While Washington supplies National Liberation Army (NLA) terrorists with
brand new weapons "Made in America", some 3000 heavily armed NATO troops
have been given the mandate to "disarm the rebels" and enforce the
cease-fire. Code-named "Essential Harvest", this bogus "peacekeeping"
operation under British command is intended to weaken the Macedonian Armed
Forces and destabilize national institutions.
" As much as their text ["peace plan"] is brutal, more brutal and worrying
is the fashion in which they are trying to break up Macedonian state
institutions,' … All of the terrorist actions in Macedonia have been
supported by the Western democracies… all threats and blackmails have been
presented so far, except that NATO will conduct an air-strike on us."
(Macedonian Prime Minister Mr. Ljubco Georgievski)
WASHINGTON BEHIND TERRORIST ASSAULTS IN MACEDONIA
by
Michel Chossudovsky
Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa
It is now documented beyond doubt that Washington is behind the terrorist
assaults in Macedonia. While Secretary of State Colin Powell reaffirms
America's resolve to "combat terrorism", US military advisers from Military
Professional Resources Inc (MPRI), a private mercenary outfit on contract
to the Pentagon are fighting alongside the NLA terrorists:
"Among the rebels that were withdrawing were 17 “instructors” - former US
officers that provided military training for the rebels. Not only that: the
Macedonian security forces claim that 70% of the equipment that the
guerilla fighters took with them are of US production and the latter
includes highly sophisticated third generation night vision devices." 1
US FORCES PROTECT THE TERRORISTS
In late June, the Macedonian ARM undertook a major assault against KLA-NLA
positions in Aracinovo, a village close to Skopje. In a NATO sponsored
operation which "was supposed to allow the Macedonian Army to gain
significant rebel territory", US troops were sent in to "evacuate" and
"disarm" the terrorists:2
"When the terrorists were defeated and showed a white flag, the OSCE and
NATO were in panic and ordered us [the Macedonian authorities] to stop
immediately the [military] action. Swedish Foreign Minister Ana Lindth and
the European leaders were hysterical, threatening us with economic
sanctions, etc. Furthermore, the OSCE and KFOR entered Aracinovo and
'saved' 500 terrorists together with their weaponry and took them to
another village from where they are now attacking again, killing civilians
and undertaking ethnic cleansing in several Macedonian villages… NATO
forbids us to defend ourselves when we are attacked; our territory is
brutally abused by the terrorists. We have tried to defend ourselves, and
they have saved the terrorists in air-conditioned buses. That has provoked
harsh reaction of the Macedonian people."3
The official "story" out of the US military base near Skopje was:
"[Sorry]…but something went wrong":4
"A confidential source at Camp Able Sentry [US base near Skopje] says the
bus convoy [evacuating the terrorists] was stopped by tanks manned by NLA
rebels … and the rebels left the buses and disappeared. 'Now we have some
extremely angry Macedonians on our hands,' the American official said."5
The same source stated that the rebels "were escorted by lightly armed
American troops", conveying the impression that the highly trained American
GIs of the 502nd Infantry division could not do anything against "the tanks
manned by NLA rebels" which had entrapped the bus convoy.6 The ambush story
is a fabrication, for one KLA-NLA rebels do not have tanks in their
arsenal.
OPENING A NEW FRONT
The US sponsored "evacuation" from Aracinavo had enabled the NLA
terrorists --together with their American military advisers and foreign
mercenaries-- "to open up a new front" around the village of Radusa, 40
kilometers northwest of Skopje. 7 "They [NATO] are transporting the rebels,
the terrorists, from one area to another and rearming them, instead of
confiscating their weapons." 8 In turn, KFOR is "protecting" the NLA
terrorists' supply routes including the flow of military personnel and
weapons from KLA-NLA bases in Kosovo and from training camps in Albania.
Sources in the U.S. Army in Kosovo suggest that the "evacuation" mission
was also intent upon saving "the 17 'instructors' among the withdrawing
rebels", presumably to avoid the diplomatic humiliation and media
embarrassment of senior US military personnel captured together with the
terrorists by the Macedonian Security Forces.9
Meanwhile, there are indications that US Apache helicopters and unmanned
"predator" drone spy planes (UAV) (dispatched by a contingent of the US
15th Military Intelligence Battalion, stationed at Camp Able Sentry) are
supporting this "new front" by transmitting military-intelligence to the
rebel army's US military advisers:
"The Pentagon… approved [mid March 2001] sending several unmanned spy
planes to monitor the Kosovo-Macedonia border. The Air Force Predator
unmanned drones can feed images immediately not only to troops in the
region, but also to Washington."10
And in the wake of the US sponsored "evacuation", the KLA-NLA terrorists
--together with their US military instructors-- have renewed their attacks
in the Tetovo region.
RECRUITING FOREIGN MERCENARIES
Since the Soviet-Afghan war, recruiting Mujahedin ("holy warriors") to
fight covert wars on Washington's behest has become an integral part of US
foreign policy. A report of the US Congress has revealed how the US
administration --under advice from the National Security Council headed by
Anthony Lake-- had "helped turn Bosnia into a militant Islamic base"
leading to the recruitment through the so-called "Militant Islamic
Network," of thousands of Mujahedin >from the Muslim world.11
The "Bosnian pattern" has since been replicated in Kosovo, Southern Serbia
and Macedonia. Among the foreign mercenaries now fighting with the KLA-NLA
are Mujahedin from the Middle East and the Central Asian republics of the
former Soviet Union as well as "soldiers of fortune" from several NATO
countries including Britain, Holland and Germany. Some of these Western
mercenaries had previously fought with the KLA and the Bosnian Muslim
Army.12
Also among NLA recruits are Albanian-American "volunteers" enlisted in New
York with the tacit approval of the US government.13 In March 2001, the New
York-based Albanian-language newspaper Bota Sot printed an advertisement of
the National Liberation Army (NLA) "calling Albanians [in the US] to
register as volunteers and to donate money." 14 Several hundred
Albanian-Americans had formed an "Atlantic Brigade" which fought alongside
the KLA in 1998 and 1999. In recent months, members of the "Atlantic
Brigade" have reportedly joined the NLA.15
THE UNITED NATIONS FUNDS THE TERRORISTS
Amply documented, the United Nations so-called "civilian" Kosovo
Protection Corps (KPC) is the KLA in disguise, and the NLA is a proxy of
the KLA. According to the Sunday Times: "Hundreds of KPC reservists were
called up by their Albanian commander, Agim Ceku, in March [2001]. They
subsequently disappeared to former KLA training camps in Albania and are
now re-emerging in Macedonia." 16
NLA rebel Commander Ostremi was until recently Chief of Staff of the
Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC). To maintain appearances, Washington has
"blacklisted" the KPC commanders who joined the NLA. Washington's so-called
"blacklist" --which bars the former KPC commanders from entering the US--
includes the names of "Commander Ostremi, his replacement as
chief-of-staff at the KPC Commander Daut Haradinaj, the commander and
deputy commander of the KPC's elite force, the Rapid Reaction Corps, plus
the leaders of two of its six regional divisions, Commander Sami Lushtaku
and Commander Mustafa Rrustem…" 17
From the horse's mouth: Washington's "blacklist" visibly refutes the
claims of both the "international community" and the Western media mantra
that "the NLA has no links to KLA". In fact, the "blacklist" confirms that
they are one and the same thing, with the same commanding officers in both
the KPC and the NLA. Moreover, it also confirms that the terrorist
assaults are led by military personnel paid by the United Nations.
When Commander Ostremi took leave from his UN job to lead the NLA, the UN
"assumed he had gone on holiday". 18 According to the Irish Times, UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan failed to remove the NLA commanders from the
United Nations payroll. The "international community" was still (early
July) footing the bill under the disguise of UN "peacekeeping":
"...the United Nations says it will take no action against these five men
[NLA commanders], all still serving officers [in the UN sponsored KPC]
because Washington has yet to pass on details of what the men are supposed
to have done."19
This pattern of "financing terrorism" from the UN purse is nothing new.
The former head of the UN Interim Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Bernard
Kouchner had established close personal ties with KLA Commander in Chief
Agim Ceku, who in a bitter irony was on the list of "alleged war criminals"
of the Hague Tribunal. But because he was wanted in relation to "crimes
committed in Croatia" rather than Kosovo, this was not an issue in his
appointment by the UN to the position of Commander in Chief of the KPC. 20.
An independent report submitted to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2000
confirmed that the KPC had been involved in "criminal activities -
killings, ill-treatment/torture, illegal policing, abuse of authority,
intimidation, breaches of political neutrality and hate speech."21. In a
cruel irony, "the United Nations is paying the salaries of many of the
gangsters."22
But what the report fails to mention, however, is that barely two months
after the official inauguration of the KPC under UN auspices (September
1999), KPC-KLA commanders --using UN resources and equipment -- were
already preparing the assaults into Macedonia, as a logical follow-up to
their terrorist activities in Kosovo. According to the Skopje daily
Dnevnik, the KPC had established a "sixth operation zone" which:
"included Presevo, Bujanovac, Medvedja [in Southern Serbia] and
Macedonian villages in the area of Skopska Crna Gora, Lojane, Vaksince,
Straza and Lipkovo... Sources, who insist on anonymity, claim that
headquarters of Kosovo protection brigades [directly linked to the UN
sponsored KPC] have [March 2000] already been formed in Tetovo, Gostivar
and Skopje. They are being prepared in Debar and Struga [on the border with
Albania] as well, and their members have defined codes."23.
According to the BBC, "Western special forces were still training the
guerrillas" meaning that they were assisting the KLA in opening up "a new
front" in Southern Serbia and Macedonia.24
LINKS TO ORGANISED CRIME
Also acknowledged by official US sources as well as by numerous press
reports are the links of the KLA-NLA to powerful criminal syndicates
involved in the Balkans' multi-billion dollar drug trade. Albanian and
Kosovar criminal organizations are providing "a very significant support to
them [the NLA terrorists in Macedonia]." 25 These criminal groups are also
involved in the traffic of Albanian women into prostitution in several
European countries including Britain, Italy and Germany. And part of the
proceeds of these illicit activities is used to arm and equip the KLA-NLA
terrorists.
In other words, in providing support to the KLA-NLA, Washington (not to
mention the United Nations) is indirectly upholding the organised
criminal-business syndicates which are behind the terrorists.
TREASON WITHIN THE MACEDONIAN SECURITY FORCES
In April, the Commander in Chief of the Macedonian Armed Forces (ARM)
General Andrejevski was accused by A1 TV Skopje of having transmitted
military intelligence to the NLA through MPRI General Richard Griffiths,
who is director of the US "equip and train" program with the Macedonian ARM
under a US military aid programme. 26. Sixteen senior (retired) US military
officers are advising the ARM.
But it so happens that the same US mercenary outfit on contract to the
Macedonian ARM is also assisting the NLA rebels in their terrorist
assaults. In other words, Washington is arming and advising both the KLA
attackers and the Macedonian defenders under military and intelligence
authorization acts approved by the US Congress. MPRI is helping Macedonia
--as part of a US military aid package-- "to deter armed aggression and
defend Macedonian territory." But MPRI is also advising and equipping the
KLA, which is responsible for the terrorist assaults. In this war, the
American military-intelligence apparatus is pulling strings "on both sides
of the fence".27
Faced with mounting pressure, General Andrejevski has since given up his
position as Commander in Chief of the ARM. But immediately following his
resignation, Andrejevski was appointed "Military Adviser" to President
Trajkovski, while maintaining his personal links with MPRI`s Richard
Griffith who is still in Skopje, responsible for channeling US "military
aid" on behalf of the Pentagon. In other words, the US military
establishment is still involved on both sides, advising the NLA as well as
"assisting" the Macedonian ARM. The ultimate objective of this
military-intelligence ploy is to prevent the Macedonian ARM from defeating
the terrorists.
CIVIL SOCIETY PLOY
Despite the barrage of media falsehoods, Macedonian citizens are fully
aware that Washington is supporting the terrorists. To diffuse public
resentment, several Western "foundations" and "human rights organisations"
--including the International Crisis Group (ICG) and Human Rights Watch
(HRW) are working closely with local citizens groups in Macedonia. While
their formal mandate is in the areas of "confidence building",
"governance", "peace-making" and "inter-ethnic reconciliation", in
practice, they work hand in glove with NATO. They are an integral part of
the military-intelligence ploy. The role of these front organisations is to
ensure that public resentment is directed against the Macedonian government
and Military rather than against Washington, NATO or the IMF.28
The Open Society Institute (OSI) in Skopje, controlled by Wall Street
financier George Soros is also playing a central role in manipulating and
ultimately weakening the civilian protest movement. 29 OSI in Macedonia has
launched an "Appeal for Peace" endorsed by a large number of Macedonian
organisations. (More than 300 organisations and individuals have signed the
OSI "Appeal for Peace"). In other words, Soros' OSI in Skopje hosts and
finances the citizens' movement against terrorism while carefully omitting
to mention the causes of terrorism.
Moreover, George Soros is also part of the Wall Street financial
establishment which is colonising the Balkans. And this "economic conquest"
by American financial interests is supported by the US
military-intelligence apparatus, which is funneling covert support to the
terrorists.
While George Soros finances "peace" and "reconciliation" initatives in
Macedonia, he also supports the KLA. Across the border in Kosovo, the
Soros sponsored Kosova Foundation for an Open Society (KFOS) is funding the
activities of "local governments" controlled by KLA appointees. This
assistance was initially channeled through a World Bank "Post Conflict
Trust Fund", of which 90 percent of the financing is controlled by George
Soros.30
Needless to say, Soros is close to the seat of political power in the US,
he works hand in glove with the World Bank and has significant economic
interests in the Balkans. His Open Society Institute is also supporting the
"alternative media" in Macedonia with all the appearances of purporting to
advance "democracy" and "freedom of the press".
NATO SPONSORED REFUGEE CRISIS
The refugee crisis has been deliberately triggered by the US sponsored
terrorist assaults. Both Macedonian and Albanian civilians are among the
victims. More than 100,000 people are affected. According to the United
Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) some 73,800 people have
crossed the border into Kosovo, and another 34,500 people are "internally
displaced" within Macedonia.31 In Albanian villages occupied by the rebels,
Albanian civilians rather than being "protected" by NLA "freedom fighters"
are often the object of intimidation and reprisals.
In villages inhabited by Macedonians in the Tetovo region, ethnic
cleansing is being implemented in the presence of US military personnel who
are advising rebel commanders. The KLA-NLA is reported to "have committed
unprecedented acts of terror against the inhabitants, forcing them to leave
the villages completely. The displaced persons from [these] villages have
strongly criticized the OSCE and the International Committee of the Red
Cross - whose representatives have consistently avoided contact with the
residents of these Tetovo villages" 32
Entire communities are uprooted. According to the UNHCR, the majority of
the refugees crossing into Kosovo are women, children and elderly men.
Other reports suggest that the terrorists are enlisting ethnic Albanian men
to join the KLA-NLA often through force and intimidation. The evidence
suggests that those who refuse face serious reprisals. 33 The pattern in
this regard, is very similar to what occurred in Kosovo in 1999 where
entire villages were uprooted. 34
ETHNIC CLEANSING
Washington is indelibly behind the process of ethnic cleansing in
Macedonia. It is worth mentioning in this regard that MPRI (the mercenary
outfit working with the KLA-NLA) was on contract with the Croatian Armed
Forces in 1995, in charge of the ethnic cleansing and civilian massacres
directed against the Serb population in the Krajina region of Croatia. In
this regard, MPRI was working closely with Commander Agim Ceku, who at the
time was a Brigadier General in the Croatian Armed Forces. Ceku was not
only one of the key planners of "Operation Storm", he was also commander
of the artillery division responsible for shelling Krajina Serb civilians.
It is no wonder that the pattern in Macedonia is similar to that of Krajina
and Kosovo. 35
The same commanding officers from the KLA and the MPRI are now involved in
the terrorist assaults and ethnic cleansing in Macedonia. "Protected" by
American and British troops stationed in Kosovo and Macedonia, the KLA-NLA
rebels now control a significant portion of Macedonian territory.
BOGUS PEACE PLAN
Washington's design is to prevent the Macedonian Security Forces from
fighting the rebels and protecting its borders. In other words, the hidden
agenda of the EU-US brokered "peace plan" is to gain time, drag out the
conflict, keep the Macedonian Security Forces in the barracks while
continuing to arm and equip the rebels. And this gruesome
military-intelligence ploy is possible because the Macedonian President and
part of his entourage are puppets of the US. Moreover, the MPRI, which is
actively advising the NLA, is still on contract with the Macedonian
government "helping the Macedonian Armed Forces".
Meanwhile General Andrejevski, who recently resigned his position as ARM
Commander in Chief, is still in charge as "military adviser" to the
President, acting on behalf of the MPRI and the Pentagon.
In other words, key senior military officers in the ARM are collaborating
with the enemy, against the lower ranking officers and the ARM rank and
file who are fighting for their country. Despite the divisions within the
government, Prime Minister Mr. Ljubco Georgievski, has openly accused US
envoy James Pardew and EU's Francois Leotard of "forcing Macedonia to cave
in to demands from Albanian guerrillas."36:
"It becomes obvious that all of the terrorist actions in Macedonia have
been supported by the western democracies. Now, we practically have 95% of
Ali Ahmeti's [the NLA leader] document on the table. It is clear that the
international community has decided on its position beforehand, and now it
is trying to realize it in Macedonia." 37
"'As much as their text is brutal, more brutal and worrying is the fashion
in which they are trying to break up Macedonian state institutions,' Mr.
Georgievski said … The Prime Minister further stated that the proposed
peace package constituted 'a serious interference in the internal affairs
of the Republic of Macedonia'… Asked about the extent of pressure Macedonia
could sustain, Georgievski said all threats and blackmails had been
presented so far, 'except that NATO will conduct an air-strike on us.' "38
THE ANGLO-AMERICAN AXIS
In the negotiation of the "peace plan", the Anglo-US position has
prevailed over that of France and Germany. In this regard, Prime Minister
Georgievski "underlined that the French expert in law [former Minister of
Justice] Robert Badinter was brutally eliminated from the political
process", meaning that his recommendations on constitutional reform were
turned down by James Pardew in consultation with NLA leader Ali Ahmeti. 39
Although NATO is not formally part of the EU-US "mediation", EU High
Representative Javier Solana (who occupied the position of Secretary
General of NATO during the 1999 bombings of Yugoslavia) has been working
hand in glove with his successor at NATO Lord George Robertson. In turn,
British Ambassador Mark Dickinson was appointed in May by Solana to act on
his behalf in Skopje. British paratroopers and Special Forces --which
trained the KLA in 1999-- are slated to lead the bogus "Essential Harvest"
operation to "disarm the rebels".
Increasingly, the corridors of international diplomacy has been taken over
by military-intelligence officials with previous experience in Bosnia and
Kosovo. James Pardew started his Balkans career in 1993 as a senior
intelligence officer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff responsible for
channeling US aid to the Bosnian Muslim Army. Coronel Pardew had been put
in charge of arranging the "air-drops" of supplies to Bosnian forces,
working closely with the Chairman of the National Security Council Anthony
Lake. 40 NATO's Peter Feith who has been "put in charge of contacts with
the [KLA-NLA] guerillas" is a longstanding "colleague" of James Pardew. He
was political advisor to the IFOR High Command in Bosnia in the
mid-1990s.41
REPLICATING BOSNIA AND KOSOVO
America's "mediator" James Pardew has been given the mandate to replicate
the Bosnia-Kosovo pattern. In this regard, Washington's
military-intelligence ploy is to fracture Macedonian territory, foster
internal social divisions and fuel ethnic strife. The design is to destroy
all social and political ties between Albanians and Macedonians, who have
coexisted for more than a half a century within a multiethnic society.
These socio-ethnic divisions are deliberately created so as to curb all
forms of social resistance. More importantly, they want to prevent the
development of a broader "common front" against the enemy.
The US sponsored terrorist assaults as well as the bogus "peace plan" are
intent upon eventually splitting up the country and transforming Macedonia
into a NATO protectorate. Operation "Essential Harvest" to be led by
British parachutists would constitute a first step towards a military
occupation of Macedonian territory. NATO forces are not only protecting the
rebels in the territories under their control, MPRI advisers on contract to
the Pentagon are assisting in the implementation of "ethnic cleansing" in
these territories. In the latter, Macedonian State institutions are no
longer functioning.
In other words, the territories under KLA-NLA control --which border
Kosovo-- are de facto under the jurisdiction of NATO. Moreover, there are
indications that the KLA --with NATO support-- may attempt to trigger a
unilateral secession of Kosovo from Yugoslavia. This would not only
heighten the political crisis in Belgrade, it would also raise the issue of
the political status of the territories occupied by the KLA-NLA from which
the Macedonian population has been expulsed (much in the same way as the
Serbs were expulsed from Kosovo). In this design, NATO's intent is clear,
it consists in fracturing and destroying Macedonia as a country.
ENDNOTES
1. Hamburger Abendblatt, Hamburg, 27 June 2001, English translation by
OK-Macedonia, Skopje, 28 June 2001, at
http://www.ok.mk/news/story.asp?id=1631
.
2. Christian Science Monitor, 27 June 2001.
3. Report from informed source in Skopje, 3 July 2001.
4. Christian Science Monitor, op. cit.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. AFP. Paris, 4 July 2001.
8. Statement of Ljubica Acevska, Macedonia's first ambassador to the
United States, UPI, 5 July 2001.
9. See Col. David Hackworth, Wanted Guns for Hire, Toogood Reports, July
10, 2001, at
http://toogoodrep
orts.com/column/general/hackworth/071001.htm.
10. See The Record, Bergen County New Jersey, 25 March 2001, and the New
York Times, 17 July 2001.
11. Washington Times, 14 December 1997 and US Congress, Press Release,
"Militant Islamic Base", Congressional Press Releases, 16 January 1997.
12. Scotland on Sunday, Glasgow, 15 June 2001,
http://www.scotland
onsunday.com/text_only.cfm?id=SS01025960, see also UPI, 9 July 2001.
13. New York Times, 19 March 2001. In March 2001, the New York-based
Albanian-language newspaper Bota Sot printed an advertisement by the
National Liberation Army (NLA) "calling Albanians [in the US] to register
as volunteers and to donate money." See The Guardian, London, 20 March 2001.
14. The Guardian, 20 March 2001, available at
http://gu.com/Kosovo/Story/0,2
763,459596,00.html. See also ITAR Tass, Moscow, 20 March 2001.
15. According to the editor of Bota Sot, Dervish Jahjaga interviewed by
The Guardian, London, 20 March 2001.
16. For further details see Sunday Times, London, 10 June 2001 at
htt
p://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/06/10/stifgneeu01001.html.
See also Jared Israel, Sorry Virginia, but they are NATO troops, not
Rebels, Emperors Clothes, June 2001 at
http://emperors-clothes.com/mac/time
s2.htm.
C Copyright by Michel Chossudovsky, Ottawa, July 2001. All rights
reserved. Permission is granted to post this text on non-commercial
community internet sites, provided the essay remains intact, the copyright
note is displayed and no lengthy headers or footers are added without
consulting the author. To publish this text in printed and/or other forms,
including commercial internet sites and excerpts, contact the author at
chossudovsky@videotron.ca, fax: 1-514-4256224.
(
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