Re: John Rawls on Just War

["John Gelles" <jjgelles@xxxxxxxx>]

        Chip Poirot has it all right.

        The fact that educated people here echo the
        murderers line is sad. We hold that people have
        a civil right to thought and expression.  They have
        the natural right to be wrong-headed about
        anything.

        We are indeed fortunate to have Chip with the
        facts and the theory in support of the war we
        are in:  through some imperfection in our leaders,
        perhaps -- but mainly on account of the story
        below.

                    John Gelles
                    http://www.1944.org
                    http://www.rain.org/~jjgelles/1944.html



----- Original Message -----
From: chip poirot <csp@xxxxxxx>
To: POST-KEYNESIAN THOUGHT <pkt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 1999 10:16 AM
Subject: Re: John Rawls on Just War


Paul Phillips wrote:

> What seems to be ignored in this is the fact that there was no ethnic
> cleansing in Kosovo, no genocide,  not atrocities, until NATO began
> its bombing campaign.  The ethnic cleansing was caused by the NATO
> action -- and would cease with an end to the bombing.
>
> Paul Phillips,
> Economics,
> University of Manitoba

I thought that since I just logged onto the group, I might try to avoid
controversy for a little while. However, with statements like this, I cannot
remain silent.

Ethnic cleansing of Albanians in Kosovo has been occurring ever since Serbia was
liberated from the Ottoman Empire. It began anew under the policies of Slobodan
Milosevic. First, Kosovo was stripped of autonomy. Second, the internal security
forces began a crackdown on dissident Albanians. Following the rise of the KLA,
Serbian forces began to systematically harass the civilian population. By last
summer, that strategy had turned into a deliberate and systematic
counterinsurgency operation designed to deprive the KLA of civilian support.
Albanians in Kosovo were forcibly evicted from their homes, subject to JNA
bombing, random police arrests and torture, all while being systematically
stripped of their rights as Yugoslav Citizens.

Last fall, the JNA moved additional units into Kosovo and intensified its campaign
and widened the war against the civilian population. Ethnic cleansing was taking
place systematically and as a planned strategy prior to last winter. This winter,
efforts intensified and Yugoslav troops again increased their strength in Kosovo.
It was in response to the ethnic cleansing that Western powers demanded an end to
JNA occupation and the revival of autonomy for Kosovo, as well as an international
peacekeeping force to safeguard the rights of Kosovar Albanians. At that point,
the JNA began to plan the current operation, and it was only when it became clear
that the JNA intended to go ahead with its operation designed to systematically
remove the Albanian population from Kosovo, that the West acted. Furthermore, the
West was reluctant to use force-and issued several ultimatums and deadlines, each
of which it subsequently backed down from. Prior to the initiation of the bombing,
the West attempted three days of direct negotiation with Milosevic.

The  bombing campaign is marred by the same failure of Western resolve as was
Bosnia. As in Bosnia, the cleansing operations were designed and supported by JNA
regular units, but often carried out by irregulars and sometimes JNA troops. It
was sort of a reverse guerrilla war requiring low concentrations of troops and
armor-except in use against armed populations. As in Bosnia, JNA troops proved
spectacular on the battlefield when faced by foes of lesser numerical strength and
with light arms. It's easy to be a brave Chetnik in a tank when facing a person
with a light rifle. Thus, the bombing campaign could not effect the ability of JNA
troops to conduct operations in Kosovo.

The only way to halt the genocide would be a massive invasion and systematic
targeting of Yugoslav positions in Albania. The West has been reluctant to carry
out this strategy due to the risk of life (western soldiers) and the fact that
such a strategy would undermine the long run NATO policy of promoting stability by
backing Milosevic and maintenance of Yugoslavia's remaining borders. A ground
invasion would de facto create a new Albanian state, leading to a greater
Albania-an outcome opposed by the West. Hence the West relies on bombing in the
hopes of making Milosevic and his supporters miserable enough to accept the
previously proposed peace plan. Stopping the bombing would not stop the ethnic
cleansing but would allow Yugoslav troops to consolidate the gains, leaving
Albanians homeless and in camps.

Serbian arguments against the Albanians smack of simple racism. Serbians point to
high Albanian birthrates as partial justification for the genocide. Serbian
propaganda has sought to portray Muslims in much the same way traditional
anti-semitic propaganda has portrayed Jews. Prior to the lifting of autonomy,
Serbs did face discrimination due to Tito's policy of de-emphasizing nationalities
and promoting a Yugoslav identity. However, Serbs did not face "ethnic cleansing"
from the Albanians and Albanians, along with other nationalities faced
discrimination from the central government as well.

Finally, the argument that Western bombing provoked the aggression is to remove
blame from where it belongs. Blame for the genocide in Albania lies with
Milosevic, his party and supporters and the JNA. Milosevic is the ultimate
degenerate Stalinist bureaucrat, who when he abandoned Marxism, turned to the
radical right and utilized the existing bureaucracy to advance his own personal
power and an ideology based on ethnic purity.