>STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.COM > >http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/commentary-200082918740.htm > >Washington Times >August 29, 2000 > > >Mounting anxiety in Montenegro > > > >Nikolaos A. Stavrou > > In a recent trip through Belgrade, Montenegro and >Albania I saw firsthand the result of NATO's and >American policy's failures in the Balkans. The scars >of 78 days of "humanitarian" bombardment are visible >all over the land: young men and women drift aimlessly >from coffee shop to coffee shop; policemen in blue >uniforms direct traffic in towns and cities of >Montenegro while camouflaged-draped paramilitary units >roam the streets with no particular purpose. > The consensus among Montenegrins is that their >land is being groomed as Slobodan Milosevic's "next >victim" that would need NATO's "humanitarian" >intervention. Keen local observers are puzzled by the >presence of scores of foreign "businessmen" huddling >with paramilitary warlords and doing no visible >business. The "human rights industry," too, is well >represented in Podgorica. With minimal resources >expanded, activists of this "industry" are busy >co-opting and corrupting elites for as little as a >paid trip to Washington and a platform to recite >anti-Milosevic grievances. > Montenegro is rapidly becoming the next flash >point that could silence George W. Bush's criticism of >the uses and misuses of American power and could serve >as the October surprise in an election year. > This tiny republic of 600,000 people is neither a >democracy nor a state, although is treated as one by >our architects of the Balkan quagmire. Its government >behaves as an aspiring victim and seems eager to make >the most of Mr. Milosevic's villainous image in an >election year. Madeleine Albright's latest model of >Balkan democrat, Montenegrin President Milo >Djukanovic, presides over a smuggling enterprise, not >a government. The Italian mafia, roving Russian >gangsters, and Albanian drug and gun dealers, all >share the benefits of Montenegro's anarchic >environment that Western observers confuse for >freedom. > The Albanians take the prize as poster boys for >post-Cold war Balkan capitalism. Besides drugs and >guns, they also control a multi-ethnic prostitution >ring that literally buys and sells desperate women, >lured to their brutal underworld from as far away as >Kiev. Profits from this lucrative "business" are >visible in the Albanian-inhabited town of Tuzaj, a few >kilometers from the Albanian borders. Walled villas >and late models of Mercedez Benzes compare favorably >with estates in Potomac, Md. > A few miles from Tuzaj, Motentenegrin grandmas >sit silently behind makeshift benches trying to sell >contraband items procured by smugglers with the right >connections. > There is no success of American policy in Kosovo >or anywhere else in the Balkans, no matter how loosely >one defines success. Yet, our government continues its >ostrich-like policies and refuses to come to grips >with reality: i.e. that NATO failed in the Balkans and >that it would make little sense to repeat last year's >folly in Montenegro. Kosovo is not a safe place for >its inhabitants, or our troops for that matter. > The Serbs have been ethnically cleansed by >yesterday's "victims," and members of the Roma, >Egyptian, Turkish and Macedonian communities are >routinely brutalized by Kosovar Liberation Army >elements, who now wear police uniforms, thanks to the >initiative of Sens. Mitch McConnell, Kentucky >Republican, and Joseph Lieberman, Connecticut >Democrat. Eighty-one churches and monasteries (among >them several listed by UNESCO as part of Mankind's >Heritage) have been torched in Kosovo since NATO set >up there, and Serb civilians are murdered by KLA goons >with impunity. > A year after NATO's humanitarian intervention >this region, still Yugoslav sovereign territory, has >been transformed into a safe heaven for Europe's >largest drug cartel. It also is a place where Islamic >fundamentalists drift in and out with little >hindrance. > But judging from its escalating rhetoric, the >Clinton administration seems itching for another >Balkan war in defense of self-proclaimed victims. The >Bosnia-Kosovo pattern is now being fine-tuned and >Slobodan Milosevic, our favorite villain, could be >tricked to provide the pretext. > Part of the fine-tuning is a myth currently >perpetrated by the "mainstream" Western media: i.e. >that Montenegro's population wishes to break free from >Belgrade's grip and go its own way. That is a myth. >Internal polls conducted by Montenegro's own >government (confirmed by an informal poll by this >writer) show a solid 70 percent of the population >favoring the Federation, even though the same >percentage also oppposes Mr. Milosevic's authoritarian >rule and Mr. Djukanovic's corruption. > Sensing the likely outcome of such a referendum >for independence, the family-centered government of >Montenegro passed several opportunities to hold one. >Instead, under apparent Western tutoring, it has opted >for the well-tested "victimhood model." Verbal and >other provocation against Belgrade have intensified >and a paramilitary force resembling KLA in its >formative years is used to "solve" the unemployment >problem. The scenario most often talked about by idle >"coffee shop" analysts is a staged hot incident and >disproportionate reaction by the entrenched Yugoslav >Army. > Ironically, in a land of suffering and more than >40 percent unemployment, Mr. Djukanovic builds a >paramilitary force with unexplained resources and >highly paid foreign mercenaries as trainers. This >force resembles in more ways than one the KLA in its >formative years; and in the heat of American >presidential elections, it could provide an October >surprise. > > > >Nikolaos A. Stavrou is a professor of international >affairs at Howard University. > > > >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Yahoo! 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