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August
9, 2001
Murdering
Macedonia
The more
things change, the more they stay the same. Old and worn as
that phrase may be, it is no less accurate today than it was
the first time it was spoken. The familiar descent of Balkans
nations first into warfare, then into servitude and poverty,
ought to stand as a living example. Now that Macedonia is
being torn apart as the old Yugoslavia, then Bosnia and Serbia
were, most Balkans nations look upon the unfolding grisly
spectacle with a mixture of relief and fear: relief, for it
is not them on the sacrificial altar of the "international
community"; fear, for they are not at the altar yet.
Indeed,
most Balkans nations try to think about Macedonia as little
as possible. Slovenia is too busy trying to become a NATO
fiefdom; Croatia has its own troubles, which – most inconveniently
– its politicians cannot blame on Serbs anymore; Bosnia is
preoccupied with pretending it is not a dysfunctional foreign
colony, losing
what little of its youth survived the 1992-95 war; today's
Yugoslavia is but a shadow of a shadow, with Montenegro's
regime determined to secede, federal leadership downright
comatose, and Serbia in hands of men with an eighteen-fold
personality disorder and a gargantuan inferiority complex.
Indeed, on a good day, Yugoslavia cannot decide whether it
exists or not. Bulgaria is still waiting for the difference
King Simeon promised. Greece watches its northern border not
so much out of principle as out of territorial curiosity.
And Albania... no one really knows, though whoever ends up
running the illusion of government in Tirana will surely do
as they are told.
DEATH OF A
THOUSAND CUTS
Those that
survived firsthand the kind of death currently administered
to Macedonia know the script by heart, including the inevitable
local variations. Most often, the Empire gives its verbal
support to the legitimate government while maintaining
a more
practical relationship with its enemies. (The scenario
in Bosnia-Herzegovina had a modified cast of characters, but
that merits a column of its own at a later date.)
If there
is fighting, the Empire's true protégés are always saved by
a timely ceasefire, one they have no compunction breaking.
Peace talks organized by the Empire's envoys almost always
involve an ultimatum
to the government to accept its enemy's demands. When the
government refuses to submit – stubbornly believing in sovereignty,
rights and justice, or whatnot – the Empire blames it for
everything: obstructing "peace," violence, ethnic cleansing,
war crimes, even genocide, if that's what it takes.
Overwhelmed by this sudden "reversal" and the
onslaught of propaganda, the targeted government always chooses
surrender.
MURDER BY SUICIDE
Thus, as
Macedonians are being stretched
on the rack to sign the "agreement" with Albanian separatists
that would effectively destroy their nation, those very same
separatists are growing stronger and bolder every day – a
fact that is then used to
increase pressure on the Macedonians even further.
The Empire
grows frustrated. Its troops are ready to occupy Macedonia
and pretend to disarm the Albanians as soon as the blasted
politicians sign the surrender papers. But the accursed wretches
just keep dithering... Well, wouldn't you? If your
country was being drawn and quartered by supposedly well-meaning
foreigners, wouldn't any one of you out there at least think
twice before putting a torch to your own funeral pyre?
To give
them credit, Macedonians are fighting any which way they can.
They've marched
on the White House (though neglecting the fact that His
Glorious and Elevated Majesty was on vacation) and they've
appealed to the world's conscience with testimonies of their
people, who have been dispossessed, abused and exiled by Albanian
bandits, in what certainly qualifies as ethnic cleansing.
They have even tried fighting
the usurpers, though such actions immediately draw harsh
Imperial condemnations
and deadly
reprisals. Most of all, they've stalled for time, hoping,
perhaps, that some alternative to defeat lies in the future.
THE USUAL SUSPECT(S)
Macedonia
would not find itself in this predicament had the Imperial
intrusion into what used to be Yugoslavia been halted in its
early stage, in 1990. Back then, however, few took it seriously
and even fewer bothered to fight. Those who did – for whatever
reasons, patriotic or private – are now either dead, imprisoned,
or in exile. Tens of thousands of troops occupy Bosnia and
Kosovo, protecting not their inhabitants, but the foreigners
who rule them. And if the rumors are true, the Empire will
soon link their dominions in Bosnia and Kosovo with
a string of bases in Serbia itself.
Talks on
the topic have already been held between American generals
and some Serbian officials. Two of them, Nebojsa Covic and
General Ninoslav Krstic, had negotiated with NATO the end
of Albanian invasion in Presevo. Just a few days ago, those
supposedly demobilized bandits ambushed a police patrol and
killed two
officers in a village near Presevo. Either someone's not
holding up their end of the bargain, or this is an example
of the diplomatic communication that the Empire is so good
at: give us your bases, or else...
LOGIC OF DEDUCTION
It may seem
that events in Serbia have no bearing on Macedonia, but that
impression is very wrong. First of all, both face the same
Albanian militants – not just the same movement, but
actual individuals. Wearing hats of different "armies," the
same people fought first in Kosovo, then in Presevo, and now
in Tetovo.
Their aim
is clear: an ethnically pure Albanian territory, mapped by some as "Greater Albania,"
by others as "Greater
Kosovo," but definitely separate from non-Albanian nations.
Their methods are consistent: first attack the police, then
the army; expel
non-Albanian civilians; take control of Albanian civilians,
even by murdering those who resist; finally, appeal to Western
help on grounds of "repression," and "humanitarian disaster,"
while falsely
claiming to fight for "civil rights."
That help
always comes. It came in Kosovo, when the KLA was resurrected
and eventually brought to power by a NATO military intervention.
It came in Presevo, since the Albanian "Liberation army" there
was armed and organized as a tool against Yugoslavia's President
Milosevic. Now the same people that fought in both of these
"armies" are fighting against Macedonia. Those who helped
them twice already have now come up with a Macedonia "peace
plan" – which, incidentally, is supposed to wipe out the
"rebellion" by capitulating completely to its demands. (They
have the
nerve to deny it.)
Next time
you see the Western media describe Macedonian resistance to
Western treachery as "angry mob violence, organized by hard-line
nationalists" or some similar bit of drivel, consider
why the Macedonians are angry. Also, try to think why the
press describes them so, and what
the press has done every other time the Empire intervened
in the Balkans.
Suddenly,
the world will make much more sense.
A PLETHORA
OF MOTIVES
There is
one more, crucial question. No, not what will happen
in Macedonia – though the outcome is far from preordained,
it is likely to pattern itself after all the other interventions
of the previous decade. The real question is why?
Is the
Empire aiding
the Albanians because it believes their grievances are
legitimate, or is it simply appeasing them to
protect its vulnerable occupation force in Kosovo? Is
it aiding Greater Albania out of love for Albanians, or because
it's using Albanians against other nations? Is it occupying
the Balkans because it wants "peace and stability," or because
it plans a pipeline through its heartland?
It could
be, though, that all of those explanations fail to see the
forest for the trees. After all, the Balkans mountain-tops
offer a far more interesting view of Moscow and the Caspian
oil fields than of Belgrade, Skopje or Tirana.
A
consistent ideology underlies the Empires actions: it will
do everything and anything that increases its power and eliminates
potential obstacles or, God forbid, competition. Power, in
the final analysis, is about forcing people to do things they
would not do of their own will. And if the greatest individual
power is over life and death, would not the greatest power
of one nation be that over the life and death of others?
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