CREATE
A PROBLEM – THEN "SOLVE" IT
Clark
is shocked – shocked! – that the Kosovo
"Liberation" Army he unleashed on the Balkans is now taking
full advantage of the arms, training, and logistical support
provided by NATO. As Macedonia explodes, the General recommends
"a prompt Western response in order to maintain the integrity
of a multi-ethnic Macedonia." Having created the problem
to begin with, "NATO is the only institution that can
act effectively to move the situation from confrontation
to dialogue." But why must the government of Macedonia
engage in a "dialogue" with the leaders of an open insurrection
who have
pledged to fight to the death? In setting the stage
for the policy proposals at the end of his piece, Clark
describes the circumstances that led to US intervention
in Kosovo:
"Two
years ago today, talks to prevent a war in Kosovo collapsed.
The government of Slobodan Milosevic then used massed
troops to begin a rampage of ethnic cleansing and murder.
NATO initiated its bombing campaign on the principle that
security in Europe rests on peace and the rule of law
across the Balkans."
LIE,
LIES, AND MORE LIES
In
reading the above, what is striking is that here is a
writer whose every word is a lie, including "the,"
"to," and "a." What about the Albanian rampage of ethnic
cleansing and murder that has taken place in "liberated"
Kosovo under the not-so-watchful eye of KFOR? The General
has long been a fan of that "army" of drug-dealing cutthroats
and pimps presided over by Hacim Thaci and his handlers,
stubbornly averring in the face of the facts that there
was "no evidence" that the KLA was bent on ethnically
cleansing postwar Kosovo of all Serbs. Now that the KLA's
goal has been accomplished – with his invaluable
assistance – this is not supposed to enter the discussion.
Clark's lies are not only crude, but worst of all are
uttered in the peculiarly inverted language of the War
Party, where a demand that Yugoslavia surrender its sovereignty
is described as "talks to prevent a war." As revealed
after the war, the Rambouillet "talks" were merely the
occasion for the NATO-crats to present
the Yugoslavs with an ultimatum: surrender or be crushed.
The Serbs stood up on their hind legs and fought Clark
to a standstill – but now the General wants to go
a second round – this time taking on the Macedonians.
A
CLARION CALL
That's
what Clark's clarion call is all about. Under his plan,
while NATO is supposed to pledge to interdict arms shipments
feeding the Albanian invasion, the General sternly reminds
the Macedonians that they won't be getting off scott free,
either. In return for not having their country immediately
destroyed by Western-trained and subsidized "rebels,"
who have poured over Kosovo's border with Macedonia with
impunity, his Perfumed Princeliness wants "to make it
clear to the government of Macedonia that it too is under
close scrutiny." If the Macedonians make any attempt to
defend their sovereignty against the relentless assault
of a human wave of Albanians, they must be pointedly reminded
that "the use of force alone will only worsen the underlying
problem, not resolve it." In other words: if you make
the same mistake the Serbs made, and fight back, we'll
unleash our trained dogs – and they'll tear you to
pieces.
NO
PLACE LIKE HOME
What
is needed, says Clark, is a "longer term solution for
the Macedonians," that doesn't just consist of saying
"the right things about the Albanian minority," but of
caving in to their central demand: "Discussion of the
constitutional status of Macedonian Albanians and other
minorities should begin without delay in Macedonia's parliament,"
orders the General. Not only that, but the Macedonian
census – long a point of contention for the Albanian
political parties, who claim to be underrepresented –
must be "monitored" by the "international community" so
as to "make sure that it is seen to be fair and includes
all who see Macedonia as their home." Ah yes, there's
no place like home – but what if someone's already
living there? The tens of thousands of refugees who left
Kosovo while NATO leveled it, instead of going back to
Albania, proceeded onward to Macedonia – which they
soon came to "see" as their home. Since "home" is wherever
the partisans of Greater Albania say it is, one can only
expect that, after gobbling up a large portion of Macedonia,
they'll proceed on to northern Greece, which they also
claim.
SHILL
FOR THE KLA
Clark's
shameless apologias for the thuggish KLA leaders and their
murderous minions have always been nauseating, but never
more so than now, as practically every last Serb has been
driven out of Kosovo by howling mobs of Kosovars. Serb
churches blown to smithereens, along with busloads of
Serbs, a great deal of it under General Clark's watch:
and yet he
refused to hold the KLA responsible. In an
interview with Margaret Warner of the PBS News
Hour, General Clark was asked if NATO's announced
goal of promoting multi-ethnicity was undermined by the
mass exodus of Serbs from postwar Kosovo. His answer was
the apotheosis of pure mendacity, and is worth reproducing
in full here if only so we can marvel at its perverse
perfection:
"Well,
I think we have to temper the ideal with reality, and
we don't know how widespread Serb popular participation
in the atrocities really were. And so maybe a lot of these
people helped themselves to their neighbors' property,
participated in some mass banditry and worse mischief
while the ethnic cleansing was going on. We just don't
know. And so some of the people that are leaving may well
consider themselves as real targets for international
justice, as well as for Albanian revenge. So it's a little
hard to generalize. But as I said, the ideal is we'd like
to promote a multiethnic society. And by the way, the
KLA leadership has called for the same thing."
A
DEVILISH MAN
What
he really meant to say, and did say in so many words,
is that the Serbs deserved it: it was justifiable
"revenge" when old men and women, children as young as
5, were set upon by KLA-led mobs, and literally torn limb
from limb. Just as it was "tempering the ideal"
with "reality" for NATO to preside over a far more efficient
and successful ethnic cleansing than was ever attempted
by Slobodan Milosevic. In Clark's view, the KLA merely
spared The Hague some trouble by murdering, wounding,
and otherwise dispossessing thousands of Serbs in Kosovo,
since they, after all, "may well consider themselves as
real targets for international justice." That such a man
doesn't choke on uttering the word "justice" – just
as a demon cannot speak the Holy Name of God without disappearing
in a puff of greasy smoke – hardly disproves Clark's
demonic provenance. For a fiend of the General's high
rank, nothing less than a full exorcism will do.
A
MONSTROUS AGENDA
The
really breathtaking aspect of this monster's agenda is
not, however, his ongoing commitment to the myth of Kosovar
Albanian victimology, and his shameless shilling for the
KLA – they were, after all, his troops, trained,
armed, and equipped by his bosses in Washington and the
capitals of Europe to destabilize and defeat the Yugoslavs.
No, the really spectacular evil embodied by Clark comes
out in his proposal that, as a reward for starting a war
at such an opportune moment, the officially "disbanded"
KLA must be granted its chief demand: Kosovo must become
an independent state. Of course, he doesn't come right
out and say this, in plain English, but the implication
is clear. After ritually denouncing Albanian "extremists"
– who, nonetheless, must be sympathized with because
their alleged plight as an oppressed minority is "real"
– Clark argues that the only way to appease them
is to grant them their fondest wish: a State to call their
own. Besides, "blaming the Kosovars is not a policy; others,
including the United States and our NATO allies, have
responsibilities which we must meet."
CALL
ME IRRESPONSIBLE
Yes,
we have a responsibility all right: to George Soros, who
has poured millions into the region and usually gets his
money's worth. To the US-based consortium of American,
British, and ostensibly Macedonian companies planning
a Trans-Balkan Pipeline, that would ship Caspian oil to
Western Europe. To the Albanian drug-dealers who funneled
their profits into the pockets of coooperative politicians,
not only Democrats but also filling Republican coffers
to overflowing: Bob Dole was peddling the KLA line on
Kosovo long before he sold a single bottle of Viagra.
To say nothing of our responsibility to the Turks, the
historic patrons and protectors of Balkan Muslims, who
have defied the rest of the Muslim world and made a military
pact with Israel.
HALF
A LOAF
In
all Clark's talk of "shared solutions" and how "real"
is the plight of the Albanians, the reader of his piece
is apt to lose sight of a vitally important fact: the
Kosovar Albanians have invaded Macedonian territory.
Their goal is conquest. The Macedonians, understandably
enough, prefer not to be conquered, and are defending
themselves. Clark wants to mediate these two positions,
and come to some kind of "shared solution" – but
what kind of a "shared solution" can there be with brazen
aggressors? Are the Macedonians supposed to allow only
half of their nation to be overrun by the Kosovar hordes?
REMEMBER
RAMBOUILLET
This
raises another question: why didn't such a "shared solution"
win the day at Rambouillet, when the Serbs offered not
only autonomy for Kosovo but the presence of an "international
force," presumably the UN, in their troubled province?
The answer is that "shared solutions" must be imposed
only in cases where Albanians are the clear beneficiaries.
THE
WORLD TURNED UPSIDE-DOWN
In
the upside-down lingo of Clark and his ilk, for Kosovo
to achieve "democratic self-rule" would mean the creation
of a KLA dictatorship, and one, moreover, motivated and
empowered by an expansionist ideology. For the doctrine
of a "Greater Albania" – one that extends deep within
Serbia, all the way down to the ancient Greek kingdom
of Epirus in the south, and encompasses a good chunk of
Macedonia to the East – is what keeps the Albanian
guerrillas fighting. Although I'm sure all that covert
aid coming from the West, primarily the US, is also a
big help. Which brings us to another bizarre aspect of
General Clark's proposal. . . .
TWO
ARMIES, ONE COMMANDER
The
idea that the US can act as a "mediator" between the Albanian
invaders and the aggressed-against Macedonians has got
to be some kind of joke. For it was and is the US that
created the KLA, and turned it from a small inner core
of committed ideologues with few fighters, into a force
of tens of thousands of well-armed, experienced warriors,
who are, furthermore, willing to die for their cause:
these are our guys, our cat's-paw, as they used
to say. So all this talk of how US troops are in danger
from organized assaults by the "National Liberation Army"
really obscures the reality that they serve under the
same commanders, whose headquarters is in Washington.
If NATO had wanted to shut down the Albanian rebel enclave
in Macedonia, they would have done so months ago –
or, perhaps, never nurtured it in the first place.
THE
PROBLEM WITH PACIFISM
Clark
bibbles on about how Kosovo has got to have "democratic
elections," forgetting that municipal elections have already
been held, with the pacifist followers of Ibrahim Rugova
beating
the pants off of the various parties claiming to represent
the KLA. The only problem was that, after the election
results were announced, a whole lot of the "winners" never
did take office. Either they were found dead – just
like one of Rugova's top aides – or else they
fled for their lives. Such are the built-in disadvantages
of principled pacifism.
TALIBAN
II
An
"independent" Kosovo is a meaningless concept, all form
and no content. For in reality, the "independent" state
of Kosovo would effortlessly and spontaneously merge with
Albania proper, and act as a magnet and supporter of Albanian
irredentism in the region – consolidating and empowering
an aggressive force, letting them loose like a horde of
killer bees on the Christian nations of the Balkans. Oh
dear – I can hear the liberals weeping, their plaintive
cries coming at me over the Internet – that's religious
"bigotry," if not outright "racism"! Oh, pipe down, it's
neither: it is merely a fact. Just as we created Afghanistan's
Taliban as the instrument of cold war foreign policy,
so we are unleashing a similar force in the Balkans.
THE
OTTOMAN RESTORATION
It
is interesting – as I mentioned in
my last column on this subject – that a big bone
of contention between the Macedonians and the Albanian
minority is the question of which flag will fly over public
buildings. In Tetovo, the Albanian mayor and his city
council insisted on not only putting up the double-headed
eagle of Albania, but also flew the Turkish flag –
much to the embarrassment of the Turkish ambassador, who
demanded that they take it down. But if the official representative
of the Turkish government will not fight for the restoration
of the old Ottoman hegemony in the Balkans, then there
are those who will. The Turkish flag continued to fly
over Tetovo until the Macedonian police came in and hauled
it down. The subsequent riot – in tandem with the
controversy over "Tetovo University" – was the fulcrum
of the Albanian insurgency in Macedonia, and this flag
episode underscores the plan, the ultimate purpose and
goal of the Kosovo-based "National Liberation Army" and
its future spawn: the recreation of the old Ottoman imperial
power centered in Istanbul. But, hey, wait a minute: what
possible interest could the US and Western Europe have
in the reenactment of a particularly bloody and tyrannical
chapter in Balkan history?
PLAYING
THE 'GREAT GAME'
As
usual, the motive is economic. With a Turkic south Balkans
looking to Ankara for leadership, the transport of Caspian
oil to feed the energy-hungry consumers of Western Europe
is greatly facilitated. As the lights go out in California,
and the price of oil skyrockets, the urgency of Clark's
appeal for the US and NATO to intervene in "defense"
of Macedonia is all too understandable. The Baku-Ceyhan
oil pipeline, once touted
by the Clinton regime, is anticipated
just as eagerly by their successors: Bush, like
Clinton, is playing the
Great Game of securing control over the vast oil
reserves beneath the ex-Soviet "republics" bordering
the Caspian Sea: and the most direct and cost-efficient
way to get that oil to European markets is through the
Balkans.
FOLLOW
THAT LINK!
By
the way, I urge you to follow that second-to-last link
to a fascinating commentary apparently broadcast by
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty [18 January 2001]. It
talks about the likelihood that the Bush administration
will follow in the footsteps of the Clintonistas in
pushing this outrageous exercise in corporate mercantilism,
and then goes on to describe the fears raised in Turkey
about a possible abandonment of the Baku-Ceyhan project
by Team Bush. There are, after all, other games in town,
such as the Iranian and Russian routes, all upheld by
different financial and political interests. In addition
to the appointment of former Senator Spencer Abraham
as secretary of energy, the Turkish Daily News
referred to other "negative signals" coming from the
newly-installed US administration on the future of the
Baku-Ceyhan pipeline:
"The
analysis also pointed to recent studies by two independent
research groups in Washington, urging a change in U.S.
policy on Baku-Ceyhan. The reports by the CATO Institute
and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace criticized
the economic justification for the pipeline, urging
consideration of Russian and Iranian alternatives."
A
"LIBERTARIAN" GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED PIPELINE?
I
can understand the Carnegie Endowment rooting for one
side or the other in this dispute, but what's up with
the Cato Institute? These guys are supposed to be libertarians,
fer Chrissakes – but isn't this just the kind of
"industrial policy" that ostensibly free-market ideologues
would naturally oppose? The US government has poured
billions in loans, loan guarantees, and other subsidies
into a project to tap into Caspian oil on behalf of
US corporations. Clinton started the process by going
so far as to set up a special government agency under
the direction of Richard Morningstar, who, in July 1998,
was appointed to the newly created position of Special
Advisor to the President and Secretary of State for
Caspian Basin Energy Diplomacy. As noted
by Jofi Joseph of the Woodrow Wilson School for
Public and International Affairs:
"Morningstar
subsequently assumed chairmanship of the interagency
coordination group, breathing new energy into it. Owing
to this issue's intersection of energy, commerce, and
national security issues, a range of US Cabinet departments
[were] represented in the group, including State, Energy,
Commerce, AID, CIA, the Office of the Vice-President
and others. This interagency group, formally titled
the 'Interagency Coordination Group on Caspian Basin
Energy Development and Transportation,' [met] approximately
every three weeks and primarily conduct[ed] short-term
strategic planning . . . Other high-level officials
who have worked actively on the Caspian pipelines issue
include Jan Kalicki, a Commerce Department official,
Stephen Sestanovich, US Ambassador to the Newly Independent
States (NIS), and Energy Secretary Federico Pena."
OLD
BUREAUCRACIES NEVER DIE
No
bureaucracy, once established, consents to its own abolition:
and in a political culture where constituencies are
defined by the subsidies they receive from the all-powerful
State – that is, in the political culture of Washington
– they are granted near-immortality. Will the Caspian
initiative, the biggest corporate welfare boondoggle
in American history – and that's saying a lot
– survive the ostensibly "conservative" Bush administration?
You betcha. For these are conservatives of the "compassionate"
variety – a charitable impulse that seems almost
exclusively directed at the biggest, the richest, the
most powerful multinational corporations. The Caspian
initiative will never die, although it may take on a
new name: nor will it fade away. It is one of the linchpins
of the US "forward stance" in Eurasia, and US foreign
policy tends to have a momentum all its own. Speaking
of how the more things change, the more they remain
the same. . . .
ISN'T
IT RICH?
I
note, with dismay, that Lord Robertson, the secretary
general of NATO, is already calling for the dispatch
of more
troops to Kosovo, and I'm afraid that the much-touted
"reductions" in our Bosnia contingent will be more than
compensated for with upcoming deployments in Macedonia.
After all, this is the same Lord Robertson, you'll remember,
whose objections to George W. Bush's campaign rhetoric
about pulling the US out of the Balkans were mollified
by reassurances from both wings of the US foreign policy
team (Powell and Rumsfeld) that no such plan was in
the works. As the crisis culminates, and US intervention
is almost a certainty, more will take up the cry to
save the poor Albanians from Macedonian "oppression."
Isn't it funny how that works?
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