress
4) Multiple war crimes, such as targetting electric power generation, bridges over the Danube, and civilian targets
5) Creating diplomatic problems, by bombing the Chinese embassy TWICE
yep.
Welcome back!
Christian Amanpour would be tried for malpractice in any other profession.
That's a serious charge there, sport.
So how's about you document your allegations and be prepared to stand behind them.
Sure: targetting civilian installations, such as electric plants and bridges, are war crimes. Plus, the bombing was in Serbia, not Kosovo, to terrorize the Serb populace. Also, we bombed Montenegren cities. Montenegro was a puppet state of Serbia.
It will do you some good to familiarize yourself with the relevant laws on the subject.
OK. Firstly, Article 53 of the UN charter calls for “no enforcement” without the approval of the Security Council. NATO by-passed the UN Security Council since the Russians would veto. (Note how we adhered to the UN Resolutions in the build up to the Iraq War).
Protocol 1 of the Geneva Conventions prohibits targetting civilians (refugee columns in Djakovica and Korica in April) or civilian installations (20 bridges and the Serb TV station).
The British Parliament’s Select Committee on Foreign Affairs in June 2000 called the was “of dubious legality”
But the Clinton Admin said that they stayed within the bounds of the law, which should tell you something, too.
When it became clear that the Serbs were not being defeated militarily, we began to target their cities.
and folks can’t figure out why the north slavs and the east slavs
are angry about what happened to the south slavs by clinton.
And note how we ignored the UN when we finally invaded Iraq. What's your point here? That the UN charter is binding on the US and NATO, but can be ignored by the likes of Slobodan Milosevic as he persecuted and murdered ethnic minorities within his own borders?
Rubbish.
Protocol 1 of the Geneva Conventions prohibits targetting civilians (refugee columns in Djakovica and Korica in April) or civilian installations (20 bridges and the Serb TV station).
Here's Protocol 1, wherein article 51 is the relevant portion.
Regarding the civilian deaths in the Korisa woods and the Djakovica-Decane Road, there was no violation of Article 51 unless those civilians were deliberately targeted, which was not the case - or are you implying that NATO deliberately targeted K-Albanian civlians here?
Bridges? You're kidding - right? Ever since we developed the capability to strike the enemies transportation choke points we have done so - do yourself a favor and look up 'The Transportation Plan' circa 1944. In short, bombing logisitcal infrastructure (bridges) is not a war crime, nor, so long as the world remains sane, is it likely to ever become one.
RTS? No different from our targeting Radio Shari'a in Kabul in 2001 - although I don't know if we gave advance warning in Afghanistan like we did in Belgrade. At any rate, not a war crime.
So, in summation, you made a very specific and serious charge about our pilots... well, American pilots perpetrating war crimes during Operation Allied Force in 1999. I find you wanting both in your understanding of the relevant law, and the actual incidents you identified as "war crimes".
When it became clear that the Serbs were not being defeated militarily, we began to target their cities.
Right.
We dropped on the order of 28,000 bombs during Allied Force, yet with the most advanced military in the world doing it's utmost to kill Serbian civlians, we're so incompetent we had to expend ~56 bombs in order to kill each civilian.
Milosevic is dead. No need to keep his propaganda alive.
Dubious legality, from a member of the coalition.
Why did we by-pass the Security Council?
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