Kosovo's terrorists continue to wage war

Cleveland Plain Dealer ^ | 2004-01-09

[DTA]

Kosovo's terrorists continue to wage war

In the midst of conflicts in Southwest Asia and the Mid dle East, I cannot help but wonder: Whatever happened to the Balkans?

We Americans spent more than a decade listening to and watching CNN and BBC clips of the war-torn region and the countless war crimes that had taken place at the hands of various ethnic groups.

What about Kosovo? A 78-day bombing campaign was undertaken to "liberate Kosovo's ethnic Albanian population" from the hands of "terror-invoking Serbs."

Why was there no media follow- up of the accomplishments of peace-loving and newly liberated Kosovo Albanians? Quite simply, because there are no accomplishments.

Could it be because the international community made a grave mistake and has now found itself in a quagmire with no solution in sight? Is it possible that some of the very people NATO was trying to "protect" have turned out, in fact, to be terrorists? Yes!

After spending a grueling 27 months working in Serbia's Kosovo province, I learned and witnessed far more than I had bargained for. Although I was fully versed in the rich and blood- soaked history of the region, I was not prepared for all that took place.

Albanian rebel offensives resulted in bus explosions of NATO- escorted civilian convoys, brutal murders of civilians tending their fields, random sniper attacks, shootings of children swimming in lakes, night beatings and torture of the elderly, and arson - all against Serbian civilians and all under the watchful eyes of the U.S. and international community.

I once asked a NATO commanding general why ethnic Albanian extremists were not unmasked for what they truly are - bloodthirsty, war-waging terrorists. He looked at me, paused, and replied, "How do you begin to go against the very group you supposedly came to help? We obviously did not know who we were dealing with. We bombed the wrong side."

I stared at him in disbelief while he merely looked down at his freshly shined boots, straightened his shoulders and turned to walk away. Not quite the response I had expected.

Observations in Kosovo recorded chilling acts from the "peacekeepers" as well. Germany's military contingent used bright yellow tape to mark large Xs on Serbian homes throughout their designated area of responsibility. Similar to the 1940s Nazi-style branding of Jews and other minorities deemed unworthy of life.

Strangely enough, I was the only one who questioned this and personally brought it to the attention of a senior member of the U.S. Army Command Group.

But let's focus on something near and dear to all Americans: attacks on U.S. Army and media personnel. While on a border patrol, monitoring Albanian rebel insurgency, the U.S. unit I was working with came under direct mortar fire in a village named Krivenik. An Associated Press journalist, Kerim Lawton, was seriously injured. I administered first aid and attempted to stop the bleeding from the dozens of shrapnel wounds he incurred, to no avail. He died shortly afterward.

How was this incident portrayed to the media? In a noncommittal diplomatic fashion, officials announced that, "An investigation will take place as to the day's chain of events," from all sides, U.S. Army, NATO and U.N.

Does this seem all too familiar? Is this not mere repetition of scenarios that got the United States involved in both Bosnia and Kosovo in the first place - only later to discover that "smoking gun" incidences were staged? It is interesting how concrete evidence has surfaced, that incidences were staged by the very groups claiming to have been wronged.

Perhaps the international community should be more forthcoming as to who the real Balkans' terrorists are and how they are draining our tax dollars, manpower and resources.

The public has a right to know what is happening in the Balkans.

Gavrilovic served as a civilian subcontractor with the U.S. Army in the capacity of assistant project manager, cross-cultural specialist and linguist in Kosovo.

[Wraith]

It was his area and what went on was by his orders. If an LDK representative was abducted and severly beaten it was his men that were responsible.

[vooch]

what evidence do you have that LDK were attacked by KLA in the area ?

[TG1]

Many years later, this has surfaced for my viewing pleasure. While all comments are appreciated and reflected upon, let us remember that the thee-dotted ellipse “...” indicates that a segment (unknown to the viewing/reading public) was removed from the initial interview and spliced to accommodate the journalist’s intended sentiment. Thank you for sharing, please continue to do so.