The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.63/No.14           April 12, 1999 
 
 
U.S. Hands Off Yugoslavia! Independence for Kosova!
Open the borders!  
Washington is escalating its savage war against Yugoslavia with round-the-clock air strikes, under the pretext of preventing a "major refugee crisis" of Kosovar Albanians. The intensified onslaught comes as a layer of U.S. ruling-class figures are pressing for a deal with Belgrade at the expense of the Albanians.

Working people the world over should reject this criminal maneuvering and demand the NATO war machine stop its murderous bombing of Yugoslavia. We should demand U.S. and other NATO troops get out of the Balkans, and support the demand of the Albanian majority in Kosova for self- determination, up to and including independence.

The U.S. warmakers are now testing the waters for launching a ground invasion. This military operation would pave the way for partitioning Kosova as the next step towards imperialist occupation of all Yugoslavia.

Washington's war against Yugoslavia has nothing to do with halting "ethnic cleansing." While U.S. capitalist politicians cry crocodile tears about tens of thousands of refugees pouring into neighboring states, not one peep can be heard about opening the borders of United States and other imperialist nations, whose governments are participating in wreaking devastation on Yugoslavia. This illustrates the fact that the ultimate target of the U.S.-led onslaught is not the Milosevic regime, but the workers and farmers of all Yugoslavia.

The war is sharpening conflicts between the imperialist powers in Washington, London, Paris, Bonn, and Tokyo and setting more uncontrolled forces in motion throughout the region. Washington's growing dependency on its military might reflects mounting weaknesses, as the world's "almighty superpower," shows a declining capacity for sustaining economic expansion.

One way the big-business class will attempt to reverse the decline in their profits system is by trying to reestablish capitalist wage slavery in places where it has been abolished. But they will have to use military force to inflict a decisive defeat on the workers and farmers in workers states such as Yugoslavia, where the capitalists and landlords were overthrown. This is true even despite the murderous bloodshed of the last decade, by warring bureaucratic gangs in Belgrade, Zagreb, and other parts of Yugoslavia.

This is the logic behind the expansion of the North Atlantic military alliance up to the borders of Russia. The Clinton administration's campaign for establishing a NATO occupation force in Kosova marks another move toward tightening its military noose around the southern flank of Russia.

The U.S. rulers and other imperialist powers are on a collision course with the workers states of Yugoslavia, Russia, and elsewhere. They will confront resistance from the toilers who are hindered by a lack of working-class leadership.

The Albanians in Kosova have been resisting national oppression and a decade of martial law imposed by Belgrade. The slaughter organized by the Milosevic regime is an attempt to crush their demands for national rights. Washington is not only opposed to Kosova independence but has tried for years to strike a deal with Belgrade to derail the fight for national self-determination. But each blow aimed against the Albanian struggle is also a setback for Serbian working people.

The only road to advancing the interests of Serbian and Albanian workers and farmers is through common struggle against imperialism and the reactionary regime in Belgrade. The revolution of the 1940s showed that uniting toilers of all nationalities is not only possible but necessary to advance the interests of working people throughout Yugoslavia.

The Bolsheviks under the leadership of Russian revolution leader V.I. Lenin fought uncompromisingly for the right of nations to self-determination, for complete equality of nations and nationalities, and against every vestige of national privilege, arrogance, and chauvinism. Lenin insisted on "the complete emancipation of all oppressed nations, i.e., their complete freedom to secede."

This proletarian stance was crucial to the Russian revolution's ability to survive the massive imperialist invasion and civil war that followed the workers' and peasants' victory in taking power in October 1917. The support from the oppressed peoples constituted the decisive battalions that strengthened the world's first workers and peasants government.

Today, the Albanian demand for independence is similarly intertwined with defending the gains of the Yugoslav workers state against imperialism and other would-be exploiters.

Working people around the world should demand:

Stop the bombing! All imperialist troops out of the Balkans! Open the borders to Albanian refugees! Independence for Kosova!

 
 
 
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