In the United Nations Security Council resolution that ended the war ... there is no discussion, let alone promise, of independence for Kosovo. Resolution 1244 "reconfirms the commitment of all member states to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia," of which Kosovo remains a part. Kosovo is promised only "substantial autonomy and self-government" after a period of international supervision. ...
So the situation in Kosovo is likely to become more explosive, not less, ensuring the need for NATO troops to remain for a long time to come. The reason? Independence is likely to become not just a dream deferred, but denied. And as the contradiction between Western verbal encouragement for Albanian self-determination and its opposition to independence becomes clear, the potential for violence against NATO troops will grow.
The same may be said of Albanian politicians. All of them, from the more moderate, pacifist Ibrahim Rugova, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, to the former Kosovo Liberation Army leader Hashim Thaci, support independence. But with Mr. Kostunica as a negotiating partner, politicians like Mr. Rugova are going to have to consider options short of independence. And that could place their own lives at risk.
The newly altered landscape is precisely what makes Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush's recent promise to pull American soldiers out of Balkan peacekeeping duties so wrongheaded, says Ivo Daalder, a Balkans expert and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "Kosovo was an American-led war with an American-dominated outcome, so to pull out now, when the Albanians feel under the most pressure since the end of the war, is likely to increase the overall risk to all troops there," he said. "It would be viewed by the Europeans and the Albanians as a betrayal."
[end of excerpt]
Carl
_________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.
Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.