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I. Introduction The bombing of Kosovo by NATO forces may finally come to an end. While the excuses for bombing the troubled region have been challenged, for the most part the world concurs that the atrocities gong on in that nation warranted international action. In any event, the bombing did start and it continues, despite the accidental hits on pedestrian villages and buildings which were not targets in the first place. They have been explained away as unavoidable during such a mission. Casualties must be expected.
While the mission continues, talks of peace are in the air and even Milosevic seems hopeful. Yet, he remains stubborn, unwilling to comply with mandates which would essentially halt the bombing efforts. Still, a conclusion seems to be near. If in fact a treaty can be implemented, a peacekeeping force is inevitable. Yet, the force, or at least the use of the term "force" could be met with opposition. Another important issue which crops up is the composition of the force.
It is generally agreed that the United Nations would play a major role in peacekeeping. Yet, there are a variety of political components at play, and there has been tensions due to NATO's military mission, as well as Russia and China's ambivalent role in all of this. How all of these factors play out will essentially affect the peacekeeping efforts by the U. N.
In examining the potential for the U. N. 's presence in the region, the political implications as well as the reasons for the war in the first place, are all important. First, an in depth look at the conflict in Kosovo is necessary in order to analyze the effects and necessity of a potential U. N. -led force. II. The Crisis in Kosovo Every war has to have a reason.
For the Kosovo conflict, one reason NATO gives for initiating the conflict is to prevent another holocaust (Cotler 8). Nazi Germany is fresh in the minds of many, and survivors of the death camps are still with us today. No one wants to make a mistake and wait as the so-called "ethnic cleansing" is in full swing. Yet, the bombings seemed to have brought even more atrocities, something not unexpected. It was justifiable as had nothing been done, ethnic cleansing would continue. At least the world is doing something about the problem.
Though the war itself will bring casualties on all sides, and plans of expensive rebuilding of eastern Europe in the future, it is seen as beneficial overall. While many agree with the action, and support for the mission is gained daily, the reason for the war is rather weak if one were to analyze the mission. The international community had chosen not to intervene in places like Cambodia, Iraq, Bosnia, and Rwanda in the past (Cotler 8). Another reason that the war does not make sense is because the ethnic cleansing had been going on for quite some time.
NATO's near-decade-long silence over human rights violations in Kosovo (8) is too much of a significant point to overlook. Why now? Some suggest that the bombing was political. Although NATO is made up of an international community, the true power is that of the United States, with Britain as a close second. The critics of the action contend that Milosevic is made out to be a "Hitler" by NATO which is a way to justifying the bombing (Cotler 8).
Some even go so far as to suggest that Clinton is creating a phony war (Alexander A 19). Alexander suggests that it is a phony war because its strategy has been determined by opinion polls, and targeting decisions made by the 19 -nation committee which frequently changes objectives anyway (A 19). Further, he notes the fact that the threat of ground troops was never an option, which adds to the claim that it is not a true war (A 19). Other criticisms embrace the Wag the Dog hypothesis, the pop culture created idea that a president can divert attention from a scandal by starting a war. The actual events of the Kosovo crisis do with uncanny precision correlate with the movie events as the war was started in the midst of Clinton's impeachment trial which had in fact soon been forgotten.
Maybe the theory is not that far fetched. Alexander also claims that stated objectives are not reasonable; they are the withdrawal of Serbian forces from Kosovo, the ability of the Kosovars to return home along with the implementation of a peacekeeping force and autonomy for Kosovo within Serbia (Alexander A 19). Despite criticisms on the war and reasons for the war, the point is that it was started and is presently in progress. Nothing can change that expect a change in the momentum in the form of a peace agreement, or a retreat on the part of either party. Before exploring possible remedies, a look at the war itself will be helpful to the analysis.
March 24, 1999 was the first day of the action when NATO air strikes had begun ("Day by day" PG). On that day, more than 40 Serb targets were struck and Yugoslavia claims that 11 civilians were killed and 60 were wounded in air strikes (PG). The first several days of the air war held reports of further Serb atrocities while Milosevic continued to affirm his stance (PG). Russia demanded a halt to the air strikes and an American stealth fighter went down (PG). It is important to remember that at the time the mission had begun no one was certain of the extent that Yugoslavia was prepared. They did believe that they would have a greater fight than what actually materialized.
There were many demonstrations around the world opposing the action. Russian Prime Minister met with Milosevic in Belgrade on March 30 (PG). The mass exodus from Kosovo began during this first week of attacks. On March 31 st it was learned that three soldiers were missing ("Day by day" PG). The very next day, April Fool's Day, they were paraded on television. They were the first captives of the war but that didn't last long.
Much later on, Jessie Jackson negotiated their release which would essentially lead to peace talks. Although he acted alone, without U. S. support, it was thought that perhaps the bombing could be stopped due to the release of prisoners. But NATO did not take the carrot. The bombing did not stop.
Throughout the conflict, refugees continued to pour out of Kosovo which created a dilemma for the world as they had to go somewhere. On April 3 rd, Macedonia said it would no longer accept refugees unless other European nations begin admitting some ("Day by day" PG). Immediately, Germany agreed to accept some refugees if other European nations would follow (PG). At around the same time, the White House announced that additional monies would be used to help the refugees (PG). The very next day, NATO announced plans to create an airlift campaign to bring in refugee supplies and to temporarily settle 20, 000 refugees in the United States; they also planned to settle 40, 000 in Germany, 20, 000 in Turkey and lesser amounts in Norway, Denmark, Romania, Sweden, Austria, Greece, Canada and Portugal (PG). The international community did step in quickly to help.
The mass exodus and resettlement would be televised as the Kosovars were received with sympathy and kindness. However, the bombing continued and accidents do happen. After some successful bombings of facilities deemed to be a threat, innocent people were killed. Such incidents became more numerous. On April 13 th, for example, NATO admitted that a bomb accidentally hit a passenger train, killing at least 10 civilians ("Day by day" PG). Of course, some damage is expected but such a move has been criticized.
The bridge on which the train traveled was clearly targeted. It was thought that NATO should have known that trains, perhaps with innocent commuters, used that bridge. Another accident occurred soon after, killing 64 refugees (PG). Again, there was much criticism as it was thought that NATO should have been able to distinguish a group of refugees from a military faction. It was around this time in mid-April that the U.
N. estimated about 100, 000 new refugees were headed for Macedonia (PG). Germany announced a plan to allow a one-day NATO cease-fire if in fact Milosevic would begin to withdraw troops (PG). He didn't. On April 23, Russian envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin met with Milosevic, announcing a breakthrough agreement for "international presence" in Kosovo ("Day by day" PG). But peace would not be restored.
Further, while President Clinton met with the Russian envoy to discuss the Russian diplomatic effort to try to end the bombing, the U. S. rejected the appeal by Yugoslavia to stop the bombing because they had released the three captive men (PG). However, on May 3 rd Clinton announced a willingness for to pause in the bombing if in fact troops were pulled back (PG). Thus, although the U.
S. did not agree to stop bombing as the troops were let go, it does seem that there was a change in attitude on both sides just about that time. Up until the release of the three U. S.
troops, the initiative was a U. S. -led war, backed by Britain and of course, the other countries in the NATO alliance but much world criticism had been lodged in the process. Yet, Jesse Jackson was able to negotiate the release of prisoners and Russia continued negotiating for a peaceful solution. President Clinton continued the strong arm policy but did seem suddenly more flexible. Part of the reason for the harsh rhetoric was of course because forces were already committed and in fact, negotiations had failed in the past. Yet, the beginning of May proved to be a turning point and talk had begun about the possibility of a peacekeeping force in the foreseeable future.
On May 5, there was optimism in the air in support of the Russian-led diplomatic solution. Reports of such a diplomatic initiative suggested an "international body" to run Kosovo when Yugoslav troops would pull out ("Day by day" PG). On May 7, the United States and Russia seemed to have made some headway in negotiating a peace plan and even President Clinton felt that a true peace process had begun (PG). The United Nations, at this time, stepped into the peace talks and elements of the plan seemed to include a strong peacekeeping role in Kosovo with NATO and Russian troops (PG).
Things were looking well until an incident which could be internationally significant occurred. It was purportedly another accident. But the ramifications were serious and the U. S. is not out of the woods yet. Again, the Wag the Dog theory, while pertaining primarily to diversion from a sex scandal, is relevant.
At least that is how it is perceived. However, some White House watchers contend that perhaps Clinton had wanted to cover up something significantly more serious than an a sexual liaison. China gate has been given little attention but it has been alleged that Chinese money had helped to fund the Clinton campaign. Further, it had been recently learned that the Chinese government stole a significant amount of U. S. military secrets.
With that in mind, the "accident" that happened on May 8 th was extraordinary. If it were an accident, it gave the conflict quite an ironic twist. What happened exactly was that on May 8, 1999 a missile attack hit the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing three and wounding a dozen others ("Day by day" PG). Needless to say, the Chinese government was not happy. What was also significant was that the reason given for the accident seemed so ludicrous that some contend that the excuse was intentionally lame.
The reason for the error was explained as their erroneously using a four year old map and the embassy had been built after that time. However, it had been reported that a map of four years old reveals an empty lot where the embassy was built, suggesting that such an incident could never have happened. Why would they drop a bomb on an empty lot? Wouldn't they have noticed the discrepancy between the map and the reality of the situation? While NATO immediately apologized and initially offered no details, there were many protests in China, which overshadowed the peace talks ("Day by day" PG). On May 9 th, China announced that it would suspend scheduled talks with the U.
S. , which were unrelated to the present war (PG). On May 10 th, Yugoslavia announced a partial withdrawal of troops from Kosovo but U. S. officials described thei...
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