May-June 1999

Oppose NATO Aggression on Yugoslavia
Support the Struggle for Self-determination of Kosovo People

For the first time in its half-century history NATO forces launched a war of aggression on another sovereign country. In doing so, it has flouted not only the United Nations (UN) Charter, but also its own founding treaty. It is nothing but international brigandry, led by the US-British gangsters. Particularly US imperialism, with the British at its tail, struts across the globe flagrantly breaking all international laws, demanding total subservience. The lakhs of Kosovar refugees, the massacre of thousands of Iraqis or the butchery of hundreds of civilians in Yugoslavia, is of no concern to these war maniacs. Speaking like a Hitler, backed by the Gobellian propaganda of a monopoly media, intoxicated by the prowess of its high-tech military machine and bloated by the arrogance of its money-power.... the US administration tramples over the rights and freedoms of the people’s of the world, like a mad elephant. The bombs and missiles triggered off by NATO forces on March 24, 1999, is a warning not only to the people of Yugoslavia and Kosovo, but to the people of the whole world to accept its dictates or face its fire-power. Yesterday it was Iraq, today it is Yugoslavia, tomorrow it can be any country. The appetite of US finance capital is insatiable; it devours voraciously anyone who dares cross its path.

Their so-called concern for the Kosovar people is a gigantic hoax, built up through a massive disinformation campaign orchestrated by the multi-billion dollar media. First, supporting the Rugova betrayers against the KLA; then allowing Yugoslav forces to butcher the KLA fighters; then pressuring a weakened KLA to reject their demand for independence and to accept the Yugoslavia framework of autonomy; then forcing them to the Rambouillet negotiating table much against their will; and finally pressuring them to sign an agreement that grants even less autonomy than existed in the pre-1989 period, with threats of cutting off their supply lines from Albania.

Later, bombing the Serbs (military and civilian) from the safety of the heavens and further provoking them against the Kosovars; pointedly refusing to arm the KLA fighters, afraid of their ‘islamic connections’ .... and thereby making them sitting targets for the marauding Serb forces; and finally, allowing the creation of a human catastrophe of over six lakh Kosovar refugees, with no concrete plan whatsoever for their welfare.

All this, with the sole aim of establishing a US/NATO outpost in this highly strategic region of East Europe, through which to assert greater control not only in the Balkans and East Europe, but also control of the gateway to the Oil-rich Central Asia. With a perspective of carving out a separate Kosovo protectorate under US/NATO military control, and setting up a puppet regime in Yugoslavia, the Kosovo people have been used as pawns and their aspirations to freedom subverted. And as an added booty to their plunder, taking control of the richest mines in the Balkans — i.e. the Trepca complex worth $55 billion, which has in the last three years produced 1½ lakh tonnes of pure lead, zinc, cadmium, silver and gold. In the process the Kosovo people will be made captives once again.... from the hands of the Serb chauvinist rulers into those of the Western militarists.

Though today our main focus is the aggressive US-led NATO forces, the roots of the problem has been sparked by the fascist Serb chauvinist rulers of Yugoslavia, backed by the Russian imperialists. The present cruel and inhuman drive against a whole populace of ethnic Albanians, that comprise 90% of the Kosovo people, is nothing but a continuation of a decade long policy of discrimination, humiliation, repression and outright extermination. After taking power the Milosevic government stripped Kosovo of its autonomy and replaced over 5000 Albanian officials with Serbs; forcibly settled thousands of Serb refugees from Croatia on Albanian lands in Kosovo; banned the Albanian language in all schools, colleges, media, etc; removed over a lakh of ethnic Albanian workers and employees from their jobs and replaced them with Serbs; and unleashed a rein of terror against the local people. [For background see ‘Proletarian Vanguard’ Vol. No. 3, Sept.-Oct. 1998, and the earlier issue of ‘People’s March’]. In continuation of this policy, ever since the NATO air attacks, the racist Serb forces have killed hundreds of KLA fighters, raped women, and displaced nearly half the Kosovo population.... burning, looting and destroying villages and even towns. Thousands of women, children and innocent citizens have overnight beenturned into refugees, forcibly evicted from their land and houses, with no food, shelter and any of the basic necessities of life. And to add to their misery NATO’s blind bombings have time and again struck the local people, killing a significant numbers of ethnic Albanians.

Caught in the cross-fire between the Serb chauvinists and the US/NATO militarists, the Kosovar people’s demands for freedom and liberation have been smothered, leaving in its wake a trail of misery and deprivation not seen in Europe since the days of World War II.

The Bombing of Cowards

The UN Charter prohibits any use of force, except in self-defence unless it has been authorised by the UN Security Council. NATO’s bombing of Yugoslavia is clearly not an act of self-defence, neither has it been authorised by the Security Council. Yet the UN Secretary General has not said a word of condemnation against the bombing.

Also, the NATO bombing clearly breaches its own founding treaty. The Treaty of Washington, which established NATO in 1949, makes it clear that the alliance would use force only in self-defence. In addition, NATO’s post cold war strategic doctrine clearly stated that "the Alliance was purely defensive in purpose. It is only now, at its 50th anniversary function in Washington, one month after the bombing of Yugoslavia began, that NATO signed a so-called ‘Vision Statement’. In this ‘New Strategic Concept’ signed on April 25, ’99, NATO’s aggressive role has been legitimised, in the name of ‘dealing with conflicts beyond it borders’, ‘protection from Terrorism’, and action on ‘weapons of mass destruction.’

It is clear that NATO will no longer be bound by any international law. The brazenness of the US/British continuous bombing on Iraq is an indication of what is to come. There too, no law applied when the US began bombing Iraq in December ’98. At the end of the fourth day of the bombing blitz, spokespersons for the US war machine bragged that they had so "degraded’ Iraq’s potential for so-called aggression that its "neighbours could feel safe for months to come." In the months since, however, the US has carried out attacks on almost a daily basis, dumping over 200 bombs on Iraq. Its beastality reached such limits that in early April it bombed one of Iraq’s major oil-pumping stations, thereby restricting its only source of limited (through sanctions) revenue, at a time when 4,500 children die every month for want of food, medicine, etc.

In Yugoslavia, the US have pushed into service their most modern airplanes, bombs, missiles, helicopters, etc. It is a war that defies all logic. While NATO’s stated purpose of the war is to defend ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, all its actions have had exactly the opposite effect. As bombing on Yugoslavia intensified, so also did Serb attacks on the Kosovar people. Even according to their stated goal, instead of fighting where required, the US/NATO fanatics went on a maniacal spree bombing anything and everything visible.

They first started with military targets all over Yugoslavia, including Kosovo. Then they began bombing airports, railway stations and railway lines. Then the fanatics bombed all the bridges, even those across the river Danube. Then the oil refineries, oil storage tanks, fuel dumps were targeted. Then they began bombing industries, including Yugoslavia’s biggest car factory, nitrogen fertiliser plants, chemical plants.... creating enormous economic damage and environmental pollution. Then they bombed the capital city, Belgrade’s Centre, including government offices, Milosevic’s house, the party headquarters etc. The most blatant and dastardly attack was on the TV centre which at the time had 150 people working in it... in order to prevent any facts from reaching the world that could counter their Gobellian media blitzkrieg. Their arrogance and ruthlessness is evident from NATO’s Supreme Commander’s statement that NATO would "systematically and progressively attack, disrupt, degrade, devastate and ultimately destroy" the Serbian army if the Serbs did not agree to the US-sponsored peace plan. The missile attack on the Chinese embassy killing at least four Chinese is yet another example of the ruthlessness of US/NATO bombing. The brazenness of bombing the embassy comes from the knowledge that no power is prepared to challenge the US militarily. If all these are ‘mistaken’ acts, it is the result of US/NATO recklessness and bombings conducted from the safety of big distances (and heights) leading to continuous ‘mistaken’ attacks.

They started the bombing with 424 aircrafts, by the end of the month there were 1000 aircrafts in the war.... 650 were American. It is estimated over 5000 people have been killed in the bombing and lakhs displaced. About 70,000 workers have lost their jobs due to destruction of factories. It has cost NATO $40 million a day, amounting to $12 billion in the very first month. The Pentagon later called for $6 billion more to continue the war and the senate sanctioned as much as $13 billion extra. For all their crocodile tears about the refugees, they have hardly spent 1% of this on their relief... resulting in hundreds dying of malnutrition, exposure, disease, etc.

With the capture of three American soldiers at the very beginning of the war and the downing of the supposedly invincible ‘stealth’ F-117E fighter — the first time ever one of these $45 million (Rs. 200 crore) radar-evading aircrafts have been shot down — the cowards conducted the war by dropping bombs from high up in the sky and sending missiles from warships in the Adriatic sea — a low risk, high altitude war. Fearing to come low and hit targets accurately, the Americans have bombed passenger trains and even a refugee convoy of ethnic Albanians, a bus full of ethnic Albanians, etc. ‘mistakenly’ killing hundreds of civilians.

The NATO cowards are terrified of a ground war. From the very beginning, not only a number of military advisors, but even a section of the media, has said that the aims of the war cannot be achieved without ground troops. But in US/NATO strategic planning, they continued to maintain that ground troops would only be used in a "permissive environment".... i.e., after Kosovo and Yugoslavia is turned into a graveyard, the `brave’ soldiers would march in. And as the futility of the air-strikes grew, and the ridiculousness of NATO’s professed aims became more and more obvious, some hesitatingly admitted that ground troops may become necessary. But simultaneously the NATO military strategists began a most heinous and dangerous manoeuvre — to instigate and provoke wars with neighbouring countries (and their stooge in the province of Montenegro) thereby hoping to use the people of these countries , if necessary, as cannon fodder in their ground war. Already by April 21st Croatia and Albania complained of border clashes and tensions were being aggressively voiced in Montenegro. Suggestions were also made to arm the KLA, but turned down, for the time, by the US administration .... saying they were unreliable.

The US-led NATO alliance is in a fix. If they continue bombing away to no purpose, they risk not only world opinion turning against them, but also the cracks within the NATO alliance widening. If they send in ground troops they face the possibility of heavy losses in the mountainous regions of Kosovo with the Serb forces well entrenched and the borders heavily mined. And if they seek to draw in neighbouring countries, the war can get out of control, and bring in not only a large numbers of countries but also Russia and Iran. Though the Clinton-Blair combine began by thumping their chests like street bullies, saying Milosevic will come crawling to their feet in a few days of bombing; now they sound more like the two fascist maniacs of the Colarado school who mowed down 15 fellow students — calling for the bombing of electricity and water systems, to bomb Yugoslavia back to the Dark Ages.

In fact NATO forces are in a fix ! Even the Institute of Strategic Studies (imperialism’s leading defence institute) stated, in a recent report, that the "strategy in the Balkans campaign and manner in which it has been implemented raise serious questions about the capacity of the NATO alliance to conceive and prosecute complex politico-military operations."

Besides, all is not well for the US war-mongerers. Contradictions in their own camp are growing and NATO is desperately seeking Russia’s intervention to work out a compromise that is reasonably favourable. The pressure for compromise is particularly strong amongst most European countries.

Growing Inter-imperialist Contradictions

With the crisis in the international economy deepening the contradictions amongst the imperialist powers are intensifying . Worldwide growth rates (of GDP) nearly halved last year to 2.54% from 4.16% in 1997. In this situation, the sole superpower, US-imperialism, is aggressively pushing forward, to gobble up the weaker economies of not only the third world but also the countries of the ex-Soviet block and East Europe. With Japan in continuous economic crisis (it had a negative growth rate of 2.8% in 1998) the main economic contender to the US at present, will be from Europe. Also, utilising Russia’s weakness, it is pushing to dominate not only Russia’s economy but also its remaining spheres of influence. In this region, Germany and France are strong contenders, and by pressing a military expedition the US (with Britain) is able to get an edge over Europe.

But, these hegemonistic ambitions of US imperialism is facing some problems. Contradictions amongst the imperialists are deepening, reflected in : (i) increasing tensions with Russia and (ii) cracks appearing in the Western alliance.

(i) Russia-US Stand-off

The fact that Russia is due to pay $17.5 billion in debt repayments in the current year, with planned federal budget revenues of less than $25 billions; explains Russia’s reluctance to take on the West in the Yugoslavia war. Besides lip sympathy it did little to support its closest ally in the world. So close are the two countries, that, during this war, both their parliaments passed resolutions that Yugoslavia become part of the Russia-Belarus unification.

Yet, tensions between Russia and the US are growing. Though the US-led NATO attack on Yugoslavia has temporarily cooled relations between the US and Russia, the latter has primarily played a role of seeking a compromise. And inspite of over 6 weeks (at the time going to press–Ed) carpet bombing of Yugoslavia, Russia has not even broken the arms embargo to supply it with military equipment. What it has done during the war, is to adopt an aggressive anti-US diplomatic posture, and thereby tap anti-US sentiments (and fears) throughout the world in its favour. Though, with it unable to defend even its own backyard these gains are likely to be illusory. This weakness of Russian imperialism was visible from the very beginning of the war.

At the peak of the tensions, and only a day before the start of the bombing, Prime Minister Primakov, left for the USA, to negotiate an IMF loan. It was only on being informed that the bombing was due to be started that he turned back his plane, mid-way over the Atlantic. A day earlier Primakov had even received the Israeli prime minister in Russia. Also, in a last minute attempt to prevent the bombing, the Russian premier rang the Yugoslav president, Milosevic, to persuade him to sign the compromise deal on Kosovo by the ‘Contact Group’ (of the major Western countries plus Russia).

Having failed to strike a compromise Russia resorted to hectic diplomatic activity and verbal threats, but also gave an assurance that they would not get involved in the war. In fact, on the third day of bombing, the IMF chairman, Michel Camdessus, arrived in Russia, and agreed to grant Russia an immediate $4.5 billion loan. Two days later Yeltsin said "Russia has made it choice ... it will not allow itself to be dragged into the military conflict."

But, with anti-US protests breaking out throughout Russia, on a scale not even seen during the cold war, and with a fear of it losing its remaining sphere of influence in its immediate backyard ... it resorted to a diplomatic offensive against the West: it called a meeting of the UN Security Council; it recalled its representative from NATO headquarters; it stalled ratification of SALT II talks; it got the support of China, India and other countries to oppose the NATO bombing; it sent warships from its Black Sea Fleet to the Mediterranean with instructions to ‘observe’ the war; it recalled its chief military representative to NATO; it put on hold its participation in the ‘Partnership for Peace’ programme and postponed negotiations on opening a NATO military liaison office in Moscow; it sought the intervention of the International Court of Justice to determine the legal consequences of NATO air strikes; and finally, it announced that it would revise its defence doctrine in the light of NATO’s new role decided upon at its 50th anniversary. Besides, it also issued a lot of verbal threats, with no follow up.

Simultaneously though, it worked feverishly to broker a compromise maintaining regular touch with the top leaders of Europe and America : it called for meetings of the ‘Contact Group’ and G-8; Yeltsin rejected parliament’s call to give military assistance to Yugoslavia insisting on a ‘political process’; Yeltsin opposed any swift acceptance of Yugoslavia into the union of Russia and Belarus; the foreign minister had a high level meeting with Madeleine Albright at Oslo, and Yeltsin a 90 minute telephone conversation with Clinton on the day of the 50th Anniversary of NATO celebrations; on April 15 Yeltsin appointed a known pro-West personal envoy, Chernomyrdin, to deal with the Kosovo conflict; and by end April top US and European officials as well as UN secretary general Kofi Annan, descend on Moscow to work-out a compromise.

With Russia’s bankrupt economy and dependence of Western finance, it will, even in the future, find it difficult to assert an aggressive imperialist role. Yet, the battle in the Kremlin between the pro-West big business lobby represented by Yeltsin and his cronies on the one hand, and the relatively more independent spokespersons of Russian imperialism represented by the ‘communist’ dominated Duma and PM Primakov on the other, is also reaching breaking-point. With impeachment proceedings against Yeltsin due to start in May ’99, the outcome of these battles will also determine Russia’s future course. But, whatever the outcome, the earlier cordial relations between the US and Russia is unlikely to return.

(ii) Cracks in the NATO Alliance

Ever since the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, NATO has sought to fill the vacuum and dominate entire East Europe and the ex-Soviet bloc countries. This it has been systematically done through expansion of NATO and the setting up of the PFP (Partnership For Peace) and NACC (North Atlantic Cooperation Council) for military cooperation with countries of Central and Eastern Europe. In September, ’98 NATO’s political chief, Javier Solana toured eight former Soviet republics offering them close defence cooperation. And a few days before the bombing began the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland were made full members of NATO. What remained of Yugoslavia (after Croatia, Slovania, Bosnia-Herzegorina and Macedonia broke away in 1992-93) was the one country that continued to remain outside of the NATO fold, in East Europe. So it had to be beaten into submission. Aggressive Serb chauvinism, and the resultant rise of nationality movements gave it a pretext for intervention in the Balkans — first, with UN sanction in Bosnia; now without any sanction.

In this eastward expansion there is a common interest between the US and Europe to bring these countries into the Western fold. Yet, there are also conflicting interests between European capital on the one hand and American-British capital on the other. Even before the bombing there was resentment in Europe over the arbitrary US-British initiatives in Kosovo. With the growing independent assertion of Europe in the EU/EMU there is increasing resentment with US domination over NATO. The commander-in-chief of NATO forces is always an American General. Within NATO, and also in the present war, US military domination (and superiority), assisted by Britain, is all-encompassing. Since the last few years the US has sought to pressurise Europe to change the NATO charter and convert it into an aggressive force to help police the world in US’s interests. On the other hand Europe (except Britain) has resisted these moves and has sought to consolidate its own unification and build an independent military force (the WEU, ESDI, etc). The US has now achieved its aims, by precipitating events in Yugoslavia and ipso-facto ratifying NATO’s new role at the 50th anniversary celebrations.

NATO’s cohesion is, to a large extent, linked to the economic ties between the countries involved.... particularly in the sphere of defence. There are close links between the US and British defence industries. For example, British Aerospace (BAe) is deeply involved in some sensitive American defence programmes, including the Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft; there is also an American-British project to build a new armoured vehicle capable of very sophisticated reconnaissance; and Northrop (US) and British GEC are jointly developing a new system of aircraft to ward off missiles. But between the rest of Europe’s defence industries and America there is little cooperation, infact, it is more competitive. Yet, in December ’98, there was a major merger of the British BAe and Germany’s DASA (Daimler Chrysler Aerospace) to form the giant EADC (European Aerospace and Defence Company). France’s major defence company has not yet joined the merger as it has been insisting on 50% of the share capital. Such economic alliances and the lack of them, is bound to have its reflection in the future cohesiveness of Europe. The extent of the cohesion reached of European capital and its increasing assertion will determine whether NATO continues as a united body or falls apart.

In the current war the cracks, though not prominent, were definitely visible. In the beginning itself Greece, Italy and Hungary opposed the bombings. In Germany the Finance minister resigned and one of the issues he strongly raised was, Kosovo. Mid-way through the bombing the German government put forward a peace-proposal that got lukewarm response from the US and Britain as it called for a peace-keeping force under UN auspices. Later, in a bid to draw in the UN, the EU leaders had a one day summit on Kosovo with Kofi Annan attending. This summit decided that the involvement of the UN and Russia was "indispensable" for a permanent settlement of the conflict. Again this got a cold response from Britain and the US. France has continuously urged Russia to broker an agreement. At the Washington summit, there again the US and Britain took an aggressive posture calling for a blockade of oil shipments and even for sinking ships that brought oil to Yugoslavia. Again differences were sharp. France, Italy and Greece opposed the oil embargo. In fact the threat to sink ships attacked a NATO member, Greece, which is a large carrier of oil to Yugoslavia. Also, Germany and the Czech Republic stated that their governments would fall if ground troops were considered. By early May, the ruling parties of Germany demanded that the war be ended immediately. Also the G-8 peace proposal in early May, which again calls for an international peace-keeping force under UN auspicies, was later rejected by the US. The new entrants, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic have reluctantly gone along with NATO plans, though there has been stiff opposition from the people. Rumania complained they stand to lose $50 million a week because of the bombing of bridges on the Danube river.

Basically, the US and Britain have pushed for this war and the others have gone along reluctantly. America’s aggressive posture is also determined by the needs of its military-industrial complex which has been facing stagnation resulting (partly) in the retrenchment of two million of its work force in the past few years. With a massive annual defence budget of $270 billion, to police the world, US imperialism must get its returns through increased flexing of its muscles. Besides, it has now planned to spend an extra $112 billion over the next five years. What this will entail, in the form of wars, can well be imagined.

Growing US Aggressiveness

While only a handful of countries (like Japan and a few others) openly backed the US-led NATO aggression on Yugoslavia, many countries have been brow-beaten into supporting NATO action.

Though China and Russia, the two permanent members of the Security Council, vehemently opposed the bombing (both were party to the decision imposing sanctions on Iraq), both continued cooperation with the West during this period. In fact, in the midst of the bombing in early April, China sent its Premier, Zhu Rongji, on a week-long visit to the US — the first in 15 years.

Generally, the Arab world has taken a cautious approach to the bombing by NATO. Iran, alone vehemently opposed both the NATO strikes as also the Serb attacks on the Kosovo people. Most third world governments, which are themselves dependent on Western finance capital and IMF/World Bank loans, are now terrified, not knowing when and where the US will strike next. Many have ethnic, nationality and regional problems and are so open for US action. Most are hesitant to be direct participants in the US-wars of aggression. Even in the Yugoslavia war, though support was given by NATO countries..... all missiles were launched from US warships in the Adriatic Sea and not from any country’s territory. Italy, hesitantly allowed its airbases to be used for attacks.

Both in Iraq and Yugoslavia, US imperialism, afraid to face the armies of other countries, is using high-tech equipment to destroy the civilian population, the economy, the environment.... and thereby seek to win a war. It is a most cowardly and criminal method of warfare, where thousands and lakhs of innocent children, women and men are butchered, either through bombs or economic destruction, to get countries to bow to their dictates. With such inhuman methods the US imperialists will find itself more and more isolated, living in a high-tech utopia, dropping bombs at the push of a button.

In fact, one of the chief apologists of imperialism, ‘The Economist’, has already predicted (December 12, ’98) that : "the chances of aerial dogfights or naval battles between roughly matched forces are receding; ships and aircraft are more likely to be needed to support a multi-pronged intervention on land. The environment for such intervention could be extremely hostile, with no friendly ports or land bases.....". So in future, to avoid other Vietnams, the imperialists will first exterminate a major section of the local population, bomb the country back to the dark-ages, and only then will their ‘brave’ soldiers march in for a land war. This is the lesson from Iraq and Yugoslavia.

The major resentment and opposition to NATO’s actions came from the people of the world. In fact, May Day rallies throughout Europe targeted NATO’s bombing of Yugoslavia. After the attack on the Chinese embassy, the militant demonstration of thousands at Brussels which stoned the US-embassy and smashed its windows, is an indication of the people’s wrath. In China, huge demonstrations led to the burning of the US embassy.

The Kosovo People

The savagery with which the Serb forces have displaced an entire population has not been seen in Europe since the days of Hitler. Even allowing for exaggeration by the Western media, turning about one-third the ethnic Albanian population of Kosovo (1.8 million) into refugees is inhuman in itself. Added to this is the burning, looting, raping of civilians by 45,000 Serb troops together with an unknown number of para military forces.

Summary executions of KLA fighters and their supporters, together with an all out Serb offensive, pushed the liberation fighters into retreat within the first week of the bombing. NATO attacks not only helped provoke further attacks on the Kosovar people, it also helped to weaken the KLA who were pitted against the entire Serb forces. By bombing from the safety of the skies neither did NATO open another front to divert Serb forces, nor were they able to restrain their advance. Let alone opening another front, NATO planes were not even willing to risk flying low, so Serb convoys happily advanced on KLA strongholds. With lakhs of refugees displaced within days of the bombing, NATO had not even made any plans for their welfare in Albania and Macedonia.

Hundreds began to die of exposure, malnutrition and disease, yet NATO assistance was a mere trickle. With sections of the KLA known to be linked to some islamic forces, the US and NATO had no real sympathy for either the KLA fighters or the Kosovar people. They sought to establish ‘protected camps’ for the refugees, and NATO’s supposed plan for evacuation of one lakh refugees, saw the US-offer (that never materialised) to take 20,000 and place them in its naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba ... i.e., in a defacto concentration camp. Also, not a single NATO country was really willing to accommodate refugees in their own countries ..... even temporarily. They have all been dragging their feet. Till today, Britain has taken in exactly 350. Britain has given a mere $30 million as aid to refugees ...... less than what is spent on one day’s bombing. The hypocrisy is blatant. It becomes all the more striking when one of its own members, Turkey, has been responsible for the creation of nearly one million Kurdish refugees in a 15-year long war of extermination. The US has infact backed Turkey to the hilt against this genocide against Kurdish people. Also with the decimation of much of the KLA forces after the bombing, the US sought to convert them into a fifth column, behind enemy lines, to help NATO aircraft target Yugoslav forces.

The Kosovo people’s struggle against Serb domination is a just struggle. The Kosovo people, like all others in the world suffering national oppression, have a right to self-determination including secession. Neither the Serb fascists nor the Western militarists desire the freedom of the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo. 45,000 Serb troops is sought to be replaced by a 28,000 NATO forces.... replacing one set of butchers with another. The Kosovar people’s struggle for self-determination can only advance by fighting both Serb national chauvinism and NATO aggression and occupation of Kosovo. The peace-proposals of the G-8 suggested in early May was outright rejected by the KLA.

Hypocrisy of Indian Government

The Indian government’s belated and half-hearted condemnation of NATO attacks on Yugoslavia was obviously hypocritical, as a little earlier it openly praised US missile attacks on Sudan and Afghanistan. In fact, in early May, the Indian government went so far as to abstain in a resolution drafted by Russia against the enormous environmental damage caused by NATO bombing on Yugoslav industries, at a meeting of the UN Commission for Sustainable Development. Besides, there was not a word of condemnation of the Yugoslav government’s brutal attacks on the Kosovo people. A similar stand on Yugoslavia was infact taken by all parliamentary parties across the entire political spectrum, from ‘Right’ to ‘Left’.

Such a standpoint is quite natural, as all these parties have been involved in suppressing similar national liberation movements in India. If the Yugoslav government has stationed 45,000 troops in Kosovo; the Indian government has 70,000 troops in Kashmir and 47,000 in the North East....together with an equivalent number of para military forces. If the Yugoslav government has displaced six lakh Kosovo people in the last decade; the Indian government, in the last decade, has killed (‘encountered’, disappeared, tortured etc) at least one lakh people in Kashmir, the North East and Punjab. If Kosovo is a ‘human catastrophe’; the plight of the Kashmiri, North Eastern and Punjabi (Sikh) people has been no less. If Serb forces burn, loot and rape; Indian forces have committed not only such crimes, but also inhuman tortures and systematic pogroms.

The similarities with the Kosovo situation quite naturally results in the Indian government (and all the parties) backing the Yugoslav government’s attacks on ethnic Albanians. Yet, due to the BJP’s close links with the US administration (also reflected in a sudden silence of the US on the Kashmir issue) and the secret Strobe Talbott-Jaswant Singh talks, the government’s condemnation of NATO bombing has been luke-warm. In fact, after an initial flurry of statements, the BJP government has been suspiciously silent on the issue.

The point however is that all oppressed nationalities — whether Kosovo or Kurdish or Kashmiri or Naga or Assamese or Irish or Tamils (of Sri Lanka) etc — have a right to self-determination including secession. They will be able to achieve this only if they fight, not only the terror of their immediate oppressors, but also the intrigues of the imperialists and other reactionary forces. The demand for the right to self-determination, including secession, of any oppressed nationality, is the only consistent democratic demand within a multi-national state. The Kosovo people’s struggle against the Serb authorities is a just struggle which must be supported by all democrats. "People’s March" demands that all NATO forces be kicked out of the Balkans, the bombing stopped immediately and NATO chiefs be tried as war criminals. It also condemns the fascistic Serb forces and their sponsors, and calls upon all democratic people to support the just struggle of the Kosovars.

With US imperialism’s increasingly aggressive role throughout the world, including in India, it is the people alone who can beat back this offensive. To fight imperialism, means to simultaneously fight and smash their collaborators within the country. Imperialism, in the final analysis, fears only the awakened people. The peoples, of all countries, must forge stronger bonds of unity, and strike hard blows at the imperialists, particularly US imperialism, and also their agents within the country.

9-5-1999

<Top>