KOSOVO War

Suggested Background Reading Material

This web page is quite out of date and has many stale links as the world wide web is not a place where information gets placed for perpetuity.

Please visit James Bissett's web site that addresses the the issues of the Kosovo war for an up to date perspective and information:

James Bissett's website on the Balkan War

James Bissett was Canada's ambassador to Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Albania. He is widely recognized as one of the foremost authorities on Balkan politics.

First, a little Editorial:

The NATO war in the Balkans does not make sense, even if you believe the patently one-sided propaganda being generated by the war machinery. It may make sense on other more disturbing levels if you dig a little deeper to try and find out the real geo-political reasons behind what is going on. But on any level you look, it is entirely clear that this war is morally wrong. As a Canadian, I can't ignore it because my own country is participating in it, along with the U.S. and NATO.

The words of Edmund Burke are worth remembering:

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Edmund Burke

Also those of Alexander Solzhenitsyn:

Hurling aside the United Nations and
trampling its Charter, NATO
proclaimed to the whole world and to
the next century an ancient law --
the law of the jungle:

He who is mighty is completely right.

If you are technically superior, excel your
condemned opponent in violence a hundredfold.

And they want us to live in a world like this from now on.

In the sight of humanity a
beautiful country is being destroyed
while civilized governments applaud.
And desperate people leave bomb
shelters and come out as living
targets to die for the salvation of Danube bridges.
Isn't that a classic Greek tragedy?

 Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Moscow, April 8, 1999.

Finally, we have the words of Yevtushenko, a Russian poet:

...But the truth is summed up not only in this, but also in a barely alive old Albanian woman being pulled over the snow in a plastic garbage bag just to drag her our of the Kosovo hell into Montenegro, and in the old Serbian woman who stands at night on a bridge with a target on her sunken chest inviting bombs from the sky...
Yevgeny Yevtushenko, from an article in the New York Times

It's all too easy to forget that in this war, as in most wars, it is the civilian population of both sides that suffers the most. The tragic thing you will find when you read about what led up to this war and how it is being waged, is the inescapable conclusion that it could have been averted or at least contained and minimized. The U.S. and NATO have totally mismanaged the Balkan situation and the only positive thing that can be said about it, is that it can be used as an example of how not to do things in the future. In the meantime, the tragedy continues because we ignore the lessons of history.

Reference Material Available on the Web

Background Information & Analysis:

The Internet has become a rich source of news and background information that can augment the mainstream media. In the case of the Kosovo crisis, I have found it to be a superior news source. I guarantee that you will be surprised by the depth and breadth of what is available. After doing your research, I am convinced that you will be aghast, that given this information, our governments have chosen to go to war. And with the words of Edmund Burke ringing in your ears, I urge you to write letters to your government to protest their participation in this war.

The references shown below will provide you with a good overview of the current war as well as a historical perspective that is absolutely necessary to understanding how we have arrived at the current situation. I recommend that you start by reading the paper by Christopher Layne as it provides the shortest and most complete summary.

Genocide, Hitlerization of Milosevic and Media Accuracy:

Many people believe that the plight of the Kosovo-Albanian population is analogous to that of the Jewish Holocaust victims during the second World War. While there are some parallels, it is more appropriate to use the term ethnic cleansing rather than genocide. The Hitlerization of Milosevic and the terms genocide and Holocaust have been dishonestly used to describe the tragedy being imposed on the Kosovo-Albanian people in order to mobilise public support for (and justify) a bombing campaign that has in fact made their situation much worse.

Please Note: It is not my intent to diminish the humanitarian catastrophe of ethnic cleansing. It is necessary, however, to place it into an accurate context in order that you can see how this "hot-button" term has been used by NATO and our politicians in order to manipulate public opinion. Make no mistake about it, the ethnic cleansing that the Kosovo-Albanian people have endured is one of the greatest tragedies of our century. But also make no mistake, the bombing of an innocent civilian Serb population is one of the greatest tragedies of this century as well.

Finally, consideration must be given to the broader question of media accuracy and how it impacts public opinion and government policy decisions. Read the references shown below. You'll find them to be eye-openers.

War Crime Tribunal - Some Issues to Consider

Good News Sources on the Kosovo Crisis:

Important Essays That Shed Light on the Kosovo Crisis:

Peace - What kind of peace can we expect given the violent means to attain it?

Additional Resources:

Photo Essay/Gallery of the Kosovo War

Be forewarned that the pages in this section will take some time to load into your browser as they are full of photographic images.

Multimedia Resources on the Kosovo War

Anti-War Sites

The End of the Conflict?

You can contact the author of this web page by email: nick@xwing.org

10579