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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 June 1999 Issue No. 434 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 June 1999 Issue No. 434
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Living Travel Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters The Pristina precedent
By Gamal NkrumahIt is impossible not to be struck by the glaring incongruity of the recent turn of events in the Balkans. American troops are now stationed, permanently it would seem, on what was once Yugoslav soil. More to the point, America has acquired a new United Nations-sanctioned legitimacy for its determination to police this strategically important, and highly combustible, corner of southeastern Europe.
Russia, for its part, has been humbled, though not yet mortally wounded. Indeed, the Russian bear may still make an unexpected charge -- witness the sudden appearance of Russian troops in Kosovo on the eve of the entry of NATO ground forces into the province.
The United States, meanwhile, had proved beyond doubt that it is the world's single unchallenged and unchallengeable superpower. US troops have waged a war in the heart of Europe without losing a single soldier. And thanks to the Yugoslav parliament's impromptu acceptance of the American-engineered peace plan, the US government has substantially tightened its political and military stranglehold over the old continent.
Far from reassuring the world, this display of absolute American might is deeply disquieting. Last week, the US Congress approved a $288.8 billion defence spending bill, which included a 4.8 per cent pay raise for the year 2000 and unprecedented measures to beef up security at US nuclear labs. What next?
For, contrary to what the Americans would have us believe, there has been no "diplomatic solution" to the Kosovo crisis, only a military one. The situation, in fact, as students of comparative imperialism may already have observed, is remarkably similar to that which followed the US-UN occupation of Haiti five years ago.
In September 1994, American troops, acting under a UN mandate, invaded the Caribbean island. The commander of the expedition was none other than the notorious Gen. Henry Shelton, currently chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In November of the same year, the occupying forces quickly changed their helmets, officially becoming part of what was declared to be a United Nations command -- even though an American officer was still in charge.
By then, there had been 22,000 American troops in Haiti. The island has remained under continuous American control until today, although the manifest force deployed has been reduced over time. Today, there are still 500 troops stationed at the US base in the vicinity of the country's only international airport, near the capital Port-au-Prince.
Just as they did in Yugoslavia, the Americans entered Haiti ostensibly "to promote stability, democracy and economic growth". Yet their real and unstated objective had nothing to do with local or national autonomy -- it was, rather, to protect America's backyard, and also to monitor developments in Cuba, only 20 miles away.
Two Kosovo Liberation Army soldiers embrace upon reuniting at the entrance of Prizren under the watchful eyes of NATO-led KFOR soldiers. Hundreds of KLA soldiers have arrived in Kosovo, following the departure of Serb troops(photo: AP)
The failure of the mission by its own standards has been amply documented. According to the UN Human Development Project, which compares different countries' development progress in terms of living standards rather than economic output, Haitians have become even more impoverished than they already were since the American occupation began. In 1998, fewer people had access to safe water and effective sewage systems, electricity, health care, public education, roads and transportation than in 1994.
On arriving in Haiti, the American occupation forces immediately seized the records of both the armed forces and the paramilitary group known as FRAPH which was responsible for most of the killing and torturing carried out during the coup d'état that ousted the popularly elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. In theory, the Americans were there to restore Aristide to power. Instead of creating the conditions for Aristide to take charge of the country once again and bringing those who had seized power illegally to justice, however, the invaders imposed a compromise which served their own ends while prolonging the island's political instability. FRAPH leader Toto Constant was allowed to escape to the US, where he was granted political asylum. He is now running a chain of dry-cleaning stores in the New York borough of Queens. Meanwhile Raoul Cedras, one of the leaders of the coup, is still in charge of Haiti's prisons.
The American troops also proceeded to destroy the Haitian Army's heavy weaponry, including their armoured personnel carriers and artillery. Both the army and FRAPH were permitted to keep their rifles and other small weapons, however, because under the new dispensation, they were to be jointly in charge of security. Small arms soon proved quite enough for that work, which predictably boiled down to torturing and terrorising the population -- what the Americans euphemistically call "internal policing".
What if Haiti were to provide a blueprint for the fate of Kosovo as it will unfold over the coming weeks and months? The parallels are already quite disturbing. "Haiti does not have an army now, because they agreed to get rid of it," John Conyers, an African American Democratic Congressman from Michigan told the House. Yugoslavia, too, will soon agree to get rid of its army. "Our troops are not in jeopardy [in Haiti]," Conyers pointed out. Nor will they be in any danger in Kosovo. Pax Americana is the same raw deal on the ground wherever you are -- whether in the Balkans or the Caribbean.
Last month Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for crimes against humanity. Yet does anyone seriously expect the Americans to bring him to book? Toto Constant and Raoul Cedras got away with murder. Why should Slobodan Milosevic not live to pursue an interest in dry-cleaning in some quiet residential area of Western Europe?
Nor should the fact that the US and the UN appear to be working in tandem to bring about such results come as any big surprise. What is surprising, rather, is how many of the European powers have simply fallen into line.
What happens now? On paper at least, everything is plain. The UN Security Council resolution authorises an international force to move into Kosovo and provide for the safe return of an estimated one million ethnic Albanian refugees. KFOR is supposed to solve all Kosovo's problems. On day one (10 June), Serb troops began pulling out of Kosovo as scheduled. On day six (16 June), following the Serb withdrawal, UN peacekeepers are set to move in to secure Kosovo for the returning refugees in Zone One, which includes all the province's major towns -- the capital Pristina, Prizren, Djakovica and Pec. By day nine (19 June) the pullout from zone two must be completed. On day 11 (21 June), all remaining Serb troops and police will be forcibly removed and KFOR will take full control. A buffer zone will then be immediately established.
The military partitioning of Kosovo may suit the Americans and their docile European followers, but it is not going down well in Moscow. The division of the province into sectors has become a sticking point between Russia and NATO. Russia demanded, but was denied, its own sector. "NATO will be embedded in every sector," explained US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who ruled out the partitioning of Kosovo into zones of influence.
Key elements of the UN Security Council resolution include the deployment of the NATO-led international peacekeeping force in Kosovo for an initial 12 months and indefinitely thereafter, unless the UN Security Council decides otherwise.
Another key demand of the UN Security Council resolution is the demilitarisation of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), thus effectively emasculating the main ethnic Albanian armed group fighting for Kosovar independence. As in Haiti, the Americans will no doubt forcibly remove all heavy weapons from friend and foe alike.
And what about the ethnic Albanian leaders -- what is America going to do about them? Hashim Thaci, political leader of the KLA, is generally agreed to be the main player. Though only 31, he far outshines the older generation of Kosovar Albanian leaders. Code-named Gjarperi, or the Snake, he has been courted by the Americans over the past few months. The other key figure will be Ibrahim Rugova, the moderate leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).
Thaci and Rugova could not be more different. Thaci in particular remains almost unknown outside his native land. Some will remember that the Snake was the real star of the abortive Rambouillet meeting. Proficient in German, and with a smattering of English, Thaci is also something of an academic -- he holds several post-graduate degrees from reputable universities in Vienna and Zurich. All that is known of his current plans for certain, however, is that he presently resides at Villa 31 -- the Albanian government guesthouse in Tirana, which was once the official residence of Stalinist strongman Enver Hoxha.
Beyond these specific provisions and uncertainties, however, the real future opened up by the events of the past few weeks is one in which the UN has effectively granted the US a mandate to interfere any time, anywhere. Russia is already showing signs of nervousness, and China has one anxious eye on Tibet. Perhaps it is time for the peoples of the world to learn to read the writing on the wall. As they say in Hollywood: Coming soon to a strategically-sensitive war zone near you...
