UN Run out of Northern Kosovo

[MKSheppard]

Belmont Club

Yes, I know this is linking a blog, but Wretchard put it all together into a coherent post:

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The UN has been run out of Northern Kosovo by the 'Serbian insurgency'. Reuters reports that NATO troops now hold a strip of north "after Serb riots" unceremoniously evicted UN personnel from it "in the most serious challenge to the state since it split from Serbia last month."

The U.N. mission that has run Kosovo since the 1998-99 war said the withdrawal of its police and civilian staff from the Serb stronghold of north Mitrovica was only temporary, but could not say when they would return. ...

"We will maintain our intention to deploy the mission throughout the territory of Kosovo," the EU's new Kosovo envoy, Pieter Feith, told a news conference. The violence, sparked by a U.N. police operation to retake a U.N. court seized three days earlier by protesting Serbs, was the worst since Kosovo's 90-percent Albanian majority declared independence from Serbia on Feb 17.

Feith's intentions are empty because the UN doesn't have the capability to deploy in the face of Serbian opposition. It must rely on NATO security to do that. What the UN's capability is has already been demonstrated.

The violence, sparked by a U.N. police operation to retake a U.N. court seized three days earlier by protesting Serbs, was the worst since Kosovo's 90-percent Albanian majority declared independence from Serbia on Feb 17.

NATO said its troops came under automatic gunfire as Serbs converged on the court following the dawn raid. Serb media reports said about 70 civilians were wounded, along with dozens of U.N. police and soldiers of the 16,000-strong NATO-led peacekeeping force.

The UN attempted a "show of force" and a "look who's boss" operation at the courthouse. Just who showed the force and who proved the boss was amply demonstrated in one phrase. The UN withdrew. UN farces quit in the face of "grenade and gun attacks", described by the Times Online in a paragraph evocative of how much moral authority the World Body has on the ground.

Diplomats told The Times that a confrontation had been brewing in Mitrovica for days and was expected after Friday, when Serbs seized the courthouse from where the UN has overseen local justice since Serbian forces were ejected from Kosovo by Nato in 1999. About 300 Serbs demanding the establishment of their own court refused to leave the building after negotiations with UN officials failed at the weekend.

The confrontation began at dawn on the fourth anniversary of attacks on ethnic Albanians by Serbs, which triggered the final, fruitless round of international talks on Kosovo's status. It also coincided with a visit by the Serbian Minister for Kosovo to the region. Several hundred UN special police backed by Nato peacekeepers stormed the building, arresting 53 occupiers.

As word of the raid spread, the UN vehicles were attacked with stones, grenades and firecrackers. Several were set alight and at least ten of those arrested released by the mob. Nato troops were left to try to restore order. “We used automatic weapons to respond but fired only warning shots,” Etienne du Fayet de la Tour, a French Nato spokesman, said. “We shot in the air, not into the crowd. Eight French soldiers are injured with grenades, stones and Molotov cocktails.”

What happens next is that the UN plans to express its unqualified outrage, absolute indignation and an categorical protest from behind the protection of NATO and wait for the military alliance to pacify the Serbs, so that they can invent further employment for themselves investigating that operation at one of their humanitarian tribunals.

But in reality there is no long term way the UN can keep the rump of Serbian territory in Kosovo short of an indefinite occupation by NATO troops. The Serbians don't like the UN plan; and probably they don't like the UN either. Should NATO "end the war?" and "bring home the troops?" (Where's Will.I.Am when you need him?) Unfortunately there is one further wrinkle. What if the Serbs attempt to take back parts of Kosovo under the argument that Kosovo's indepdendence is illegal under international law? Kosovo can hardly defend itself. How far will NATO go to preserve the independence of Kosovo? If NATO doesn't protect Kosovo from the Serbs the Global Jihad will flood into Kosovo to assume the role of their protector. And if NATO abandons the field it will have defeated by a Russian backed proxy within Europe, which it cannot allow. So it may have to back the UN against its own best interests. What a mess.

Let's refer the problem to the UN. Oh, wait ...

[Omega18]

But in reality there is no long term way the UN can keep the rump of Serbian territory in Kosovo short of an indefinite occupation by NATO troops. The Serbians don't like the UN plan; and probably they don't like the UN either. Should NATO "end the war?" and "bring home the troops?" (Where's Will.I.Am when you need him?) Unfortunately there is one further wrinkle. What if the Serbs attempt to take back parts of Kosovo under the argument that Kosovo's indepdendence is illegal under international law? Kosovo can hardly defend itself. How far will NATO go to preserve the independence of Kosovo? If NATO doesn't protect Kosovo from the Serbs the Global Jihad will flood into Kosovo to assume the role of their protector. And if NATO abandons the field it will have defeated by a Russian backed proxy within Europe, which it cannot allow. So it may have to back the UN against its own best interests. What a mess.

To answer this part of what you brought up...

The reality is why its questionable whether that particular part of northern Kosovo will remain part of the country, a partition means that Serbia is effectively aknowledging Kosovo's independance through that action. (Otherwise there is no need to partition off part of the country in the first place.) We're talking about a limited portion of the country, and other Serb dominated areas are in the wrong locations for Serbia to realistically take control of them.

If Serbia tried to outright take control of Kosovo with an invasion, NATO will simply crush them militarily. Serbia's military is not very strong after all the years of recent economic problems and the equipment lost in previous recent military conflicts Serbia was involved in. The reality is countries such as Germany and France, (who will definitely get involved in such a scenario) are not really that militarily streached at the moment and can commit plenty of forces to deal with the situation. Even given the US's other commitments enough forces could be spared to resolve such a conventional military conflict which wouldn't take very long to end in a very decisive Serbian defeat.

Basically if anything many of the other European countries absolutely don't want to see Serbia invading other countries in the future, and letting this go would be an intellerable situation which would lead to a humanitarian disaster in Kosovo, and probably suggest that Russia could get away with things in the future while destabilizing the balkans.

[Vympel]

It's unsurprising the UN is getting a frosty reception - it was the UN resolutions that guaranteed Kosovo's status as part of Serbia, and they're just rolling over for the flagrantly illegal imposed partitioning of Serbia.

The reality is why its questionable whether that particular part of northern Kosovo will remain part of the country, a partition means that Serbia is effectively aknowledging Kosovo's independance through that action. (Otherwise there is no need to partition off part of the country in the first place.)

I think they may have to just proceed on that basis anyway, purely to protect the Serb region that adjoins Serbia. The Albanians will ethnically cleanse the Serbs from the rest of Kosovo first chance they get.

[Kane Starkiller]

I still remember late 1980s when I was still a kid news reports showing Albanians from Kosovo charging police transports with rocks. Now the Serbs are the one with rocks and Albanians have the tanks.

[G'Kar]The wheel turns does it not ambassador?[/G'Kar]

[Mange]

It's unsurprising the UN is getting a frosty reception - it was the UN resolutions that guaranteed Kosovo's status as part of Serbia, and they're just rolling over for the flagrantly illegal imposed partitioning of Serbia.

Considering the illegal attempts of ethnical cleansing of Kosovo by the Serbs, I can certainly understand why Kosovo, with it's majority population of Albanians, declared independence.

[Netko]

I still remember late 1980s when I was still a kid news reports showing Albanians from Kosovo charging police transports with rocks. Now the Serbs are the one with rocks and Albanians have the tanks.

[G'Kar]The wheel turns does it not ambassador?[/G'Kar]

The karmic justice/irony of Serb actions from '90 onwards is a very rare thing in the world. From plans of Great Serbia back then to, 3 wars by Serbia proper and 3 losses, with additional losses by Serbian puppets, having a rump Serbia today that is territorially the smallest Serbian state since the beginning of existence of Serbia as a modern state...

[Sea Skimmer]

Considering the illegal attempts of ethnical cleansing of Kosovo by the Serbs, I can certainly understand why Kosovo, with it's majority population of Albanians, declared independence.

Actually no such thing happened until AFTER NATO started bombing when the Serbs decided to flood the roads with refuges to impend NATO attacks. The supposed genocide that trigged the bombing simply never happened, war crimes trials have already ruled as much. What’s more, these wonderful Albanians, led by the KLA which was declared a terrorist organization by the US State Department and which now openly roams the streets, ethnically cleansed the place of most of its Serb population right after NATO rolled in.

[MKSheppard]

Actually no such thing happened until AFTER NATO started bombing when the Serbs decided to flood the roads with refuges to impend NATO attacks. The supposed genocide that trigged the bombing simply never happened, war crimes trials have already ruled as much. What’s more, these wonderful Albanians, led by the KLA which was declared a terrorist organization by the US State Department and which now openly roams the streets, ethnically cleansed the place of most of its Serb population right after NATO rolled in.

Silly skimmer, don't bring facts into this!

[Mange]

Considering the illegal attempts of ethnical cleansing of Kosovo by the Serbs, I can certainly understand why Kosovo, with it's majority population of Albanians, declared independence.

Actually no such thing happened until AFTER NATO started bombing when the Serbs decided to flood the roads with refuges to impend NATO attacks.

Sources? Evidence?

The supposed genocide that trigged the bombing simply never happened, war crimes trials have already ruled as much.

Show that then.

What’s more, these wonderful Albanians, led by the KLA which was declared a terrorist organization by the US State Department and which now openly roams the streets, ethnically cleansed the place of most of its Serb population right after NATO rolled in.

I know and that is just as deplorable as the cleansing performed by the Serbian forces prior to and during operation Allied Force.

[Mange]

Actually no such thing happened until AFTER NATO started bombing when the Serbs decided to flood the roads with refuges to impend NATO attacks. The supposed genocide that trigged the bombing simply never happened, war crimes trials have already ruled as much. What’s more, these wonderful Albanians, led by the KLA which was declared a terrorist organization by the US State Department and which now openly roams the streets, ethnically cleansed the place of most of its Serb population right after NATO rolled in.

Silly skimmer, don't bring facts into this!

Since I've never seen you bringing much facts into the discussion and your use of highly dubious sources, then that's certainly an improvement.

[Vympel]

Show that then.

You can't be serious. NATO claimed that hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians were murdered in Kosovo, with absurd figures ranging from 100,000 to 225,000. That simply never happened, and no evidence was ever found of such an outrageous lie. It was simply propaganda on the same level as that used prior to the Iraq invasion. It's not actually incumbent on Skimmer to prove a negative, btw, but it's all over the net anyway.

Wall Street Journal, for example

As far as I'm concerned, there is zero difference in the lack of justification for the invasion of Iraq and the bombing of Kosovo. They were both simply acts of aggression.

[Mange]

Show that then.

You can't be serious. NATO claimed that hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians were murdered in Kosovo, with absurd figures ranging from 100,000 to 225,000. That simply never happened, and no evidence was ever found of such an outrageous lie. It was simply propaganda on the same level as that used prior to the Iraq invasion. It's not actually incumbent on Skimmer to prove a negative, btw, but it's all over the net anyway.

Wall Street Journal, for example

Alright, considering my trust in you, I'll concede the point (however, I never stated that there was a genocide that went on).

[Sea Skimmer]

Sources? Evidence?

You first moron. You made a claim, you fucking back it up, thats how things work.

[Mange]

Sources? Evidence?

You first moron. You made a claim, you fucking back it up, thats how things work.

I can't prove a negative, asshat. Besides, I've already conceded the issue.

[Sea Skimmer]

I can't prove a negative, asshat. Besides, I've already conceded the issue.

You weren’t asked to prove a negative. Showing that an event took place is not proving a negative. Proving a negative would be in fact exactly what you wanted me to do when you thought you where being so clever demanding evidence.

[Mange]

I can't prove a negative, asshat. Besides, I've already conceded the issue.

You weren’t asked to prove a negative. Showing that an event took place is not proving a negative. Proving a negative would be in fact exactly what you wanted me to do when you thought you where being so clever demanding evidence.

Right. Sorry, I mixed it up with another thing. As I said, I've already conceded that I don't have enough information that verifies a ethnic cleansing to the degree maintained by NATO.