Before the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the subsequent war in Syria, the liberal-neocon Crusaders championed the conquest of the Serbs. Twenty years before the outbreak of anti Russian hysteria, there was the anti Serb hysteria of the 1990’s. Atrocities were committed by all sides during the wars of the former Yugoslavia, but it was the Serbs who were singled out by American and European governments and media as the alleged instigators.
In 1999, the Clinton administration and NATO bombed Serbia for over three months until the Serbs were forced to withdraw from Kosovo abandoning territory that had been liberated from the Ottoman Turks in 1912-13. It should be remembered that the Democratic administration in Washington demanded that the Serbs cede Kosovo in three years time or be bombed.
Twenty one years later, the Democrats would attempt to impeach Donald Trump for alleged threats against Ukraine. In truth, Trump did not do anything to compare with the threats the Clinton administration directed against Serbia. Previous to Kosovo, the Clinton administration bombed the Bosnian Serbs and supported the Muslims over the Serbs as they also supported the Neo-Nazi Croats against the Serbs in the region of Krajiina.
Tensions in Bosnia have arisen again. The Serbs are threatening to secede. The Americans and Europeans should not repeat the mistakes of the 1990’s. They should work for a peaceful settlement that takes into consideration the interests of the Serbs.
The big difference between today and the 1990’s is the status of Russia. During the 1990’s, Russia was weak and looked upon the destruction of Serbia helplessly. In the aftermath of Russian successes in Crimea and Syria, the westerners would be making a huge mistake if they attempt to reimpose their will on Serbia as they did during the 1990’s.
The Russians have not forgotten Serbia and they have not accepted the detachment of Kosovo from Serbia. Russia and Serbia are Slavic and Orthodox. They also share a common enemy in the form of the Democratic Party and the Clintons. The Democrats waged war on Serbia and it is the Democrats who instigated the anti Russia hysteria of the past several years for partisan purposes.
Hillary Clinton once compared Vladimir Putin to Hitler. This from a woman whose husband armed and supported the pro Nazi and anti Semitic Croatian regime of Franjo Tudjman. The Democrats under Obama and Biden armed and supported the Neo-Nazi militias in Ukraine that the Russians fought against.
Hopefully, lessons have been learned and the west will not repeat their mistakes in Bosnia. They should listen to all parties in Bosnia and offer to mediate but by no means should they demonize the Serbs as they did three decades ago.
One reply on “Return Of The Balkans”
Sound advice. The USA is vastly overextended anyway and has no money for foreign adventures. If the northern Europeans want to pay the price for phony engagement in Bosnia, let them pay it. America has had enough of being the world’s policeman.