Chomsky on Kosovo

If you missed Noam Chomsky's A Review of NATO’s War over Kosovo, that's a shame. It's never too late.

This is required reading for anyone who thinks George Bush is evil but Clinton is a nice guy. It is current because Chomsky's basic contention lends well to the notion of fighting terrorism in Iraq.

The logic, widely accepted, is intriguing. Uncontroversially, the vast crimes took place after the bombing began: they were not a cause but a consequence. It requires considerable audacity, therefore, to take the crimes to provide retrospective justification for the actions that contributed to inciting them.

The best part is Wesley Clark's assessment...

As the bombing campaign began, U.S.-NATO Commanding General Wesley Clark informed the press that it was “entirely predictable” that Serb terror would intensify as a result. Shortly after, Clark explained again that “The military authorities fully anticipated the vicious approach that Milosevic would adopt, as well as the terrible efficiency with which he would carry it out.” Elaborating a few weeks later, he observed that the NATO operation planned by “the political leadership...was not designed as a means of blocking Serb ethnic cleansing. It was not designed as a means of waging war against the Serb and MUP [internal police] forces in Kosovo. Not in any way. There was never any intent to do that. That was not the idea.” General Clark stated further that plans for Operation Horseshoe “have never been shared with me,” referring to the alleged Serb plan to expel the population that was publicized by NATO after the shocking Serb reaction to the bombing had become evident.

Chomsky is absolutely relentless throughout. A fantastic read. Interesting how the media, and the world, give Clinton a pass on this one.


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