Help--Was Kosovo and Bosnia santioned by the UN?

10/01/04 | self

[Sybeck1]

I am having a debate with a lib on another board that these two police actions weren't UN approved. He said they were. Any knowledge of this? Thanks

[Eva]

I thought that Kosovo was done without UN approval, but not Bosnia. Here is some information that I found:

Likewise in the Kosovo crisis, the initial justification by the Clinton Administration for the use of force against Milosevic was to prevent him from further pursuing a policy of ethnic cleansing against the Kosovar Albanians. That is, President Clinton in his address to the American people on the eve of the first day of air strikes against Belgrade told Americans that “[w]e act to protect thousands of innocent people in Kosovo from a mounting military offensive…[and] to prevent a wider war…” Echoing his language during the Bosnian crisis, he further asserted that it is the “moral imperative” of NATO to put an end to the atrocities. (Clinton 1999a) Similarly, Secretary Albright emphasized the human factor by referring to the need to promote stability and basic human decency on European soil based on a “collective conscious” shared by all those nations who value peace and humanity (Albright 1999a). Throughout the early stages of NATO’s campaign, however, Clinton’s rhetoric did not explicitly expound the broader implications or normative precedents that may be established by the absence of a direct UN Security Council mandate.

In Bosnia, UN peace keeping forces were already on the ground, but not doing a very good job.

[Eva]

Clinton used his famous triangulation, saying that the war was for morally imperative as an end to the ethnic cleansing and as a means to end war, Clinton's doctrine of bombing for peace.

[philosofy123]

The bombing of Serbia may be recorded as the darkest page in the history of the US, Europe, and the UN. This propaganda inspired war was a big sham. A picture of a skinny tall guy standing behind some fence was flashed all over the world to bring the public sentiment to the Nazi era, except that skinny guy was a Serb! No correction in the media was ever made.

[MadelineZapeezda]

I know what's going on. I was being sarcastic. I'm a second generation Serbian American.......very proud of my Serbian roots. Thanks for your service and for getting the truth out.

[Eva]

I hope you got the answer to your question because some of the posts have been wrong. You were half right. US actions in Bosnia were under the UN, but not in Kosovo.

[CJRAY]

If Clinton promised and it is not the case, why do you think this scenario in Iraq will be any different? Stop judging based on political lines and learn from history. It seems that the current administration would want to separate themselves if in fact they are so much better than past administrations. Learn and lead by example, don't repeat history and then saying well they did it too. That points to immature policies and personal agendas.

[Banat]

Kosovars = Serbs from Kosovo. Kosovo/"ethnic" Albanians = Albanians from Kosovo.