-Caveat Lector-
From
www.phillynews.com/inquirer/99/Jul/11/opinion/RUBIN11.htm
> Trudy Rubin / Worldview
>
>
> Much of world sees Kosovo war as a show of raw American power
>
>
> TETOVO, MACEDONIA - Americans were told the war in Kosovo was a
> humanitarian struggle to prevent the murder and expulsion of
> ethnic Albanians from Kosovo.
>
> But ask the leading ethnic Albanian politician in neighboring
> Macedonia, where hundreds of thousands of Kosovar refugees took
> shelter, and he sees things very differently. Arben Jaffari, ally
> of Kosovo leaders and spokesman for the large number of ethnic
> Albanians in Macedonia, believes the war was about power, pure
> and simple. "It proves there is a new relationship between global
> forces and that NATO is on top," he tells me.
>
> "The war tested weapons, it tested political loyalties, it showed
> that the Russians have nothing to offer," he says with relish,
> sitting in his political office in this all-Albanian town.
> Jafferi is busy writing an article entitled "The Kosovo war:
> leading the world towards a new century."
>
> Welcome to the real world. We think we bombed to save Albanians'
> lives, but they think we bombed to show who really runs the
> world. And they are not the only ones.
>
> Much of the world is busy trying to assess the meaning of NATO's
> bombing campaign to the 21th century world. They care little for
> the irony that NATO bumbled into the war, believing that
> Yugoslavia would give in within days. They see the war as a
> victory for raw American power. After all, three-quarters of the
> missions were flown by Americans.
>
> Only European leaders endorse the argument that NATO intervention
> was humanitarian. Other parts of the world are more likely to
> assume some deeper geopolitical motive. The Chinese think we
> bombed their embassy to show who was boss.
>
> Russian resentment of a perceived NATO dictate is plain in
> Pristina. Commanders of the 700 Russian troops who dashed to take
> the airport ahead of NATO have sulked to themselves, refusing to
> send a liaison to the media center in downtown Pristina run by
> KFOR (the predominantly NATO force in Kosovo).
>
> Russian generals in Moscow are said to believe that NATO is
> redefining Europe's power balance, outflanking Russia to the
> south by basing 50,000 troops in the Balkans and contemplating
> the accession of several new Balkan members to NATO. So it will
> be instructive to see how the 3,600 Russians scheduled to deploy
> in Kosovo relate to U.S., French, and German commanders within
> whose sectors they will be based.
>
> Two thousand Russians will soon arrive inside the American
> sector. Will they play by NATO's rules? Gen. John Craddock, U.S.
> commander within Kosovo, says he believes the terms governing the
> Russian presence are clear: "I'll tell them what they can and
> cannot do. I have tactical control."
>
> But will Russians commanders on the ground obey Craddock or
> follow their own interests? Already, Russian commanders say they
> won't arrest suspected Serbian war criminals in Kosovo.
> NATO-Russian military relationships in Kosovo will reveal whether
> Moscow still wants to cooperate with the western alliance.
>
> The Europeans, too, have had strong reactions to the U.S.-led
> bombing campaign. Dismayed at the technology gap between European
> and U.S. forces, they are determined to prove that their
> militaries of are ready for prime time.
>
> The British have taken the lead, led by the tough Gen. Mike
> Jackson, who is the commander of KFOR. They have the biggest
> force, at 13,000, and play tough. They are happy to run the show
> if U.S. politics dictate that U.S. forces should take a backseat,
> running the quietest of the five Kosovar zones, in the southeast.
>
> But pacifying Kosovo, after the war's end, doesn't prove European
> troops can match the Americans. That will take bigger defense
> budgets, which European publics don't support. Moroever, the
> Europeans have taken on other huge challenges in Kosovo, in an
> effort to demonstrate political strength.
>
> Along with the United Nations, they've pledged to set up civilian
> government in Kosovo, and to reconstruct Balkan economies. In
> effect, they have pledged to do for the Balkans what the United
> States did for them with the post-World War II Marshall Plan.
>
> This is a tall order. It's not clear that European governments
> have the will or the wallet. If they don't, it may dash British
> and French hopes that the European Union can become more of a
> political and military force. So consider Kosovo a power testing
> ground, where challengers jockey to narrow the U.S. lead.
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> ------- Trudy Rubin's column appears on Wednesdays and Fridays.
> Her e-mail address is [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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