| April 13, 2004 ERP KiM Newsletter 13-04-04b History repeats itself in Kosovo but has the lesson been learned? In reality the KLA has never ceased to exist and its agenda and methods have remained the same despite different names and periodically changing acronyms. The difference is that in 1997 this "hot potato" was in the hands of the Serbian authorities while now it is in the hands of the UN Mission and NATO, who have two options: either to accept the challenge and finally defeat terrorism in Kosovo with an effective cocktail of surgically precise diplomatic and antiterrorist actions (not by indiscriminate use of force like Milosevic) or to give up the mission and recognize their total failure in the heart of Europe. The Kosovo Albanian extremists of the ANA and other KLA satellite organizations were the very persons who orchestrated the ethnic violence last month in which at least 19 people were killed, almost a thousand wounded and more than 30 churches burned down or destroyed. As everyone could see, they were shooting at NATO soldiers as they formerly shot at Serbian security forces. In 1999 Albanian children greeted NATO with cheers; now that the province has been virtually cleansed of two-thirds of its pre-war Serb population, they are threatening them and want them to leave. One thing certainly remains the same: Albanian extremists will shoot at anyone who opposes their vision of a terrorist and ethnically clean Greater Kosovo. The problem is that the U.S and Europe wanted to get rid of Milosevic and accepted a deal with the KLA. Five years later this strategy has returned like a boomerang. Many have predicted such an outcome but some still believe that making concessions to terrorists will appease their growing appetites and re-establish the shaken authority of KFOR, which practically proved helpless in carrying out its mission (in many cases). ERP KIM Info-Service - Comment
Gracanica, April 13, 2004  | Idol of many Kosovo Albanians
Adem Jashari, the former UCK leader is an idol of many Kosovo Albanians. Are his ideals going to ensure Kosovo's entry into Europe? | | Yesterday's appearance of uniformed Albanian National Army (ANA or AKSH) terrorists in the village of Bainica (described in the Reuters article below) is reminiscent of a similar event in late 1997 in the village of Lausa in central Kosovo when Kosovo Liberation Army terrorists appeared in public for the first time. Just to remind our readers, the KLA's epiphany in the form of uniformed fighters occurred on November 28, 1997 at a similar "martyr's funeral" although it existed long before, perhaps going back to the People's Movement of Kosovo, founded in 1982. In 1997 everyone dismissed its appearance, calling it a small and insignificant group and an organization of fanatics and criminals, just as UN officials are calling the ANA "an Internet army" although it was real enough to be officially proclaimed a "terrorist organization" by former UNMIK chief Michael Steiner in 2002 and KFOR has substantial evidence on its links with the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC - believe it or not, an organization that has received millions in Western assistance). Moreover, the agenda of the KLA, ANA and KPC is much the same: they vowed to stop the "occupation" of Kosovo (seven years ago they were referring to alleged Serbian occupation, whereas now they probably mean the NATO military presence) and promised to fight for so-called "unified Albanian lands" which in practical terms means "Greater Kosovo" rather than "Greater Albania". At any rate, history repeats itself.
In 1997 Ibrahim Rugova (the autistic "Kosovo president" in his bullet-proof villa) dismissed the KLA by calling it "an invention of the Serbian intelligence service"; now he has, in similar fashion, disclosed the existence of shadowy extremists from Albania who came to Kosovo in March and orchestrated the rampage of tens of thousands of Kosovo Albanians throughout the province (a very convincing story, no doubt). He was as wrong in 1997 as he is now (although he may well have known the truth, he tried to divert the attention of the public out of fear for his own life and once was saved from his compatriots by Milosevic himself).
In reality the KLA has never ceased to exist and its agenda and methods have remained the same despite different names and periodically changing acronyms. The difference is that in 1997 this "hot potato" was in the hands of the Serbian authorities while now it is in the hands of the UN Mission and NATO, who have two options: either to accept the challenge and finally defeat terrorism in Kosovo with an effective cocktail of surgically precise diplomatic and antiterrorist actions (not by indiscriminate use of force like Milosevic) or to give up the mission and recognize their total failure in the heart of Europe. The Kosovo Albanian extremists of the ANA and other KLA satellite organizations were the very persons who orchestrated the ethnic violence last month in which at least 19 people were killed, hundreds wounded and more than 30 churches burned down or destroyed. As everyone could see, they were shooting at NATO soldiers as they formerly shot at Serbian security forces. In 1999 Albanian children greeted NATO with cheers; now that the province has been virtually cleansed of two-thirds of its pre-war Serb population, they are threatening them with death and want them to leave. One thing certainly remains the same: Albanian extremists will shoot at anyone who opposes their vision of a terrorist and ethnically clean Greater Kosovo. The problem is that the U.S and Europe wanted to get rid of Milosevic and accepted a deal with the KLA. Five years later this strategy has boomeranged. Many predicted such an outcome but there are still those who believe that making concessions to terrorists will appease their growing appetites and re-establish the shaken authority of KFOR, which practically proved helpless in carrying out its mission (in many cases).  | KLA's Godfather - Richard Holbrooke
Richard Holbrook, Clinton's "troubleshooter", was the KLA's godfather. It was not his only "pact with the devil" (as he called bringing the mujahedins into Bosnia in his memoirs). How this saxophone-policy by Western pragmatists can come back to haunt the West was demonstrated on Sep. 11 in a very graphic way (Photo of Holbrooke with KLA gunman in Kosovo, summer 1998) | | To return to the story of the ANA gunmen at the funeral, we cannot help but notice that the same thing is happening seven years later precisely because the vision of an ethnically pure Albanian state in the Balkans (with Kosovo, not Albania, as its core) has continued to live in the hearts of extremist leaders who changed only their uniforms and outward image but not their perverse minds. In any case, their primary goal is to force the West (by force and terrorist attacks if necessary) to recognize an independent Kosovo and chase out all the Serbs and other non-Albanians. The next step will be to establish a state or, more accurately, a terrorist base to further augment the so-called Albanian territories (Macedonia, Montenegro, southern central Serbia and probably Greece in the end). The naiveté of the UNMIK chief who said in his speech to the Kosovo Parliament a few days ago that "there are some who have wrong visions in Kosovo" is that he was not even aware that he was speaking in front of the same people who were the organizers and planners of the March riots and attacks. Consequently, an analyst accurately described Holkeri's recent speech in the Kosovo Parliament as "preaching chastity in a brothel". Ultimately, as long as the West still hopes to build a "dem(on)ocracy" in Kosovo with the same people who are actively training terrorist groups and planning further attacks against remaining Serbs and NATO, those moderate Kosovo Albanians who see that the future of their people and Kosovo province is not in terrorism and violence will remain isolated both by their extremist compatriots and by pragmatic Western bureaucrats. The Balkan troubleshooters must plug into Kosovo reality and understand that Kosovo Albanian extremist leaders are only manipulating the masses and making them believe that they can create their ethnic Albanian Eldorado overnight without offering them any clear vision of a civilized and economically sustainable society. That is why tens of thousands of angry protesters shouting the mantra UCK (KLA) are just repeating what they are told but not necessarily what they themselves would have believed if they had been told the truth by the West. Albanian extremists with their mafia sponsors and partners control most of the media in Kosovo, local TV and radio stations and can easily mobilize large crowds by inflammatory speeches and war songs. It may sound funny, but one of the most efficient communication tools for orchestrating the March ethnic cleansing and riots was the VALA mobile telephone system which worked flawlessly the entire time. It is simply amazing that it took several days for KFOR experts to figure out how such large crowds can be so easily transported and directed throughout the province from the villas of the KLA warlords in Pristina (just a few hundred meters far from KFOR headquarters). The crucial problem in Kosovo is not its status, or the right of self-determination or social problems. The problem lies in the wrong belief that an ethnically clean and independent Kosovo is the only thing which may satisfy Kosovo Albanians and grant them prosperity. Regrettably, many international politicians with their statements very much contributed to this deception. Kosovo may eventually become independent, all the Serbs may have to leave and their holy sites may be reduced to ashes but that will essentially not solve any of the crucial problems. In fact, this will only institutionalize Albanian terrorism and encourage its further development, destabilizing the entire region. The success of extremism in Kosovo will create a precedent for extremists in other countries and Europe will face a series of Kosovo-like attempts to achieve political goals by terrorism. Kosovo will become a safe haven for terrorist attacks and mafia while Kosovo institutions will continue to be used (as is already the case) as a mere cover for spreading of an intricate terrorist and mafia network all across Europe. Like a perforated ulcer, poison from Kosovo will spill over across the continent.
Some bureaucrats in the West (some of whom actually visited Kosovo once or twice on safari to Pristina) believe that the "cheapest" solution of recognizing independence may actually salvage their "credibility" (as if they had any left after five years of blunders). But they are completely wrong on several accounts. First, history will remember them as the godfathers of a first terrorist state in Europe and sponsors of ethnic cleansing. Second, sooner or later, they will have to deal with their monstrous creation in a rougher way. However, the possibilities for the West to deal with the Kosovo problem at that point will be far more limited than they are now. That is why the West should not lose momentum but deal with problems in the right way and at the right time. Constantly turning back the clock in order to make everything look fine is the strategy of losers and the Albanian extremists understand this very well. The question remains: will the March 17 lesson bring about the same sort of decisions as the Sep. 11 tragedy in New York or will it soon be forgotten like some unpleasant nightmare? The following weeks and months will tell. E.K. | DER SPIEGEL says that Albanian extremists get ready for a war against international peace-keepers in Kosovo 
National Movement for the Liberation of Kosovo President Fatmir Humoli has said 10,000 members of this organization will 'also launch a new war' against the enemy - the United Nations (UN) mission in Kosovo and Metohija, in order to secure unification with Albania, Hamburg weekly Der Spiegel said in its latest edition. The highest-circulation German political magazine also published a photograph of a demolished building on which someone had written in big lettering 'Death to Serbs.
At the end of the article a Kosovo Albanian KLA veteran said: "The question is the whether the Albanians who are so eager to die for the independence will remain calm so long. 'Every day one dead KFOR soldier will suffice, so that the foreign troops will finally be driven out from the country', thinks an Albanian by the name of Ramush: 'They are also only humans and they want to live' Here is the original text from der Spiegel article: Humolli hetzt, Unmik und die Kfor-Friedenstruppe seien Besatzungsmächte, nun müsse gehandelt werden. Der 40-Jährige, der schon 1981 die Albaner-Aufstände mit organisierte und deswegen drei Jahre im Gefängnis saß, ist sicher: Über Nacht könnten die 10 000 Aktivisten seiner Organisation ein größeres Heer an Kämpfern zusammentrommeln als einst die legendäre UÇK, der er natürlich auch gedient hat.... Fraglich ist indes, ob die immer drängender nach Unabhängigkeit strebenden Albaner so lange stillhalten werden. "Jeden Tag ein toter Kfor-Soldat würde ausreichen", um die ausländischen Truppen aus dem Land zu vertreiben, glaubt der Albaner Ramush. "Sie sind auch nur Menschen und wollen leben."
Der Spiegel:
Shadowy Albanian rebels appear at Kosovo funeral "We swear on the graves of national martyrs that we will not stop on our path towards national liberation and unification," he said in a speech which one daily said was met with applause. The group advocates a Greater Albania including Albania proper, Kosovo, and parts of western Macedonia, southern Serbia and Montenegro -- an idea rejected by the West and Albania. REUTERS ALERTNET
13 Apr 2004 12:39:17 GMT http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BUZ333816.htm By Shaban Buza  | Manipulated crowds are the tool of extremists
Manipulation with ignorant masses is one of the strongest tools of Kosovo Albanian terrorist leaders. While their mafia bosses - cum - politicians make millions of euros through drug smuggling and are building opulent homes with pools, the most of Kosovo Albanians are being sold cheep dreams that only independence will resolve all their problems (photo AP, from one of pro-KLA manifestations) | | PRISTINA, Serbia and Montenegro, April 13 (Reuters) - A shadowy rebel group appeared at a funeral in U.N.-run Kosovo vowing to stop its "occupation" and to fight for unified Albanian lands, local media reported on Tuesday. Three men wearing balaclavas and insignia of the National Liberation Army (ANA) showed up during the re-burial on Monday of two ethnic Albanian guerrillas who died fighting Serb forces five years ago, several dailies said. Their surprise appearance in the western village of Bainca may worry international officials in Kosovo, coming a few weeks after the province exploded in violence the West blamed on Albanian extremists bent on driving out minority Serbs. ANA has in the past claimed responsibility in statements on its Web site for several attacks in the volatile Balkans. One was an attempt to blow up a Kosovo railway one year ago. Sunday's funeral was believed to be the first time uniformed members of the group, branded a terrorist organisation by Kosovo's U.N.-led administration last year, were seen in public. "The moment has come to appear publicly as a political and military force here near the graves of the martyrs," a man in camouflage uniform told the crowd of several hundred people. "We swear on the graves of national martyrs that we will not stop on our path towards national liberation and unification," he said in a speech which one daily said was met with applause. "We came here to warn collaborators with old and new occupiers." The group advocates a Greater Albania including Albania proper, Kosovo, and parts of western Macedonia, southern Serbia and Montenegro -- an idea rejected by the West and Albania. Some diplomats have dismissed the group as little more than an "Internet army" or a band of criminals. "They are too small and unlikely to get much support," said one Western official. Kosovo became a de facto international protectorate after NATO's 1999 bombing campaign to halt Serbian suppression of the the province's independence-seeking Albanian majority. In the worst outbreak of violence since the United Nations and NATO established control, Albanian mobs in mid-March attacked Serb villages and churches in two days of violence that killed 19 people and injured hundreds. TOP Our Newsletters in html format are available on the Web at: http://www.kosovo.net
Photo Galleries of the March pogrom are available at: http://www.kosovo.net/pogrom.html
ERP KIM Info-Service is the official Information Service of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska and Prizren and works with the blessing of His Grace Bishop Artemije.
Our Information Service is distributing news on Kosovo related issues. The main focus of the Info-Service is the life of the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Serbian community in the Province of Kosovo and Metohija. ERP KIM Info Service works in cooperation with www.serbian-translation.com as well as the Kosovo Daily News (KDN) News List
Disclaimer:
The views expressed by the authors of newspaper articles or other texts which are not official communiqués or news reports by the Diocese are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Serbian Orthodox Church Additional information on our Diocese and the life of the Kosovo Serb Community may be found at: http://www.kosovo.net If you want to unsubscribe go to the page: http://www.kosovo.net/erpkiminfo.html
Copyright 2004, ERP KIM Info-Service
| Subscribe to our mailing lists:
|
