Home  

 ABOUT THE AUTOR


 ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS

 WESTERN  INTERFERENCE

NEW DIPLOMACY - OLD AGENDA

 SUGGESTED READING

 CONTACT

train.jpg (6311 bytes)
8. KOSOVO
Given the experience of Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia, it is little wonder that the Albanians in Kosovo realized the most effective way to gain independence was to take up arms and resort to violence. This had been the formula for success before and there was every reason to expect it would work again. Indeed, given the successful public relations campaign that had been waged against President Milosovic and the Serbs, and the record of human rights violations in Kosovo, it was inevitable that Kosovo would be the next part of Yugoslavia to break away.
430line.gif (51 bytes)
As the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) escalated its armed attacks on Serbian police stations and stepped up its assassinations of Serbian politicians and Serbian sympathizers among the Albanian population, it could count on Serbian security forces to retaliate with ruthless anti-insurgency tactics. The KLA could also count on the western media to give full coverage to these heavy-handed measures. By October 1998, the fighting in Kosovo had escalated to the point where the United Nations felt obliged to intervene
430line.gif (51 bytes)
A United Nations Security Council Resolution called for an end to the fighting, a withdrawal of the Yugoslav army to barracks and the introduction of OSCE observers into Kosovo as monitors on the ground to ensure that both parties kept the peace. Initially the army and security forces complied with the UN Resolution, but the KLA did not stop its campaign of terror and the army once again reacted with force. Villages suspected of harbouring KLA activists were burned and their inhabitants dispersed. Many innocent people lost their lives.
310line.gif (74 bytes)
Unable to stop the violence the United States and the European community decided to intervene. The instrument of their intervention was to be the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
 

back      next

HOMEARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS | WESTERN INTERFERENCE | SUGGESTED   READINGS | CONTACT