What is happening in Mitrovica? 

Last weekend the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) launched coordinated attacks on 
KFOR troops in this northern Kosovo town. 

You remember the KLA. According to KFOR (NATO in Kosovo) it has ceased to 
exist. KFOR and the UN bureaucrats achieved this miracle by allowing the KLA 
thugs to be Kosovo's police force and government. New title, new uniform and 
voila! - new man. 

The regulation targets for KLA snipers have been Serbs, Roma ("Gypsies") 
Gorani (Slavic Muslims) Turks, non-KLA Albanians and Jews. But last weekend 
the snipers were shooting at NATO. Why? The KLA and other secessionists have 
been NATO's protégés and wards since the late 1980s. Do they shoot their 
Masters? 

At first glance, the shooting appears to have unhinged the leaders of the 
NATO establishment. Or perhaps not. Perhaps these gentlemen have simply 
chosen to lie. 

AN ISLAND OF MULTIETHNIC LIFE 

Under NATO occupation, most potential opponents of the KLA have been driven 
from Kosovo. But in northern Mitrovica, thousands remain in their ancestral 
homes. Reinforced by a flood of anti-KLA refugees from elsewhere in Kosovo, 
the forces of the old Kosovo, that is of normal, multiethnic life, have been 
holding their own. 

The KLA has no will to fight when people defend themselves. Hence they have 
chosen to avoid a frontal assault on northern Mitrovica. Instead, last 
weekend, KLA operatives staged a provocation. They shot at French KFOR troops 
from positions on the non-KLA (that is, northern) side of the Ibar River, as 
if to make it appear that the shooting was the work of Serbs. The KLA 
propaganda machine then kicked in with claims that hundreds of Albanians had 
been "ethnically cleansed" from the north. 

Based on public statements by KLA leader Hacim Thaqi, the attacks were not 
the work of some rogue faction; Thaqi, who is closely allied with the U.S. 
military machine, warned that if the secessionists didn't get what they 
wanted, more and worse attacks would follow. 

The KLA is shooting at KFOR? As if that weren't unusual enough, KFOR shot 
back, killing one KLA sniper. Almost fifty more KLA types were arrested. KFOR 
troops fired warning shots to stop KLA supporters from crossing the Ibar. 

Meanwhile the UN actually contradicted and discredited the "ethnic Albanian 
[read: KLA] human rights center" by saying that not one ethnic Albanian had 
registered as expelled from northern Mitrovica last week. 

What is going on? 

THE NEW MATH: ONE PLUS ZERO EQUALS...2 

Commenting on last weekend's firefight, State Department spokesman James 
Rubin blamed "both ethnic Albanians and Serbs for incidents in the city." 
[AP, U.S. Condemns Violence in Kosovo, February 14] 

Rubin admitted that the snipers were Albanian (read: KLA) yet he concluded 
that: "It should be very clear that the confrontation is coming from both 
sides." In a dazzling display of Slobophobia, Rubin added: 

"We need to impress upon the parties their responsibility to deal with the 
hatreds and animosities that have been built up" and stoked by Yugoslav 
President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade. 

"When things go bad, he feels like he had a good day," said Rubin. [AP, 
2/14/00] 

So according to the State Department, when Albanian secessionists shoot at 
KFOR the blame lies with Milosevich. Hmmm. Is this like original sin? 

{James Rubin recently announced his resignation. Hopefully soon.} 

Rubin was not the only American who presented the situation in Mitrovica in a 
totally illogical fashion, whether intentionally or due to some unfortunate 
disability. In Tuesday’s New York Times, he was joined by Carlotta Gall, a 
reporter with years of experience portraying the KLA snakes in a flattering 
light. 

In her article "Kosovo Peacekeepers Warn That Extremists ‘Want Peace to 
Fail’", NY Times, Feb. 15, 2000, Gall blamed faceless "extremists" for the 
fighting. Given the Times' constant attacks on Serbs, readers would find it 
easy to deduce whom Gall means. She cited the fears of senior UN and KFOR 
officials that "ethnic relations will be poisoned permanently." 

(EXCERPT BEGINS HERE) 
"General de Saqui de Sannes, [French commanding officer] who has blamed the 
violence on both sides, said individuals were instigating attacks purposely 
to escalate the violence and to destroy the last multiethnic town in Kosovo 
where Serbs and Albanians are still living side by side, if uneasily. 

'"There are extremists who want the peace to fail,' he said in an interview 
at his headquarters. While the violence consists of 'isolated acts,' he said, 
the strategy is to escalate tensions and intolerance. 'I am worried that we 
may be in the process of an escalation of intolerance,' he said. 

'"Some Albanians have wanted to push the Serbs in northern Mitrovica and 
beyond out of Kosovo, and some Serbs have wanted to do the opposite—to push 
the Albanians remaining among them south of the Ibar river, which divides 
Mitrovica, in order to create a pure Serbian area in northern Kosovo,' he 
said. 'The people are hostages to this,' he said." (NY Times, Feb. 15, 2000) 
(END OF EXCERPT) 
 

Has Gen. de Sannes been on another planet? Back on Planet Earth, it's too 
late for "an escalation of intolerance": approximately 350,000 non-Albanians 
and anti-KLA Albanians have already been forced out of Kosovo by KLA terror. 
Were all these people victims of "isolated" incidents? And how does Albanians 
firing on KFOR constitute Serbs trying to create an ethnically pure zone? And 
if they are trying to create such a zone, how come the UN says no Albanian - 
not one - has been forced out of the Northern side of town? 

And what does "ethnic relations" have to do with KLA snipers shooting at KFOR 
anyway? 

This is all rather dizzying. 

Is the man deranged? Or is there method in his madness? 

NEVER GIVE A SERB AN EVEN BREAK 

Mitrovica is the last multiethnic town in Kosovo for two reasons: the Serbs 
and other anti-secessionists have fought eviction and the French troops have 
actually held the KLA in check. This as opposed to what's happened in areas 
under US, British and Dutch control. For example, British troops marched into 
Pristina alongside the KLA and oversaw the eviction of literally thousands of 
non-secessionist residents. (See Note 1). Similarly, Dutch troops have given 
the KLA free reign to terrorize and control Orahovac. (Note 2) 

Clearly, if the Serbs and their allies would just leave Mitrovica, peace 
would follow: no Serbs = no ethnic violence. Are Serbs then to blame because 
their very existence frustrates and provokes a faction of Albanians beyond 
endurance? 

Along these lines, UN high official Mr. Marcone noted that although Monday 
was a "bad day for the Albanians," some Serbs will soon be arrested as well. 
For what? Since KFOR admits the violence derives entirely from the KLA side, 
is the unnamed crime for which the Serbs are to be punished existential: "One 
is a Serb; one exists; therefore, one is bad"? 

Through the fog of misleading writing that is Ms. Gall's hallmark, some light 
filters. Consider the following: 

(EXCERPT BEGINS HERE) 
"…Thousands flocked today to the burial of the one man killed by French 
troops during the fighting Sunday. 

"Avni Haradinaj, 35, a former guerrilla fighter of the Kosovo Liberation Army 
and a local hero, was buried with full honors by his former comrades in arms. 
His coffin, draped in the red Albanian flag, was carried up the hill to the 
edge of a wood outside the city, through a crowd of some 3,000 mourners. 

"The Albanian mayor of Mitrovica, Bajram Rexhepi, who said he had been a good 
friend of the dead man, said Mr. Haradinaj was unarmed when he was shot by 
French soldiers and was in Mitrovica visiting his sisters. "There were four 
people with him and they explained that he had no weapon at the moment he was 
killed," he said. 

"General de Saqui de Sannes insisted that Mr. Haradinaj was armed and was 
shooting at the soldiers when he was shot. 

"The general tried to reassure the Albanians of French neutrality. 'If we 
were shot at by Albanians, it is difficult to arrest Serbs,' he said." 
(ibid.)  (END OF EXCERPT) 

The French General is apologetic: he wishes to arrest Serbs, alas they aren't 
doing the shooting. Then why the apology? 

WHY WOULD A FRENCH GENERAL APOLOGIZE TO TERRORISTS WHO ARE TRYING TO KILL HIS 
TROOPS? 

Therein lies the question. In this world it is customary for people to kiss 
up to those more powerful than they. But why is this General currying favor 
with...the KLA, an organization which never won a battle against the Yugoslav 
Army, an organization which is only good at terrorizing old people, shooting 
farmers from the woods, ransacking apartment buildings and driving out school 
teachers and electrical engineers? 

Perhaps the General isn't really bowing before the KLA. But if he isn't 
really bowing before the KLA, then before whom is he bowing? 

Let's assemble some facts, and let's think it over. 

1) Last weekend's fighting was clearly an organized KLA operation. While 
snipers shot at KFOR their compatriots tried to cross the Ibar River. 
Forty-five Albanians were arrested, all men of fighting age. The KLA sniper 
whom the French troops shot was A. Haradinaj, age 35. Was he one of Ramush 
Haradinaj's five brothers? Ramush Haradinaj is a deputy of KLA boss Hacim 
Thaqi in the Kosovo Peace Corps, set up by…KFOR. 

2) On Tuesday, Feb. 15, French KFOR troops found an ambulance abandoned near 
a checkpoint in south Mitrovica, i.e. the KLA side of the Ibar. In it was a 
huge stash of deadly weapons. 

"Among the stash were 14 anti-tank rocket launchers, more than 180 
high-explosive grenades, and more than 3,000 cartridges for guns," (Bergen 
County Record, Feb. 16, 2000, from various wire services) 

The ambulance had been donated by an Italian aid organization (Cooperazione e 
Sviluppo) to a KLA-controlled town. 

3) In a rather surprising move, none less then Gen. Henry H. Shelton, 
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made a statement about the ambulance. 

(EXCERPT BEGINS HERE) 
"[Gen. Shelton] said today in Washington that the incident underscored the 
difficulty faced by the NATO-led Kosovo peacekeeping force in stopping arms 
from entering the province illegally. 

"Getting weapons in (illegally) is no hard task," Shelton said. "You've got a 
fairly porous border. You've got everything from backpacks to mules that can 
bring in weapons, but you've got Lord knows how many thousands of weapons 
that may have been cached in the local area as (the Serbs) pulled out of 
there." (AP Online Feb. 15, 2000)  (END OF EXCERPT) 

Is General Shelton suffering from some malfunction? First of all, the 
administrative border between the Province of Kosovo (legally part of Serbia) 
and inner Serbia is quite well policed by Yugoslav troops. The truly porous 
border is between Kosovo and KLA-infested northern Albania; that border is 
porous precisely because Yugoslav border guards were forced to depart under 
the June peace agreement. So why is Shelton, who is responsible for the 
absence of border guards, going on about Serbian weapons? 

Indeed, why is he talking about borders and arms caches at all? A KLA 
ambulance full of tactical weapons just got seized on its way to arm KLA 
forces attacking French troops who are being shot by the KLA. The KLA are 
American proxies. Shouldn't Shelton use this opportunity to say to his 
proxies: "We backed you up until now but if you pick on the French troops and 
try to destroy a multiethnic community, you're through!"? He does not. 
Instead he talks wistfully about the difficulties of stopping illegal arms; 
he laments; he, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff laments; he suffers 
ennui; he speaks wistfully of mules and the impossibility of trying to stop 
the flow of arms as if it were arms and not the men, the KLA men, who were 
shooting at those French troops. 

4) The ambulance full of weapons was driving towards Mitrovica from the 
south, from a KLA controlled town. The deadliest weapon in that ambulance was 
a six-shot grenade launcher along with 180 high-explosive grenades, usable 
with devastating effect against, let us say, French troops guarding a bridge. 
That weapon did not come from hidden caches of Serbian weapons. It is state 
of the art. And as the Agence France Presse (but NOT the American Associated 
Press or British Reuters!) pointed out: 

(EXCERPT BEGINS HERE) 
"Police intercepted a shipment of arms hidden in an ambulance heading for 
Mitrovica, including a US-made "street sweeper" grenade launcher..." (AFP, 
Feb. 156, 2000)  (END OF EXCERPT) 

U.S.-made. 
 
5) Meanwhile, US-made allies have joined the fray. Dutch and special British 
troops, the so-called Royal Green Jackets previously assigned to Ulster, 
arrived in Mitrovica, ostensibly to back up the French. The English and Dutch 
governments are the main US ally in Europe, often opposed by France and 
Germany. For example, when Greece, Italy and Germany attempted to relax the 
sanctions that have kept heating fuel out of Serbia in this harshest of 
winters, the Dutch and British delegates, acting on orders of the State 
department, vetoed the measure. (Note 3) 

Perhaps "US ally" is a mistaken way to describe the British, and especially 
the Dutch governments. A more accurate term might be "US servants." The US 
elite does not think along egalitarian lines. By way of illustration, 
consider this comment made at a Senate hearing by Michael Short, the US 
General who ran NATO's bombing campaign against the Serbs. Referring to the 
difference in status between the U.S. and "allied" forces, Short testified 
that: 

(EXCERPT BEGINS HERE) 
"Our allies recognize that. They recognize that they are small dogs, but they 
want to have a seat at the table. I would use the Dutch as the prime example. 
A small air force, a proud air force, a competent air force. They have bought 
their own tankers. They have two modified DC-10s with the Israeli system in 
the front with mirrors to allow them to refuel their own airplanes. They have 
lantern pods. You'll remember on the first night of the war, a Dutch F-16 
shot down a MiG-29? A small air force, but a seat at the table. 

"And I knew I could send the Dutch anyplace I had to send them and they'd 
salute and say, 'Yes, Boss, we'll be there.' "(Gen. Michael Short, testifying 
at the Oct 21, 1999 Senate Military Hearings)  (END OF EXCERPT) 

6) While Gen. Shelton was avoiding any criticism of his dear KLA, the leader 
of that non-existent organization, Hacim Thaqi, made his position on the 
KLA-French conflict perfectly clear. Here's Thaqi: 

(EXCERPT BEGINS HERE) 
"Hasidim Thaqi, co-chairman of Kosovo's Temporary Administrative Council, 
also told Koha Jone newspaper that French troops of the NATO-led KFOR 
peacekeeping force must shoulder some blame for the gun battles that erupted 
on Sunday because they had allowed Serbs to control half of the town. 

'"It is paramount the (U.N.) institutions be more active to solve the 
situation in Mitrovica otherwise they will have to face bigger problems,'' 
said Thaqi, a former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army guerrillas. 

'"`I also cannot exclude that such developments could spread to other parts 
of Kosovo,'' he went on. 

"Fighting in Serb-dominated northern Mitrovica drew in Serbs, ethnic 
Albanians and KFOR troops. Two French peacekeepers were wounded by sniper 
fire and one ethnic Albanian -- identified by KFOR as a sniper -- was shot 
dead by KFOR troops. 

"Thaqi accused international peacekeepers of doing a '`weak job in Mitrovica 
and allowing terrorist groups and Belgrade institutions to function freely 
there.'' ' 

''These phenomena should be eliminated in order to solve the problem of the 
city as soon as possible,'' he added." ( Feb 15 ,2000, AFP) (EXCERPT ENDS 
HERE) 

Conclusion 

At first glance the KLA attacks on KFOR seem crazy, suicidal. But the KLA has 
a history of carrying out apparently crazy actions which are not really crazy 
at all but which are coordinated with covert operations by NATO, especially 
the US. 

In this case, we think the KLA is acting as a proxy for the US which cannot 
itself attack French KFOR troops. The US (and its British and Dutch servants) 
is engaged in a struggle with the French and German elites - that is, with 
Europe. The US Empire is trying to consolidate its strength in Kosovo to 
prepare for further attacks on Yugoslavia, with important geopolitical goals. 
Basically what is at stake here is a) gaining control of the formerly 
Socialist East and b) preventing a unified and effectively powerful Europe 
(i.e., competition) from emerging. 

To this end, one US goal is to put control of all Kosovo in the hands of the 
KLA, its proxy. The French have been resisting this - not out of any love of 
justice, but because the French elite sees the US as a serious menace. Hence 
the KLA attacks, the "reinforcement" by US servant troops, the official 
endorsement of the attacks by Thaqi, with its threat of more unless the 
French let the KLA take over northern Mitrovica and get rid of the Serbian 
terrorists (for which read: multiethnic society), the statement by Gen. 
Shelton which, by not denouncing the KLA made it clear to the French that the 
US supports the attacks (though of course not publicly) and finally, the 
weird statement by Gen. de Saqui de Sannes. At least now we can solve the 
puzzle: why was the General simultaneously resisting the KLA's aggressive 
stance and at the same time kissing up to the KLA? The answer is: he wasn't 
simultaneously resisting the KLA's aggressive stance and kissing up to the 
KLA. He was simultaneously resisting and kissing the ass of the USA. 

And after all, isn't that what the French elite always does? 

***** 

NOTES 

Note 1 - For an eye-witness account of British complicity in the KLA rape of 
Pristina this past July, see the interview with Cedda Prlincevic. Mr. 
Prlincevic was the chief archivist of Kosovo and President of the Jewish 
Community in Pristina. Click on Driven From Kosovo 
http://www.emperors-clothes.com/interviews/prlincevic.htm 

Note 2 - The Dutch have performed shockingly in Orahovac, where they have 
brought sheer terror to the Serbian and Roma ("Gypsy") communities. 
Emperors-Clothes has run a number of articles on this subject. In 
chronological order: 

Save the Families: the Women of Orahovac Speak 
http://www.emperors-clothes.com/misc/savethe.htm 

The Women of Orahovac Answer the Colonel 
http://www.emperors-clothes.com/interviews/trouw.htm 

'Can children be war criminals?' Interview in a Dutch newspaper, Trouw. 
http://www.emperors-clothes.com/interviews/can.htm 

'Time is so Short' - an Interview with Simca Kazazic 
http://www.emperors-clothes.com/interviews/simca.htm 

Note 3 - Concerning the Dutch & British government's shameful veto of a 
measure intended to alleviate Serbian suffering this winter, see Europeans 
Bow to U.S. Pressure, Extend Yugoslav Sanctions 
http://www.emperors-clothes.com/articles/Johnstone/monsters.htm