councilor.org
| Source | Dave Anderson |
| Date | 99/06/06/21:39 |
| [THE WISDOM FUND: News & Views] Released June 6, 1999 The Wisdom Fund, P. O. Box 2723, Arlington, VA 22202 Website: http://www.twf.org -- Press Contact: Enver Masud Article: http://www.twf.org/News/Y1999/0606-WinLose.html Winning and Losing in Yugoslavia WASHINGTON, D.C. -- There was no doubt that if NATO chose to it would prevail militarily, and it did, but it surrendered its primary objective - preventing a humanitarian catastrophe. The NATO war machine, with funding of about $270 billion annually in the U.S., and about $180 billion annually in the other NATO countries, prevailed militarily over Yugoslavia's armed forces which receive less than $1 billion annually. Before the war began it was estimated that after 7 1/2 years of international economic sanctions, it would take Yugoslavia 29 years to reach the level of economic prosperity it had in 1989. Now the estimate is 45 years - without international aid estimated at between $50 billion and $150 billion. Fought for a good cause, the prevention of a humanitarian catastrophe, NATO's air-only campaign hastened the process of "ethnic cleansing" begun by President Milosevic - even though U.S. generals forewarned President Clinton that this would be the result. Using the war as an excuse Yugoslav forces destroyed more than 500 villages, and raped, plundered, and killed thousands of Kosovar Muslims. Some 790,000 Muslims left Kosovo after NATO began its air assault. Many were displaced before the current exodus, and only about 10 per cent of Kosovo's 1.8 million Muslims remain in their homes in Kosovo. NATO forces, with the exception of the vaunted Apache helicopters, performed brilliantly. They killed thousands of Yugoslav military personnel and civilians without the loss of a single U.S. airman to enemy fire. NATO's cause was just, but it was not a just war. NATO waged a war that had no reasonable chance of success in preventing a humanitarian catastrophe - its professed goal. NATO waged a war for reasons of self-interest - to perpetuate NATO which has no place in a post Cold War world. NATO did not wage war as a last resort having exhausted all nonviolent means of settling the dispute with Yugoslavia. Under the G-8 plan for peace accepted by Yugoslavia, NATO accepted terms it refused to accept before the NATO ultimatum that triggered the war. NATO's peace plan is unacceptable to the KLA which served as NATO's allies on the ground, and the Kosovars have no homes or businesses to return to, and few crops and livestock to feed them. Even if the G-8 plan holds the war is far from over. Will NATO countries, specifically their taxpayers, provide the funding to rebuild Yugoslavia? For how long will the Kosovars accept limited autonomy under NATO occupation? How long will an imposed "peace" last? And what of President Milosevic and others indicted for violations of human rights? Will they be brought to trial? And what of NATO leaders accused of violating international law, will they receive the same scrutiny? What of the precedent set by NATO in intervening in the internal affairs of a sovereign Yugoslavia? Will this lead to more self-serving interference in the affairs of other states? Will it accelerate the arms race of which the U.S. is the primary beneficiary? Winning and losing depends upon how one measures it. The war in Yugoslavia was won like the attack on the Mount Carmel Center in Waco, Texas on April 19, 1993 was won. The cult leader and 80 followers, including women and children, died when their compound burned after U.S. government agents tried to flush them out with tear gas. The war on Yugoslavia was a demonstration to the world of NATO, and more specifically U.S., credibility, and to justify increases in defense spending to which the U.S. Congress has readily acquiesced. There was also genuine concern for Milosevic"s "ethnic cleansing," but NATO was unwilling to risk lives to prevent it. Now, 500 years after the fall of Muslim Spain in 1492, the West seems on the verge of another wave of expansion. The first wave of European expansion, launched with professed good intentions, devastated the Americas, Asia, Africa, Australia, and China. The new wave of NATO expansion has its eyes on the natural resources of Russia and Central Asia - a somber prelude to the New Millennium. Copyright © 1999 The Wisdom Fund - All Rights Reserved. Provided that it is not edited, and author name, organization, and URL are included, this article may be printed in newspapers and magazines, and e-mailed to others. The Wisdom Fund http://www.twf.org |
Copyright (c) 1998, Joongpil Cho