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Options for Kosovo (IV) — More on the Case Against Partition April 20, 1999 Comment: #265 The attached message is from a member of the Foreign Service. He argues that partition would reward Milosevic and set the stage for even more ethnic cleansing of Sandzak Muslims in Serbia proper and Hungarians in Vojvodina [see Comment #258]. -----[Begin Email from a Foreign Service Officer]------- "Milosevic is supposed to be the prophet of greater Serbia, but every move he makes creates a smaller Serbia, more displaced Serbs, but leaves him more firmly entrenched in power (in my view, his true objective). To your critique of partition, which I whole-heartedly agree with, I would add: it would leave Milosevic in power, more entrenched than ever, with opposition and independent press suppressed, and set the stage for the next war in the former Yugoslavia. Where? The Sandzak? [the Muslim region in the wedge north of Kosovo and west of Montenegro] The Vojvodina? [region north of Danube where there is a 17% Hungarian minority] I don't know, but it will come. I am very disturbed now by our lack of reaction to the fighting along the Albanian border. The attitude here seems to be that the Serbs would not dare violate Albania. Hope is not a policy. Why the Hell wouldn't they dare? We've already given them our best shot. This is the most amazing re-run of the bombing of North Vietnam. But it is interesting how real-time TV coverage on the ground in Yugoslavia is raising questions about the effectiveness of bombing much faster than has ever been the case before." ---------[end email]---------------- Chuck Spinney [Disclaimer: In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.] |