Re: AGF: What about the ethnic Albanians?

-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Wayne Austin <aaustin@utkux.utcc.utk.edu>
To: WORLD SYSTEMS NETWORK <wsn@csf.colorado.edu>
Date: Thursday, April 15, 1999 7:56 PM
Subject: Re: AGF: What about the ethnic Albanians?


>Ronald,
>
>Maybe it isn't that I "cannot see the difference between the use of force
>in the case of a systematic and deliberate campaign to rid the region of
>an ethnic group and the use of force to stop the former from taking
>place." Maybe it is that I reject the premise of "a systematic and
>deliberate campaign to rid the region of an ethnic group."

We disagree then.  I don't know on what basis you reject the "premise" as
you call it, but I base my view on several independent reports from what I
would categorize as reliable sources, including Amnesty International,
independent journalists, the ICTFY, and reports collected from
non-governmental organizations and aid agencies working with refugees.  I
suggest you check Amnesty International's website for documentation.  But
please clarify your rejection: are you saying that what many people see as
"ethnic cleansing" is a mere fiction?

>
>There is another flaw in your argument, and this concerns your assumption
>that what NATO is doing and what they have accomplished is an instance of
>using force to stop an "aggressor." NATO has not only failed to stop the
>"aggressor," but they have done far more harm than good.

This remains to be seen.  The harm NATO has done must be measured
against a reasonable counterfactual: that Serbian paramilitary would
have continued its campaign until the active intelligentsia Kosovarians were
eliminated and the rest neutralized.  The fact that it stepped up this
campaign
once NATO began bombing only demonstrates to me that such a campaign
was indeed its ultimate goal.  And one need only look at the actual
statements
of Milosevic dating back to the revocation of Kosovo Autonomy in 1989.  As a
beginning, I would suggest this site:

http://www.haverford.edu/relg/sells/reports.html

>One might argue,
>I suppose, that the effects of bombing Yugoslavia were not known going
>into this mess. But that would be untrue. First, the refugee crisis was
>the predictable outcome of NATO action. But we need not rely on my
>assessment of this -- advisers to Clinton told him that NATO bombing would
>cause what ultimately happened. It appears now that the refugee crisis was
>precisely what the Clinton Administration wanted -- they were better
>prepared for Woodstock than they were for the Kosovar refugee crisis (and
>there were probably more people at Woodstock). Why? To manufacture a
>justification for attacking Yugoslavia? Don't put that past them. The
>outcome? The Yugoslavian people have united around their government. The
>Clinton Administration and NATO could not be accomplishing everything they
>said they wanted to avoid unless the outcome of their actions was not
>somehow in their minds before going into the ill-starred endeavor. And now
>they are openly rationalizing the bombing of civilians -- the bombing of
>Kosovars, no less. If we assume that these outcomes were unplanned, then
>what an incredibly botched operation; this shows that NATO is not
>competent to act in this capacity. If we assume that these outcomes were
>planned, then it is clear that NATO's goals are not about saving the
>Kosovar people. Either way, there is no moral justification for NATO's
>actions.
>

I think my moral justification was already outlined so I won't respond
again.  I will say that I think you are confusing the justification for
intervention with the relative success or sophistication with which it is
carried out, in what you say above.

>NATO expanded the conflict in the Balkans and created an enormous refugee
>crisis that threatens the fragile stability of the surrounding
>territories. If the conflict expands it will be the direct result of NATO
>action in Yugoslavia. The United States and NATO have started an
>international war in the Balkans. It is amazing that this finds some
>legitimacy in your "moral universe."


It amazes me that the Serbian campaign to expel Kosovars enters nowhere at
all into your moral universe because of what appears to be a knee-jerk
reaction to anything at all remotely connected to United States foreign
policy -- to such an extent that you turn a blind eye to what even a narrow
reading of the United Nations Convention on Genocide would be classified as
such.

RD



>
>Richard, I am pleased not to belong the same "moral universe" as pro-NATO
>apologists.
>
>Andy
>
>
>
>