HEADLINE: Bombing raids should have had UN approval
BYLINE: General Lewis MacKenzie
The Ottawa Citizen, 26 March 1999

I’m already on record as having some considerable disagreement¬†with¬†the diplomatic activity that brought us to the current state of¬†affairs in Kosovo.

But I have to confess that reading news accounts of Operation Allied Force and watching the dramatic images of NATO air power on television, my soldierly status automatically kicks in and
there’s one consideration that’s uppermost in my mind — to bring¬†this¬†business to a positive conclusion with an absolutely minimal loss of¬†life.

That’s a soldier’s instinct doing the thinking.¬†But, that being said, I have to say I’m really disturbed to see¬†Canada¬†and the rest of the NATO member nations committing an act of war¬†without the backing and foundation of an authorizing resolution from¬†the United Nations Security Council. Frankly, it sets a very¬†dangerous¬†precedent, and it bothers me a lot.

We all know the rationale and the explanation for using NATO as the¬†vehicle for our operation against Slobodan Milosevic instead of¬†going¬†through the UN — that China would be opposed, and the Russians’¬†long-standing friendship with the Serbs would mean that both of¬†these¬†permanent Security Council members would surely cast a veto against¬†any UN resolution that authorized using force in the Balkans.

Currently, China is acting as president of the Security Council, but¬†I¬†can’t help recalling that just a few weeks ago Canada assumed the¬†rotating presidency and, justifiably, we took a lot of pride in that
role.

Well, today we’re saying, ”We don’t like the probable result of a¬†Security Council debate, so we’ll bypass it and simply use NATO to¬†achieve our purpose.”

The very premise of the argument used to justify the current bombing¬†campaign seems to me to be open to some question.¬†If we’re prepared to punish Milosevic for his treatment of the
ethnic¬†Albanians in Kosovo, then presumably we should also be prepared to¬†mount air attacks against Ankara for the Turks’ treatment of their¬†Kurdish minority, and the same applies to Beijing for the brutalChinese suppression of the Tibetans.

And then there’s Indonesia and the treatment of East Timor. The list¬†goes on and on.

It’s not hard to understand why Moscow might be concerned about the¬†precedent that’s being created here, regardless of its feeling of¬†brotherhood with the Serbs. When you think of Chechnya and fledgling¬†independence movements in some of the other provinces of the old¬†Soviet empire, their concern is obvious.

There’s another point I’d like to make, and it concerns the Kosovo¬†Liberation Army. It was declared a terrorist organization by the CIA¬†as recently as 12 months ago. Yet today, with the spin that’s being
put on this operation, you would be forgiven for thinking that¬†they’re¬†probably eligible for the next Nobel Peace Prize.

The truth of the matter is that it has obviously been in their¬†interest to provoke the Serbs. And it’s equally true that most¬†governments facing a separatist or independence movement tend to
react¬†with a heavy hand. That’s true even of ourselves, when you recall¬†that¬†we invoked the War Measures Act over a few bombs in mailboxes and a¬†couple of kidnappings.

Here again, it’s worth remembering that until today, when I¬†understand¬†that they are really getting ruthless, the Serbs allowed TV cameras¬†a¬†pretty free run around the country. When Turkey launches an¬†offensive¬†against the Kurds, you can bet that CNN won’t be there.

I’m not saying that it isn’t despicable — because it is — but this¬†isn’t the first case of ethnic cleansing the world has ever seen.¬†The¬†UN itself assisted in it in Cyprus in 1974, moving both Turks and¬†Greeks to new locations.

I don’t want to make light of 2,000 deaths, and I’m not. But¬†considering the number of people being pushed around, the loss of¬†life¬†in Kosovo is really low. And remember that of those 2,000, probably
25¬†per cent were Serbs — they lose that many people in a day in¬†southern¬†Sudan. The death count — tragic as it is — really isn’t that high.

What is Milosevic’s strategy in all of this?¬†Quite frankly, they want the northern half of Kosovo. That’s where¬†the¬†monasteries and Serbia’s spiritual heartland are located. And that’s¬†where the mines and natural resources are.¬†They are out to grab as much as they can in the next 48 hours or so,
and then they’ll be in a pretty good position.

Whenever there’s a ceasefire, everything will be frozen in place on¬†the ground and then they’ll be quite happy to give away the southern¬†half, which will immediately join Albania.¬†At least that’s the way this soldier sees it.