Letter to Wall Street Journal regarding Wesley Clark commentary "Set Kosovo Free"
Stella L. Jatras February 03, 2005 The Wall Street Journal Opinion/Letter 2 February 2005 In his myopic and self-serving commentary of Feb.1, Set Kosovo Free, retired General Wesley Clark avoided the hard questions concerning Kosovo: Should Kosovo be set free for Albanian mobs to finish their ethnic cleansing of Serbs from their Jerusalem? "Serbs are being murdered and their 800 year old churches are in flames. Much of the Christian heritage in Kosovo and Metohija is on fire and could be lost forever," (National Review, 19 March 2004). In a UNMIK Police Briefing Notes on 20 May 2002, DerekChappell, reported that "sex slavery, prostitution & rape are rampant in Kosovo." Former Canadian UNPROFOR Commander, Major General Lewis MacKenzie wrote in a National Post (Canada) article of 6 April 2004, that "The Kosovo-Albanians have played us like a Stradivarius. We have subsidized and indirectly supported their violent campaign for an ethnically pure and independent Kosovo. We have never blamed them for being the perpetrators of the violence in the early '90s and we continue to portray them as the designated victim today in spite of evidence to the contrary. When they achieve independence with the help of our tax dollars combined with those of bin Laden and al-Qaeda, just consider the message of encouragement this sends to other terrorist-supported independence movements around the world." Just like "Kosovo-Albanians have played us like a Stradivarius," perhaps General Clark is also playing us like a Stradivarius for his own political gain. A Washington Post Opinion piece by Layne and Schwarz, headlined, "Was It A Mistake? We Were Suckers For The KLA." Are we to continue to be suckers because of Wesley Clark's anti-Serb bias? Now, a former KLA warlord who faces possible indictment for war crimes, was elected president of Kosovo. In his commentary, General Clark states that the "pace at which Kosovo is allowed to progress toward full independence should be made contingent on its treatment of minorities." Haven't KLA thugs, to whom General Clark wishes to give control, already shown what minorities can expect? General Clark writes of the "rioting of last March," yet he does not identify who the rioters were and, given the usual media spin, most Americans will be led to believe that the Serbs were the culprits. The reason for this omission? Perhaps it is because of his close association with Albanian-American organizations such as the National Albanian American Council (NAAC) which he thanked in a letter of 1 November 2001 for their support of his future [Presidential] activities. General Clark further stated his intentions to NAAC in a statement on 14 November 2003 that "Kosovo Will Be Independent." The Wall Street Journal is doing a disservice to its readers by providing a podium to someone whose sage advice on the future of Kosovo came from the man who was willing to risk a major confrontation with Russia because of his ego when he ordered British paratroopers to storm Pristina airport after Russian peacekeepers entered first, without his permission. British General Sir Mike Jackson, commander of the international KFOR peacekeeping force, is quoted as having told General Clark when he refused that order, "I'm not going to start World War Three for you." STELLA L. JATRAS Camp Hill, PA **************************************************************************** **** BIO: As a career military officer's wife, Stella Jatras has traveled widely and has lived in many foreign countries where she not only learned about other cultures but also became very knowledgeable regarding world affairs and world politics. With the advent of the war in Bosnia, Mrs. Jatras immediately recognized the bias of the Western media and the Clinton administration's flawed foreign policy in the Balkans and began her efforts to present to the American people a more accurate view of that tragic situation. Her letters and articles have been published in The Washington Times, The Washington Post, The Arizona Republic, The Patriot- News (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), Chronicles, The Stars and Stripes, and the Los Angeles Times, as well as a number of magazines and periodicals. In addition her writings have had worldwide distribution via the Internet such as Citizen Soldier and Jihad Watch. Stella Jatras lived in Moscow for two years (where her husband, George, was the Senior Air Force Attache), and while there, worked in the Political Section of the US Embassy. Stella has also lived in Germany, Greece and Saudi Arabia. Her travels have taken her to over twenty countries. For the editor(s). Links to my sources. Kristallnacht in Kosovo: http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/krnjevicmiskovic200403190842.asp General Clark's letter to NAAC: "Kosovo Will be Independent": http://www.naac.org/pr/2003/11-14-03.html Jerry Seper's KLA rebels train in terrorist camps: http://www.diaspora-net.org/food4thought/binladen__kla.htm A Prime Minister with a Kalashnikov: http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,333088,00.html Sex slavery, Prostitution and Rape Rampant in Kosovo: http://www.realitymacedonia.org.mk/web/news_page.asp?nid=1896 http://news.serbianunity.net/bydate/2005/February_03/11.html?w=p Serbian News Network - SNN news@antic.org http://www.antic.org/