The Ottawa Citizen<\/p>\n
March 26, 1999, FINAL<\/p>\n
Bombing raids should have had UN approval<\/b><\/p>\n
by General Lewis MacKenzie \u00a0(Chief of Staff UN Peacekeeping force in Yugoslavia 1992-3)<\/em><\/p>\n I’m already on record as having some considerable disagreement\u00a0with the diplomatic activity that brought us to the current state of\u00a0affairs in Kosovo. But I have to confess that reading news accounts\u00a0of Operation Allied Force and watching the dramatic images of NATO air\u00a0power on television, my soldierly status automatically kicks in and\u00a0there’s one consideration that’s uppermost in my mind — to bring\u00a0this business to a positive conclusion with an absolutely minimal loss of\u00a0life.<\/p>\n That’s a soldier’s instinct doing the thinking. But, that being said, I have to\u00a0<\/span>say I’m really disturbed to see Canada and the rest of the NATO member\u00a0<\/span>nations committing an act of war without the backing and foundation of an\u00a0<\/span>authorizing resolution from the United Nations Security Council. Frankly,\u00a0it sets a very dangerous precedent, and it bothers me a lot.<\/p>\n We all know the rationale and the explanation for using NATO as the\u00a0vehicle for our operation against Slobodan Milosevic instead of\u00a0going through the UN — that China would be opposed, and the Russians’\u00a0long-standing friendship with the Serbs would mean that both of\u00a0these permanent Security Council members would surely cast a veto against\u00a0any UN resolution that authorized using force in the Balkans.<\/p>\n Currently, China is acting as president of the Security Council, but\u00a0I can’t help recalling that just a few weeks ago Canada assumed the\u00a0rotating presidency and, justifiably, we took a lot of pride in that\u00a0role. Well, today we’re saying, ”We don’t like the probable result of a\u00a0<\/span>Security Council debate, so we’ll bypass it and simply use NATO to\u00a0achieve our purpose.”<\/p>\n The very premise of the argument used to justify the current bombing\u00a0campaign seems to me to be open to some question. If we’re prepared\u00a0<\/span>to punish Milosevic for his treatment of the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo,\u00a0<\/span>then presumably we should also be prepared to mount air attacks against\u00a0<\/span>Ankara for the Turks’ treatment of their Kurdish minority, and the same applies\u00a0<\/span>to Beijing for the brutal Chinese suppression of the Tibetans. And then there’s\u00a0<\/span>Indonesia and the treatment of East Timor. The list goes on and on.<\/p>\n It’s not hard to understand why Moscow might be concerned about the\u00a0precedent that’s being created here, regardless of its feeling of brotherhood\u00a0<\/span>with the Serbs. When you think of Chechnya and fledgling independence\u00a0<\/span>movements in some of the other provinces of the old Soviet empire, their\u00a0<\/span>concern is obvious.<\/p>\n There’s another point I’d like to make, and it concerns the Kosovo\u00a0Liberation Army. It was declared a terrorist organization by the CIA\u00a0as recently as 12 months ago. Yet today, with the spin that’s being\u00a0put on this operation, you would be forgiven for thinking that\u00a0they’re probably eligible for the next Nobel Peace Prize.<\/p>\n The truth of the matter is that it has obviously been in their\u00a0interest to provoke the Serbs. And it’s equally true that most\u00a0governments facing a separatist or independence movement tend to\u00a0react with a heavy hand. That’s true even of ourselves, when you recall\u00a0that we invoked the War Measures Act over a few bombs in mailboxes and a\u00a0couple of kidnappings. Here again, it’s worth remembering that until today,\u00a0<\/span>when I understand that they are really getting ruthless, the Serbs allowed\u00a0<\/span>TV cameras a pretty free run around the country. When Turkey launches an\u00a0offensive against the Kurds, you can bet that CNN won’t be there.<\/p>\n I’m not saying that it isn’t despicable — because it is — but this\u00a0isn’t the first case of ethnic cleansing the world has ever seen.<\/p>\n The UN itself assisted in it in Cyprus in 1974, moving both Turks andGreeks to new locations. \u00a0I don’t want to make light of 2,000 deaths, and I’m not. But considering the\u00a0<\/span>number of people being pushed around, the loss of life in Kosovo is really low.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>And remember that of those 2,000, probably 25 per cent were Serbs — they lose\u00a0<\/span>that many people in a day in southern Sudan. The death count — tragic as it is —\u00a0<\/span>really isn’t that high.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What is Milosevic’s strategy in all of this? Quite frankly, they want the northern\u00a0<\/span>half of Kosovo. That’s where the monasteries and Serbia’s spiritual heartland\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>are located. And that’s where the mines and natural resources are.<\/p>\n