The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.62/No.37           October 19, 1998 
 
 
Washington Escalates Military Threats  

BY MAURICE WILLIAMS
"NATO is moving forward very rapidly in a serious, sustained and intensive manner preparing for military action," declared U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke. "We are...on the edge of a major use of force," he added, unless something is done that is "extremely substantial."

Holbrooke's remarks underscored the U.S. rulers' stepped-up drive toward a military onslaught against Yugoslavia under the pretense of concern for Albanians in Kosova who have been massacred by the Serbian army and special police. Holbrooke was speaking at an October 5 news conference in Belgrade after a second day of discussions to press Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic to meet to Washington's demands or face imperialist armed intervention. The Serbian government has been carrying out a seven-month offensive to crush the struggle for independence in Kosova, a region in Yugoslavia, whose population of 2 million is 90 percent Albanian. Faced with systematic discrimination fostered by the chauvinist Serbian regime in Belgrade, the Albanian people in Kosova have been fighting for years for their right to national self- determination. They have lived under a state of siege imposed by Belgrade since 1989, when the Serbian rulers revoked Kosova's autonomous status and shut down Albanian-language schools.

This brutality has led to widespread support among Kosova Albanians for independence and, increasingly, for the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK), which is leading an armed struggle for independence.

Since Belgrade's military offensive more than 250,000 Albanians have fled their homes, nearly 1,000 people have been killed, and an estimated 50,000 are without shelter.

The U.S. rulers, who oppose independence for Kosova, have seized on Belgrade's latest atrocities to press for military intervention. Their ultimate goal is to overthrow the workers state and restore capitalist social relations throughout Yugoslavia.

"Now NATO warplanes should destroy as much as possible the military infrastructure responsible for the genocidal campaign, (wherever in Serbia it lies)," declared the editors of the Washington Post October 2.

U.S. government officials have cited a September 23 resolution adopted by the United Nations Security Council and a report by UN secretary general Kofi Annan as cover for intervention. The Security Council resolution, which calls for Belgrade to withdraw its army and police forces from Kosova, was passed under a provision of the United Nations Charter that imperialist governments use to claim a "legal" basis for military assaults.

"I am outraged by reports of mass killings of civilians in Kosovo," said Annan. "It is clear...that the majority of such acts have been committed by the security forces in Kosovo acting under the authority of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia." Annan also repeated charges that the UCK rebel fighters were responsible for human rights violations, which UCK leaders denied.

While Belgrade has pulled some of its paramilitary forces out of Kosova, U.S. government representative Holbrooke has said the move falls short of the Security Council's demands.

Washington has sought commitments from other NATO members to support bombing missions throughout Serbia. Four British Harrier GR7 aircraft flew from Germany to Italy to join the four already there. There are now some 200 warplanes in the region. The imperialist military arsenal deployed for attacking Yugoslavia involves up to 80 aircraft, as well as ships and submarines carrying cruise missiles. NATO military commanders have drafted plans to enforce a "no fly zone" over Kosova and to send nearly 26,000 imperialist troops to occupy Kosova.

The North Atlantic imperialist military alliance already has 33,000 soldiers occupying Bosnia, including 7,700 U.S. GIs. A new battalion, which includes Rome's domestic police force, has been sent to suppress protests in Bosnia. The battalion, known as the Multinational Specialized Unit, includes 380 carabinieri officers from Italy, 70 gendarmes from Argentina, and 23 cops from Romania. The specialized military unit recently forced Croatian protesters from blocking the roads. The U.S.-led NATO powers have maintained an occupation force in Bosnia since late 1995.

Washington has also established the "Southeastern European Defense Ministerial," which will be a military force of up to 4,000 soldiers from Italy, Greece, Turkey, Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Romania, and Slovenia. U.S. defense secretary William Cohen said Washington will not provide troops, but has pledged to provide military expertise and equipment for the force. Some 1,000 "peacekeeping" troops are stationed in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, including 350 soldiers from the United States.

Altogether, the 16 NATO powers have committed 400 military aircraft - more than half from the U.S. forces - to the projected intervention. NATO's chief commander, U.S. general Wesley Clark, "has already completed plans for a range of strikes, starting with a short, relatively limited cruise missile attack followed by a widening series of air raids that would hit targets throughout Serbia," the New York Times reported October 8.

Meanwhile, the governments in Beijing and Moscow have voiced opposition to Washington's war moves against Yugoslavia.

"If they [the NATO military alliance] start bombing, a war will simply begin," said Gennadi Seleznyov, speaker of the Russian parliament. Russian defense minister Igor Sergeyev said NATO military intervention would lead to another "Cold War."

Far from waging a "Cold War," U.S. imperialism is headed toward a hot war in the Balkans, and ultimately against the workers state in Russia. The eastward expansion of NATO and its occupation force in Bosnia are aimed at preparing the way for forcibly overturning proletarian property relations in Russia, Eastern Europe, and elsewhere in the region.

 
 
 
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