Press: Fwd: Hooper Op-Ed, Illyria, 5/6/99
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Date: Thu, 06 May 1999 12:54:03 -0400
From: Balkan Action Council <b...@balkanaction.org>
Subject: Hooper Op-Ed, Illyria, 5/6/99
THE BALKAN ACTION COUNCIL
May 6, 1999
We commend the following article to your attention, written by executive
director James R. Hooper and published in Illyria on May 5, 1999.
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Toward A National Unity Council
This is the darkest hour for Kosovo and NATO. Neither the Kosovo
Albanians nor the NATO alliance will survive intact unless all Serbian
forces are driven from Kosovo, all refugees are returned to their homes
to rebuild their lives, an international protectorate is established in
Kosovo with NATO peacekeepers to safeguard a new democratic government,
and stability is restored to southeastern Europe.
Victory for NATO is a victory for Kosovo. The opposite is also true. A
diplomatic settlement that does not meet these terms is nothing more
than a thinly disguised capitulation by the alliance that will leave
Slobodan Milosevic even strengthened as the strongman of the Balkans.
Partition of Kosovo, which is being discussed in some circles, would be
just another form of NATO defeat.
NATO bombing alone is not going to halt the "ethnic cleansing" of
Kosovo. A combined air/ground campaign will be required to defeat the
Serbians, end the series of wars instigated by Mr. Milosevic, and
restore the credibility of the alliance and American leadership. But the
recent NATO summit failed to agree on the deployment of ground troops to
defeat the Serbs. So what can the Kosovars do to help achieve the goals
that they share with a broad cross-section of Americans?
The starting point is to accept that what the Kosovars need most right
now is unity and leadership. That is the foundation for winning the war.
No single organization has the credibility to speak for all of the
Kosovo Albanian people. Neither the Ibrahim Rugova government nor the
recently established provisional government led by Prime Minister Hashim
Thaqi and dominated by the Kosovo Liberation Army has the necessary
international standing to serve as a legitimate interlocutor for the
Kosovars with NATO governments.
This is convenient for those officials in the U.S. government and other
NATO nations who seek maximum flexibility to pursue a negotiated way out
of the war short of victory for the alliance. They view a broadly based
and legitimate Kosovar leadership as a potential obstacle to their
diplomatic maneuverings. The Thaqi-led provisional government suits
their purposes because they can safely ignore it; it is not taken
seriously by the United States government nor by NATO. Rugova will not
be taken seriously so long as he is under house arrest and acting under
duress.
The only way for the Kosovars to break out of their self-imposed
diplomatic isolation is to establish a Kosovo national unity council
composed of all important elements of Kosovo society. This will require
leading representatives of the Kosovar people to set aside their
differences and internal conflicts and work together to achieve three
overriding goals: halting the "ethnic cleansing" as rapidly as possible,
removing all Serbian forces from Kosovo, and returning all refugees to
their homes.
The strength of a National Unity Council would lie in its inclusiveness.
It should be at least as broad-based as the Kosovar delegation that
participated in the Rambouillet and Paris peace talks. It would be
composed of representatives of the major political parties, independent
and respected intellectuals and media leader not affiliated with any
political party, and armed Kosovar organizations engaged in the fighting
within Kosovo.
The council should appoint a civilian spokesman respected by NATO
governments, but would be wise to avoid a divisive leadership fight by
not choosing a leader. It should declare its commitment to democratic
principles, explicitly forswear any intention to seek a union of all
Albanian peoples in southeastern Europe under a single Albanian state,
and declare its readiness to accept an international protectorate for
Kosovo under NATO protection for an interim period.
This would empower the council to focus on several key activities.
First, it would be regarded as the legitimate spokesman for the Kosovo
Albanians by the international community and media, enabling Kosovars to
participate more effectively in the international debate over the aims
and conduct of the NATO campaign against Serbia. Second, it would
provide a basis for establishing civilian leadership among the refugees
to meet their immediate needs, give them hope and organize them for
their return when Kosovo becomes an international protectorate. Third,
the council could become a credible interlocutor with NATO governments,
negotiating on behalf of the Kosovars for the means to effect their
return.
This is a tall order. It can be attained, however, by the determined
leadership of the Kosovars themselves. The Kosovo Liberation Army will
have to exercise a degree of political wisdom and self-restraint. If
they decide that their domination of the council is more important than
its effectiveness and legitimacy, the council will be crippled at birth,
thus diminishing the likelihood of the Kosovar Albanians returning to
Kosovo to live in peace and security.
The commitment of Albanian Americans is crucial to the creation of a
national unity council. Without the initiative and energies of the
Albanian American community, the process will not achieve success. The
Kosovars will remain weak, divided and without hope, while others set
their agenda and determine their fate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE BALKAN ACTION COUNCIL
P.O. Box 27392
Washington, DC 20038-7392
Tel.: (202) 737-7720
Fax: (202) 737-7721
b...@balkanaction.org
www.balkanaction.org
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