I have spent the whole day immersing myself in a myriad of resources about the Kosovo War. After reading about the war from the Serbian, Algerian, Russian, Finnish, and American standpoints, I pinpointed a few major themes to take away from everything I learned.
I. Ground warfare vs.
Air power
Mentioned in every military interview I read, there was
great deliberation and contestation over whether or not the UN should invade
using ground forces. The Kosovo Crisis was unique in that it was the first war
ever fought completely using airpower. Dag Henriksen did a really great job
writing a book about it called NATO’s
Gamble: Combining Diplomacy and Airpower in the Kosovo Crisis, 1998-1999. Despite the doubts of many, airpower proved
to be sufficient to end the crisis, and avoided the deaths of many Americans in
the process. Would things have ended differently if the UN had introduced
ground forces as well? One Serbian military leader claimed, “If it ever came to
face-to-face ground war, it would have been us as the winners. We were prepared
to die for Kosovo. There would have been terrible casualties, and we knew that
NATO was not prepared to risk that.” This leads me to my next major takeaway:
the intense motivation of nationalism behind the crisis.
II. Motivations:
Nationalism vs. Moral Reasons
The biggest thing that stood out to me about Serbia’s
justification for attacking the KLA was a fierce ownership and pride for
Kosovo. “Ethnic cleansing” was never mentioned as a reason; Serbia genuinely felt
threatened by the terroristic actions of the KLA, the “Albanian plot,” and felt
compelled to protect the land they had held onto for the past 500 years. I don’t think anything could have convinced
them that they were in the wrong. As one Serbian military leader put it, “I
didn't think that it would last for 78 days, but we were ready to defend our
country for even 780 days if necessary.”
I got chills reading about the same Serbian military
leader’s cold explanation for their massacre of Racak: “The liquidation of that
group was dealt in a responsible and professional way.” Continuing on to
reading the horror stories of innocent women and children being raped and
killed by Serbian soldiers certainly does not sound “responsible and
professional.” In what was called “classic cleaning
operations,” the soldiers would actually be singing
as they ransacked a city, killing every person who came in their way.
The extreme national pride of Serbia that lead to such actions is very evident when comparing the national anthems of present day Serbia and the Republic of Kosovo. Serbia’s national anthem, Bože pravde, or “Lord, Give us Justice” contains phrases like “God, our hope; protect and cherish Serbian lands and Serbian race,” “Bless each Serbian town and hamlet,” and “God of armies! Be our leader, strengthen then the Serbian race!”
Serbia's anthem:
Kosovo's anthem:
Serbia very much embodied the words of this anthem when fighting for Kosovo. The Republic of Kosovo, however, has a national anthem entitled Evropa with no words so as not to single out or exclude any specific race. It seems like the motivations behind choosing these respective anthems was very much influenced by the ideas and attitudes of each country during the Kosovo crisis.
Madeleine Albright brought another view to the table, justifying America’s intervention as being for moral reasons and stopping what was viewed as ethnic cleansing: “I believed that it was very important to make clear that the kinds of things that Milosevic does--deciding that you don't have the right to exist because of your ethnic group--is unacceptable. It is not just a lesson for Kosovo. It is not American to stand by and watch this kind of thing.”
III.
No regrets
All that being said, despite the
differing views and motivations of all parties invested in the situation, one thing
remains true. There appear to be no regrets all around. Everyone felt
justified in fighting the other, and all were relatively satisfied with the
results. The same cannot be said for every war.
Sources:
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