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August
16, 2001
Macedonia's
Futile Surrender
The Reuters
photographer who captured
the moment when Macedonia capitulated may not get a Pulitzer,
and more's the pity. Such honor is usually reserved for dubious
but heart-rending pictures of politically correct refugees,
yet how often can one picture capture all the anguish of a
nation being murdered with words, as the entire world is watching?
With that
one gesture of his hand, covering his face in despair (or
dismay?) as Albanian power-monger Arben Xhaferi signed
the papers that cut Macedonia's throat, Ljubco Georgievski
may have secured himself a place in the history books, right
next to the infamous
photo of Neville Chamberlain holding up the treaty of
Munich and promising "peace in our time."
TERMS OF SUICIDE
So wonderful
was this peace agreement, Macedonian leaders had to sign
it in secret, for fear that the people they were supposedly
saving might seek to stop them. Imperial legates Francois
Leotard and James Pardew looked on with satisfaction as Macedonia's
Prime Minister, President and opposition leader signed a document
giving in to all the demands of the UCK, embodied in its political
wing and its leaders, Arben Xhaferi and Imer Imeri.
NATO's
Secretary-General, Lord George
Robertson, praised the signing. "This day marks the entry
of Macedonia into modern, mainstream Europe... a very proud
day for this country," said the man who became a peer for
advocating the terror-bombing of Serbia. He was echoed by
his predecessor, Javier
Solana – the actual bomber of Serbia – who called it
a "great day in the history of Macedonia." Even His Most
Exalted Majesty congratulated the president (whose name
he could never pronounce) on a pact that somehow "strengthened
democracy" and "preserved sovereignty" by encouraging armed
rebellion, apartheid and ethnic quotas.
The pact
has nothing to do with democracy, even less with sovereignty,
and least of all with peace. It has everything to do with
appeasing the people who want "the utter and complete destruction
of the Macedonian state," as Alan Bock put it so well,
and "not a few crumbs from the state's table in response to
bullying from NATO officials who want to feel important and
effectual."
This is
painfully obvious. That is why the pact has not been published
yet, and is unlikely to be anytime soon. Summaries that are
available
to the public are sparse and sterile, but even they make
it obvious that Skopje agreed to ethnic quotas in government
and police, state funding for separate Albanian schools and
– most significantly – redefining Macedonia as a state of
nameless citizens, as opposed to a nation-state of Macedonians,
thus giving minority Albanians de facto rights to nationhood.
If true, this is still a shade better than original Albanian
demands for a bi-ethnic Constitution, but only a shade.
WE FORGOT TO
TELL THE UCK!
Another
thing seldom pointed out is that the Treaty of Ohrid (or maybe
the "Ohrid Agreement"?) was technically signed between two
parts of the Macedonian coalition government, and not the
separatist paramilitary UCK. Of course Xhaferi and Imeri have
the same agenda and work hand in glove with Ali Ahmeti's bandits,
but officially, the UCK has no obligations whatsoever.
All it is invited to do is voluntarily surrender
its weapons to some 3,500 NATO troops scheduled to arrive
as soon
as the fighting stops. Of course, the fighting is not
stopping, since the UCK never signed any peace deal....
Even if
NATO was to deploy – ostensibly for 30 days, just like the
US mission in Bosnia was going to take no
longer than one year – how could 3500 NATO troops with
no mandate disarm twice as many UCK bandits (emotionally attached
to their AK-47s, no less), when 40,000 NATO troops with near-absolute
power could not do it in Kosovo? That is probably what made
Premier Georgievski cover his eyes, despite Imperial diplomats'
piping how the deal that "roughly corresponds to key demands"
of the UCK is good and should
not be a "hard sell." How does one "sell" the idea of
selling out the country he swore to protect, anyway?
Quick to
declare
a victory, and quite rightfully so, the UCK nonetheless
continues
to fight the Macedonian army. NATO still denies Macedonian
claims that the country is being invaded
from Kosovo, as the UCK is reinforced by Kosovo Protection
Corps (UN-sponsored employment program for "former" KLA) members
crossing over from the protectorate, but the lie is too thin
to cover anything. Who fired on
KFOR, then, as it detained 16 UCK infiltrators on the
border with Kosovo? And how many UCK/KPC/KLA/NLA/ANA or whatnot
get through for every dozen that KFOR stops, and eventually
releases?
With the
"new"
Albanian bandit group unequivocally rejecting the Ohrid
pact and even denying Macedonia's right to exist, it is obvious
that the surrender
will not benefit Trajkovski, Georgievski or Macedonia in general,
in any way. Having obtained this much by the force of arms,
the UCK has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, by fighting
even harder. Or dirtier.
RACAK REPRISED
Tuesday
night, the Associated Press reported that Albanians were accusing
the Macedonian army of "massacring"
civilians in the village of Ljuboten, a scene of heavy fighting
for the past few days. Apparently, a village resident spoke
to Associated Press by telephone (!) and claimed seven civilians
were summarily executed in a gruesome fashion. Unnamed international
officials "confirmed bodies had been found, but would not
say how many."
Where,
oh where is William Walker and his clear, unequivocal language?
Made unnecessary, perhaps, by the Daily Telegraph's confident
choice of headline: "Albanians
Slaughtered in Macedonia."
The Observer
was not nearly as decisive as it spun
the story of documented UCK atrocities against Macedonian
civilians – condemned even by the loyal Imperial "human
rights" crusaders – into a story of alleged Macedonian
atrocities against innocent Albanians. If it bleeds, it
leads, especially if the sucker-punched guy on the ground
can be made vicious villain of the day.
Then again,
there is no need for NATO bombs, a la après Racak to
usher in the UCK victory. Skopje already gave up, remember?
EMPIRE'S FINGERS
IN MACEDONIAN PIE
The wise
sages in the Western press also ignored the fact that the
Macedonian situation has rapidly deteriorated ever since Ambassador
James Pardew arrived to represent the White Marble Throne
at the Ohrid "negotiations." Until then, Macedonians at least
had verbal support for their sovereignty and defense from
UCK attacks, though they were still pressured to refrain from
fighting. Within two months, openly supported from Kosovo,
the UCK had grown exponentially stronger, while the Macedonian
position grew weaker by the day.
The June
5 "ceasefire" helped the UCK infiltrate and conquer
Tetovo, ethnically
cleanse dozens of villages, and open two more fronts.
Eighteen Macedonian soldiers were slaughtered in broad daylight
in UCK ambushes and mine attacks. But in the end, what most
likely made Georgievski and Trajkovski throw in the towel
was the Empire's order to
Ukraine to stop selling Macedonia weapons it so desperately
needed.
Javier
Solana confidently
stating that the UCK "will comply" with the agreement
it had not signed; American "advisors" among the UCK; American
troops acting as UCK's taxi drivers during the retreat from
Aracinovo; the entire "peace" proposal that basically kowtowed
to all the bandits' demands... clues pointing to the real
mastermind behind Macedonia's
murder are too numerous to dwell on. The Empire is a sloppy
criminal, since it can do its dirty work with absolute impunity,
under the cover of a little creative PR.
For example,
AFP featured three
Washington analysts (Susan Blaustein, Eric Witte and Jim
Hooper) who deny US bias towards the UCK and demand more robust
action. Three different analysts from three different
institutions speak in complete agreement. Well, no wonder:
Witte and Hooper both worked at the International
Crisis Group, and Blaustein still does.
THE LONG WAY
DOWN
What-ifs
are not very useful, except to academicians analyzing events
of the past in order to warn about possible perils in the
future – though hardly anyone ever listens, anyway. Yet one
cannot help but wonder if Macedonia would be doing as badly
today had it not aided NATO in its attack on Yugoslavia two
and a half years ago; had it not lent its territory for NATO's
flyovers and troops concentration, had it not taken in hundreds
of thousands of Albanians loyal to the KLA, had it not, in
effect, helped the KLA carve Kosovo away from Serbia... would
the KLA/UCK/KPC/ANA have been able to disembowel Macedonia
as it has done?
Perhaps
the rulers in Skopje counted on support of Albanians that
brought
them to power. Maybe they even thought NATO and the Empire
would protect them as a return favor for obedience in 1999.
But the Empire does not like to remember favors, especially
if their giver is in no position to call in the debt. Besides,
what has Macedonia done for NATO lately that would
be worth the Alliance turning around 180 degrees on the entire
Albanian issue? It really seems none of this was personal,
at least not on the Empire's side. Albanians are their chosen
horse in the Balkans race, their dog in the fight, and the
Macedonians... well, they just got in the way. Perhaps, later
on, Albanians will be discarded as Croatians, Bosnian Muslims
(sort of) and even, yes, Macedonians, were. That would be
a thing to expect of a culture that celebrates disposability,
from dinner plates to servants. For Macedonia, however, that
would come too late.
Signing
the "peace"
of Ohrid will help the brave,
betrayed people of Macedonia as much as Munich helped
Czechoslovakia. Unless something changes in a major way, within
a year at most their country will disappear down the long,
dark road to extinction and the Empire will claim yet another
victim in the Balkans.
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