-Caveat Lector- >From FreeRepublic.com "A Conservative News Forum" http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a37c54a4a2562.htm > 'Allies' In The Balkans > > > Foreign Affairs News Keywords: CLINTON'S FOREIGN POLICY, CORRUPT > KOSOVO AUTHORITIES, KLA, ALBRIGHT AND RUBIN ADOPTED ALBANIAN > CAUSE Source: Washington Times Published: August 25, 1999 Author: > Amos Perlmutter Posted on 08/26/1999 07:08:10 PDT by Stand Watch > Listen > > The Clinton administration's handling of the three crises in > Yugoslavia demonstrated a definite pattern. While acting in > partnership with Slobodan Milosevic, U.S. officials > simultaneously colluded with disparate and fratricidal ethnic > forces in the hope of toppling the Yugoslav president. They have > not succeeded in toppling Mr. Milosevic or in replacing Serbian > rule in Bosnia and Kosovo with democratic forces. > > The opposite is true. The Milosevic authorities have been > replaced with corrupt and authoritarian entities. There is little > doubt about who controls Kosovo. The U.S. client, the Albanian > KLA, is in command of much of the civilian administration of > Kosovo. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and her > spokesman, James Rubin, have adopted the Albanian cause. In fact, > they colluded with them before the talks in Ramboulliet, France, > and after. > > An administration that claims dedication to the establishment of > democratic regimes in the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia has > helped create the opposite in Kosovo. KLA gangs have not > disarmed. A fratricidal struggle between various KLA factions and > the politically moderate group led by Ibrahim Rugova is > continuing. The U.S. administration is inclined to support the > former. Kosovo is becoming a center for narcotics trafficked by > various KLA factions. > > What are the real aspirations of the KLA leaders? Their aim is to > take over Albania with the support of its deposed president, the > corrupt Sali Berisha, who has been their strongest supporter > since before the war in Kosovo. Mr. Berisha is himself involved > in drug trafficking, and has helped train some of the KLA > factions. The Albanian "allies" of Mrs. Albright and Mr. Rubin > are accomplices to the Kosovo authoritarian regime, which is not > in conformity with U.S. purposes of creating democracy and > stability. > > Jim Hoagland (The Washington Post, Aug. 19) in "Gangsters or good > guys?" writes, "Kosovo's guerrillas turn out to be better > politicians than Kosovo's politicians when it comes to winning > over the Clinton administration." According to Mr. Hoagland, Mrs. > Albright's confidant Mr. Rubin "has played a surprising > operational role in elevating the international profile of the > KLA's young leadership." > > From the early days of the Yugoslav conflict, the administration > sought allies in their campaign against Mr. Milosevic. In Bosnia, > the U.S. allies were the Muslims. American-born Muslim Bosnian > politicians played the American game brilliantly. They lobbied > Congress, established strong links with the administration and > played a key role in the partition of Bosnia at Dayton, which > created a Muslim-Croat Bosnian state headed by a Muslim leader, > Alija Izetbegovic, and the renegade Bosnian Serb state. > > The same policy of aligning with anti-Milosevic forces without > examining their democratic credentials has taken place with the > Albanians. It was Mr. Rubin that directly negotiated with the KLA > on the process of its disarmament, which is far from complete. > The KLA military factions are heavily equipped with arsenals > hidden in caves in the mountains of Kosovo. Mr. Rubin made little > effort to disabuse his political allies on the issue of > disarmament, which is interpreted by his Albanian allies as a > tacit U.S. endorsement. > > No lessons have yet been learned by the Clinton administration. > Recent reports from Montenegro state that the United States has a > new ally in the president of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic. Mr. > Djukanovic is doing his best to break away from the union with > Yugoslavia, therefore challenging Mr. Milosevic. > > As in the case of Kosovo, Mr. Djukanovic is calling for a > referendum for independence. The Serbian reaction is fierce, > especially the Serbian military. The Montenegrin president has > learned from the cases of Bosnia and Kosovo that U.S. > certification is the first step toward independence. Although > Montenegro does not have an army or guerrilla force, U.S. > alignment with Mr. Djukanovic will eventually call for Serbian > intervention. The United States may become a handmaiden for the > third war in Yugoslavia. > > If you want to know what nation-building in Kosovo will look like > as a result of U.S. patronage, examine carefully what is now > happening in Bosnia. A lead article titled "Leaders in Bosnia are > said to steal up to $1 Billion: Blow to Nation-Building" (New > York Times, Aug. 17) states: "As much as a billion dollars has > disappeared from public funds or been stolen from international > aid projects through fraud carried out by the Muslim, Croatian > and Serbian nationalist leaders who keep Bosnia rigidly > partitioned into three ethnic enclaves." The article exposes the > deep corruption in Bosnia and the role that the three ethnic > groups play in the corruption. The son of Muslim-Croat Bosnia's > president, Bakir Izetbegovic, "controls the City Development > Institute, in charge of the occupancy rights of some 80,000 > publicly owned apartments in Sarajevo," and "owns 15 percent of > Bosnia Air, the state airline, and takes a cut of the extortion > money paid out by local shopkeepers to Sarajevo gangsters." He > has become one of the most powerful men in Bosnia. > > American involvement in the war against Mr. Milosevic has been > replete with strategic and tactical errors from the beginning. > Early in the conflict, Mr. Milosevic was made a partner. > Ambassador Richard Holbrook argues this was necessary to achieve > the Dayton Accord while simultaneously aligning with the Muslims > and Croats. In Kosovo before the war, the Clinton administration > also sought Mr. Milosevic as a partner while colluding with the > Albanians. It seems that the same will happen in Montenegro > unless the administration has learned its lessons. Its most > egregious strategic error was its neo-Wilsonian fantasy that > these rogue entities would become stable and democratic. > > With such allies, the United States guarantees continuous warfare > in the region. > > Amos Perlmutter is a professor of political science and sociology > at American University and editor of the Journal of Strategic > Studies. 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