NATO's War of
Aggression Against Yugoslavia:
An Overview
By Michel Chossudovsky- May 99
LOW INTENSITY NUCLEAR WAR
With NATO air-strikes entering their third month, a new stage of the War has
unfolded. NATO's "humanitarian bombings" have been stepped up leading to
mounting civilian casualties and human suffering. Thirty percent of those killed in the
bombings are children.1 In addition to the use of cluster bombs, the Alliance is
waging a "low intensity nuclear war" using toxic radioactive shells and missiles
containing depleted uranium. Amply documented, the radioactive fall-out causes cancer
potentially affecting millions of people for generations to come. According to a recent
scientific report, "the first signs of radiation on children including herpes on the
mouth and skin rashes on the back and ankles" have been observed in Yugoslavia since
the beginning of the bombings.2
In addition to the radioactive fall-out which has contaminated the environment
and the food chain, the Alliance has also bombed Yugoslavia's major chemical and
pharmaceutical plants. The bombing of Galenika, the largest medicine factory in Yugoslavia
has contributed to releasing dangerous, highly toxic fumes. When NATO forces bombed plants
of the Pancevo petrochemical complex in mid-April "fire broke out and huge quantities
of chlorine, ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride monomer flowed out. Workers at
Pancevo, fearing further bombing attacks that would blow up dangerous materials, released
tons of ethylene dichloride, a carcinogen, into the Danube."3
NATO TO THE "RESCUE OF ETHNIC ALBANIANS"
Ethnic Albanians have not been spared by NATO air raids. Killing ethnic
Albanians in Kosovo is said to be "inevitable" in carrying out a
"humanitarian operation on behalf of ethnic Albanians". In addition to the
impacts of the ground war between the KLA and the Yugoslav Armed Forces, the bombings and
the resulting radioactive fall-out in Kosovo have been more devastating than in the rest
of Yugoslavia.
Presented as a humanitarian mission, the evidence amply confirms that NATO's
brutal air raids of towns and villages in Kosovo have triggered the exodus of refugees.
Those who have fled their homes to refugee camps in Macedonia and Albania have nothing to
return to, nothing to look forward to... An entire country has been destroyed, its
civilian industry and public infrastructure transformed into rubble. Bridges, power
plants, schools and hospitals are displayed as "legitimate military targets"
selected by NATO's Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) in Vicenza, Italy and carefully
"validated prior to the pilot launching his strike."
With the "diplomatic shuttle" still ongoing, the Alliance is intent on
inflicting as much damage on the Yugoslav economy (including Kosovo) as possible prior to
reaching a G8 brokered "peace initiative" which will empower them to send in
ground troops. "Allied commanders have steadily widened their list of economic
targets... Increasingly, the impact of NATO air strikes has put people out of work...
causing water shortages in Belgrade, Novi Sad and other Serbian cities. ... [T]he effect
was to shut down businesses, strain hospitals' ability to function and cut off
water..."4. Some 115 medical institutions have been damaged of which several have
been totally demolished. And hospital patients --including children and the elderly-- are
dying due to the lack of water and electricity...5
General Wesley Clark, NATO's Supreme commander in Europe, confirmed in late May
that "NATO'S air campaign has not reached its peak yet and the alliance should be
prepared for more civilian casualties."6. General Clark also confirmed that "he
would be seeking to increase the number of air strikes in Kosovo and expand the range of
targets.7 As the bombings entered their third month, there was also a noticeable change in
"NATO rhetoric". The Alliance had become increasingly unrepentant, NATO
officials were no longer
EXTENDING THE CONFLICT BEYOND THE BALKANS
Drowned in the barrage of media images and self-serving analyses, the broader
strategic interests and economic causes of the War go unmentioned. The late Sean Gervasi
writing in 1995 had anticipated an impending War. According to Gervasi, Washington's
strategic goals stretched well beyond the Balkans. They largely consisted in
"installing a Western-style regime in Yugoslavia and reducing the geographic area,
power and influence of Serbia to a minimum...."8
In this context, the installation of American power in Southern Europe and the
Mediterranean also constitutes a step towards the extension of Washington's geopolitical
sphere of influence beyond the Balkans into the area of the Caspian Sea, Central Asia and
West Asia.
In this regard, NATO's military intervention in Yugoslavia (in violation of
international law) also sets a dangerous precedent. It provides "legitimacy" to
future military interventions. To achieve its strategic objectives, national economies are
The consolidation of American strategic interests in Eastern Europe, the Balkans
(and beyond) was not only marked by the enlargement of NATO (with the accession of
Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic as NATO members) barely two weeks before the
beginning of the bombings, the War in Yugoslavia also coincided with a critical split in
geopolitical alignments within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
In late April, Georgia, the Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldava signed a
pact in Washington, creating GUUAM, a regional alliance which lies strategically at the
hub of the Caspian oil and gas wealth, "with Moldava and the Ukraine offering
[pipeline] export routes to the West".9 This geopolitical split bears a direct
relationship to the crisis in Yugoslavia. The region is already unstable marked by
nationalist conflicts and separatist movements.
The members of this new pro-NATO political grouping not only tacitly support the
bombings in Yugoslavia, they have also agreed to "low level military
cooperation" with NATO while insisting that "the group is not a military
alliance directed against any third party, namely Moscow."10
Dominated by Western oil interests, the formation of GUUAM is not only intent on
excluding Russia from the oil and gas deposits in the Caspian area but also in isolating
Moscow politically thereby potentially re-igniting Cold War divisions...
THE WAR HAS STALLED NUCLEAR ARMS CONTROLS
In turn, the War in Yugoslavia has significantly stalled nuclear arms-control
initiatives leading to the cancellation of an exchange program "that would have had
US and Russian nuclear weapons officers in constant contact at year's end to prevent any
launches as a result of Year 2000 computer troubles."11
Moreover, Russia's military has also voiced its concern "that the bombing
of Yugoslavia could turn out in the very near future to be just a rehearsal for similar
strikes on Russia."12.
According to Dr. Mary-Wynne Ashford, co-president of the Nobel Peace Prize
winning International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), the impact of
NATO bombings of Yugoslavia "on nuclear weapons policy is an extremely serious
development... Russians feel a sense of betrayal by the West... because NATO took this
action outside the UN."13
Aleksander Arbatov, deputy chairman of the
"START II is dead, co-operation with NATO is frozen, co-operation on
missile
Mary-Wynne Ashford also warns that whereas Russia was moving towards
integration with Europe, they [the Russians] now:
".... perceive their primary threat from the West. Officials in [Russia's]
Foreign Affairs (Arms Control and Disarmament) told us that Russia has no option but to
rely on nuclear weapons for its
THE MEDIA WAR: "SILENCING THE SILENT MAJORITY"
This war is also "a War against the Truth". With protest movements
developing around the World, NATO has reinforced its clutch over the mass media. In a
The hidden agenda is to "silence the silent majority." The Western
media heeding to the Alliance's demands has blatantly misled public opinion. Casually
portrayed on TV screens, civilian deaths are justified as inevitable "collateral
damage". According to the Pentagon, "there is no such thing as clean
combat."17
Meanwhile, anti-war commentators (including former ambassadors and OSCE
officials) have been carefully removed from mainstream public affairs programmes, TV
content is closely
"Public opinion is confronted with a loaded question which allows only one
answer. In the present war, that question is, "Doesn't ethnic cleansing have to be
stopped?" This simplification allows the media to portray Yugoslavia rather than NATO
as the aggressor. The alliance, in a complete inversion of reality, is presented as
conducting an essentially defensive war on behalf of the Kosovar Albanians..." when
in fact ethnic Albanians are the principle victims of NATO's "humanitarian
bombings."18
According to NATO's propaganda machine, "ethnic Albanians do not flee the
bombings" and the ground war between the KLA and the Yugoslav Army. According to
Diana Johnstone this makes them "nearly unique [because] throughout history,
civilians have fled from war zones.... No, as we have heard repeatedly from NATO spokesmen
and apologists, Kosovo Albanians run away from only one thing: brutal ethnic cleansing
carried out by Serbs."19
The refugee crisis we are told by NATO is limited to Kosovo. Yet the evidence
(withheld by the Western media) confirms that people throughout Serbia are fleeing major
cities:
Reliable estimates put the number of refugees who have left Belgrade to escape
the bombing at 400,000. Most are women and children, as with the Kosovo Albanians. At
least another 500,000 have left Serbia's other cities, notably Novi Sad and Nish, where
NATO bombing has caused air pollution, cut the water supply, and struck purely civilian
targets such as market squares. Altogether, according to the Italian daily "Il
Manifesto", the NATO bombing has produced at least a million refugees in Serbia.
Predrag Simic, foreign policy adviser to Serbian opposition leader Vuk Draskovic, told a
Paris conference [in late May] that Kosovo was being so thoroughly devastated by NATO
bombing that nobody, neither Albanians nor Serbs, would be able to go back and live
there".20
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR WAR CRIMES?
Public "disapproval" of NATO bombings is immediately dismissed as
"Serb propaganda". Those who speak out against NATO are branded as
"apologists of Milosevic". While most anti-War critics in NATO countries are not
defenders of the Milosevic regime, they are nonetheless expected to be
"balanced" in their arguments. "Looking at both sides of the picture is the
rule": anti-war commentators are invited to echo NATO's fabricated media consensus,
to unequivocally "join the bandwagon" against Milosevic. Under these
circumstances, an objective understanding and analysis of the role of the Milosovic
government since the civil War in Bosnia and in the context of the present crisis in
Kosovo has been rendered virtually impossible.
Media double standards? Whereas President Milosevic and four members of his
government were indicted by the Hague International Criminal Tribunal (ICTY) (late May)
for
It is also worth mentioning that the UK government (whose Prime Minister Tony
Blair is among the list of accused in one of the parallel law suits) has provided The
Hague Tribunal with "intelligence on the situation within Kosovo" since the
beginning of the bombings.22 Part of this intelligence material was relayed by the KLA
with which British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has been in frequent contact as well as
through British Special Forces (SAS) directly collaborating with the KLA.
LAW SUIT DIRECTED AGAINST NATO LEADERS
In May, a group of 15 Canadian lawyers and law professors together with the
American Association of Jurists (with members in more than 20 countries) launched a suit
against NATO leaders at the ICTY in the Hague.23 The suit points to "open
violation" of the United Nations Charter, the NATO treaty, the Geneva Conventions and
the "Principles of International Law Recognized by the Nuremberg Tribunal". The
latter makes: "planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or
a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances" a crime.24
The list of crimes allegedly committed by NATO leaders includes:
"
Under the terms of reference of the ICTY "a person who planned, instigated,
ordered, committed or otherwise aided and abetted in the planning, preparation or
execution of a crime shall be individually responsible for the crime" and "the
official position of any accused person, whether as Head of State or Government or as a
responsible Government official, shall not relieve such person of criminal responsibility
or mitigate punishment."26
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson (and former
President of Ireland) confirmed in Geneva on 30 April that the Prosecutor of the War
Crimes Tribunal (ICTY) has the mandate not only to prosecute Serb forces but that the
Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and NATO may also come under scrutiny, "if it appears
that serious violations of international humanitarian law have occurred."
According to Walter J. Rockler, former prosecutor of the Nuremberg War Crimes
Trials:
"The bombing war also violates and shreds the basic provisions of the
United Nations Charter and other conventions and treaties; the attack on Yugoslavia
constitutes the most brazen international aggression since the Nazis attacked Poland to
prevent "Polish atrocities" against Germans. The United States has discarded
pretensions to international legality and decency, and embarked on a course of raw
imperialism run amok."27
SHAKY EVIDENCE OF A "HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE" PRIOR TO THE BOMBINGS
In the course of "covering-up" the real motivations of NATO in
launching the War, the international media has also failed to mention that an official
intelligence report of the German Foreign Ministry (used to establish the eligibility of
political refugees from Kosovo) confirmed that there was no evidence of "ethnic
cleansing" in Kosovo in the months immediately preceding the bombings. Who is lying?
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer had justified NATO's intervention pointing to a
"humanitarian catastrophe", yet the internal documents of his own ministry say
exactly the opposite:
"Even in Kosovo an explicit political persecution linked to Albanian
ethnicity is not verifiable. The East of Kosovo is still not involved in armed conflict.
Public life in cities like Pristina, Urosevac, Gnjilan, etc. has, in the entire conflict
period, continued on a relatively normal basis. The actions of the security forces [were]
not directed against the Kosovo-Albanians as an ethnically defined group, but against the
military opponent [KLA] and its actual or alleged supporters."... 28
[W]ith an agreement made with the Serbian leadership at the end of 1998 ... both
the security situation and the conditions of life of the Albanian-derived population have
noticeably improved... Specifically in the larger cities public life has since returned to
relative normality."29
The above assessments are broadly consistent with several independent
evaluations of the humanitarian situation in Kosovo prior to the onslaught of the bombing
campaign. Roland Keith, a former field office director of the OSCE Kosovo Verification
Mission (KVM), who left Kosovo on March 20th reported that most of the violence in Kosovo
was instigated by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA):
"Upon my arrival the war increasingly evolved into a mid intensity conflict
as ambushes, the encroachment of critical lines of communication and the [KLA] kidnapping
of security forces resulted in a significant increase in government casualties which in
turn led to major Yugoslavian reprisal security operations... By the beginning of March
these terror and counter-terror operations led to the inhabitants of numerous villages
fleeing, or being dispersed to either other villages, cities or the hills to seek
refuge... The situation was clearly that KLA provocations, as personally witnessed in
ambushes of security patrols which inflicted fatal and other casualties, were clear
violations of the previous October's agreement [and United Nations Security Council
Resolution 1199]. The security forces responded and the consequent security harassment and
counter-operations led to an intensified insurrectionary war, but as I have stated
elsewhere, I did not witness, nor did I have knowledge of any incidents of so-called
"ethnic cleansing" and there certainly were no occurrences of "genocidal
policies" while I was with the KVM in Kosovo. What has transpired since the OSCE
monitors were evacuated on March 20, in order to deliver the penultimate warning to force
Yugoslavian compliance with the Rambouillet and subsequent Paris documents and the
commencement of the NATO air bombardment of March 24, obviously has resulted in human
rights abuses and a very significant humanitarian disaster as some 600,000 Albanian
Kosovars have fled or been expelled from the province. This did not occur, though, before
March 20, so I would attribute the humanitarian disaster directly or indirectly to the
NATO air bombardment and resulting anti-terrorist campaign."30
CHRONOLOGY OF NATO PLANNING
Carefully removed from the public eye, preparations for both "the air
campaign" and "the ground War" have been ongoing for almost a year prior to
the beginning of NATO's "humanitarian bombings" on March 24th 1999.
Responding to broad strategic and economic objectives, the Alliance's first
priority was to secure the stationing of armed combat troops in Macedonia on the immediate
border with Kosovo. US Secretary of Defense William Cohen had
No time was lost: on May 6, 1998, the NATO Council met "to review alliance
efforts" in the region; a major military exercise entitled "Cooperative Best
Effort" was slated to take place in Macedonia in September. NATO nonetheless
"reassured the international community" that the military exercise was not meant
to be "a rehearsal", rather it was to enable "NATO military authorities to
study various options. Decisions on whether to execute any of those options would be a
matter for future decision."32
Largely the consequence of KLA terrorism, the deterioration of the security
situation in Kosovo conveniently provided NATO with a pretext to build up its ground
forces in Macedonia (composed largely of British and French troops). According to NATO, it
was therefore necessary to envisage "a more complicated and ambitious [military]
exercise [in Macedonia] to send a clear political signal [to Belgrade] of NATO's
involvement".33
THE ROLE OF THE KOSOVO LIBERATION ARMY
In parallel with the setting up of its military operations in Albania and
Macedonia, NATO had established direct links with the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). A US
Department of Defense briefing confirms in this regard that "initial contacts"
between the KLA and NATO had taken place by mid-1998:
"...the realization has come to people [in NATO] that we [NATO] have to
have the UCK [acronym for KLA in Albanian] involved in this process because they have
shown at least the potential to be rejectionists of any deal that could be worked out
there with the existing Kosovo parties. So somehow they have to be brought in and that's
why we've made some initial contacts there with the group, hopefully the right people in
the group, to try and bring them into this negotiating process. 34
While these "initial contacts" were acknowledged by NATO officially
only in mid-1998, the KLA had (according to several reports) been receiving "covert
support" and training from the CIA and Germany's Bundes Nachrichten Dienst (BND)
since the mid-nineties.35
The concurrent building up of KLA forces was part of NATO planning. By mid-1998
"covert support" had been gradually replaced --despite the KLA's links to
On 24 September 1998, another key UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR 1199)
was adopted which called "upon the authorities in Belgrade and the leadership of the
Kosovar Albanian community urgently to enter without preconditions into a meaningful
dialogue on political status issues." It also required Belgrade to withdraw its
troops from Kosovo.
Following a renewed wave of KLA terrorism, the Yugoslav authorities were blamed
for the "crackdowns on ethnic Albanians" providing NATO defense ministers
meeting in Vilmoura Portugal (September 24th on the same day as the adoption of UNSCR
1199) with the "justification" to issue an "activation warning" for a
campaign of air strikes against Serb positions. The Vilmoura statement called upon
Belgrade to "take immediate steps to alleviate the humanitarian situation..., stop
repressive actions against the population and seek a political solution through
negotiations with the Albanian majority".36
This so-called "activation warning" was followed in mid-October by
"an activation order" by the North Atlantic Council
Under the impending threat of air strikes, a partial withdrawal was carried out
by Belgrade (following the adoption of UNSCR 1199) creating almost immediately conditions
for the KLA to occupy positions previously held by retreating Serb forces. In turn, the
strengthening of the KLA was accompanied by renewed terrorist activity and a consequent
"worsening of the security situation". NATO's hidden objective, in this regard,
was to use the KLA insurgency to further provoke ethnic tensions and generate social
strife in Kosovo.
In the meantime, US envoy Richard Holbrooke had entered into discussions with
President Milosovic. Forged under the threat of NATO air strikes, negotiations on Kosovo's
political status had also been initiated in Pristina between a Serbian delegation led by
President Milan Milutinovic and Ibrahim Rugova, President of the Democratic League (DLK)
representing ethnic Albanians. While
Following the agreement between US envoy Richard Holbrooke and President
Slobodan Milosevic, Yugoslavia was to complete negotiations on "a framework for a
political settlement" by the 2nd of November 1998. Moreover, a Verification Mission
to establish compliance with resolutions UNSCR 1160 and UNSCR 1199, was put in place in
Kosovo under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE). A parallel NATO air verification mission (complementing the OSCE verification
mission) was established following an agreement signed in Belgrade on 15 October 1998 by
the Yugoslav Chief of General Staff and NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, General
Wesley Clark.
The terms of both the OSCE and NATO verification agreements were subsequently
embodied in UNSCR 1260 of October 24th. Whereas Belgrade was given a 96 hour
"deadline for compliance", the Alliance decided to postpone the initiation of
air strikes following talks in Belgrade (October 25-26) between President Slobodan
Milosevic and General Wesley Clark. According to the Alliance statement: "NATO will
remain prepared to carry out air operations should they be necessary" 38. In the
meantime, NATO launched Operation Eagle Eye using unarmed aircraft and unmanned predator
aerial vehicles (UAVs). Eagle Eye surveillance activities were coordinated with the
"ground verification" mission conducted by OSCE observer teams and by the Kosovo
Diplomatic Observer Mission (KDOM).
A FORMER "IRAN-CONTRAGATE" OFFICIAL HEADS THE OSCE VERIFICATION
MISSION
In the meantime, a career US diplomat, Ambassador William G. Walker was
appointed Head of the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM). A tailor-made assignment:
Walker was well-known for his role in the "Iran-Contragate" scandal during the
Reagan administration. The KLA insurgency was in many regards a "carbon copy" of
the Nicaraguan Contras which had also been funded by drug money with covert support from
the CIA.
Well documented by court files, William G. Walker --in association with Oliver
North-- played a key role in
William G. Walker had been involved in the so-called Nicaraguan Humanitarian
Assistance Office ("NHAO") in the State Department which was a cover-up fund
whereby covert military aid was supplied to the Contras. The objective was to circumvent
the so-called "Boland Amendments", --
Walker was never indicted for criminal wrong-doings in the Iran- Contragate
scandal. Upon completing his work with Oliver North, he was appointed US Ambassador to El
Salvador. His stint in El Salvador coincided with the rise of the death squadrons and a
period during which the country was virtually "under the grip of US sponsored State
terror."42
In Kosovo, William G. Walker applied his skills in covert operations acquired in
Central America. As head of the Kosovo Verification Mission (KVM), Walker maintained close
links to the KLA military command in the field.43 From the outset of his mission in
Kosovo, he used his position to pursue the interests of the Alliance.
"THE RACAK MASSACRE"
The so-called "Racak massacre" occurred shortly before the launching
of the Rambouillet "peace initiative". although it turned out to be a fake, the
Racak massacre nonetheless played a key role in "setting the stage" for NATO's
air raids. William Walker declared (in his capacity as head of KVM) that the Yugoslav
police had carried out a massacre of civilians at Racak on January 15th. The Yugoslav
authorities retorted that local police had in fact conducted an operation in this village
against the Kosovo
"Eventually, even the Los Angeles Times joined in, running a story entitled
"Racak Massacre Questions: Were Atrocities Faked?" The theory behind all these
exposés was that the KLA had gathered their own dead after the battle, removed their
uniforms, put them in civilian clothes, and then called in the observers."44.
THE RAMBOUILLET PROCESS
On January 22, senior officials of the so-called "Contact Group" of
six countries (including the US, Russia, Britain, France, Germany and Italy) meeting in
London called for a peace conference which would bring together the Yugoslav government
and "representatives of ethnic Albanians." In turn, NATO warned that it was
"ready to act" if the peace plan to be
In the meantime, while supporting the KLA insurgency on the ground, the Alliance
had also contributed to spearheading KLA leader Hashim Thaci (a 29 year "freedom
fighter") into heading the Kosovar delegation to Rambouillet, on behalf of the ethnic
Albanian majority. The Democratic League headed by Ibrahim Rugova had been deliberately
side-stepped. The Alliance was relying on its KLA puppets (linked to
While negotiations were ongoing in Rambouillet, NATO decided to increase the
readiness of its assigned forces "so as to make them able to execute the operation
within 48 hours".46 In other words, "peace negotiations" had been initiated
in Rambouillet (contrary to the Vienna Convention) under the threat of impending air
strikes. NATO had granted a three weeks period to the parties meeting in Rambouillet to
conclude negotiations.
On February 19, one day prior to the deadline, NATO Secretary General Javier
Solano reaffirmed that, "if no agreement is reached by the deadline set by the
Contact Group, NATO is ready to take whatever measures are necessary to avert a
humanitarian catastrophe".47 And on 22 March 1999, NATO'S North Atlantic Council
SENDING IN GROUND
Since the brutal onslaught of the air campaign on March 24, the Alliance has
continued to build up its ground combat troops on the Macedonian border in anticipation of
an impending military invasion. Initially NATO had envisaged a Kosovo occupation force of
50,000 troops which could be increased to 60,000 with a larger US share than the 4,000
initially envisaged under Rambouillet.
In other words, the proposed invasion force was to be more than double that
under Rambouillet (28,000 troops) while also enforcing all the normative clauses of the
initial Rambouillet agreement including the "free movement" of NATO combat units
throughout Yugoslavia.
In the meantime, NATO's military establishment was forcing the pace of
international diplomacy. The Alliance hinted in May that a ground offensive could be
launched prior to reaching a "peace agreement" sanctioned by the G8 and ratified
by the United Nations Security Council.
In addition to the 16,000 ground troops already stationed (well before the
beginning of the bombings) in Macedonia (of which almost half are British), some 7000 NATO
troops and "special forces" were also present in Albania, not to mention the
NATO troops stationed in Bosnia-Herzegovina under Operation Joint
"We've already put quite a lot of troops in Macedonia as the nucleus of
that operation", said British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook. "There are over
12,000 there already... and last weekend [14-15 May] we committed another two and a half
thousand to go there. We need to build up - actually we need to build up now..."50.
In late May, the 60,000 troops target was revised to 150,000. Alliance officials
estimating that "if the alliance later decides to mobilize for a land attack ... an
invasion force could number more than 150,000 soldiers."51 Prime Minister Tony Blair
in a separate statement had (without any form of parliamentary debate) confirmed the
sending of 50,000 British troops as part of the 150,000 invasion force.
In early June, a NATO led invasion under a bogus G8-UN peace initiative was put
forth. While the latter served to appease and distract public opinion, it usefully
provided the Alliance with a semblance of legitimacy under the UN Charter. It also
purported to overcome the hesitation of elected politicians including German Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder and Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema. The US Administration also
required the "rubber stamp" of the United Nations Security Council so as to
acquire the assent of the Republican dominated Congress:
"House and Senate Democrats agree there is little support at this point for
launching ground troops... even if Clinton and other NATO leaders could reach a consensus
on such a dramatic shift in tactics. For now, Clinton has said he is opposed to ground
troops."52
The US House of Representatives (in what appeared to be a partisan
"anti-Clinton" vote) has declined to even endorse the air campaign while
signifying its refusal to authorize a "ground war" without congressional
approval. In early April, Republicans and Democrats joined hands in the House and threw
out a proposed "declaration of war on Yugoslavia" by an overwhelming 427-2 vote.
In late May, seventeen members of Congress launched a suit against President
Clinton pointing to the blatant breach of the US Constitution:
"that the Defendant, the President of the United States, is
unconstitutionally continuing an offensive military attack by United States Armed Forces
against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia without obtaining a declaration of war or other
explicit authority from the Congress of the United States as required by Article I,
Section 8, Clause 11 of the Constitution, and despite Congress' decision not to authorize
such action." 53
The law suit launched in District Court (District of Columbia) also pointed to
the violation of the War Powers Resolution of 1973, a Vietnam War-era legislation which
requires "the sitting President congressional approval for the "introduction
into hostilities" of the U.S. armed forces for longer than 60 days":
Plaintiffs also seek a declaration that a report pursuant to Section 1543(a)(1)
of the War Powers Resolution was required to be submitted on March 26, 1999, within 48
hours of the introduction into hostilities in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia of United
States Armed Forces. Additionally, Plaintiffs seek a declaration that, pursuant to Section
1544(b) of the Resolution, the President must terminate the use of United States Armed
Forces engaged in hostilities against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia no later than
sixty calendar days after March 26, 1999. The President must do so unless the Congress
declares war or enacts other explicit authorization, or has extended the sixty day period,
or the President determines that thirty additional days are necessary to safely withdraw
United States Armed Forces from combat.54
NATO AS "PEACE-KEEPERS"
Echoing the barrage of self-serving NATO propaganda, the media scam now consists
in
An "international presence" consisting largely of NATO troops under
the G8 proposal (ratified by the Serbian Parliament in early June) could include a token
participation of "non-NATO forces" including Russia and the Ukraine. While
Moscow agreed in early June that all Yugoslav forces be withdrawn from Kosovo alongside
the
Despite his perfunctory condemnation of NATO bombings, Russian President Boris
Yeltsin is a Western puppet. Chernomyrdin writing in the Washington Post had earlier
warned that a continuation of the air raids could hurt US-Russian relations: "The
world has never in this decade been so close as now to be on brink of nuclear war..."
adding that "Russia would pull out of the negotiating process if NATO bombing, which
started March 24, doesn't stop soon."55
In the meantime, the Alliance, however, had persisted in maintaining a unified
NATO command structure (which was unacceptable to Moscow and Belgrade). NATO has also
stepped up the bombings as a means of pressuring Belgrade into accepting (without prior
negotiation) NATO's "five conditions".
If the G-8 proposal were to be ratified, NATO would first send in US Marines
into Kosovo from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit in the Adriatic Sea. The Marines would
be part of a so-called "Enabling Force" prior to the moving in of a force of
50,000 troops.
A G-8 "peace proposal" (implying a de facto military occupation of
Kosovo) could be formally ratified at the Cologne G7-G8 Summit in mid-June. All G7 heads
of government and heads of State together with President Boris Yeltsin will be in
attendance at Cologne in what is hoped to be a
THE SENDING IN OF "SPECIAL FORCES"
In the meantime, an incipient undeclared ground War has already commenced:
special British, French and American forces were reported to be advising the KLA in the
conduct of ground combat operations against regular units of the Yugoslav Army. To support
this initiative, a Republican sponsored bill was launched in the US Congress to provide
direct military aid to the KLA.
These "special forces" are "advising the rebels at their
strongholds in northern Albania, where the KLA has launched a major recruitment and
training operation. According to high-ranking KLA officials, the [British] SAS is using
two camps near Tirana, the Albanian capital, and another on the Kosovar border to teach
KLA officers how to conduct intelligence-gathering operations on Serbian
positions".56 In May, three French special forces officers wearing uniforms of the
French Armed Forces ("
AN UNHOLY "MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE"
In addition to the dispatch of Western special forces, Mujehadeen mercenaries
and other Islamic fundamentalist groups (financed inter alia by Iran and Saudi financier
Osmane Bin Laden) have been collaborating with the KLA in the ground war.
"[B]y early December 1997, Iranian intelligence had already delivered the
first shipments of hand grenades, machine-guns, assault rifles, night vision equipment,
and communications gear... Moreover, the Iranians began sending promising Albanian and UCK
[KLA] commanders for advanced military training in al-Quds [special] forces and IRGC camps
in Iran...58.
Bin Laden's Al Qa'ida allegedly responsible for last year's African embassy
bombings "was one of several fundamentalist groups that had sent units to fight in
Kosovo, ... Bin Laden is believed to have established an operation in Albania in 1994 ...
Albanian sources say Sali Berisha, who was then president, had links with some groups that
later proved to be extreme fundamentalists".59
NATO IN CLOSE LIAISON WITH KLA GROUND OPERATIONS
According to Jane
NATO spokesman Jamie Shea's response to the appointment of a War criminal as KLA
chief of staff was communicated in a Press Briefing:
"I have always made it clear, and you have heard me say this, that NATO has
no direct contacts with the KLA. Who they appoint as their leaders, that is entirely their
own affair. I don't have any comment on that whatever.61
Shea's statement that NATO has "no direct contacts with the KLA" is a
lie. It is in overt contradiction with other Alliance statements: "I speak regularly
to Hashim Thaci, the leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army who's in Kosovo. I spoke to him
at the end of last week" said British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook.62
Operations on the ground (led by the KLA and NATO Special forces) are now being
carefully coordinated with the air campaign. Moreover, some 50 Canadian armed forces
"are working with the KLA in Kosovo" to help report "where the bombs are
falling" so they can better target "where the next bomb should go."63
PENTAGON SPONSORED MERCENARIES IN KOSOVO
The KLA has also been provided with "a long-term training deal with
Military and Professional Resources International [MPRI], a mercenary company run by
former American officers who operate with semi-official approval from the Pentagon and
played a key role in building up Croatia's armed forces [during the War in
Bosnia]."64 And General Brigadier Agim Ceku (despite his role in "ethnic
cleansing" in Bosnia), is currently collaborating closely with the Pentagon's
mercenary outfit MPRI on behalf of the KLA.
THE KLA TO FORM A "POST-CONFLICT GOVERNMENT"
A self-proclaimed provisional KLA government of Kosovo has been established.
With KLA leader Hashim Thaci as Prime Minister designate, the KLA has already been
promised a central role in the formation of a "post-conflict government".
While openly promoting a "freedom movement" with links to the drug
trade, NATO was also intent in bypassing the civilian Kosovo Democratic League and its
leader Ibrahim Rugova who had earlier called for an end to the bombings. Rugova was
branded as a "traitor" by the KLA. According to Albanian state-run TV, the KLA
had sentenced Rugova to death accusing him of being "an agent of the regime in
Belgrade."65
In April, Fehmi Agani, one of Rugova's closest collaborators in the Democratic
League was killed. The Serbs were blamed by NATO spokesperson Jamie Shea for having
assassinated Agani. According to Skopje paper Makedonija Danas quoting reliable sources in
Albania: "Agani was killed... on the orders of Tirana where Thaci is located with the
members of his illegal government".66
According to a report of the Foreign Policy Institute:
"...the KLA have [no] qualms about murdering Rugova's collaborators, whom
it accused of the "crime" of moderation. Most recently, although Rugova's recent
meeting with Milosevic may well have been under duress, the KLA declared Rugova a
"traitor" - yet another step toward eliminating any competitors for political
power within Kosovo."67
The KLA military regime had replaced the duly elected (by ethnic Albanians)
civilian provisional Kosovar government of President Ibrahim Rugova. In a statement issued
in April, the KLA considered the (parallel) "parliamentary elections"
The self-proclaimed Kosovar administration is made up of the KLA and the
Democratic Union Movement (LBD), a coalition of five opposition parties opposed to
Rugova's Democratic League (LDK). In addition to the position of prime minister, the KLA
controls the ministries of finance, public order and
`We want to develop a good relationship with them [the KLA] as they transform
themselves into a politically-oriented organization,' ...`[W]e believe that we have a lot
of advice and a lot of help that we can provide to them if they become precisely the kind
of political actor we would like to see them become.'68
With the KLA poised to play a central role in the formation of a "post
conflict" government, the tendency is towards the installation of a "Mafia
State" with links to the drug trade. The US State Department's position is that the
KLA would "not be allowed to continue as a military force but would have the chance
to move forward in their quest for self government under a 'different context'"
meaning the inauguration of a de facto "narco-democracy" under NATO protection:
"If we can help them and they want us to help them in that effort of transformation,
I think it's nothing that anybody can argue with."69
In recent developments, the Alliance, however, has sought through the
intermediation of US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to reconcile divisions between
Thachi, Rugova and other ethnic Albanian leaders "primarily with a view to
strengthening its [the Alliance's] own position in the region."70
IMPOSING "FREE MARKET" REFORMS
Wall Street analysts concur that "war is good for business"
particularly during a period of "economic slowdown". The US Congress has
approved increased budgetary allocations to finance the War in Yugoslavia which will
result in multi-billion contracts for America's Defense industry. In turn, the War will
boost the military-industrial complex and its related high tech sectors in the US and
Western Europe. A ground war combined with a prolonged military occupation (as in Bosnia)
will prop up military spending. In turn, covert support and financing of "freedom
fighters" (extending beyond the Balkans into Central Asia and the Middle East) will
contribute to boosting the lucrative contraband in small arms for an expanding market of
insurgent nationalist movements.
"ECONOMIC RECONSTRUCTION"
The "post conflict" agenda (under the proposed G8 "peace
initiative" consists in establishing in Kosovo an occupied territory under Western
administration (broadly on the same model as the 1995 Dayton Agreement imposed on
Bosnia-Herzegovina).
"Free market reforms" are envisaged for Kosovo under the supervision
of the Bretton Woods institutions. Article I (Chapter 4a) of the Rambouillet Agreement
stipulates that: "The economy of Kosovo shall function in accordance with free market
principles".
"Civilian administration [in Kosovo] and reconstruction would be carried
out by non-military bodies including the EU and the OSCE, with input from the World Bank
and the IMF to rebuild war-damaged infrastructure and
In close liaison with NATO, the Bretton Woods institutions had already analyzed
the consequences of an eventual military intervention leading to the military occupation
of Kosovo: almost a year prior to the beginning of the War, the World Bank conducted
"simulations" which "anticipated the possibility of an emergency scenario
arising out of the tensions in Kosovo".72 The "simulations" conducted in
Washington have in fact already been translated into a panoply of "emergency recovery
loans" for Macedonia and Albania, and there is more to come... Since the imposition
of the embargo, Yugoslavia, however, is no longer considered a member of the Bretton Woods
institutions and will not be eligible for IMF-World Bank loans until the sanctions are
lifted.
The proposed "Marshall Plan" for the Balkans is a delusion. We recall
that in Bosnia, the costs of reconstruction were of the order of 50 billion dollars.
Western donors initially pledged $3 billion in reconstruction loans, yet only a
The eventual "reconstruction" of Yugoslavia formulated in the context
of the "free market" reforms and financed by international debt largely purport
to create a safe haven for foreign investors rather than rehabilitate the country's
economic and social infrastructure. The IMF's lethal "economic medicine" will be
imposed, the national economy will be dismantled, European and American banks will take
over financial institutions, local industrial enterprises which have not been totally
destroyed will be driven into bankruptcy. The most profitable State assets will be
transferred into the hands of foreign capital under the World Bank sponsored
"The Allies will work with the rest of the international community to help
rebuild Kosovo once the crisis is over: The International Monetary Fund and Group of Seven
industrialized countries are among those who stand ready to offer financial help to the
countries of the region. We want to ensure proper co-ordination of aid and help countries
to respond to the effects of the crisis. This should go hand in hand with the necessary
structural reforms in the countries affected -- helped by budget support from the
international community.74
In turn, the so-called "reconstruction" of the Balkans by foreign
capital will signify multi-billion contracts to multinational firms to rebuild roads,
airports and bridges which will eventually be required (once the embargo is lifted) to
facilitate the "free movement" of capital and commodities.
The proposed "Marshall Plan" financed by the World Bank and the
European Development Bank (EBRD) as well as private creditors will largely benefit Western
mining, petroleum and construction companies while fuelling the region's external debt
well into the third millennium. And the countries of the Balkans are slated to reimburse
this debt through the laundering of dirty money in the domestic banking system which will
be deregulated under the supervision of Western financial institutions. Narco-dollars from
the multi-billion dollar Balkans drug trade will be recycled (through the banking system)
and
The pattern for Kosovo is, in this regard, similar to that of Macedonia and
Albania. Since the early 1990s, the IMF's reforms have impoverished the Albanian
population while spearheading the national economy into bankruptcy. The IMF's deadly
economic therapy transforms countries into open territories. In Albania and Macedonia it
has fostered the growth of illicit trade and the criminalisation of State institutions.
Moreover, even prior to the influx of refugees, NATO troops in Macedonia and
Albania had already occupied civilian facilities (including hotels, schools, barracks and
even hospitals) without compensating the national governments for the use of local
services.75
In a cruel irony, a significant part of these incurred costs as well as those
associated with the refugee crisis are now to be financed not by the Alliance but by the
national governments on borrowed money:
"[T]he Albanian government's formal structures have been
WHO WILL PAY WAR REPARATIONS?
The extensive destruction of Yugoslavia, would normally require the Alliance to
"pay war reparations" to Belgrade. However, following a pattern set in both
Vietnam and Iraq, the Alliance will no doubt compel Belgrade "to pay for the
costs" of Operation Allied Force (including the cruise missiles and radioactive
shells) as a condition for the "
We recall in this regard that whereas Vietnam never received War reparations
payments, Hanoi was compelled --as a condition for the "
Similarly Baghdad has been "billed for the costs of the Gulf War",
--
* Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and author of The
Globalization of Poverty, Impacts of IMF and World Bank Reforms, Third World Network.
Member of the Ad Hoc Committee to Stop Canada's Participation in the War in Yugoslavia.
Copyright by Michel Chossudovsky, Ottawa, 1999. All rights
reserved.
ENDNOTES
1. Statement by UNICEF Representative in Belgrade, quoted in Yugoslav Daily
Survey, Belgrade, 23 May 1999, No. 4351.
2. Report by Dr Siegwart-Horst Guenther, meeting of the PBS (Federal
Socialists), Bonn, 17 May 1999.
3. International Action Center, "NATO Bombing Unleashes Environmental
Catastrophe in Europe", Press Release, 14 May 1999).
4. Joseph Fitchett, "Is Serb Economy the True Target? Raids Seem Aimed at
Bolstering Resistance to Milosevic", International Herald Tribune, Paris, 26 May
1999.
5. Tanjug Press Release, 25 May 1999.
6. Statement to Ambassadors of 19 NATO Countries, quoted in Daily Telegraph,
London, 28 May 1999.
7. Ibid.
8. Sean Gervasi, Bosnia and Vietnam, draft text, 1995.
9. Financial Times, London, 6 May 1999, p. 2.
10. Ibid.
11. The Boston Globe, 8 April 1999.
12. According to Viktor Chechevatov, a Three-star General and Commander of
ground forces in Russia's Far East, quoted in The Boston Globe, 8 April 1999
13. Dr. Mary-Wynne Ashford, "Bombings Reignite Nuclear War Fears", The
Victoria Times-Colonist. 13 May 1999, page A15. Mary-Wynne Ashford is co-president of the
Nobel Peace Prize winning IPPNW.
14. Quoted in Mary-Wynne Ashford, op. cit.
15 Quoted by Dr. Mary-Wynne Ashford, op. cit.
16. Dr. Mary-Wynne Ashford, op cit.
17. Quoted in The Washington Post, May 9, 1999, page A20.
18. World Socialist Website editorial, 24 May 1999.
19. Diana Johnstone, On Refugees, Paris, 30 May 1999.
20. Ibid.
21. See "Lawyers Charge NATO Leaders Before War Crimes Tribunal",
Toronto, 6 May 1999.
22. See Financial Times, 27 May 1999.
23. See "Lawyers Charge NATO Leaders Before War Crimes Tribunal",
Toronto, 6 May 1999; see also Jude Wanniski, "Memo to US House Majority Leader",
Polyeconomics, New York, 10 May 1999.
24. Lawyers Charge NATO, op cit.
25. Ibid.
26. Ibid.
27. Chicago Tribune, 10 May 1999. 28. Intelligence Report from the German
Foreign Office, January 12, 1999 to the Administrative Court of Trier.
29. Status Report of the German Foreign Office, November 18, 1998 to the Upper
Administrative Court at Münster, February 24, 1999.
30. See, Roland Keith, "Failure of Diplomacy, Returning OSCE Human Rights
Monitor Offers A View From the Ground in Kosovo", The Democrat, May 1999.
31. US Department of Defense Press Release, 6 April 1999. The stated purpose of
the mission was "to discuss a range of security issues with the recent ethnic clashes
in Kosovo." In Skopje, the agenda consisted in examining security arrangements to be
implemented after the termination of United Nations UNPREDEP programme.
32. Background briefing by a Senior Defense Official at NATO Headquarters,
Thursday, June 11, 1998.
33. Ibid.
34. US Department of Defense, Background Briefing, July 15, 1998.
35. For further details see Michel Chossudovsky, Kosovo `Freedom Fighters'
Financed by
36. Quoted in The Daily Telegraph, London, 25 September 1998.
37. See Federation of American Scientists, "Operation Determined
Force", 24 March 1999, see also Financial Times, October 12, 1998.
38. Quoted in Federation of American Scientists, op. cit.
39. See Roland Keith, Appendix, op. cit.
40. United States Court of Appeals, for the District of Columbia Circuit, Filed
January 23, 1996, Division No. 86-6, in Re: Oliver L. North.
41. Ibid.
42. Roland Keith, Appendix, op. cit.
43. Confirmed by several press reports as well as statements of the KLA, see
also Radio 21 Dispatch, Tirana, February 28, 1999.
44. Roland Keith, Appendix, op cit.
45. Daily Telegraph, London, 29 January 1999.
46. Federation of American Scientists, op. cit.
47. Ibid.
48. Ibid.
49. Ibid.
50. "Margaret Warner talks with Cook about the latest developments in the
Yugoslav conflict", Jim Lehrer News Hour, 21 May 1999.
51. New York Times, 26 May 1999.
52. Washington Post, 23 May 1999.
53. Action launched in United States District Court for the District of
Columbia, Complaint for Declaratory Relief, Preliminary Statement, District of Columbia,
27 May 1999.
54. Ibid., see also Truth in Media, Phoenix, 23 May 1999.
55. Washington Post, 27 May 1999.
56. Sunday Telegraph, London, 18 April 1999.
57.
58. Yossef Bodansky, "Italy Becomes Iran's New Base for Terrorist
Operations," Defense and Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy, London, February 1998.
Bodansky is Director of the US House Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and
Unconventional Warfare
59. Chris Steven, "Bin Laden Opens European Terror Base in Albania",
Sunday Times, London, 15 November 1998.
60. "War Crimes Panel Finds Croat Troops 'Cleansed' the Serbs," New
York Times, 21 March 1999.
61. NATO Press Briefing, 14 May 1999.
62. Jim Lehrer News Hour, op cit.
63. According to Canadian MP David Price, April 19, 1999, UPI Press Dispatch.
64. Sunday Telegraph, London, 18 April 1999.
65. "US Is Trying to Reconcile Ethnic-Albanian Separatists", Belgrade,
Tanjug Press Dispatch, 30 May 1999.
66. Quoted in Tanjug Press Dispatch, 14 May 1999.
67. See Michael Radu, "Don't Arm the KLA", CNS Commentary from the
Foreign Policy Research Institute, 7 April, 1999).
68. New York Times, 2 February 1999.
69. Ibid.
70. Tanjug Press Dispatch, 30 May 1999.
71. See World Bank Development News, Washington, 27 April 1999.
72. Ibid.
73. See Michel Chossudovsky, Dismantling Yugoslavia,
74. Statement by Javier Solano, Secretary General of NATO, published in The
National Post, Toronto May 1999).
75. See Jan Oberg, Press Info, no. 59, Insecuring Macedonia, Transnational
Foundation TFF, March 18, 1999.
76. Jane Intelligence Review, June 1999.
77. See Michel Chossudovsky, The
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