Babel Inc

by Kerry Bolton

  ‘The people behind this are Albanians, they harass the population to get them to leave,’ said Lieutenant Ryan Leigh of the U.S. 1st infantry division, which has a command post in Klokot. ‘As to who’s actually doing it, I couldn’t really say. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, estimates that only a tenth of Kosovo’s Serb and Gypsy population now remain in the province, two months after K-For’s arrived. . . . K-For’s press centre said an elderly Serb woman was found murdered in her home in Pristina on Sunday. It is thought that the killing was a warning to the few remaining Serbs that they should leave. . . . Remembering the 14 Serb farmers massacred in their fields near Gracko last month, the men do what harvesting they can in armed posses. They do not trust K-For to protect them. . . . ‘We’ve been satanised in the west so nobody is paying attention to what is happening here,’ said another mourner, Rade Marinkovic, 45. . . . For the Serbs of Klokot, determined to stay, life is now a siege. They have no drinking water, their telephones have been cut off and they dare not send their children to school in the next village when term starts on September 1. ‘All my children are at home,’ said one Serb woman. ‘They are terrified they will be burned alive in the house. Where can I take my children? When will we be able to sleep?’[3]

  While media reports depicted Kosovar Albanian terrorism against Serbs as reprisals for Serb atrocities against Albanian ethnics, the Serbs of Kosovo had long endured terrorism from Muslim and gangster organisations. Slobodan Milosevic invaded Kosovo to protect the Serb community from Muslim terrorists who had undertaken a long campaign to ‘ethnically cleanse’ Kosovo of Serbs.

  The Kosovo problems originated with the artificial character of the Yugoslav state, whose multiethnic, multicultural federation was held together by the strongman Marshal Tito. Tito maintained the state by repressing nationalist tendencies among the different ethnic groups, so that no single ethnicity would achieve dominance. In particular Serbia, the largest region of Yugoslavia, was divided into two provinces, Kosovo and Vojvodina, while Albanian nationalism in Kosovo was repressed. By the late 1960s however, Albanian separatism focused on attacks on Serbian Orthodox churches. In 1981, 4,000 Serbs fled from Kosovo as anti-Serb riots escalated and Serbian Orthodox churches and graves were vandalised.[4]

  In 1987, The New York Times reported that Kosovo was on the edge of civil war due to the ethnic cleansing by Kosovar Albanians against Serbs. The Yugoslav army had uncovered hundreds of Albanian terrorist cells within its ranks. In one instance an Albanian army conscript shot up his barracks killing and wounding his sleeping Serb bunkmates. ‘Ethnic Albanians in Government have manipulated public funds and regulations to take over land belonging to Serbs,’ the report stated. Serb churches had been attacked, wells poisoned, and crops burned. Serb boys had been knifed and young Albanians were being told by their elders to rape Serb girls. The New York Times article cited an Albanian nationalist as stating the goal is to incorporate parts of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and all of Kosovo into a Greater Albania. From 1980 to 1987, 20,000 Serbs and Montenegrins fled Kosovo because of Albanian violence.[5]

  This was the situation when Milosevic brought the army into the province to rout the U.S.-funded 25,000-man Kosovo Liberation Army, a gangster empire of drug traffickers who were at the time regarded by the UN as a ‘terrorist organisation.’ How then did a bunch of gangsters become the darlings of the globalist Establishment and the so-called ‘international community’? Milosevic in defending his people showed himself to be noncompliant to the dictates of the New World Order.

  Just as U.S. President George W. Bush had called for all nations to enter a war against Iraq to build a ‘New World Order,’ Britain’s sanctimonious Prime Minister Tony Blair called upon the world to ‘enter a new millennium.’ In an essay in Newsweek magazine Blair wrote: ‘This is a conflict we are fighting not for territory but for values, for a new internationalism where the brutal repression of whole ethnic groups will no longer be tolerated, for a world where those responsible for such crimes have nowhere to hide.’[6]

  Blair was laying down the ground rules for new wars in the name of ‘a new internationalism’ that will not tolerate any sense of national identity, and where ethnic groups will only be recognised and defended if by so doing the broader agenda of globalisation is achieved. Here Orwellian doublethink is a convenient technique for selling the wars of the ‘new internationalism,’ or the other Orwellian principle enunciated in Animal Farm, which in this instance might be rendered as ‘all ethnicities/nations/cultures are equal but some are more equal than others.’ Albanian Kosovar ethnicity good; Serb Kosovar ethnicity bad.’ Transposed further: ‘The rights of indigenous peoples,’ unless they are White indigenes such as Britons, Flemish, Afrikaners, French, et al., then the theme is changed to the ‘rights of immigrants’ against indigenes.’ ‘Majority rights’ apply to South African Blacks, because the Afrikaners are the minority; whereas ‘minority rights apply to Maoris because Whites in New Zealand are the majority. The criterion is how a majority or a minority might be of use to agitate in the service of globalisation and ‘one world, one race.’ Hence, Kosovar Albanians, at one time widely regarded as backed by terrorists, became the victims of villainous Serbs, because that is what served globalisation.

  Other denizens of the globalist Establishment in the United States heralded the war against the Serbs as a crusade against any notion of ethno-nationalism or the ethno-state. In 1999 Susan Estrich, a law professor, a big name in the Democratic Party and a close friend of the Clintons, who was considered for a Cabinet post, described the war as ‘the first war of the 21st century: a conflict not about communism, but about race and ethnicity.’ She added that the prospect of America committing ground forces ‘speaks well for the future.’[7] That year General Wesley Clark, commander of the NATO forces, stated: ‘There is no place in modern Europe for ethnically pure states. That’s the 19th-century idea, and we are trying to transition into the 21st century, and we are going to do it with multi-ethnic states.’[8]

  Serbs were bombed to secure an Albanian ethnic state in Kosovo in the name of the ‘new internationalism’ that opposes ethnic states. Again, Orwellian doublethink was required.

  President Clinton endorsed these views that there would be an ongoing crusade against any ethnicity wanting to preserve its identity when this became an obstacle to the New World Order. At the time anti-war activist and writer Justin Raimondo cogently wrote:

  The War Party never rests. No sooner is the war in Kosovo ‘ended,’ and the sky cleared of NATO’s bombs, than war clouds immediately begin to gather on the horizon. ‘In Africa or central Europe’ intoned Clinton on the occasion of his visit to a Macedonian refugee camp, ‘we will not allow—only because of differences in ethnic background or religion or racism—people to be attacked. We will stop that.’ This underscores the quintessentially leftist nature of the new imperialism: the United States is now embarked on an international holy war against ‘racism,’ and woe unto those nations who fail to live up to Clintonian standards of political correctness. ‘We can do it now,’ said Clinton, strutting and boasting before his Kosovar vassals, who greeted him like a conquering hero. ‘We can do it tomorrow, if it is necessary, somewhere else.’ Forewarned is forearmed.

  To the Clintonians, and their British and German counterparts, the very idea of national sovereignty is a racist concept, since, by definition, it necessarily excludes other nationalities and often coincides with ethnicity. This is the true meaning of the ‘Clinton Doctrine’ now being enunciated, in fits and starts, by the administration: the whole world is fair game!

  A crusade for multiculturalism in the post-Soviet world is a prescription for perpetual war. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia it means the reconstruction of the failed Soviet ‘multinational’ model, and a relentless military struggle against all form of separatism. That this conforms nicely to the plans of powerful business interests in the West—as I poi
nted out in my last column, where I discussed the brewing crisis of Azerbaijan—is sheer coincidence of course. The big oil companies and the big investment banking concerns have already signed contracts with the government of Azerbaijan: if the country now begins to break up into separate statelets, then the deal is off.[9]

  Was there however another agenda of the globalists besides assisting Muslim terrorists and heroin traders to ethnically cleanse Serbs from Kosovo, while these same globalists claim to be waging a ‘war on terrorism’ against ‘Jihadists’ in other parts of the world? Kosovo includes one of the most mineral-rich areas of the world, which have been mined since Roman times. The iron and nickel mining and smelting plant of Ferronikeli, in Dreans, was one of the largest enterprises in Kosovo, which had previously been run by the Yugoslav state. Now, ‘The entire complex is owned by foreign entities: by Cunico, a company owned by the Benny Steinmetz Group (BSG) Resources Ltd., and International Mineral Resources (IMR).’ After a colossal explosion in 2011 and widespread pollution, including air toxicity, there have been protests, reinforced by ‘the perception that a national natural resource had been sold to foreign tycoons at a ridiculously low price,’ with accompanying payments to local politicians. Haaretz reported at the time, under the subheading, ‘Riches of the Earth’:

  May 3, 2006, was a significant date for the tottering Kosovo economy. On that day senior members of the local government joined with United Nations officials and international and local business at the headquarters of the UN Interim administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to celebrate the successful conclusion of the biggest privatisation deal signed since the end of the war with Serbia.[10]

  The pretext for war was the refusal of the Serbs to sign the Rambouillet ‘peace agreement’ recognising the claims of the Kosovar Albanians, and presented as an ultimatum with the threat of war. The Serbs were willing to allow broad Albanian autonomy, but not the stipulated occupation of the region by NATO troops, and the imposition of NATO overlordship. The justification for the imposition of NATO martial law was the maintenance of Kosovo as a multicultural entity that would have nonetheless assured Albanian ethnic domination over the Serbs. The Rambouillet diktat pontificated in terms typical of globalist rhetoric since the days of Woodrow Wilson that a Constitution must be based on the recognition ‘that the preservation and promotion of the national, cultural, and linguistic identity of each national community in Kosovo are necessary for the harmonious development of a peaceful society.’[11] Such a multicultural edifice[12] in such a situation was designed to dispossess the Serbs. The proposals were designed to provoke, not to conciliate.[13]

  Chapter Four of the agreement shows precisely what the globalists were after in seeking to deconstruct Serbia. This deals specifically with globalist demands regarding the Serb economy. Article I (1) states: ‘1. The economy of Kosovo shall function in accordance with free market principles.’ Article II (1) of Chapter Four states that state-owned assets are to be privatised:

  1. The Parties agree to reallocate ownership and resources in accordance insofar as possible with the distribution of powers and responsibilities set forth in this Agreement, in the following areas:

  (a) government-owned assets (including educational institutions, hospitals, natural resources, and production facilities).[14]

  Rambouillet was the ‘Fourteen Points’ and the ‘Atlantic Charter’ all over again.

  According to an article in The Guardian by Balkan affairs specialist Neil Clark, ‘At the time, the rump Yugoslavia—then not a member of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, or European Bank for Reconstruction and Development—was the last economy in central-southern Europe to be uncolonised by western capital. “Socially-owned enterprises,” the form of worker self-management pioneered under Tito, still predominated.’ Clark wrote of Yugoslavia’s industry being 75 per cent state or socially owned. ‘In 1997, a privatisation law had stipulated that in sell-offs, at least 60% of shares had to be allocated to a company’s workers.’ Hence, profit-sharing was to continue as the basis of the Yugoslav economy.

  The high priests of neo-liberalism were not happy. At the Davos summit early in 1999, Tony Blair berated Belgrade, not for its handling of Kosovo, but for its failure to embark on a programme of ‘economic reform’—new-world-order speak for selling state assets and running the economy in the interests of multinationals.[15]

  Clark states that when the NATO bombing campaign started in 1999, state-owned companies, rather than military sites, were targeted. NATO destroyed only 14 tanks, but bombed 372 industrial facilities, although ‘not one foreign or privately owned factory was bombed.’[16]

  One of the first steps of the new administration was to repeal the previously mentioned 1997 privatisation law. Now 70 per cent of a company could be sold to foreign investors. The regime also enmeshed Serbia into the World Bank. The Trepca mining complex was seized by NATO troops.[17]

  In 2004 the Kosovo Trust Agency (KTA), operating under the jurisdiction of the UN Mission in Kosovo (Unmik), was ‘pleased to announce’ the programme to privatise the first 500 socially owned enterprises (SOEs) under its control.[18] In 2008 the name of KTA was changed to the more blatant Privatisation Agency of Kosovo (PAK).[19] Everything from shops and parcels of land to industries is up for grabs, as former SOEs are sold off in what are called ‘waves’ of privatisations.[20] PAK assures foreign investors of a freer hand in Kosovo, pointing out that all banks in Kosovo are privately owned; that there are ‘abundant natural resources: lignite, lead, zinc, ferronickel and fertile agricultural land’; with

  Lignite reserves about 14 billion tonnes. New power plant will add 1,000MW capacity, GDP increase of 17%. Demand for investments in new coalmines. Huge deposits of lead and zinc (Trepça mines). Gold and silver, ferronickel and magnesium.[21]

  PAK states in its 2011 report that, ‘There are 600 SOEs listed in the PAK register.’

  Approximately 400 of them were considered viable businesses or have assets that are suitable for privatisation and the remaining 200 will be dealt through the liquidation process. To date close to 300 SOE’s have been privatized in full or partially through creation of 619 NewCo’s and an additional 175 liquidation sales of different assets have been successfully completed. It is therefore fair to say that with some notable exceptions, the majority of large SOE’s have already been privatized and overall privatisation is well on its way to completion.[22]

  Trepca, the jewel in the crown, is one of the most mineral rich regions in the world, and has been mined since Roman times. Although the shambles caused by the NATO/UN invasion has suspended the operations of Trepca mining, it remains a priority for privatising. PAK states:

  Trepca is a conglomerate with assets and branches located in virtually all regions of the country including in the northern part of the Republic of Kosovo. Its extractable mineral wealth has been the subject of heated debate with expert opinions on valuation ranging from €8 to €12 billion. In the former Yugoslavia it was one of the largest employers with more than 20,000 workers. Trepça is made up of 40 subsidiary enterprises that include its main mineral and metallurgical components, processing capacities and other industrial products as well as supporting service activities for production, processing and technical support services. The majority of these are in the territory of the Republic of Kosovo but also abroad. Hence without any doubt Trepça has an extraordinary importance for the Republic of Kosovo and its citizens and is pivotal to the economy, society and politics of the country and indeed to some of its neighbours.

  The Trepca conglomerate was not immune from political interference and interim measures during the Milosevic regime and parties with ‘claims’ against the assets started to emerge that resulted in suspension of executions as a result of a ‘moratorium’ imposed by the SCSC[23] following a request from the UNMIK SRSG. In November 2005, UNMIK issued a Regulation (2005/4
8) on Reorganisation and restructuring of certain enterprises. With the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that 2005/48 is less than ideal and, if used, would result in the control of Trepca’s destiny being ceded to a private sector administrator. As a consequence, 2005/48 has been replaced with a new reorganization law that will ensure that reorganisation of Trepca is managed and controlled by the Agency for the benefit of the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo. The Agency will have the power to engage the services of international mining and insolvency experts to design a reorganization plan that will be best suited to this complex enterprise together with specialised legal experts to address claims. The Agency remains convinced that any plan for revitalization of Trepça must happen as soon as possible but must comply with the internationally recognized standards in regards to the re-organization and restructuring of strategic enterprises. This will require significant engagement of all relevant stake-holders because successful revitalization of Trepça in essence implies that the enterprise should be freed from inherited problems and given the opportunity to flourish again.[24]