Posted on 11/20/2001 6:52:51 AM PST by Voronin
THE rapid collapse of the Taliban after weeks of bombing reminds me of Slobodan Milosevic's sudden capitulation in 1999. The military operation in Afghanistan is far from over, but otherwise the parallels are many.
When evil struck America on September 11, all of Kosovo's people were appalled by the tragedy. There were spontaneous demonstrations in the streets, as our heartfelt sympathies went out to one of the nations that stood by us in our hour of need. When we were attacked, it did not matter to America and its Nato allies that many of us were Muslims. All they saw was that we were wronged and they could help.
Now, once again, America, Britain and their coalition partners are taking determined action against international terrorists based in Afghanistan. To describe it as a war against Islam, as Osama bin Laden and his associates have done, is as senseless as describing the Nato air campaign as a war against Orthodox Christianity.
As I listen to reports of American air strikes over Afghanistan, I can remember when Nato aircraft were in action in the skies above Kosovo. We saw them as our saviours, defending us because we were at risk. But some people in Nato countries criticised their governments for intervening. Fortunately for us, they were ignored. For all Kosovo Albanians trapped inside Kosovo, the Nato air strikes held the promise of our future freedom from oppression and danger. We knew that, if the bombing stopped, Milosevic would win and we would all pay a dreadful price.
To a Kosovo Albanian, the criticisms of the military campaign in Afghanistan are strikingly familiar. When Milosevic refused to capitulate after only a few days of bombing, the critics queued up to say the military campaign was flawed and failing. I never thought Milosevic would give up on Kosovo after only a limited bombing campaign. And because of that experience, I have never thought the Afghanistan campaign would be over in a few days. But that does not mean I ever thought the coalition's military strategy was not working. On the contrary, Kosovo shows us that when victory comes, it comes quickly and with little warning. Events over the past week have made that clear again.
Another criticism of the Nato air campaign in Kosovo at the time was that it created, rather than averted, a humanitarian crisis there. People are today saying the same thing about the military campaign in Afghanistan. But in Kosovo, as in Afghanistan, what many people failed to realise was that the humanitarian crisis had begun much earlier. In Kosovo, many thousands of people were displaced by Milosevic's security forces the year before. In Afghanistan, the situation is even more stark: more than 4.5 million Afghans had been forced to flee their homes in the years of conflict before September 11.
In Kosovo, as I believe to be the case in Afghanistan, what many also failed to realise was that military action was the only way to create the conditions for resolving the humanitarian crisis. Following the successful conclusion of the Nato air campaign, nearly all the one million displaced Kosovo Albanians were able to return home and rebuild their lives in relative peace. Without Nato's intervention and determination, hundreds of thousands would still be living in refugee camps all over Europe.
The only real chance that 4.5 million Afghan refugees have of returning to their towns and villages is if America and its allies can see this action through to help create the situation where Afghanistan has a competent and representative government, which wants to live in peace. Only then will the international aid and reconstruction agencies be able to operate freely and help rebuild the country.
Many in the Muslim world are cynical about whether America and its allies will really undertake the long and expensive business of making Afghanistan a viable country again. I can speak only of our experience in Kosovo. Britain, America and their allies did not abandon us when the Nato campaign was over. In total, more than $1.5 billion has been invested in Kosovo's future by the international community over the past two years - more than $750 for each person here.
The uncomfortable reality is that military force is sometimes necessary to protect human rights and enforce the rule of law. In the Balkans, military force brought an end to four years of suffering in Bosnia. It reversed the ethnic cleansing that had begun in Kosovo on a massive scale in 1998. And Nato forces have delivered many of those indicted for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia to justice in the Hague.
To use military force in the pursuit of just objectives poses stark moral choices. But I believe that America and its allies are right to use force in Afghanistan. How else can bin Laden and his lieutenants be held to account for what even his own spokesmen all but admit they carried out on September 11? How else can the Taliban's sponsorship of terrorism be ended? How else can Afghanistan take its place again in the family of nations? Those who are against military action have no credible answers to these questions.
Of course nobody wants the campaign to go on any longer than it has to. Using force is never popular, and requires America's allies to face up to difficult choices. But I believe leaders around the world have a duty to explain what would happen if al-Qa'eda is not stopped. This is a conflict not only between moderates and extremists within Islam, but also against those who want to slam the door shut on progress in our world.
We should not forget that the allies are not only holding the perpetrators of the September 11 atrocities to account in Afghanistan. They are also defending the modern world from the forces of extremism. We should all be thankful for that.
Ibrahim Rugova's Democratic League of Kosovo won Saturday's parliamentary elections
Not one capable of arguing outside of the ad hominem attack, are you?
And I must say you really do have a great way of respecting others and their opinions. As we're such a pathetic little nation, we're not worth as much as you are, and anything I say doesn't mean anything really, being such a second grade pathetic little citizen as I am.
Yet it is not me that resorts to ridicule and insults, interesting. Why go for arguments, if you can do it the easy way, right?
Alright, why don't you lay out for me what the "follow the Yellow brick road theory" is and how that relates to Burmese heroin.
Wait a minute - this isn't about the realpolitik observation, is it?
Governments are much easier to Bomb into submission than terrorists.
The Britts were right. Clinton was wrong.
If we had fallowed the Brits there would have been no bombing of Serbia or Kosovo because Milosovich wouldn't have risked sending in the regulars knowing with absolute certainty that they would be defeated.
Kosovo could have been emptied of Albanians in a more humane way latter ( like now , while we're preocupied with Afganistan ). The Serbs lost because they had a selfish leader that misjudged his troops ability to withstand prescising bombing and our resovle to continue it as long as necessary.
He put his own desire to stay in power over the best interests of his nation. Of course , that happens in every country including America.
No, that's a discussion you were having with someone else. Please pay attention, OK? First you have to prove that having Montenegro leave the FRY changes the international recognition that Kosovo is part of Serbia.
It was always going to be returned to Serbia. A few people had paranoid fantasies about some global conspiracy against Serbia but they have been and are continuing to be proven wrong.
Yeah, I know. The Serbs will always be willing to fight for Kosovo and the international community is rapidly losing interest in helping some bin Laden supporters hold onto it. The only question is when will it occur.
A few people had paranoid fantasies about some global conspiracy against Serbia but they have been and are continuing to be proven wrong.
Fine, you deal with this Hoplite guy then! ;-)
If someone that was interested in what was best for his nation had been in charge of Yugo they would have bided their time until the time was right.
The Serbs could have emptied Kosovo of Albanians right now. They blew their chance.
If Montenegro leaves the FRY, there is no more FRY - Djindic is the Prime Minister of Serbia, and Kostunica is the President of Yugoslavia, and if Montenegro leaves Yugoslavia, Kostunica is out of a job. Yeah, I'm the one who's not paying attention. Again, whatever.
Find a mention of Kosovo being returned to Serbia in here vs being returned to a non-entity and then do the math. If you choose to make Kosovo and Vojvodina constituent republics instead of an autonomous provinces in order to maintain the Yugoslav Federation after the hypothetical secession of Montenegro, you're left with Vojvodina and a Republic which will bolt from the Federation at the first opportunity, much like what happened in the early 1990's. Either way, Kosovo isn't coming back into Belgrade's orbit voluntarily any time in the near future, and coersion isn't in the cards.
I doubt if a war broke the US or Europe would be able to stop Yugoslav forces in Montenegro. Kosovo will be returned to Yugoslavian sovreignty within a decade because the UN will not be able to break the Albanian lawlessness.
Your side lost.
Europe lost. I won't bother telling you what my buds in EUROPOL and other agencies know about the KLA. Happy drug taking!
VRN
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