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The Terrorists Attacking Macedonia Are Nato Troops, Not 'Rebels'
by Jared Israel with research by Rick Rozoff, George Thompson and Max Sinclair. [11 June 2001]
Kosovo Albanian terrorists are now directly threatening Skopje, the capital of Macedonia.
The Western media pictures these people as local Albanians rebelling due to unbearable Macedonian oppression. Yet some of the rebels are known to be mujahideen terrorists from around the world and many of the rest are members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, fresh from training camps in Northern Albania. (1)
An article in the Sunday London 'Times' notes:
"Intelligence agents have pinpointed 16 illegal border crossings *from Kosovo* used by the NLA..."
- My emphasis. Sunday London 'Times,' 10 June 2001
If these people are *Albanians from Macedonia*, why are they entering Macedonia from Kosovo?
The London Times article, headlined "Macedonia on Brink of War," provides strong evidence that, despite the media-created image of indigenous rebels, the people attacking Macedonia are Kosovo terrorists commanded by NATO.
The 'Times' article can be read at
TERRORISTS ORGANIZED BY THE UN? IT SOUNDS CRAZY...
The 'Times' reports that:
"Hundreds of KPC [Kosovo Protection Corps] reservists were called up by their Albanian commander, Agim Ceku, in March. They subsequently disappeared to former KLA training camps in Albania and are now re-emerging in Macedonia."
The Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) was created out of the Kosovo Liberation Army by UNMIK, the United Nations administration in Kosovo. UNMIK simply gave the KLA terrorists new uniforms, new equipment, a new name, official UN status, a nice paycheck and a familiar racist-murderer for a leader.
Lest you think I exaggerate, the following quote is from the 21 September 1999 press briefing by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's office:
[START EXCERPT FROM Press Briefing]
"In a ceremony last night at the Kosovo Force (KFOR) headquarters in Pristina, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General [i.e., of Kofi Annan] for Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, signed a regulation establishing the Kosovo Protection Corps as a civilian emergency service agency.
"Kouchner appointed General Agim Ceku, former Chief of Staff of the Kosovo Liberation Army, as Commander of the Kosovo Protection Corps, in order to assist the transitional arrangements. A transition period of at least 60 days will be required to establish the Corps. "
- From "Daily Press Briefing Of Office Of Spokesman For Secretary-General" 21/9/99 (1a)
[END EXCERPT FROM Press Briefing]
Mr. Ceku was made military chief of the KLA by the US in the spring of 1999. The Pentagon knew Mr. Ceku from as far back as the summer of 1995 when he was artillery chief during Operation Storm. At that time, the Croatian Army, led by US advisers, drove 250,000 Serbian residents, mostly farmers, from their ancestral land in the Krajina region of Yugoslavia. These people lost virtually everything they owned. Many were brutally murdered. (1b)
Now jump ahead to September 1999. This was the height of a second massive "ethnic cleansing" - this time the KLA was driving Serbs, "Gypsies," Slavic Muslims, Jews and others from Kosovo. And so Agim Ceku, veteran of Krajina in 1995 and Kosovo in the summer of 1999 - the two worst racist military assaults in Europe since World War II - became head of the Kosovo Protection Corps.
He was appointed by Bernard Kouchner who was "Special Representative of the Secretary-General," but one assumes Kouchner and Secretary-General Annan consulted with officials in Washington [For more on US domination of UNMIK, see footnote 1C]
The day after Ceku was picked, some Serbs protested. According to Kofi Annan's daily press briefing:
"Mr. Kouchner reiterated his mission’s goal of trying to build a multi-ethnic Kosovo. But, this does not come overnight, he said. 'It will come if we give enough time to build confidence. We are ready.'"
-- From "Daily Press Briefing Of Office Of Spokesman For Secretary-General" 22/9/99 (1a)
Six months later, the London Observer reported how the KPC was doing strengthening multi-ethnic Kosovo:
[START EXCERPT FROM London Observer]
"Murder, torture and extortion: these are the extraordinary charges made against the UN's own Kosovo Protection Corps in a confidential United Nations report written for Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
"The KPC stands accused in the document, drawn up on 29 February, of 'criminal activities - killings, ill-treatment/torture, illegal policing, abuse of authority, intimidation, breaches of political neutrality and hate-speech'.
"The 5,000-strong corps, funded by UN members including Britain, has a £30 million aid budget for Kosovo. It was set up to provide 'disaster response services'; instead, says the UN, it has been murdering and torturing people. "
-- London Observer, March 12, 2000)
[END EXCERPT FROM London Observer]
Secretary-General Kofi Annan didn't deny the existence of the UN report. He didn't deny the content. He didn't recall Mr. Kouchner. He didn't order hearings. He simply continued as if nothing were amiss. This refusal to acknowledge glaring evidence of crime is a signature trait of the New World Order.
Doesn't Kofi Annan's behavior suggest that the charges are true? Doesn't it suggest that Mr. Annan considers it acceptable for the UN to sponsor terrorists?
Now, the London Times tells us, Mr. Ceku has "called up" the "KPC reservists" to invade Macedonia.
This terrorist assault, carried out *by a UN organization*, tears up the UN Charter which supposedly commits the UN to "the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace" (1d)
Indeed, UN Security Council Resolution 1244, by which the UN and NATO justify their occupation of Kosovo, explicitly requires the UN to protect the sovereignty of Macedonia:
[START EXCERPT FROM UN Security Council Resolution 1244]
* "The KLA and other armed Kosovo Albanian groups [must] end immediately all offensive actions and comply with the requirements for demilitarization...
* "[The United Nations Security Council] condemns all terrorist acts by any party [and reaffirms] the commitment of all Member States to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the other States of the region, as set out in the Helsinki Final Act...
* "[The UN and the security forces operating under its jurisdiction in Kosovo will see to the] demilitarizing the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and other armed Kosovo Albanian groups." http://www.nato.int/kosovo/docu/u990610a.htm
[END EXCERPT FROM UN Security Council Resolution 1244]
EMBARRASSING MAPS
The London 'Times' article reports that:
"Embarrassingly for the alliance, they [the terrorists attacking Macedonia] are making use of maps issued by Nato for the Kosovo Protection Corps."
Isn't it charming how the 'Times' employs the term, 'embarrassingly,' as if NATO had committed some breech of etiquette? The idea is that NATO never expected the KPC to use those maps to invade Macedonia.
There's a problem here. Macedonia is a sovereign state. The Kosovo Protection Corps is supposed to deal with natural disasters *in Kosovo*. It has no valid reason to set foot on Macedonian soil.
So why did NATO give the KPC maps of Macedonia, unless to help them invade? Which suggests that NATO was embarrassed not because the KPC used the maps but because they got caught.
SLIPPING OFF TO NORTHERN ALBANIA
The article states that after being "called up," the KPC members "subsequently disappeared to former KLA training camps" in Northern Albania. Being trained to attack Macedonia violates UN Resolution 1244 which requires the UN to protect the:
"...sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia *and the other States of the region...*" (Security Council Resolution 1244)
Why wasn't NATO dispatched to destroy the training camps and arrest hundreds of KPC criminals and their trainers?
NATO commanders could have located the camps easily enough. They only had to ask the NATO officers who trained the KLA at those camps:
[START UPI EXCERPT]
"The news report out of Krume, in northern Albania says...[negotiations] for a long-term training deal are going on with the one-time U.S. military officers who operate reportedly with semi-official Pentagon approval. The mercenary company is identified as Military and Professional Resources International. The article also asserts a British special forces SAS unit is using two camps near Tirana, the Albanian capital, and another on the Kosovar border to teach KLA officers how to conduct intelligence-gathering operations on Serbian positions. According to the Telegraph. the KLA and SAS -- within Kosovo and from reconnaissance missions staged from Albania -- are using satellite and cellular telephones to provide NATO with details on Serbian targets" ('UPI' April 18, 1999)
[END UPI EXCERPT]
The above article is from April 1999. The next is from March 2001:
[START TIMES EXCERPT]
"*Embarrassingly* for Kfor, it emerged that two of the Kosovo-based commanders leading the Albanian push were trained by former British SAS and Parachute Regiment officers in the days when Nato was more comfortable with the fledgling Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)."
"A former member of a European special forces unit who accompanied the KLA during the Kosovo conflict said that a commander with the nom de guerre of Bilal was organizing the flow of arms and men into Macedonia, and that the veteran KLA commander Adem Bajrami was helping to co-ordinate the assault on Tetovo. Both were taught by British soldiers in the secretive training camps that operated above Bajram Curri in northern Albania during 1998 and 1999." (My emphasis, 'Sunday Times' (London), March 18, 2001)
- My emphasis, Sunday Times (London), March 18, 2001
[END TIMES EXCERPT]
So some of the folks leading the attack on Macedonia were trained by the British in those same Northern Albanian camps. By the way, did you notice that they used that word, "embarrassingly," again?
And NATO is *still* training the KLA:
"[In the late fall of 2000] Western special forces were still training the guerrillas, as a result of decisions taken before the change of government in Yugoslavia. " (BBC, 29 January 2001)
If sponsoring terrorists is so embarrassing, why doesn't NATO stop?
"WHAT DO YOU THINK WE ARE? SOLDIERS?"
As you will recall, the 'Times' reported that:
"Intelligence agents have pinpointed 16 illegal border crossings from Kosovo used by the NLA..."
Why doesn't NATO do its duty under Resolution 1244 and arrest the terrorists when they try to cross into Macedonia? According to the U.S. Army's description of the rules of war:
[START EXCERPT ON 'The Law of Land Warfare']
"A military commander is responsible not only for criminal acts committed in pursuance of his orders, but is 'also responsible if he has actual knowledge, or should have knowledge....that troops or other persons subject to his control are about to commit or have committed a war crime and he fails to take the necessary and reasonable steps to insure compliance with the law of war to punish violations thereof.'"
- - From 'Nuremberg and Vietnam: An American Tragedy,' by Telford Taylor, US Chief Counsel at Nuremberg, page 58, © The New York Times Company, 1970. Taylor is citing US Army FM 27-10, 'The Law of Land Warfare,' (1956) page 178.)
[END EXCERPT ON 'The Law of Land Warfare']
Unfortunately, the notion of NATO stopping the KPC terrorists from entering Macedonia is a bit unrealistic since NATO has been and still is training the KLA and since Kofi Annan's "special representative" gave the terrorists UN status.
To paraphrase Madeleine Albright, the former Secretary of State, and now a big shot at the National Endowment for Democracy, "What's the point of having this great terrorist army if we're just going to arrest them?"
U.S. AND EUROPEANS PLAY THE SAME GAME
In the second half of May 2001 there was big row in Macedonia over U.S. diplomat Robert Frowick, the OSCE's special envoy in Skopje, Macedonia.
On May 18th Frowick announced that he was conferring with KLA leaders in Kosovo and leaders of Albanian parties in Macedonia, in the interests of peace, of course. Then it was revealed that he'd brokered a deal between leaders of the Macedonian Albanian parties, which were part of the Macedonian government, and the "NLA" terrorists attacking Macedonia. Again, in the interests of peace.
The Macedonian government reacted furiously, charging that this violated their policy of refusing to negotiate with terrorists. The deal was then denounced by some European diplomats, and Frowick left Macedonia.
This incident has been cited as evidence that the US and Europeans are divided over Macedonia, with the US favoring appeasing terrorists, and the Europeans siding with Macedonia.
Let's look at the big picture. The Macedonians are in fact fighting the terrorist Kosovo Liberation Army. Its program is to create a Greater Albania out of parts of various Balkans countries, including Macedonia, and to drive non-Albanians, especially Serbs, Macedonians and "Gypsies" from all parts of the territory. They have mostly succeeded in Kosovo.
These terrorists were trained in camps in Northern Albania by NATO. They served as NATO's ground troops and as bomb "spotters" during the 1999 war against Yugoslavia. After NATO occupied Kosovo, the terrorists were brought into the Kosovo Protection Corps, or KPC, an official United Nations organization. And now they have been mobilized *by the KPC* to attack Macedonia.
Note the phrase: mobilized by the KPC.
This is crucial. According to the Times article, it isn't the case that some terrorists *who happen to be members of the KPC* are among those attacking Macedonia.
Instead, "reservists" in the UN's Kosovo Protection Corps have been "called up" by KPC leader Agim Ceku and sent to their old NATO training camps where they got refresher courses in terrorism and then attacked Macedonia. This is an official act of a United Nations organization. By feigning ignorance - even as they supply the terrorists with proper military maps - NATO and the UN demonstrate full consciousness of guilt for the worst crime: launching a war of aggression.
Most West European countries are members of NATO. All are members of the UN. How could the U.S. have launched the terrorist attack on Macedonia if European governments, comprising the bulk of NATO, opposed it?
Therefore the criticisms, which some European diplomats have made, that Frowick's attempt to legitimize the "NLA" terrorists goes against the European Union/NATO policy of not negotiating with terrorists, is an insult to our intelligence, and a lie.
Frowick was involved in an advance action to reward the terrorists by treating them as valid partners in a political process. When his deal was first announced, UNMIK-ONLINE - the Website of the UN in Kosovo - wrote:
"Head of the OSCE Mission in Macedonia, Ambassador Robert Frowick, possibly achieved his goal to end the fighting in Macedonia. Meeting far away from members of the media, Ambassador Frowick managed to receive consent to end the fighting in Macedonia....[It is expected that] it will also receive the blessing of all political leaders that are in the Macedonian coalition government in closing the last chapter of this conflict."
But when the deal was made public, the Macedonian government, anxious to deflect public anger away from itself, reacted violently. To preserve their own credibility, the Europeans followed suit.
Commented the London Guardian:
"It is not clear whether Frowick, who is a special envoy to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, was acting on his own initiative or, more probably, on behalf of governments who could disown him if things went wrong. Regrettably, when the Macedonian Slav leaders objected, the EU and Nato also did. They called the Frowick deal 'unacceptable'."
(1f)
What is the European stance on Macedonia?
It was stated quite clearly by European Information Service on the occasion of Javier Solana's May 28th trip to Macedonia. (Solana is the High Representative of the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy.)
"The EU and the international community recognise that the ethnic Albanian community has legitimate grievances and Mr Solana is trying to force the pace on reform so that these are met. This, according to his officials, will remove the inter-ethnic tensions that have led to the uprising." (1G)
What does it mean for the Europeans to describe an invasion as an uprising based on legitimate grievances?
According to the London Times article, there are now about 1800 terrorists in Macedonia, a country of about two million. That's one terrorist for every eleven hundred Macedonians.
According to the London Telegraph of 1 July:
"Up to 20 per cent of the KPC are now absent from active duty - and, like Mr Ostremi [the KPC chief of staff, accused of launching the attack on Macedonia!] most are believed to be fighting with the NLA...."
So the majority of "NLA" members are apparently from the KPC. Many others may be Kosovo terrorists not in the KPC. So, it's an invasion.
What would Germany do if eighty thousand terrorists attacked?
What would the U.S. do if 250-300,000 terrorists attacked, with perhaps 200,000 coming from outside the country? Would Washington negotiate to "remove the inter-ethnic tensions that have led to the uprising"?
By urging Macedonia to go easy on this invasion, the Europeans play a treacherous role. They are the "good cop," telling Macedonia to stay calm, talk things over, make concessions to these attack dogs because they have legitimate grievances...
This has a demoralizing effect on members of the Army and police and ordinary people as well, encouraging them to feel the world is against them. Thus the advice to stay calm and negotiate magnifies the damage done by the KLA attack dogs.
Published a few weeks after the Frowick incident, the London Times article reported:
"Macedonia's coalition government came close to declaring war after five Macedonian soldiers died in an ambush last Tuesday, but President Boris Trajkovski has heeded European Union calls for calm."
So what about President Boris Trajkovski, correctly described by the Times as heeding the European calls for "calm"?
In a dance of subservience, President Trajkovski and his government stay in step with the Europeans while talking out of both sides of the mouth.
To win, Macedonia needs to:
1) Replace wavering and treacherous members of the government;
2) Throw out the Western NGOs, the OSCE 'helpers' and all military advisers from NATO countries and military subcontractors;
3) Adopt emergency measures to defend the sovereignty of the country and to ensure the human security of all citizens;
4) Jail leading traitors and saboteurs;
5) Urgently request experienced military volunteers from similarly affected states in the world (including those from the Slavic East, which is the ultimate target of the NATO assault on the Balkans).
In other words, Macedonia must act as if it is being invaded, as if its very existence as a state is at issue. Because this is exactly the case.
Now is not the time to negotiate supposed grievances. The KLA is not 'rebelling' in response to 'injustice.' (1H)
The KLA is invading on orders from the covert apparatuses of the U.S. and some European countries. These countries do not want to appear as crude colonial powers, intervening directly. That would be politically costly. So they use the KLA a) as an attack force and b) to create the appearance of a legitimate rebellion, thus justifying intervention.
Therefore Macedonia must take all measures to stop the KLA.
WASHINGTON KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT IT'S DOING
United States/West European policy in the Balkans is dangerous, but it is not unfocused or mysterious. Generally speaking, it is predictable. It is not based on the whims of U.S. Presidents, whether they wear the liberal or conservative mask. It is based on a broad consensus of powerful financial interests. According to this consensus, in order to preserve the hegemonic moment enjoyed by the U.S. and its close allies, it is crucial to prevent the development of opposing forces, to crush them in the cradle in order to guarantee world domination. The most important goal: to pulverize the former Soviet Republics and associated states, reduce them to impoverished, warring protectorates dominated by the U.S. and Western Europe and by local proxy forces, loyal to NATO, such as the secessionist faction among Albanians.
In this way, the American and West European Establishments would accomplish two things. First, they could exploit the former socialist world's vast resources. Second they could guarantee that the old Soviet enemy did not put itself back together in some new form and challenge the US/European Empire.
And if the U.S. were to succeed in reducing this great area to shattered subservience, it would be easier, much easier, to do the same to China.
But the people of the former Soviet Union cannot be enslaved peacefully. Ten years of Western 'help' has taught them plenty about Washington's intentions.
That is why the U.S. is trying to surround the former Soviet Union and penetrate it with military bases and hostile forces, often under the guise of humanitarian help or assistance in moving towards democracy. To this end, Washington must consolidate control over a devastated Balkans in which political forces that would resist foreign domination and the U.S./European drive to the East - especially forces among the Greek and Slavic populations - are weakened or destroyed. With this crucial southern flank secured, Washington's Empire would be in a stronger position to pursue low intensity warfare against Russia and the rest of the former SU. (1i)
ALBANIAN TERRORISTS ARE A PUPPET FORCE
The movement for 'Greater Albania, ' which is now attacking Macedonia, is presented in the media as a powerful independent force. It is not. Rather, Washington has taken advantage of certain features of ethnic Albanian culture, attitudes and recent history to use Albanians as a proxy army and a destabilizing force to further U.S. strategy for the Balkans.
These features are: a highly authoritarian clan structure; a tradition of violent, clan-based feuding; a strong current of anti-Slav racism; and an unfortunate history of being used by Italian Fascists and German Nazis during World War II. (2)
We discussed the ways in which Washington and its Kosovo Liberation Army have used these features of ethnic Albanian culture to 'turn' the Albanians in "Why Albanians Fled Kosovo During NATO Bombing" and in shorter form in "What's Behind KLA Strategy In The Balkans?" (3 and 4, below) In the end, the Albanian people as a whole will pay a terrible price for the crimes of the KLA and those who fall for its myth of an Albanian "Third Reich."
As those articles explain, it is difficult to defeat the U.S./KLA strategy. But a posture of accommodation is definitely not the way. The KLA recruitment pitch is basically this: 'Join us or we - who are more powerful than the Macedonian government - will kill you and your fellow clan-members.'
If the Macedonian government projects a policy of weakness, it lends credibility to the KLA claim to be all-powerful.
A PARTING THOUGHT FROM THE LONDON 'TIMES'
The 'Times' reports:
"There's plenty of money around and they've got good weapons," a Nato planner said [of the KLA]. "But we're hoping they've got the sense not to start shooting down Macedonian helicopters."
Ahh, NATO is hoping that its creature, the KLA, will have sense.
Isn't that encouraging?
-- Jared Israel
Editor, Emperor's Clothes
Further reading:
1) 'CHECHEN SEPARATISTS ARE FIGHTING IN MACEDONIA' at http://emperors-clothes.com/cos/chechen.htm
1a) For the "Daily Press Briefing Of Office Of Spokesman For Secretary-General" on 21 September 1999, go to
For the 22 September briefing, go to
1b) See 'The Invasion of Serbian Krajina,' by Greg Elich at
1c) THEIR MASTER'S VOICE: The extent of US domination of the UN in Kosovo is indicated by the following incident. On June 28th 2001, President Bush, embarrassed by revelations that terrorists from Kosovo were attacking Macedonia, loudly banned a few Kosovo Albanians - including members of the KPC - from travel to the United States. Thus we had the bizarre spectacle of the US publicly scolding the very terrorists the US and Western Europe were sponsoring. This deserves a whole article in itself. In any case, Kofi Annan's office stated the following at its at its July 6th press briefing:
[START QUOTE]
"The United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the Kosovo Force (KFOR) announced today that it [sic!] had suspended five Kosovo Protection Corps members.
"The suspension comes after United States President George W. Bush issued an executive order on 27 June which listed persons who threaten stabilization efforts in the western Balkans."
[This text appears to be no longer available on the UN Website, but it was reported in the media, for example in an Agence France Presse dispatch, which can be read at
http://www.balkanpeace.org/hed/archi.../hed3664.shtml ]
[END QUOTE]
1d) For anti-aggression quote from UN Charter, go to
1e) See "How NATO and the UN Sponsor Terrorists in Kosovo,"
by Jared Israel and Rick Rozoff at
1f) The Guardian (London) * May 29, 2001 * Pg. 19 * Comment & Analysis: War and peace: The west helped end the bloodshed in Serbia. Across the border in Macedonia, it has done little to avert disaster
By Jonathan Steele - Can be read at
1G) Europe Information Service * European Report * May 30, 2001
No. 2596
"EU/MACEDONIA: SOLANA WHISPERS 'NO' TO SECRET TALKS"
1H) Regarding the claims that Albanians are oppressed in Macedonia, see "ALBANIANS IN MACEDONIA: FACTS AND FICTIONS," by Diana Johnstone at
1i) See "Low Intensity Conflict," by Prof. Ivan Angelov at
2) See "The Roots of Kosovo Fascism," by George Thompson at http://emperors-clothes.com/articles...on/rootsof.htm
3) "Why Albanians Fled Kosovo during NATO Bombing" at http://emperors-clothes.com/interviews/keys.htm
4) "What's Behind KLA Strategy in the Balkans?" at http://emperors-clothes.com/interviews/strategy.htm
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