Peace is breaking out all over, in Macedonia, so they say! Some may call it an armistice. Others, a meeting and agreement of warring factions, still others, a halt to hostilities or a silencing of weapons. This is certainly like no peace that I have ever seen in the past. How is this different, one may ask, peace is peace, isn’t it? A truce, or an armistice, means that military operations, focused on destroying the adversary, come to an end. Not, however, in the razor thin veneer of the unqualified and heretofore unsubstantiated tranquillity that prevails in Macedonia. Macedonia, and NATO’s misinterpretation of the tactical situation on the ground, may well serve to redefine “peace treaty” forever.
As British soldiers flew into Macedonia, this past weekend, they were carefully warned that they could be drawn, quite easily, into the festering sore that the world knows as war in Macedonia. As if we, the common observers, are foundering about lost in the bliss of our own ignorance, waiting for someone to explain the meaning of peace. That is what faces Great Britain’s soldiers, with their NATO coconspirators, in the latest human rot of the Balkans. Military leaders can “warn” all they want, however the world is not buying the “topsy-turvy” delusional belief of NATO, that they are going home in a month, after collecting the “rebel” weapons. As well, that peace has come to Macedonia.
Glitches are appearing everywhere. This, in spite of NATO’s apparently stoic belief that the Albanian rebels, and the Macedonian forces, will soon be sipping Chardonnay, sharing brie, and hot-tubbing together. In essence, steadfastly applying themselves at letting bygones be bygones.
However, dear NATO, things are a bit rocky! For example, Macedonian fighter bombers have targeted and leveled ethnic Albanian villages, under the cloak of peace, just this past weekend. The CIA’s renegade Albanian rebels, many from the New York City area, have launched routine infantry assaults and the “usual” kidnappings, rapes, and unique sport of carving their initials in people’s backs. If one were bold, or stupid enough, to stop and engage the opposing factions in light banter, it would not take long to learn the truth: every Albanian and every Macedonian has a cache of armament at home. Nobody would dare trust anybody else. But, alas, we have peace!
With the defiant Albanian rebels entrenched on the hillsides, and government warplanes buzzing overhead, all the inertia that could easily lead NATO into its biggest and longest, subsequent war, in the former Yugoslavia, is firmly entrenched. As is common in the Balkans, instability spreads.
Reaction to the latest round of lunacy, which is unfolding in Macedonia, can now be seen in Serbia. Politically, Serbia’s future and current standing is not all that stable. This may come as a surprise to some. We generally assume that Serbia’s “West-leaning allegiance” which was recently bought and paid for, to the tune of 1.3 Billion Dollars, by the United States, will remain intact. This monetary consideration was showered on Serbia, just hours after Slobodan Milosevic was served up to the war crimes tribunal, like a ripe peach. Just this past weekend the “present” Yugoslavian President, Vojislav Kostunica, played a proverbial game of chess with his party’s ministers. This constitutes a major governmental shakeup. His action could well result in a far less, “West-friendly” political administration in Belgrade. This is particularly significant because a large amount of the support that the Albanian rebels receive comes from the border area of Macedonia and Serbia.
As well, in this tranquil and peaceful land under the umbrella of a peace treaty, so we are told, more trouble cropped up. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, crowds showed up at the border crossing between Kosovo and Macedonia. Declaring themselves the “Macedonian World Congress” — not a bad nickname if I do say so — this gaggle blocked NATO vehicles from entering Macedonia. As a result of this grassroots hooligan action, I cannot lend great credence to the tactical stability of the NATO forces, who yielded to the group. And these are the “hard-chargers” who are going to disarm the Albanian rebels? Yes, Peace is breaking out all over.
There is nothing that the Albanian rebels want more than for NATO to remain in Macedonia. My prediction, in the long run, shall remain that Macedonia will become a NATO protectorate. This will ensure a healthy environment for the Albanian rebels to sustain, and enlarge, their military and political causes through autonomy and legitimization, via NATO’s protective sphere. One can rest assured that the Albanian rebels will do their very best to keep NATO in Macedonia, even if it means killing a few, here and there.
So, now come the British troops. Ready or not, NATO is coming to town. They have legitimized their forced entry into Macedonia by convincing quasi-national leaders to capitulate and sign agreements. NATO arrives in this cesspool of death, mistrust, retribution and bloody reprisal, which their overt and covert actions have caused. The Brits are an advance mission and charged with securing entry points and gauging the sincerity of the former warring factions. Somehow, by conducting liaison with the rebels and government agencies, they will be able to determine if it is safe to deploy the remainder of the NATO force. I hope they packed their crystal balls.
Peace in Macedonia is an admirable concept. I would opine that peace can be declared as status quo, today! This, of course, as soon as all factions trust each other. Of course, all crew served and assault weapons must be relinquished, all heavy armored vehicles must be destroyed. As well, I think that honest honorable citizens ought to lead the country; of the people, by the people, and for the people, at the whim of their constituents. Until that level of peace is achieved, pack heavy, it is going to be a long rocky road. Peace is breaking out all over.
