In the midst of conflicts in Southwest Asia and
the Middle East, I cannot help but wonder: Whatever happened to
the Balkans?
We Americans spent more than a decade listening
to and watching CNN and BBC clips of the war-torn region and the
countless war crimes that had taken place at the hands of various
ethnic groups.
What about Kosovo? A 78-day bombing campaign
was undertaken to "liberate Kosovo's ethnic Albanian population"
from the hands of "terror-invoking Serbs."
Why was there no media follow- up of the
accomplishments of peace-loving and newly liberated Kosovo
Albanians? Quite simply, because there are no accomplishments.
Could it be because the international community
made a grave mistake and has now found itself in a quagmire with
no solution in sight? Is it possible that some of the very people
NATO was trying to "protect" have turned out, in fact, to be
terrorists? Yes!
After spending a grueling 27 months working in
Serbia's Kosovo province, I learned and witnessed far more than I
had bargained for. Although I was fully versed in the rich and
blood- soaked history of the region, I was not prepared for all
that took place.
Albanian rebel offensives resulted in bus
explosions of NATO- escorted civilian convoys, brutal murders of
civilians tending their fields, random sniper attacks, shootings
of children swimming in lakes, night beatings and torture of the
elderly, and arson - all against Serbian civilians and all under
the watchful eyes of the U.S. and international community.
I once asked a NATO commanding general
why ethnic Albanian extremists were not unmasked for what they
truly are - bloodthirsty, war-waging terrorists. He looked at me,
paused, and replied, "How do you begin to go against the very
group you supposedly came to help? We obviously did not know who
we were dealing with. We bombed the wrong side."
I stared at him in disbelief while he merely
looked down at his freshly shined boots, straightened his
shoulders and turned to walk away. Not quite the response I had
expected.
Observations in Kosovo recorded chilling acts
from the "peacekeepers" as well. Germany's military contingent
used bright yellow tape to mark large Xs on Serbian homes
throughout their designated area of responsibility. Similar to the
1940s Nazi-style branding of Jews and other minorities deemed
unworthy of life.
Strangely enough, I was the only one who
questioned this and personally brought it to the attention of a
senior member of the U.S. Army Command Group.
But let's focus on something near and dear to
all Americans: attacks on U.S. Army and media personnel. While on
a border patrol, monitoring Albanian rebel insurgency, the U.S.
unit I was working with came under direct mortar fire in a village
named Krivenik. An Associated Press journalist, Kerim Lawton, was
seriously injured. I administered first aid and attempted to stop
the bleeding from the dozens of shrapnel wounds he incurred, to no
avail. He died shortly afterward.
How was this incident portrayed to the media?
In a noncommittal diplomatic fashion, officials announced that,
"An investigation will take place as to the day's chain of
events," from all sides, U.S. Army, NATO and U.N.
Does this seem all too familiar? Is this not
mere repetition of scenarios that got the United States involved
in both Bosnia and Kosovo in the first place - only later to
discover that "smoking gun" incidences were staged? It is
interesting how concrete evidence has surfaced, that incidences
were staged by the very groups claiming to have been wronged.
Perhaps the international community should be
more forthcoming as to who the real Balkans' terrorists are and
how they are draining our tax dollars, manpower and resources.
The public has a right to know what is
happening in the Balkans.
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