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Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 April 1999 Issue No. 423 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 April 1999 Issue No. 423
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Interview Profile Features Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters A brutal harvest
Despite the insistence of NATO officials, world public opin-on is more and more convinced that the Allied bombing of Yugoslavia, which started a week ago under the pretext of pro-ecting the ethnic Albanian population in Kosovo, has actually worsened their predicament and accelerated the policy of eth-ic cleansing being carried out by Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.Claims that the campaign would have been implemented in Kosovo whether or not NATO intervened do not convince anybody. Already, more than 500,000 people -- a quarter of Kosovo's population -- have been displaced. Serbian forces are confiscating the Kosovars' identity papers, which will make it impossible for them to return to their homes. Male Albanians between the ages of 16 and 66 are being systematically separated from their families, and many of the refugees who are flooding hourly over the border to neighbouring countries have spoken of horrifying massacres and summary executions. President Milosevic is clearly trying to create a situation on the ground that he thinks will be irreversible by eliminating the ethnic Albanian majority in key parts of the disputed province.
Such a human catastrophe cannot be solved by NATO's announcement that its aircraft will start targeting Serbian ground troops and their key facilities in Kosovo. The United States and its allies should use the crimes committed by the Serbian leader to mobilise more support and unity inside the Security Council, and thus to force the Serbian war criminals to recognise the legitimate rights of the Albanian majority in Kosovo.
NATO officials should also reconsider their statements on excluding the introduction of ground forces to stop the genocide of Muslim Albanians. The US policy of deploying dozens of advanced aircraft to conduct thousands of sorties against 100 or more targets, implemented to disastrous effect in Iraq, is not going to work in Yugoslavia where the conflict is far more complicated and could spread to several neighbouring countries. War criminals like Milosevic will not be deterred by simple threats; they need to see action on the ground. This action must be carried out swiftly and immediately. Otherwise, by the time NATO decides its next move, nothing will remain of the Kosovars except memories.
