While the World focuses on troop movements and war 
 crimes, the massacres of civilians in the wake of the 
 bombings have been casually dismissed as "justifiable 
 acts of revenge". In occupied Kosovo, "double 
 standards" prevail in assessing alleged war crimes. 
 The massacres directed against Serbs, ethnic 
 Albanians, Roma and other ethnic groups have been 
 conducted on the instructions of the military command 
 of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). 

 Yet because NATO ostensibly denies KLA 
 involvement, these so-called "unmotivated acts of 
 violence and retaliation" are not categorized as "war 
 crimes" and are therefore not included in the mandate 
 of the numerous FBI and Interpol police investigators 
 dispatched to Kosovo under the auspices of the Hague 
 War Crime's Tribunal (ICTY). Moreover, whereas 
 NATO has tacitly endorsed the self-proclaimed KLA 
 provisional government, KFOR --the international 
 security force in Kosovo-- has provided protection to 
 the KLA military commanders responsible for the 
 atrocities. In so doing both NATO and the UN Mission 
 have acquiesced to the massacres of civilians. 

 In turn, public opinion has been blatantly misled. In 
 portraying the massacres, the Western media has 
 casually overlooked the role of the KLA, not to 
 mention its pervasive links to organized crime. In the 
 words of National Security Advisor Samuel Berger, 
 "these people [ethnic Albanians] come back ... with 
 broken hearts and with some of those hearts filled 
 with anger" 1. While the massacres are seldom 
 presented as the result of "deliberate decisions" by 
 the KLA military command, the evidence (and history 
 of the KLA) amply confirm that these atrocities are 
 part of a policy of "ethnic cleansing" directed mainly 
 against the Serb population but also against the Roma, 
 Montenegrins, Goranis and Turks: 

     Serbian houses and business have been 
     confiscated, looted, or burned, and Serbs 
     have been beaten, raped, and killed. In one 
     of the more dramatic of incidents, KLA 
     troops ransacked a monastery, terrorized the 
     priest and a group of nuns with gunfire, and 
     raped at least one of the nuns. NATO's 
     inability to control the situation and provide 
     equal protection for all ethnic groups, and 
     its apparent inability or unwillingness to 
     fully disarm the KLA, has created a serious 
     situation for NATO troops...2 

 The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 
 (UNHCR), confirms in this regard that: 

     "more than 164,000 Serbs have left Kosovo 
     during the seven weeks since... the 
     NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) entered the 
     province... A wave of arson and looting of 
     Serb and Roma homes throughout Kosovo 
     has ensued. Serbs and Roma remaining in 
     Kosovo have been subject to repeated 
     incidents of harassment and intimidation, 
     including severe beatings. Most seriously, 
     there has been a spate of murders and 
     abductions of Serbs since mid-June, 
     including the late July massacre of Serb 
     farmers" 3. 

 POLITICAL ASSASSINATIONS 

 Under NATO's regency, the KLA has also ordered 
 assassinations directed against political opponents 
 including "loyalist" ethnic Albanians and supporters 
 of the Kosovo Democratic League (KDL). These acts 
 --ordered by the self-proclaimed Provisional 
 Government of Kosovo (PGK)-- are being carried out 
 in a totally permissive environment. The leaders of 
 the KLA rather than being arrested for war crimes, 
 have been granted KFOR protection. 

 According to a report of the Foreign Policy Institute 
 (published during the bombings): 

     "...the KLA have [no] qualms about 
     murdering Rugova's collaborators, whom it 
     accused of the "crime" of moderation... 
     [T]he KLA declared Rugova a "traitor" - yet 
     another step toward eliminating any 
     competitors for political power within 
     Kosovo."4 

 Already in May, Fehmi Agani, one of Rugova's closest 
 collaborators in the Kosovo Democratic League 
 (KDL) was killed. The Serbs were blamed by NATO 
 spokesperson Jamie Shea for having assassinated 
 Agani. According to Skopje's paper Makedonija 
 Danas, Agani had been executed on the orders of the 
 KLA's self-appointed Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.5 
 "If Thaci actually considered Rugova a threat, he 
 would not hesitate to have Rugova removed from the 
 Kosovo political landscape."6 

 In turn, the KLA has abducted and killed numerous 
 professionals and intellectuals: 

     "Private and State properties are threatened, 
     home-and apartment-owners are evicted en 
     masse by force and threats, houses and 
     entire villages are burned, cultural and 
     religious monuments are destroyed... A 
     particularly heavy blow... has been the 
     violence against the hospital centre in 
     Pristina, the maltreatment and expulsion of 
     its professional management, doctors and 
     medical staff."7 

 Both NATO and the UN prefer to turn a blind eye. 
 UN Interim Administrator Bernard Kouchner (a 
 former French Minister of Health) and KFOR 
 Commander Sir Mike Jackson have established a 
 routine working relationship with Prime Minister 
 Hashim Thaci and KLA Chief of Staff Brigadier 
 General Agim Ceku. 

 ATROCITIES COMMITTED AGAINST 
 THE ROMA 

 Ethnic cleansing has also been directed against the 
 Roma (which represented prior to the conflict a 
 population group of 150,000 people). (According to 
 figures provided by the Roma Community in New 
 York). A large part of the Roma population has 
 already escaped to Montenegro and Serbia. In turn, 
 there are reports that Roma refugees --who had fled 
 by boat to Southern Italy-- have been expelled by the 
 Italian authorities.8 The KLA has also ordered the 
 systematic looting and torching of Romani homes and 
 settlements: 

     "All houses and settlements of Romani, like 
     2,500 homes in the residential area called 
     'Mahala" in the town of Kosovska 
     Mitrovica, have been looted and burnt 
     down".9 

 With regard to KLA atrocities committed against the 
 Roma, the same media distortions prevail. According 
 to the BBC: "Gypsies are accused by [Kosovar] 
 Albanians of collaborating in Serb brutalities, which 
 is why they've also become victims of revenge attacks. 
 And the truth is, some probably did." 10 

 INSTALLING A PARAMILITARY 
 GOVERNMENT 

 As Western leaders trumpet their support for 
 democracy, State terrorism in Kosovo has become an 
 integral part of NATO's post-war design. The KLA's 
 political role for the post-conflict period had been 
 mapped out well in advance. Prior to the Rambouillet 
 Conference, the KLA had been promised a central 
 role in the formation of a post-conflict government. 
 The "hidden agenda" consisted in converting the KLA 
 paramilitary into a legitimate and accomplished 
 civilian administration. According to US State 
 Department spokesman James Foley (February 
 1999): 

     "We want to develop a good relationship 
     with them [the KLA] as they transform 
     themselves into a politically-oriented 
     organization, ...[W]e believe that we have a 
     lot of advice and a lot of help that we can 
     provide to them if they become precisely the 
     kind of political actor we would like to see 
     them become.'"11 

 In other words, Washington had already slated the 
 KLA "provisional government" (PGK) to run civilian 
 State institutions. Under NATO's "Indirect Rule", the 
 KLA has taken over municipal governments and 
 public services including schools and hospitals. Rame 
 Buja, the KLA "Minister for Local Administration" 
 has appointed local prefects in 23 out of 25 
 municipalities.12 

 Under NATO's regency, the KLA has replaced the 
 duly elected (by ethnic Albanians) provisional Kosovar 
 government of President Ibrahim Rugova. The 
 self-proclaimed KLA administration has branded 
 Rugova as a traitor declaring the (parallel) Kosovar 
 parliamentary elections held in March 1998 to be 
 invalid. This position has largely been upheld by the 
 Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
 (OSCE) entrusted by UNMIK with the post-war task 
 of "democracy _building" and "good governance". In 
 turn, OSCE officials have already established a 
 working rapport with KLA appointees.13 

 The KLA provisional government (PGK) is made up 
 of the KLA's political wing together with the 
 Democratic Union Movement (LBD), a coalition of 
 five opposition parties opposed to Rugova's 
 Democratic League (LDK). In addition to the position 
 of prime minister, the KLA controls the ministries of 
 finance, public order and defense. The KLA has a 
 controlling voice on the UN sponsored Kosovo 
 Transitional Council set up by Mr. Bernard Kouchner. 
 The PGK has also established links with a number of 
 Western governments. 

 Whereas the KLA has been spearheaded into running 
 civilian institutions (under the guidance of the OSCE), 
 members of the duly elected Kosovar (provisional) 
 government of the Democratic League (DKL) have 
 been blatantly excluded from acquiring a meaningful 
 political voice. 

 ESTABLISHING A KLA POLICE FORCE 
 TO "PROTECT CIVILIANS" 

 Under NATO occupation, the rule of law has visibly 
 been turned up side down. Criminals and terrorists are 
 to become law-enforcement officers. KLA troops 
 --which have already taken over police stations-- will 
 eventually form a 4,000 strong "civilian" police force 
 (to be trained by foreign police officers under the 
 authority of the United Nations) with a mandate to 
 "protect civilians". Canadian Prime Minister Jean 
 Chretien has already pledged Canadian support to the 
 formation of a civilian police force.14 The latter 
 --which has been entrusted to the OSCE– will 
 eventually operate under the jurisdiction of the KLA 
 controlled "Ministry of Public Order". 

 US MILITARY AID 

 Despite NATO's commitment to disarming the KLA, 
 the Kosovar paramilitary organisation is slated to be 
 transformed into a modern military force. So-called 
 "security assistance" has already been granted to the 
 KLA by the US Congress under the `Kosovar 
 Independence and Justice Act of 1999'. Start-up funds 
 of 20 million dollars will largely be " used for training 
 and support for their [KLA] established self-defense 
 forces."15 In the words of KLA Chief of Staff Agrim 
 Ceku: 

     "The KLA wants to be transformed into 
     something like the US National Guard, ... we 
     accept the assistance of KFOR and the 
     international community to rebuild an army 
     according to NATO standards. ...These 
     professionally trained soldiers of the next 
     generation of the KLA would seek only to 
     defend Kosova. At this decisive moment, we 
     [the KLA] do not hide our ambitions; we 
     want the participation of international 
     military structures to assist in the pacific 
     and humanitarian efforts we are attempting 
     here" 16. 

 While the KLA maintains its links to the Balkans 
 narcotics trade which served to finance many of its 
 terrorist activities, the paramilitary organisation has 
 now been granted an official seal of approval as well 
 as "legitimate" sources of funding. The pattern is 
 similar to that followed in Croatia and in the Bosnian 
 Muslim-Croatian Federation where so-called "equip 
 and train" programs were put together by the 
 Pentagon. In turn, Washington's military aid package 
 to the KLA has been entrusted to Military 
 Professional Resources Inc (MPRI) of Alexandria, 
 Virginia, a private mercenary outfit run by high 
 ranking former US military officers. 

 MPRI's training concepts --which had already been 
 tested in Croatia and Bosnia– are based on imparting 
 "offensive tactics... as the best form of defence".17 In 
 the Kosovar context, this so-called "defensive 
 doctrine" transforms the KLA paramilitary into a 
 modern army without however eliminating its terrorist 
 makeup.18 The objective is to ultimately transform an 
 insurgent army into a modern military and police force 
 which serves the Alliance's future strategic objectives 
 in the Balkans. MPRI has currently "ninety-one 
 highly experienced, former military professionals 
 working in Bosnia & Herzegovina".19 The number of 
 military officers working on contract with the KLA 
 has not been disclosed. 

 FORMER CROATIAN GENERAL 
 APPOINTED KLA CHIEF OF STAFF 

 The massacres of civilians in Kosovo are not 
 disconnected acts of revenge by civilians or by 
 so-called "rogue elements" within the KLA as 
 claimed by NATO and the United Nations. They are 
 part of a consistent and coherent pattern. The intent 
 (and result) of the KLA sponsored atrocities have 
 been to trigger the "ethnic cleansing" of Serbs, Roma 
 and other minorities in Kosovo. 

 KLA Commander Agim Ceku referring to the killings 
 of 14 villagers at Gracko on July 24, claimed that: 
 "We [the KLA] do not know who did it, but I sincerely 
 believe these people have nothing to do with the 
 KLA."20 In turn, KFOR Lieutenant General Sir Mike 
 Jackson has commended his KLA counterpart, 
 Commander Agim Ceku for "efforts undertaken" to 
 disarm the KLA. In fact, very few KLA weapons have 
 been handed in. Moreover, the deadline for turning in 
 KLA weaponry has been extended. "I do not regard 
 this as noncompliance" said Commander Jackson in a 
 press conference, "but rather as an indication of the 
 seriousness with which General Ceku is taking this 
 important issue." 21 

 Yet what Sir Mike Jackson failed to mention is that 
 KLA Chief of Staff Commander Agim Ceku (although 
 never indicted as a war criminal) was (according to 
 Jane Defence Weekly June 10 1999) "one of the key 
 planners of the successful `Operation Storm'" led by 
 the Croatian Armed Forces against Krajina Serbs in 
 1995. 

 General Jackson --who had served in former 
 Yugoslavia under the United Nations Protection Force 
 (UNPROFOR)-- was fully cognizant of the activities 
 of the Croatian High Command during that period 
 including the responsibilities imparted to Brigadier 
 General Agim Ceku. In February 1999, barely a 
 month prior to the NATO bombings, Ceku left his 
 position as Brigadier General with the Croatian 
 Armed Forces to join the KLA as Commander in 
 Chief. 

 FROM KRAJINA TO KOSOVO: SHAPE 
 OF THINGS TO COME 

 According to the Croatian Helsinki Committee for 
 Human Rights, Operation Storm resulted in the 
 massacre of at least 410 civilians in the course of a 
 three day operation (4 to 7 August 1995). 22 An 
 internal report of The Hague War Crimes Tribunal 
 (leaked to the New York Times), confirmed that the 
 Croatian Army had been responsible for carrying out 

     "summary executions, indiscriminate 
     shelling of civilian populations and "ethnic 
     cleansing" in the Krajina region of 
     Croatia...."23 

 In a section of the report entitled "The Indictment. 
 Operation Storm, A Prima Facie Case.", the ICTY 
 report confirms that: 

     "During the course of the military offensive, 
     the Croatian armed forces and special police 
     committed numerous violations of 
     international humanitarian law, including 
     but not limited to, shelling of Knin and other 
     cities... During, and in the 100 days 
     following the military offensive, at least 150 
     Serb civilians were summarily executed, and 
     many hundreds disappeared....In a 
     widespread and systematic manner, 
     Croatian troops committed murder and 
     other inhumane acts upon and against 
     Croatian Serbs" 24. 

 US "GENERALS FOR HIRE" 

 The internal 150 page report concluded that it has 
 "sufficient material to establish that the three 
 [Croatian] generals who commanded the military 
 operation" could be held accountable under 
 international law. 25 The individuals named had been 
 directly involved in the military operation "in 
 theatre". Those involved in "the planning of 
 Operation Storm" were not mentioned: 

     "The identity of the "American general" 
     referred to by Fenrick [a Tribunal staff 
     member] is not known. The tribunal would 
     not allow Williamson or Fenrick to be 
     interviewed. But Ms. Arbour, the tribunal's 
     chief prosecutor, suggested in a telephone 
     interview last week that Fenrick's comment 
     had been 'a joking observation'. Ms. Arbour 
     had not been present during the meeting, 
     and that is not how it was viewed by some 
     who were there. Several people who were at 
     the meeting assumed that Fenrick was 
     referring to one of the retired U.S. generals 
     who worked for Military Professional 
     Resources Inc.... Questions remain about the 
     full extent of U.S. involvement. In the course 
     of the three-year investigation into the 
     assault, the United States has failed to 
     provide critical evidence requested by the 
     tribunal, according to tribunal documents 
     and officials, adding to suspicion among 
     some there that Washington is uneasy about 
     the investigation... The Pentagon, however, 
     has argued through U.S. lawyers at the 
     tribunal that the shelling was a legitimate 
     military activity, according to tribunal 
     documents and officials.26. 

 The Tribunal was attempting to hide what had already 
 been revealed in several press reports published in the 
 wake of Operation Storm. According to a US State 
 Department spokesman, MPRI had been helping the 
 Croatians "avoid excesses or atrocities in military 
 operations."27 . Fifteen senior US military advisers 
 headed by retired two star General Richard Griffitts 
 had been dispatched to Croatia barely seven months 
 before Operation Storm. 28 According to one report, 
 MPRI executive director General Carl E. Vuono: 
 "held a secret top-level meeting at Brioni Island, off 
 the coast of Croatia, with Gen. Varimar Cervenko, the 
 architect of the Krajina campaign. In the five days 
 preceding the attack, at least ten meetings were held 
 between General Vuono and officers involved in the 
 campaign..."29 

 According to Ed Soyster a senior MPRI executive and 
 former head of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) 
 (interviewed by Time Magazine in early 1996): 

     "MPRI's role in Croatia is limited to 
     classroom instruction on military-civil 
     relations and doesn't involve training in 
     tactics or weapons. Other U.S. military men 
     say whatever MPRI did for the Croats--and 
     many suspect more than classroom 
     instruction was involved--it was worth every 
     penny. "Carl Vuono and Butch [Crosbie] 
     Saint are hired guns and in it for the 
     money," says Charles Boyd, a recently 
     retired four-star Air Force general who was 
     the Pentagon's No. 2 man in Europe until 
     July [1995]. "They did a very good job for 
     the Croats, and I have no doubt they'll do a 
     good job in Bosnia. " 30. 

 THE HAGUE TRIBUNAL'S COVER UP 

 The untimely leaking of the ICTY's internal report on 
 the Krajina massacres barely a few days before the 
 onslaught of NATO's air raids on Yugoslavia was the 
 source of some embarrassment to the Tribunal's 
 Chief Prosecutor Louise Arbour. The Tribunal (ICTY) 
 attempted to cover up the matter and trivialize the 
 report's findings (including the alleged role of the US 
 military officers on contract with the Croatian Armed 
 Forces). Several Tribunal officials including American 
 Lawyer Clint Williamson sought to discredit the 
 Canadian Peace-keeping officers' testimony who 
 witnessed the Krajina massacres in 1995.31 

     Williamson, who described the shelling of 
     Knin as a "minor incident," said that the 
     Pentagon had told him that Knin was a 
     legitimate military target... The [Tribunal's] 
     review concluded by voting not to include the 
     shelling of Knin in any indictment, a 
     conclusion that stunned and angered many 
     at the tribunal"...32 

 The findings of the Tribunal contained in the leaked 
 ICTY documents were downplayed, their relevance 
 was casually dismissed as "expressions of opinion, 
 arguments and hypotheses from various staff 
 members of the OTP during the investigative 
 process".33 According to the Tribunal's spokesperson 
 "the documents do not represent in any way the 
 concluded decisions of the Prosecutor." 34 

 The internal 150 page report has not been released. 
 The staff member who had leaked the documents is 
 (according to a Croatian TV report) no longer 
 working for the Tribunal. During the press 
 Conference, the Tribunal's spokesman was asked: 
 "about the consequences for the person who leaked 
 the information", Blewitt [the ICTY spokesman] 
 replied that he did not want to go into that. He said 
 that the OTP would strengthen the existing 
 procedures to prevent this from happening again, 
 however he added that you could not stop people from 
 talking". 35 

 THE USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN 
 CROATIA 

 The massacres conducted under Operation Storm 
 "set the stage" for the "ethnic cleansing" of at least 
 180,000 Krajina Serbs (according to estimates of the 
 Croatian Helsinki Committee and Amnesty 
 International). According to other sources, the 
 number of victims of ethnic cleansing in Krajina was 
 much larger. 

 Moreover, there is evidence that chemical weapons 
 had been used in the Yugoslav civil war (1991-95).36 
 Although there is no firm evidence of the use of 
 chemical weapons against Croatian Serbs, an ongoing 
 enquiry by the Canadian Minister of Defence 
 (launched in July 1999) points to the possibility of 
 toxic poisoning of Canadian Peace-keepers while on 
 service in Croatia between 1993 and 1995: 

     "There was a smell of blood in the air 
     during the past week as the media sensed 
     they had a major scandal unfolding within 
     the Department of National Defense over the 
     medical files of those Canadians who served 
     in Croatia in 1993. Allegations of destroyed 
     documents, a cover-up, and a defensive 
     minister and senior officers..." 37. 

 The official release of the Department of National 
 Defence (DND) refers to the possibility of toxic "soil 
 contamination" in Medak Pocket in 1993 (see below). 
 Was it "soil contamination" or something far more 
 serious? The criminal investigation by the Royal 
 Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) refers to the 
 shredding of medical files of former Canadian 
 peace-keepers by the DND. In other words, did the 
 DND have something to hide? The issue remains as to 
 what types of shells and ammunitions were used by 
 the Croatian Armed Forces -- i.e. were chemical 
 weapons used against Serb civilians? 

 OPERATION STORM: THE ACCOUNT 
 OF THE ROYAL CANADIAN REGIMENT 

 Prior to the onslaught, Croatian radio had previously 
 broadcasted a message by president Franjo Tudjman, 
 calling upon "Croatian citizens of Serbian ethnicity... 
 to remain in their homes and not to fear the Croatian 
 authorities, which will respect their minority rights". 
 38. Canadian peace-keepers of the Second Battalion 
 of the Royal 22nd Regiment witnessed the atrocities 
 committed by Croatian troops in the Krajina offensive 
 in September 1995: 

     "Any Serb who had failed to evacuate their 
     property were systematically "cleansed" by 
     roving death squads. Every abandoned 
     animal was slaughtered and any Serb 
     household was ransacked and torched". 39. 

 Also confirmed by Canadian peace-keepers was the 
 participation of German mercenaries in Operation 
 Storm: 

     Immediately behind the front-line Croatian 
     combat troops and German mercenaries, a 
     large number of hard-line extremists had 
     pushed into the Krajina.... Many of these 
     atrocities were carried out within the 
     Canadian Sector, but as the peacekeepers 
     were soon informed by the Croat authorities, 
     the UN no longer had any formal authority 
     in the region.40. 

 How the Germans mercenaries were recruited was 
 never officially revealed. An investigation by the 
 United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) 
 confirmed that foreign mercenaries in Croatia had in 
 some cases "been paid [and presumably recruited] 
 outside Croatia and by third parties"41 

 THE 1993 MEDAK POCKET MASSACRE 

 According to Jane Defence Weekly (10 June 1999), 
 Brigadier General Agim Ceku (now in charge of the 
 KLA) also "masterminded the successful HV 
 [Croatian Army] offensive at Medak" in September 
 1993. In Medak, the combat operation was entitled 
 "Scorched Earth" resulting in the total destruction of 
 the Serbian villages of Divoselo, Pocitelj and Citluk, 
 and the massacre of over 100 civilians.42 

 These massacres were also witnessed by Canadian 
 peace-keepers under UN mandate: 

     "As the sun rose over the horizon. It 
     revealed a Medak Valley engulfed in smoke 
     and flames. As the frustrated soldiers of 
     2PPCLI waited for the order to move 
     forward into the pocket, shots and screams 
     still rang out as the ethnic cleansing 
     continued.... About 20 members of the 
     international press had tagged along, 
     anxious to see the Medak battleground. 
     Calvin [a Canadian officer] called an 
     informal press conference at the head of the 
     column and loudly accused the Croats of 
     trying to hide war crimes against the Serb 
     inhabitants. The Croats started withdrawing 
     back to their old lines, taking with them 
     whatever loot they hadn't destroyed. All 
     livestock had been killed and houses 
     torched. French reconnaissance troops and 
     the Canadian command element pushed up 
     the valley and soon began to find bodies of 
     Serb civilians, some already decomposing, 
     others freshly slaughtered.... Finally, on the 
     drizzly morning of Sept. 17, teams of UN 
     civilian police arrived to probe the 
     smouldering ruins for murder victims. 
     Rotting corpses lying out in the open were 
     catalogued, then turned over to the 
     peacekeepers for burial. 43. 

 The massacres were reported to the Canadian 
 Minister of Defence and to the United Nations: 

     Senior defence bureaucrats back in Ottawa 
     had no way of predicting the outcome of the 
     engagement in terms of political fallout. To 
     them, there was no point in calling media 
     attention to a situation that might easily 
     backfire.... So Medak was relegated to the 
     memory hole - no publicity, no 
     recriminations, no official record. Except 
     for those soldiers involved, Canada's most 
     lively military action since the Korean War 
     simply never happened. 44 

 NATO'S POST-CONFLICT AGENDA IN 
 KOSOVO 

 Both the Medak Pocket massacre and Operation 
 Storm bear a direct relationship to the ongoing 
 security situation in Kosovo and the massacres and 
 ethnic cleansing committed by KLA troops. While the 
 circumstances are markedly different, several of 
 today's actors in Kosovo were involved (under the 
 auspices of the Croatian Armed Forces) in the 
 planning of both these operations. Moreover, the US 
 mercenary outfit MPRI which collaborated with the 
 Croatian Armed Forces in 1995 is currently on 
 contract with the KLA. NATO's casual response to 
 the appointment of Brigadier General Agim Ceku as 
 KLA Chief of Staff was communicated by Mr. Jamie 
 Shea in a Press Briefing in May: 

     "I have always made it clear, and you have 
     heard me say this, that NATO has no direct 
     contacts with the KLA. Who they appoint as 
     their leaders, that is entirely their own 
     affair. I don't have any comment on that 
     whatever.45 

 While NATO says it "has no direct contacts with the 
 KLA", the evidence confirms the opposite. Amply 
 documented, KLA terrorism has been installed with 
 NATO's tacit approval. The KLA had (according to 
 several reports) been receiving "covert support" and 
 training from the CIA and Germany's Bundes 
 Nachrichten Dienst (BND) since the mid-nineties. 
 Moreover, MPRI collaboration with the KLA 
 predates the onslaught of the bombing campaign.46 

 The building up of KLA forces was part of NATO 
 planning. Already by mid-1998, "covert support" had 
 been replaced by official ("overt") support by the 
 military Alliance in violation of UN Security Council 
 Resolution UNSCR 1160 of 31 March 1998 which 
 condemned: "...all acts of terrorism by the Kosovo 
 Liberation Army or any other group or individual and 
 all external support for terrorist activity in Kosovo, 
 including finance, arms and training." 

 NATO officials, Western heads of State and heads of 
 government, the United Nations Secretary General 
 Kofi Annan not to mention ICTY chief Prosecutor 
 Louise Arbour, were fully cognizant of General 
 Brigadier Agim Ceku's involvement in the planning of 
 Operation Storm and Operation Scorched Earth. 
 Canadian Major General Lewis McKenzie who 
 served under the United Nations confirmed that "the 
 same officer who masterminded the 1993 Medak 
 offensive in Croatia that saw Canadian soldiers using 
 deadly force to stop horrendous atrocities against Serb 
 civilians [had also] ordered the overrunning of lightly 
 armed UN outposts, in blatant contravention of 
 international law. His influence within the KLA does 
 not augur well for its trustworthiness during Kosovo's 
 political evolution". 47 Surely, some questions should 
 have been asked.... 

 Yet visibly what is shaping up in the wake of the 
 bombings in Kosovo is the continuity of NATO's 
 operation in the Balkans. Military personnel and UN 
 bureaucrats previously stationed in Croatia and 
 Bosnia have been routinely reassigned to Kosovo. 
 KFOR Commander Mike Jackson had previously 
 been responsible --as IFOR Commander for 
 organizing the return of Serbs "to lands taken by 
 Croatian HVO forces in the Krajina offensive".48 
 And in this capacity General Mike Jackson had 
 "urged that the resettlement [of Krajina Serbs] not 
 [be] rushed to avoid tension [with the Croatians]" 
 while also warning returning Serbs "of the extent of 
 the [land] mine threat "49. In retrospect, recalling the 
 events of early 1996, very few Krajina Serbs were 
 allowed to return to their homes under the protection 
 of the United Nations. According to "Veritas" (a 
 Belgrade based organization of Serbian refugees from 
 Croatia), some 10-15,000 Serbs were able to resettle 
 in Croatia. 

 And a similar process is unfolding in Kosovo, --i.e. the 
 conduct of senior military officers conforms to a 
 consistent pattern, the same key individuals are now 
 involved in Kosovo. While token efforts are displayed 
 to protect Serb and Roma civilians, those who have 
 fled Kosovo are not encouraged to return under UN 
 protection... In post-war Kosovo, "ethnic cleansing" 
 implemented by the KLA has been accepted by the 
 "international community" as a "fait accompli"... 

 Moreover, while calling for democracy and "good 
 governance" in the Balkans, the US and its allies have 
 installed in Kosovo a paramilitary government with 
 links to organized crime. The foreseeable outcome is 
 the outright "criminalisation" of civilian State 
 institutions and the establishment of what is best 
 described as a "Mafia State". The complicity of 
 NATO and the Alliance governments (namely their 
 relentless support to the KLA) points to the de facto 
 "criminalisation" of KFOR and of the UN 
 peace-keeping apparatus in Kosovo. The donor 
 agencies and governments (e.g. the funds approved by 
 the US Congress in violation of several UN Security 
 Council resolutions) providing financial support to the 
 KLA are, in this regard, also "accessories" to the de 
 facto criminalisation of State institutions. Through the 
 intermediation of a paramilitary group (created and 
 financed by Washington and Bonn), NATO ultimately 
 bears the burden of responsibility for the massacres 
 and ethnic cleansing of civilians in Kosovo. 

 STATE TERROR AND THE "FREE 
 MARKET" 

 State terror and the "free market" seem to go hand 
 in hand. The concurrent "criminalisation" of State 
 institutions in Kosovo is not incompatible with the 
 West's economic and strategic objectives in the 
 Balkans. Notwithstanding the massacres of civilians, 
 the self-proclaimed KLA administration has 
 committed itself to establishing a "secure and stable 
 environment" for foreign investors and international 
 financial institutions. The Minister of Finance Adem 
 Grobozci and other representatives of the provisional 
 government invited to the various donor conferences 
 are all KLA appointees. In contrast, members of the 
 KDL of Ibrahim Rugova (duly elected in 
 parliamentary elections) were not even invited to 
 attend the Stabilisation Summit in Sarajevo in late 
 July. 

 "Free market reforms" are envisaged for Kosovo 
 under the supervision of the Bretton Woods 
 institutions largely replicating the structures of the 
 Rambouillet agreement. Article I (Chapter 4a) of the 
 Rambouillet Agreement stipulated that: "The 
 economy of Kosovo shall function in accordance with 
 free market principles". The KLA government will 
 largely be responsible for implementing these reforms 
 and ensuring that loan conditionalities are met. 

 In close liaison with NATO, the Bretton Woods 
 institutions had already analyzed the consequences of 
 an eventual military intervention leading to the 
 military occupation of Kosovo: almost a year prior to 
 the beginning of the War, the World Bank conducted 
 "simulations" which "anticipated the possibility of an 
 emergency scenario arising out of the tensions in 
 Kosovo". 50. 

 The eventual "reconstruction" of Kosovo financed by 
 international debt largely purports to transfer 
 Kosovo's extensive wealth in mineral resources and 
 coal to multinational capital. In this regard, the KLA 
 has already occupied (pending their privatization) the 
 largest coal mine at Belacevac in Dobro Selo 
 northwest of Pristina. In turn, foreign capital has its 
 eyes riveted on the massive Trepca mining complex 
 which constitutes "the most valuable piece of real 
 estate in the Balkans, worth at least $5 billion." 51. 
 The Trebca complex not only includes copper and 
 large reserves of zinc but also cadmium, gold, and 
 silver. It has several smelting plants, 17 metal 
 treatment sites, a power plant and Yugoslavia's 
 largest battery plant. Northern Kosovo also has 
 estimated reserves of 17 billion tons of coal and 
 lignite. 

 In the wake of the bombings, the management of 
 many of the State owned enterprises and public 
 utilities were taken over by KLA appointees. In turn, 
 the leaders of Provisional Government of Kosovo 
 (PGK) have become "the brokers" of multinational 
 capital committed to handing over the Kosovar 
 economy at bargain prices to foreign investors. The 
 IMF's lethal "economic therapy" will be imposed, the 
 provincial economy will be dismantled, agriculture will 
 be deregulated, local industrial enterprises which have 
 not been totally destroyed will be driven into 
 bankruptcy. 

 The most profitable State assets will eventually be 
 transferred into the hands of foreign capital under the 
 World Bank sponsored privatization program. 
 "Strong economic medicine" imposed by external 
 creditors will contribute to further boosting a criminal 
 economy (already firmly implanted in Albania) which 
 feeds on poverty and economic dislocation. 

     "The Allies will work with the rest of the 
     international community to help rebuild 
     Kosovo once the crisis is over: The 
     International Monetary Fund and Group of 
     Seven industrialized countries are among 
     those who stand ready to offer financial help 
     to the countries of the region. We want to 
     ensure proper co-ordination of aid and help 
     countries to respond to the effects of the 
     crisis. This should go hand in hand with the 
     necessary structural reforms in the 
     countries affected -- helped by budget 
     support from the international 
     community.52 

 Moreover, the so-called "reconstruction" of the 
 Balkans by foreign capital will signify multi-billion 
 contracts to foreign firms to rebuild Kosovo's 
 infrastructure. More generally, the proposed 
 "Marshall Plan" for the Balkans financed by the 
 World Bank and the European Development Bank 
 (EBRD) as well as private creditors will largely 
 benefit Western mining, petroleum and construction 
 companies while fuelling the region's external debt 
 well into the third millennium. 

 And Kosovo is slated to reimburse this debt through 
 the laundering of dirty money. Yugoslav banks in 
 Kosovo will be closed down, the banking system will 
 be deregulated under the supervision of Western 
 financial institutions. Narco-dollars from the 
 multi-billion dollar Balkans drug trade will be recycled 
 towards servicing the external debt as well as 
 "financing" the costs of "reconstruction". The 
 lucrative flow of narco-dollars thus ensures that 
 foreign investors involved in the "reconstruction" 
 program will be able reap substantial returns. In turn, 
 the existence of a Kosovar "narco-State" ensures the 
 orderly reimbursement of international donors and 
 creditors. The latter are prepared to turn blind eye. 
 They have a tacit vested interest in installing a 
 government which facilitates the laundering of drug 
 money. 

 The pattern in Kosovo is, in this regard, similar to that 
 observed in neighboring Albania. Since the early 
 1990s (culminating with the collapse of the financial 
 pyramids in 1996-97), the IMF's reforms have 
 impoverished the Albanian population while 
 spearheading the national economy into bankruptcy. 
 The IMF's deadly economic therapy transforms 
 countries into open territories. In Albania and to a 
 lesser extent Macedonia, it has also contributed to 
 fostering the growth of illicit trade and the 
 criminalisation of State institutions. 

 (Prepared for and presented at the New York hearing 
 of the Independent Commission of Inquiry to 
 Investigate U.S./NATO War Crimes Against The 
 People of Yugoslavia, called by former Attorney 
 General Ramsey Clark, July 31, 1999) 

 ENDNOTES 

 1. Jim Lehrer News Maker Interview, PBS, 26 July 
 1999. 
 2. Stratfor Commentary, "Growing Threat of Serbian 
 Paramilitary Action in Kosovo", 29 July 1999 
 3. Human Rights Watch, 3 August 1999. 
 4. See Michael Radu, "Don't Arm the KLA", CNS 
 Commentary from the Foreign Policy Research 
 Institute, 7 April, 1999).  
 5. Tanjug Press Dispatch, 14 May 1999 
 6. Stratfor Comment, "Rugova Faced with a Choice 
 of Two Losses", Stratfor, 29 July 1999. 
 7. Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Yugoslav 
 Daily Survey, Belgrade, 29 June 1999. 
 8. Hina Press Dispatch, Zagreb, 26 July 1999 
 9. Ibid. 
 10. BBC Report, London, 5 July 1999. 
 11. New York Times, 2 February 1999 
 12. Financial Times, London, 4 August 1999. 
 13. See Organization for Security and Co-operation in 
 Europe, Mission in Kosovo, Decision 305, Permanent 
 Council, 237th Plenary Meeting, PC Journal No. 237, 
 Agenda item 2, Vienna, 1 July 1999 . 
 14 Statement at the Sarajevo Summit, 31 July 1999. 
 15. 106th Congress, April 15, HR 1425.  
 16. Interview with KLA Chief of Staff Commander 
 Agim Ceku, Kosovapress, 31 July 1999 
 17.See Tammy Arbucki, Building a Bosnian Army", 
 Jane International Defence Review, August 1997. 
 18. Ibid. 
 19. Military Professional Resources, Inc, "Personnel 
 Needs", http://www.mpri.com/current/personnel.htm 
 20. Associated Press Report 
 21. Ibid. 
 22. The actual number of civilians killed or missing 
 was much larger. 
 23. Quoted in Raymond Bonner, War Crimes Panel 
 Finds Croat Troops Cleansed the Serbs, New York 
 Times, 21 March 1999).  
 24. Ibid. 
 25. Ibid. 
 26 Raymond Bonner, op cit.  
 27. Ken Silverstein, "Privatizing War", The Nation, 
 New York, 27 July 1997. 
 28. See Mark Thompson et al, "Generals for Hire", 
 Time Magazine, 15 January 1996, p. 34.  
 29. Quoted in Silverstein, op cit. 
 30. Mark Thompson et al, op cit.  
 31. Raymond Bonner, op cit: 
 32. Ibid.  
 33. ICTY Weekly Press Briefing, 24 March 1999). 
 34. Ibid. 
 35. Ibid 
 36. See inter alia Reuters dispatch, 21 October 1993 
 on the use of chemical grenades, a New York Times 
 report on 31 October 1992 on the use of poisoned 
 gas). 
 37. Lewis MacKenzie, "Giving our soldiers the 
 benefit of the doubt", National Post, 2 August 1999 
 38. Slobodna Dalmacija, Split, Croatia, August 5 
 1996. 
 39. Scott Taylor and Brian Nolan, The Sunday Sun, 
 Toronto, 2 November 1998. 
 40. Ibid. 
 41. United Nations Commission on Human Rights, 
 Fifty-first session, Item 9 of the provisional agenda, 
 Geneva, 21 December 1994). 
 42. (See Memorandum on the Violation of the Human 
 and Civil Rights of the Serbian People in the Republic 
 of Croatia, 
 http://serbianlinks.freehosting.net/memorandum.htm)  
 43. Excerpts from the book of Scott Taylor and Brian 
 Nolan published in the Toronto Sun, 1 November 
 1998. 
 44. Ibid. 
 45. NATO Press Briefing, 14 May 1999. 
 46. For further details see Michel Chossudovsky, 
 Kosovo `Freedom Fighters' Financed by Organized 
 Crime, CAQ, Spring-Summer 1999. 
 47.Lewis McKenzie, "Soldier's View Nato Should 
 Disarm the KLA Before It's Too Late', The 
 Vancouver Sun, June 12, 1999. 
 48. Jane's Defence Weekly, Vol 25, No. 7, 14 February 
 1996. 
 49. Ibid. 
 50. World Bank Development News, Washington, 27 
 April 1999.  
 51. New York Times, July 8, 1998, report by Chris 
 Hedges. 
 52. Statement by Javier Solano, Secretary General of 
 NATO, published in The National Post, Toronto May 
 1999. 

 C Copyright by Michel Chossudovsky, Ottawa, August 1999  

 
 (Michel Chossudovsky is Professor of Economics at 
 the University of Ottawa and author of The 
 Globalization of Poverty, Impacts of IMF and World 
 Bank Reforms, Third World Network, Penang and 
 Zed Books, London, 1997)