Editorial
Why NATO is a problem, not the answer for Kosova
ANY SOCIALIST worthy of the name ought to feel revulsion, outrage and anger at the savagery of Slobodan Milosevic and his regime's reactionary determination to subjugate the people of Kosova.
The Serbian regime's record of support for ethnic cleansing, and the use by Serbian nationalists of the most barbaric methods to drive out other nationalities in Bosnia give additional credence to what sometimes seem to be exaggerated media reports of events in Kosova.
In a humanitarian disaster, hundreds have been killed and hundreds of thousands have become refugees in the course of the Serbian attack. Thousands of Kosovar men have been arrested by Serbian forces; from the experience of Bosnia, we can assume that many have been summarily executed.
This is the latest stage in Slobodan Milosevic's efforts to achieve a 'Greater Serbia', which began in Kosova ten years ago and has caused devastation in all parts of former Yugoslavia.
The exodus of what has become a tidal wave of refugees began before the NATO bombing, and appears to have evacuated whole areas of Kosova.
The pictures of the crowds of displaced and uprooted people being herded about by hostile soldiers and police in Macedonia, crammed into comfortless camps, and distraught families force-marched onto planes to be flown out to unknown distant destinations have triggered a wave of public sympathy in Britain - as shown by the huge response to the appeal by the leading charities for funds to aid the refugees.
It is inevitable that under such pressure, socialists will want not just to denounce what is happening, but want to do something to stop Milosevic.
This is why many people who would normally be seen as opponents of imperialism and imperialist alliances have gone along with the NATO bombardment of Serbia, and why some, notably Ken Livingstone, have gone even further, and called for a ground war, in which NATO troops drive the Serbians out of Kosova.
The irony of socialists looking to an imperialist military alliance - the one which brought us the spiralling costs of Trident and the controversial stationing of nuclear-armed US Cruise missiles in Europe - to secure human rights may seem strange enough.
But the idea that the mobilisation of a massive imperialist land army to fight its way into Kosova could in any way win the national self-determination of the Kosovars is even more bizarre.
Even assuming that the angry Russians stood by and allowed this new frontal attack on its Serbian allies, and that the invasion were successfully carried through, the resulting armed enclave would be a profoundly unstable puppet state, totally dependent upon external military force for its survival - like a grotesque land-locked version of "Fortress Falklands" in the eastern part of Europe.
The fighting of a land war would inevitably kill or displace even more of the remaining Kosovar population, with the likely end result being a massively-guarded "Fortress Kosova", containing troops from the US and several European countries - but few if any Kosovars.
Any refugees who could be enticed back to the smouldering ruins of their homeland would be subject to the political dictates of their NATO sponsors. The record of western capital in investing even in relatively advanced East European economies such as Poland suggests that there would be little if any injection of resources to rebuild the country or its economy. The best job prospects for Kosovars returning "home" would be serving burgers and refuelling planes and tanks in what would have to be a permanent and huge NATO garrison.
A straightforward military victory is by no means guaranteed, however. This would be no re-run of Operation Desert Storm. As many as 200,000 troops would be required - equipped with heavy armour and artillery - and they would need to fight their way in over difficult mountainous terrain, with long and awkward supply lines, using surrounding countries as little more than a thoroughfare.
The Greek government, the most unreliable of the NATO alliance on the Kosova issue, has from the beginning called for a halt to the bombing. Without Greek support, the only obvious access to Kosova is through Albania, which has already offered NATO untrammelled access to its territory and air-space to prosecute the war against the Serbs - but which as a result seems destined to become another tame NATO protectorate.
It is clear that far from representing a "lesser evil" or the "only way", a land invasion under the banner of liberating Kosova would simply compound the problem, and wind up trampling on the national rights of other peoples throughout the Balkans. It would also represent a huge and open-ended commitment for imperialism: the troops might fight their way in, but they could never be safely withdrawn.
It is inevitable that, under such pressure, socialists will want not just to denounce what is happening, but want to do something to stop Milosevic.
The truth is often painful, and in this case there is no easy answer for socialists. The reality is that the liberation of Kosova from the grip of Serbian repression and ethnic cleansing can only be carried out by the Kosovars themselves.
Yet far from offering a solution, NATO is part of the problem: it continues to reject calls to arm those dedicated to fighting for an independent Kosova - the Kosova Liberation Army.
Instead its clinical, high-altitude blitzkrieg against an increasingly wide and indiscriminate list of targets in Serbia and Kosova is solidifying Milosevic's support, and making life in Kosova ever less viable.
From the start of the conflicts resulting from Milosevic's ambition to replace Yugoslavia with a 'Greater Serbia', Socialist Outlook has supported the right of self-determination for all the peoples of the region. That is why we call for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Serbian troops and police from Kosova.
We also support all efforts to maintain genuine multi-ethnic communities in the Balkans, and any moves towards a socialist federation in the region. A socialist federation can only be established with the will of the people, not imposed from outside or above
We demand the immediate cessation of the bombing, and the withdrawal of all NATO forces from the region. Support must be stepped up for the multi-ethnic, working-class resistance to chauvinism and racism in former Yugoslavia and across the Balkans.