Re: John Rawls on Just War

["J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." <rosserjb@xxxxxxx>]

     I have attempted to move this discussion over
to economic issues, with complaints from Paul Davidson
for my effort and only one response (thanks, John) to my
message on that, although there are people on this list
who are very knowledgeable about the matter, such as
Paul Phillips.
      I am not going to respond to the message below.
However, I would appreciate it, please, that if people
insist on following this thread against the wishes of the
listowner, they at least provide some support or sources
for their assertions.  The message below contains numerous
unsourced assertions that are in fact plain wrong.  However,
I shall not engage in a detailed rebuttal.
Barkley Rosser
-----Original Message-----
From: chip poirot <csp@xxxxxxx>
To: POST-KEYNESIAN THOUGHT <pkt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thursday, June 03, 1999 1:10 PM
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.
>
>
>
>