A “defense” pact recently signed by the U.S. and the tiny Balkan nation of Montenegro, formerly a province of Yugoslavia nestled in the eastern corner of the Adriatic shore, is a “status of forces” agreement which, according to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, “establishes a basis for United States military personnel to operate in Montenegro for mutually agreed activities.” Nestled in the eastern corner of the Adriatic shore, the country is known for its beaches, its pine forests, and its Mafia-connected smuggling and other activities.
After all these years, we’re finally going back to the Balkans. What will American troops be doing in Montenegro? Remember way back when, when Republican members of Congress were denouncing U.S. intervention in the Balkans and threatening to withhold funding for troop operations? Why, it seems like only yesterday!
Perhaps we’re paving the way for the Democrats to intervene in a bigger way — that always was their preferred area of operations. One assumes that a Democratic administration will be just as tough as Russia as, say, Dick Cheney had been — and establishing a U.S. base in the Adriatic is bound to infuriate Moscow, and it’s designed to do.
Back in the 1990s, Republicans were saying that we had no real interests in the Balkans, and that we ought to get out forthwith. Today, a Republican President is sending American troops to the make-believe country of Montenegro, the Grand Fenwick of the Balkans, for no discernible reason other than to annoy Moscow and add to our empire of military bases. (Although, given Bush’s history on the Balkan intervention question, his move into Montenegro isn’t all that surprising….)
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