The death and suffering in Kosovo continues. With winter approaching, tens of thousands of Kosovar refugees are living in shacks on moutainsides, afraid of Serbian retaliation if they return to their villages. Serbian troops continue to operate in Kosovo in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution that demands their withdrawal and the cessation of attacks on ethnic Albanians. NATO for weeks has been threatening to launch air attacks against Serbian positions if they do not stop their attacks on Kosovars. It is time NATO stops bluffing and carries out its threat.
Three hundred thousand Kosovars have been displaced in the seven-month war. Between 40,000 and 100,000 of these refugees are believed to be sheltered by only plastic sheeting. Most of the humanitarian workers trying to feed and clothe the refugees have left in anticipation of NATO airstrikes and possible Serb retaliation. Without an end to the Serb attacks on Kosovars, a huge human tragedy will occur in Kosovo.
Kosovo is a province of Serbia, the dominant republic of Yugoslavia. The Serbian military has used brutal means to hold down Kosovar separatists. Serb police burned and looted villages and massacred civilians to dissuade the ethnic Albanian majority from supporting the rebels. After the discovery of massacres in several villages in late September, NATO warned the Serbs that it would launch airstrikes unless they complied with all U.N. resolutions. However, those promised strikes have yet to be carried out.
Negotiations between the Serbs and U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke are at an impasse. In past dealings with the Serbs, force has been necessary to compel them into stopping their military assaults. The time to use force has arrived, unless NATO and the West want to see a repetition of the human disaster that befell Bosnia, which was partially because of their collective inaction. It is time NATO stopped bluffing. If negotiations fail, force must be used to stop the Serb onslaught in Kosovo. The credibility of NATO and the lives of thousands are at stake.
