<nettime> serbia

[scotartt <scot@systemx.autonomous.org>]

The whole debate about the serbian situation on nettime is the most
ludicrous thing on this list i've ever witnessed. Mostly everyone
appears to be simply regurgitating the propaganda of whatever side
they've happened to choose. Frankly, the situation just makes me
realise, even more, that post-Cold War, 90% of the "left" (as exhibited
in nettime anyway) in the world STILL has no idea how Diplomacy between
nation states actually works. War by public opinion! I've never heard a
more ridiculous thing. Public opinion, generally in my view, either
exhibits a dangerous bloodthirsty lust for massacre or a pathetic
pacificism usually centered around a lack of desire to see "our boys"
hurt in conflict. But enough of that.

Lets set some things straight about Serbia; its an oppresive regime, run
by a capital-F Fascist, who is hell-bent on ridding his territory and
those surrounding it of ethnic minorities. He has no trouble with using
Genocide as a tool to achieve his ends. Anyone who defends this regime
or any of its actions in perpetrating genocide in Kosova or anywhere
else (regardless of NATO bombs) is by extension a Fascist also. Serbian
apologists should ponder on that point. Decrying bombs does not require
the uncritical slobbering support of Slobodan.

Lets set some things straight about the KLA. They are nationalist
guerrillas who dream of a Greater Albania, which if allowed to form,
will one day be in the same murderously expansionist mood as Serbia is
today, even if that is not their direct intention.

Lets set some things straight about NATO. This operation has nothing to
do with any Humanitarian Crisis, anywhere. This is irrelevant to NATO's
mindset, except after the fact, i.e. when excuses are searched to tell
the public, because, nowadays war isn't entered into for strategic
reasons, its run by public opinion. This operation is about NATO's
failure to prepare enough ground troops BEFORE threatening Milosovic.
This operation is about saving NATO prestige, to stop it looking like an
old toothless declawed tiger unable to hurt anyone outside its cage.
Unfortunately, before they bothered to rattle swords over Kosovo, they
should have deployd the three very necessary three divisions on the
ground in its neighboring countries (but of course, public opinion won't
allow for that). Now, they will have to bomb for a whole three months
until they get the ground forces ready (and I hear on the radio that the
Americans are running out of Cruise Missiles). The reality is, the only
to stop a war on the ground is to fight it ON THE GROUND.

This whole affair is about GEOPOLITICS! Gee, remember that? Anyone who
thinks the "left" is automatically exempt from this disease is laughably
uninformed, methinks.

Lets state the obvious -- Serbia cannot be left unchecked. If NATO
allowed Milosovic to continue to massacre civilians in Kosovo, it sends
highly dangerous signals to an already dangerous undemocratic fascist
regime. A regime whom we all know has alrady fought wars with neighbors,
sponsored genocides by paramilitaries in territories adjacent to it. So
anyone who thinks that, after the Kosovars are dealt with, that e.g.
Macedonia is safe, or Montenegro is safe from Serbian aggression has
their head firmly stuck in the sand.

Lets state the obvious -- a "Greater Albania" is nearly as big a
disaster. It could cause some section of Macedonia's 23% ethnic albanian
population to start, or be the cause of, further instability in the
region.

Now to the abstract reality of the situation. Anyone who's read say
Machiavelli, should know one of his cardinal rules about seizing power
-- try not to do it using a foreign power's troops -- you'll end up with
them permanently garrisoned in your city (ie you will be a client state
of the foreign power). This was the strategy that NATO should have
tried, and one that SERBIA of all countries should have welcomed -- i.e.
by garrisoning troops around Kosovo the KLA would become controlled by
NATO, or at least subject to its threat of force against it as much as
the Serbian army would have.

However, yes, NATO have just made it worse, emboldening the Albanian
terrorists into believing they will win independance (which NATO never
really wanted anyway), emboldening the Serbian State Terrorists into
stepping up their massacres tenfold in what I can only describe as a
"use it or lose it" last-ditch attempt to "cleanse" Albania of 90% of
its population. For those who deny the reality of Serbian State Fascism,
they are out there right now killing political MODERATES who never
wanted an independant Kosovo, for God's sake. Schoolteachers! But NATO's
rather dumb, unprepared and ill-thought actions have really thrown the
whole thing into a mess, Greece, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Montenegro,
Albania all may yet become involved in this conflict in one way or
another. Russia is escalating the situation by sending warships! 

Funnily enough the one interesting geopolitical thing to come out of
this is that its driving Iran away from Russia and closer to the US.

I think the NATO situation is caused simply because Americans don't
learn enough history (other than their own) in their schools -- they
failed to see that the Balkans are traditionally the stage of the
European nation's internecine power plays and it has been that way for
at least a hundred years. Added to that the traditional American
reluctance to become involved in "European Wars" means that they won't
commit the necessary ground forces which are the only real actual hope
of resolving the situation favourably.

You may get from the gist of this message that I'm no pacificist,
perhaps my years of military service, which drove me to a highly
militant pacificism for many years afterward, is finally getting to me. 
I don't like wars, like any level-headed person. But wars are not
half-hearted things. If you make a war, you better do it properly or it
will come back around and bite you very nastily on the backside, as NATO
is now discovering. Milosovic has been making war for 10 years now, and
finally someone is making some back at him. His chickens have come home
to roost. However, frankly, he should count his blessings (and he
probably is, in private) that his enemy is just too gutless to fight
that war in an effective manner.

So, I decry NATO's bombs -- but only because they help the cause of
Serbian Fascism and fail to check Albanian nationalism. If the bombing
is stopped now, well, that's a blank check to Slobodan to do whatever
the fuck he likes, so that's a bad thing! Having started the bombing,
NATO's only real effective solution now is to escalate it, severely. And
that means ground troops! But, I must say, I think NATO's already lost
this war by being massively under-prepared for it, so maybe they should
just get out now before the Russians are involved, and accept the
reality that they are now a completely toothless tiger, and are helpless
to save Kosovo from Genocide. Maybe Iran can help the Kosovars more
effectively, and perhaps the Americans should let them.

Europe will burn in the 21st century. I think that much is clear now.

But please, will certain people stop filling my mailbox with naive
Serbian/NATO propaganda. I expect better from this list. Wake up to
reality.


scot.

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