[PEN-L:4669] Time Magazine: Nato bombing has strengthened Milosevic's hand

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

(http://www.time.com)

Milosevic Floats a Peace Proposal

The West dismisses Belgrade's initial offer, but a lack of options may
ultimately force NATO to deal

The opening bets for a Kosovo solution are on the table, and President
Slobodan Milosevic's remains the hand to beat. After meeting with Russia's
Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov Tuesday, Milosevic told Serb TV he would
withdraw some of his forces from Kosovo and allow refugees to return if
NATO stops its bombing. With Serb forces reportedly attacking an estimated
50,000 refugees in central Kosovo, Germany's Chancellor Helmut Schroeder
told Primakov that Milosevic's initial proposal was unacceptable. While the
Western alliance won't back down before the Serb offensive is halted and
the refugees are guaranteed the right of return, NATO's unwillingness to
send in ground troops will ultimately leave it no option but to negotiate
with Milosevic. "There's no question Milosevic has won the first round,"
says TIME U.N. correspondent William Dowell. "Air strikes have failed to
force him to accept the Rambouillet peace deal or to stop him depopulating
whole swaths of Kosovo. Domestically, the NATO attack has actually
strengthened his position."

The Western-authored peace deal at the center of the standoff with Belgrade
may be among the casualties of the past week's fighting. "NATO doesn't
expect Milosevic to sign the Rambouillet deal now and the Kosovars also are
unlikely to stick by it," says TIME correspondent Douglas Waller. "A new
agreement will have to be negotiated." By launching a vicious bout of
"ethnic cleansing" and withstanding six days of NATO bombing, the Butcher
of Belgrade looks set to force the world's most powerful military alliance
back to the drawing board on Kosovo.


Louis Proyect

(http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)