> Just two writers, I'm familiar with that have a firm grasp on Serbian
>and Kosovar relations, especially on the period after Belgrade rescinded
>brutally the defacto autonomy of the late 80's are Tim Judah, "Kosovo: War
>and Revenge, "
>(have not read his earlier work, "The Serbs, " also from Yale Univ. Press)
>and Robert Thomas, "The Politics of Serbia in the 90's, " from Columbia
>Univ. Press.
>Both prove with copious detail, the almost universal ethnicized hatred from
>all sectors of Serbian political opinion, not just the Serbian Socialist
>Party and the Yugoslav United Left, and the neo-fascists of Seselj's
Radical
>Party, (Seselj is still a Deputy Prime Minister. Ask Jared Isreal of
>www.tenc.com
> why, he will say fascists are more controllable inside the tent!) but
also,
>the "pro-Western democratic opposition" of Draskovic, Djindic and OTPOR.
>They all made
>their delusional pact with nationalist mythology and racist demogogy, when
>Yugoslavia disintegrated.
Yes, but were they randomly killing Albanians? My understanding is that the violence was directed at KLA troops. Once a full-blown civil war erupted, noncombatants were killed in numbers no higher than in any civil conflict. The bombing was justified according to accusations of ethnic cleansing and genocide. But in reality it was a war between state and separatists, both sides equally brutal. Yes, there should have been a diplomatic intervention earlier in support of Rugova. If a ground war had been necessary, it should have been carried out by the UN. Even as recently as early March '99, the situation could have been somewhat salvaged simply by offering an honest peace deal at Rambouillet. With OSCE peacekeepers already in place and a promise from Milosevic of elections and autonomy for Kosovo, things might not have turned out so badly. Instead, thousands died, Serbia is ruined, and the only real change in Kosovo is that now the victims of racism are Serbs.
Ted