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Comment on an article by Scott Taylor...

How Guilty are NATO and the UN for Terror
in Kosovo?

by Jared Israel
[Posted 3 June 2003]

Reprinted from www.icdsm.com

========================================================

Most of the coverage of the terrorist onslaught on Kosovo and Macedonia has been pure misinformation. Even the best coverage is usually full of misleading statements. Take for example Mr. Scott Taylor's latest piece in the Halifax Herald.

Mr. Taylor is a courageous reporter. He has interviewed Albanian secessionist-terrorist commanders leading the attack on Macedonia and proved they were being supplied by the US military. He risked his life to tell the truth. [1]

But while Mr. Taylor does try to break through officially sanctioned lies, he often succumbs to the pressure to cater to those lies, even as the facts he is reporting contradict the lies! So we can get a lot of information from Taylor's articles, but we have to read carefully.

Case in point: Mr. Taylor's June 2, 2003 piece in The Halifax Herald, entitled, "Extremist on UN's payroll."

Below I have posted the first part of Mr. Taylor's article, in sections, along with comments.

-- Jared Israel

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[ www.tenc.net ]

This is how Mr. Taylor's piece in the Halifax Herald begins:

[Quote From Halifax Heral Starts Here]

Pristina, Kosovo - In their small office at the UN police headquarters in Kosovo, former Ottawa policeman Derek Chappell and his partner, Barry Fletcher, an ex-New Orleans cop, told me about their frustration in trying to control the ongoing inter-ethnic violence in this war-ravaged Balkan province.

Since NATO forces first entered Kosovo and Serbian security forces withdrew in June 1999, the majority of the terror attacks have been committed by Albanian extremists against Serbs and other ethnic minorities. The result has been the expulsion of nearly 240,000 non-Albanians from Kosovo, with those few remaining minorities polarized into isolated enclaves. This ethnic cleansing of Kosovo has taken place over the past few years, despite the presence of some 27,000 NATO troops and 4,400 international police.

[Quote From Halifax Herald Ends Here]

It is very good that Mr. Taylor reports a fact usually 'overlooked' by the mainstream media, namely that a quarter million Serbs and others have been driven from Kosovo. Actually, the figure must be higher - but OK, at least he reports the mass expulsion.

However, the statement that, "the majority of the terror attacks have been committed by Albanian extremists... over the past few years," is highly misleading. It suggests an ongoing fight between opposing ethnic groups, which fits the dominant perception: that Kosovo's problems stem from monstrous attitudes *on all sides* and that these bad attitudes erupt spontaneously into hate wars.

Not so.

The terror has not come *from all sides* and the attacks have not been spontaneous.

The attacks have been highly organized, entirely one-sided, and they have been sanctioned by the NATO powers.

Most of the "Serbs and other ethnic minorities" were attacked and driven out of Kosovo immediately after NATO entered Kosovo, or within a few weeks. The terrorist attackers *marched into Kosovo alongside NATO forces.* They were, for all intents and purposes, part of the NATO armies. A graphic description of the unity of KFOR and the terrorists can be found in the article, "How NATO Brought Hell to Orahovac." [2]

This article consists of interviews with three women from the Kosovo town of Orahovac, occupied by NATO in June 1999.

Orahovac was unusual because when the terrorists arrived, the Serbian residents mostly did *not* leave. As I learned from the three women, this was because roadblocks were put up, preventing their departure, and turning the town essentially into a concentration camp for Serbs.

In that interview, I asked one of the women, Ms. Natasha Grkovic, why it was that the 3000 Serbs who ended up trapped in Orahovac did not flee *before* NATO took over. How could they not have known that a nightmare would descend?

Ms. Grkovic explained that NATO bombing destroyed communication links with Belgrade. Thus prior to NATO occupation, the news coming into Orahovac was the news broadcast by NATO, including constant promises that NATO would bring peace and multiethnic security. The day before NATO entered, they sent representatives to meet with prominent Serbs, repeating these promises. Here's Ms. Grkovic:

[Excerpt from interview with Natasha Grkovic starts here] [2]

"The morning before KFOR arrived there was a meeting of their representatives with the Mayor, a Serb, plus other Serbs including the head of the winery. KFOR said that in two days or so life would return to normal. The next day our homes were burning."

"With KFOR, the KLA came. The same day. Some of our Albanian neighbors appeared in KLA uniforms. We were horrified. Suddenly we didn't feel safe in the mixed section of Orahovac so we moved to the Serbian part.

"As we were leaving we saw, already, Serbian houses being burned. KFOR did nothing. We complained. They said they didn't have enough people. Soon more NATO troops arrived but the situation stayed the same for a month. Over a hundred houses were burned. And they robbed whatever they could. A few 'Gypsy' [Roma] houses were burned too. Twenty-five people who stayed in the mixed section were kidnapped, plus their houses were burned too.

"Slowly we realized the extent of the mistake we'd made in not leaving. Every day KFOR offered new excuses for not protecting us. They said: 'We can't put guards in front of every house. We can't give every Serb an armed guard.'

"The KFOR checkpoint is close to the ghetto. KFOR guards the entrance and exit to the Serbian area. Plus there are barricades, which the Albanians put up. First you hit KFOR and second you hit the Albanian barricades. KFOR supplied tents for the Albanians who are sitting on those barricades. And they ran electric wiring into those tents to provide current."

From, "Interviews with Three Serbian Women from Kosovo...How NATO Brought Hell to Orahovac," at http://www.emperors-clothes.com/analysis/savethe.htm

[Excerpt from interview with Natasha Grkovic ends here] [2]

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'Despite' or 'Because of'?

========================================================

In his article, Mr. Taylor states that the ethnic terror against the Serbs occurred "despite the presence of some 27,000 NATO troops and 4,400 international police." This wording suggests that NATO failed to prevent terrible crimes due to political interference or incompetence.

But Ms. Grkovic describes something quite different: a *system* of terror.

In this system, the KLA operates as the terrorist arm of NATO, permitting NATO the luxury of plausible denial. The dirty work gets done and NATO is criticized, as in Mr. Taylor's article, for sins of *omission.* But the evidence points to sins of *commission.*

========================================================

Misdescription of Role of UN

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Mr. Taylor of course cannot be faulted for the comments made by the two police officers whom he interviewed for this article. However, perhaps more accurate information could have been gotten from these men if he had asked more challenging questions. For example, one of the police officers made the following comments about organized crime in Kosovo:

[Scott Taylor article continues]

"One of the UN's biggest obstacles to overcome has been the well-entrenched Albanian Mafia who use the banner of Kosovar nationalism when it suits their purpose," said Fletcher.

"Whenever we arrest a gangster leader, he wraps himself in the Albanian flag, and the streets become filled with protesters. This is not a society affected by organized crime, it is a society based on organized crime."

[End of continuation of Scott Taylor article]

Mr. Fletcher is quoted above as saying, "One of the UN's biggest obstacles to overcome has been the well-entrenched Albanian mafia..."

This suggests that the well-entrenched Mafia is indeed an "obstacle" for the UN. The problem is, the Mafia was not well entrenched until NATO and the UN entered Kosovo and it was the UN and NATO, which made it clear, from the start, that the activities of gangster-terrorists were officially sanctioned.

Consider the following excerpt from an interview with Cedomir Prlincevic, leader of the former Jewish community in Pristina, capital of the province of Kosovo. I say "former" because the Jews were all driven from Pristina a few days after NATO's arrival. Here is how Mr. Prlincevic describes the response of British KFOR (NATO's name in Kosovo) to the attack of a huge gang of Albanian terrorists on an apartment complex where thousands of people lived. This was a few days after NATO marched into Pristina, accompanied, according to Mr. Prlincevic, by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) thugs:

[Excerpt from interview with Cedomir Prlincevic starts here] [3]

Cedda: When Albanians started to destroy apartments one person called KFOR and KFOR officer came inside the house, he was there with his squad. There was a whole bunch [of Albanian gangster-terrorists] going up and down the stairs, 24 hours pressure of people going up and down the stairs, banging, entering, demolishing... they break down the door and pour in tear gas in some places and they were robbing -

Jared: Excuse me?

Cedda: Robbing, robbing.

Jared: Now, you said the KFOR men were there? Did they actually witness it?

Cedda: Yes.

Jared: What did they say?

Cedda: They didn't react at all. They didn't protect nobody.

Jared: For God's sake, what did they say?

Cedda: They said this is for civil authorities to regulate the problem. They were only concerned with killings.

Jared: Who were the civil authorities?

Cedda: They were not formed yet. There were none.

Jared: How did you know whether you were going to get murdered when someone banged down the door? I guess after you were murdered, you would know?

Cedda: Yes. They were just there to put documents if you were murdered

[Excerpt from interview with Cedomir Prlincevic ends here] [3]

Thus in towns across Kosovo, whether Orahovac, or Pristina, or wherever, the gangsterization proceeded as *NATO took over* the province. It is simply absurd to argue that this process occurred absent NATO's guidance. So the type of scene described by Mr. Fletcher, wherein an Albanian arch criminal is arrested, followed by Albanian demonstrations demanding his release, this type of scene is in reality a kind of game. The game a) allows the UN/KFOR to maintain the pretense that they are *trying* to curb these awful gangsters who constitute such a terrible "obstacle" while b) in fact strengthening the hand of the gangsters. Mr. Fletcher says the gangsters "wrap themselves in the Albanian flag." But in fact, the ultra nationalist Kosovo Liberation Army has always been a gangster organization. To guarantee an adequate supply of gangsters for the KLA, one of the first things that KFOR did when it entered Kosovo was open the border to Albania, as described in the following excerpt from an article I wrote in August of 1999, two months after NATO took over Kosovo.

[Excerpt from "Gracko survivors blame NATO" starts here] [4]

Wasn't it NATO that used the threat of continued bombing to force Yugoslav border guards to abandon their posts on the Albanian border? NATO cannot claim this was intended to protect ethnic Albanians in Kosovo; border guards guard borders. Northern Albania, which abuts Kosovo, is ruled by bands of gangsters and by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) which draws recruits from criminal elements. The Yugoslav border guards played a crucial role in protecting Albanians and everyone else in Kosovo from criminal and terrorist attacks.

Having disposed of the Yugoslavs, NATO installed no guards of its own. The border is therefore open. Not porous, open. Is NATO too stupid to know that unguarded borders allow criminals to pass? Perhaps, but stupidity doesn't wash as an excuse. The Albanian border has been a bone of contention between NATO and the Yugoslav government for almost a year. Indeed, when the threat of NATO bombing forced the Yugoslavs to withdraw some forces in October of 1998, they were permitted to maintain troops in Kosovo precisely in order to protect the border.

NATO had to know that opening the border would guarantee an influx of KLA/criminal thugs. Since NATO insisted on getting rid of the guards we can only conclude that NATO desired the result of getting rid of the guards.

Now that the terrorist/criminals are in, NATO offers "helplessness in the face of overwhelming chaos" as its rationale for not stopping secessionist terror. Is it so unreasonable for NATO's critics to view this as a bit of public relations spin, intended to hide a practical division of labor? To conclude that NATO's presence is intended to prevent Yugoslav intervention and to lull some people into thinking they will be protected, in order to guarantee that they take no measures for self-defense? So that, much to NATO's surprise, the terrorists/criminals can attack with impunity? With the end result that the survivors flee Kosovo?

Just as the survivors of Gracko are reportedly fleeing.

[Excerpt from "Gracko survivors blame NATO" ends here] [4]

I accuse NATO of organizing the takeover of Kosovo by Albanian secessionist/gangsters for two reasons. First, because Albanian gangsters-terrorists have as their goal the crushing of political formations among *any* ethnic group which would favor keeping Kosovo as part of Serbia and free from foreign domination. And second, because these secessionists are consumed with race hate for the Serbs, gypsies (Roma), Gorani and other ethnic groups which traditionally favor a united Yugoslavia, the destruction of which has been a major part of NATO's goal in the Balkans.

You can read Mr. Taylor's latest article in uninterrupted form at
http://www.herald.ns.ca/stories/2003/06/02/fOpinion173.raw.html 

Time permitting, I will post further comments on the Taylor piece, since it provides useful information and also food for thought.

***

Jared Israel
Editor
Emperor's Clothes

[Footnotes and Further Reading Follow The Appeal]

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Footnotes and Further Reading

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[1] "Terrorist Thug Boasts, 'Thanks to Uncle Sam, Macedonians are no match for us!'" by Scott Taylor at http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/taylor.htm

[2] From, "Interviews with Three Serbian Women from Kosovo...How NATO Brought Hell to Orahovac," at http://www.emperors-clothes.com/analysis/savethe.htm

[3] "Driven from Kosovo - Jewish Leader Describes What Happened When NATO Came into Kosovo," at http://www.icdsm.com/more/ceda.htm

[4] "Gracko survivors blame NATO," by Jared Israel at http://emperors-clothes.com/misc/grack.htm

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