This is significant because that agreement didn't bring in the KLA. Which baffles me: how do you resolve an armed insurgency by simply making the government promise to stop the repression? As soon as the agreement was in place, the KLA stepped up its, yes, terrorist attacks -- not just attacks on Serb policemen, but on mail carriers and others.
Then Milosevic responded with disproportionate force, not just against KLA fighters but civilians associated with them (or others who just happened to get in the way.) Hence, the Racak massacres, which prompted Rambouillet. Which was a total farce.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sawicky at epinet.org [SMTP:sawicky at epinet.org]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 1999 10:40 PM
> To: Lbo-Talk; Pen-L
> Subject: Kosovan View of Negotiations, Circa last fall
>
> I haven't read the Rambouillet agreement, but in light of discussion
> of it
> some might like to get the view of Kosovans on negotiations last fall,
> a
> sample of which is below. I can't speak for the veracity of all the
> statements in this piece, but a consideration of the KTF's point of
> view is
> appropriate. I'd particularly like to hear what Barkley thinks of
> this.
>
> mbs
>
> ----------------------
>
> November 30, 1998
> Kosova Task Force, USA
> Action Alert
>
> Holes in the Holbrooke-Milosevic Agreement:
>
> The October 12 Agreement brokered by U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke was
> hailed as a diplomatic masterpiece. However, after one month of closer
> analysis, "the agreement fails to address fundamental obstacles to a
> sustainable peace and end to the humanitarian crisis."
>
> At least 25,000 Yugoslav and Serbian troops remain in Kosova, in spite
> of
> U.N. Security Council resolution #1199 demanding the withdrawal of
> troops
> "used for civilian repression." No wonder the people in Kosova see the
> agreement as a sellout.
>
> Albanian Muslims were excluded from the negotiations despite the fact
> they make up more than 90% of Kosova and voted overwhelmingly for
> independence.
>
> The agreement gives Kosova less political autonomy than they had ten
> years ago. A decade ago, the people of Kosova enjoyed full political
> autonomy and an equal vote, as the other republics did, in the former
> Yugoslavia. They were successful in managing their own schools,
> police
> force, banks, hospitals, etc. After Milosevic came to power with his
> repressive rule, all these rights were revoked. This agreement does
> not
> restore or re-establish these rights. In fact, the people of Kosova
> have no
> guarantee that their basic human rights will be protected.
>
> Serbs have already broken the present agreement several times
> according
> to diplomatic sources. Organization for Security and Cooperation in
> Europe
> (OSCE) chairman Bronislaw Geremek, said on Nov. 12, 1998 that
> Yugoslavia
> bore primary responsibility for violations of the cease fire in
> Kosova.
> "I am concerned by the security situation in Kosova," he told a news
> conference in Vienna. "The cease fire is being breached on a daily
> basis,
> intimidation continues, roadblocks are being erected and still people
> are
> killed. Still, I think that we should see the responsibility of the
> Yugoslav government first of all. The use of violence by a state is a
> concern for international organizations."
>
> The OSCE plans to send 2,000 unarmed observers to verify Serb
> compliance
> with U.N. resolutions, specifically the withdrawal of Serb troops and
> the
> return of refugees. However, the international monitors will not be
> able
> to intercede if fighting erupts and are weeks or months away from
> being
> fully deployed. Presently the situation in Kosova is a shaky
> cease-fire
> that might soon dissolve into more violence, repression and
> resistance.
> Milosevic, despite agreeing to a troop pullback is showing new
> defiance
> of Western Allies by rejecting attempts by the U.N. War Crimes
> Tribunal to investigate war crimes and atrocities committed against
> the
> Muslims of Kosova by Serb troops.
>
> On November 12, a U.N. refugee agency released an initial survey
> stating
> that. "60% of the houses surveyed in the villages have been destroyed
> or
> heavily damaged."
>
> Since the agreement went into effect, Serbian authorities shut down
> three independent newspapers critical of Milosevic. Unfortunately this
> generated little international outrage or protest.
>
> "As in Bosnia, the massive violence against the Muslim population has
> gone too far to allow a negotiated peace without full independence for
> Kosova."
>
> The Kosova Task Force, USA is encouraging Muslims and non-Muslims to
> assist the Kosovar people by writing and faxing letters to your
> Senators, Congressperson, the Secretary of State, and the President
> demanding the following:
>
> * Recognize the Kosovar right to self determination.
> * Allow Kosovars to arm themselves in self-defense.
> * Conduct extensive and sustained air strikes to force a permanent
> Serb
> army withdrawal from Kosova.
> * Arrest Serb war criminals in Belgrade.
>
>
> ====================================
> Kosova Task Force, USA
> 730 W. Lake St., Suite 156
> Chicago, IL 60661, USA
> Phone: 312-829-0087 Fax: 312-829-0089
> Email: Kosova at justiceforall.org
> Internet: http://www.justiceforall.org
> ====================================
>
> The following organizations constitute the Kosova Task Force, USA:
> Albanian Islamic Cultural Center, American Muslim Council,
> Balkan Muslim Association, Council of Islamic Organizations of
> Chicago,
> Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan, Council on American
> Islamic Relations (CAIR), Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA),
> Islamic Council of New England, Islamic Medical Association, Islamic
> Shura Council of Southern California, Islamic Society of Greater
> Houston, Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), Majlis Shura New
> York,
> The Ministry of Imam W.D. Muhammad, Muslim Students Association of US
> and Canada, The National Community.
>
>
>
>