|
PEACE:
Foreign Policy & Terrorism | September 18, 2003
IN
DEFENSE
OF
OPERATION
ALLIED
FORCE,
IN
KOSOVO,
UNDER
GENERAL
WESLEY
CLARK
An
E-Mail to a Democratic Peace Activist
This
was one of my published replies to one of several responses
generated by my
e-mail published in an influential Democratic newsgroup about
General Wesley Clark as a newly announced Presidential candidate.
It
is important that we discuss General Clark fully,
particularly since he's such a late entry into the race:
Although I liked what I read in his site and have heard him say
on TV, I am of course very concerned about the issues you raised
[by forwarding the article "Was
Gen. Clark Also 'Unprepared' for the Postwar?"].
I hate war; although unlike some of our Green Party friends, I
think that sometimes war is a necessary evil.
Your
comparison of Iraq and Yugoslavia is interesting (Someone please
correct me if my history is wrong): Both nations were
artificial compositions, carved out of old empires
(the Ottoman, for Iraq; the Austro-Hungarian, for Yugoslavia) and composed
of historically antagonistic ethnic groups, which had been held
together only under the grip of an authoritarian strongman -- Hussein in Iraq; Tito in Yugoslavia, with Milosevic later trying
to extend Serbian dominance over the Croats, Bosnians, and
Kosovars.
Being
no expert on the particulars of Operation Allied Force, in
Kosovo, I read carefully the article you sent; then I went to
the internet to read General Clark's comments on the subject and
also an analysis from some other source I would respect.
Let me share with you and, with Garry's permission, with the
group what I found. We can each make of it all what we
think best.
From
General Clark's FAQ...
http://www.meetclark.com/faq/index.asp?faqid=15#_top
...comes
this...
"None
knows better than the military leaders themselves the dangers of
war; consequently, they are usually the last to advocate it.
"…Political
leaders will always be circumspect in risking their governments
and NATO on a military operation. But in other ways, the success
of Operation Allied Force [in Kosovo in 1999] does open the door
for its repetition elsewhere. In the first instance, there is
now historical precedent for the use of force to intervene for
the purposes of humanitarian relief. Further, Western publics
have seen that such operations can succeed if properly
executed."
From
the website of the Federation of American Scientists (which is a
leader in the field of arms control and has a reputation for
rational analysis, as by its Nobel Laureates), there is this extremely
detailed analysis (with numerous respected sources cited) of
Operation Allied Force...
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/allied_force.htm
That
analysis (excerpted below [in the original e-mail]) seems to
back up my memory of our involvement in Kosovo: Milosevic
had the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent people on his
hands, in one of the most volatile regions of the world (where
the First World War began); and our operations in Kosovo, though
imperfect (as any military action is), were the only thing to
stop him. Although the Balkans continue to be a dangerous
region, from which it would be irresponsible for us to withdraw,
the massacres have stopped. And far different from the
current situation in Iraq, the U.S. acted in coordination with
its allies in Europe and with the ultimate authorization of the
U.N.
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