URL for this article:

URL for this article: www.globalresistance.com/articles/chuss/warnot.htm

The War Against Yugoslavia Is Not Over

by Michel Chossudovsky (6-28-00)

Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa, author of "The Globalization of Poverty, Third World Network, Penang, Zed Books, London, 1997.

While there is no evidence of direct US military involvement in Montenegro, there is clear evidence of indirect US involvement. The Croatian Armed Forces - which are helping Montenegro's [highly partisan police, the ] MUP - are receiving US military aid under the 'train and equip' program. Financed by US military aid, Military Professional Resources Inc (MPRI), a mercenary outfit linked to the Pentagon, has been responsible for officer training under the so-called Croatian Armed Forces Readiness and Training System (CARTS).

Destabilizing Montenegro

The military invasion and occupation of Kosovo is but a stage in the broader process of attempted economic conquest and political destabilisation of Yugoslavia. In Montenegro, the methods used in trying to achieve this objective are similar to those used in Bosnia and Kosovo:

1. Creating internal social and ethnic divisions;

2. Financing of pro-NATO political parties as well as pro-NATO military, police and paramilitary groups;

3. Applying instruments of economic warfare including the destabilisation of Yugoslavia's national currency and its use in Montenegro;

4. Engaging in supportive covert intelligence operations to prepare the terrain for military intervention.

Following the de facto separation of Kosovo from Yugoslavia, NATO is intent upon promoting the secession of Montenegro, Yugoslavia's only remaining access to the Adriatic:

"Under a 'joint operation in Yugoslavia with the code name of 'Roots.'... Serbia was slated to lose access to the Adriatic with the departure of Montenegro from Yugoslavia. By severing Kosovo from it, an important repository of raw materials would be lost as well. An analogous fate was prepared for Vojvodina in the north, region regarded as Serbia’s breadbasket. A subsidiary goal was to cripple and even demolish the Yugoslav (Serb) army's capacity to defend the borders of Yugoslavia and even Serbia if a need for an outright occupation arose... A Federal Yugoslavia deconstructed into weak statelets composed of the former Republics and 'autonomous regions' would be ripe for outside economic domination through rammed-in free markets." (Prof. R.K. Kent, Open Letter to the Foreign Relations Committee for Europe of the US Senate, 24 July 1999)

Washington has backed the puppet government of President Milo Djukanovic politically as well as financially since 1997. At the height of the bombings, Djukanovic travelled to Washington for meetings with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

Conditional upon the adoption of 'free market' reforms, US assistance has included support to the 14,000-strong police force loyal to President Djukanovic not to mention the financing of the Montenegrin civilian militia. (See US State Department, Press Conference, Washington, 9 June 1999, see also the statements of Secretary M. Albright and President M. Djukanovic, State Department Press Conference, 22 April 1999). The MUP police force also includes 1,600 Special Forces.

In the words of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright:

"We have helped in terms of money for privatisation, for legal reform, balance of payment assistance, and have given them landing rights. And, generally what we have done is exempt them from the embargo that exists against Serbia. I think that through that kind of activity we have shown that those who follow democratic practices and human rights, are respected and helped by the United States and the rest of the international community." (Press Conference, Cologne 9 June, 1999)

Imposing the Deutschmark

Advised by Western economists and consultants, the preconditions for Montenegro’s 'economic separation' from Yugoslavia has already been established. Following NATO's bombing campaign against Yugoslavia, the Deutschmark was adopted as the 'official' currency (November 1999) leading to Montenegro’s de facto withdrawal from the Yugoslav monetary system alongside the paralysis of federal transfers to the Podgorica government. A Currency Board was installed on the model of Bosnia Herzegovina under the Dayton Agreement.

Meanwhile, Montenegro’s Central Bank had severed its ties with the Yugoslav Central Bank in Belgrade with a view to eventually establishing its own currency pegged to the D-Mark.

The new currency was established under the currency board arrangement, with the support and financial assistance of the IMF. Under this scheme (tantamount to a colonial banking system), the Montenegrin currency would require full foreign exchange backing and the availability of extensive foreign exchange reserves virtually signifying the control of monetary policy by Western creditors. In turn, a separate tax structure and system of customs duties was put in place. Montenegro had also established the basis for issuing its own passports. (William Drozdiak, Yugoslav Republics Negotiate Future Ties, Washington Post, October 27, 1999, p. A24).

The economic secession of Montenegro from the rest of Yugoslavia has become a fait accompli, with one important exception: Serbia still retains a formal access to the Adriatic Sea. Washington’s objective in this regard is to mount an effective blockade of the Montenegrin port of Bar which is the point of entry for imported oil into Yugoslavia. In the words of General Wesley Clark to a Senate Hearing:

"And from the outset of the campaign, we pressed for the full isolation of the theater, the closure of the Adriatic and the Port of Bar, cutting off all fuel, closing off the Danube, making sure there was no commerce going in or culture going in, or other communications". (Hearing Of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, October 21, 1999)

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has apparently already outlined specific ''operations plans (OPLANs)" pertaining to "the invasion and forcible expulsion of Serb forces in Montenegro". (Truth in Media, Phoenix, 29 September 1999). The same source indicates "that the unit designated as the spearhead for the invasion of Montenegro, II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF), stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC, has [set up] an Operational Planning Team (OPT) in Macedonia calculating how best to secure bridgeheads to militarily support the Montenegrin government should it decide to declare its independence from the Former Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY)". (Ibid.)

Moreover, the US Navy's "floating platforms" are positioned off the Adriatic coast; the Marine Corps Amphibious Ready Group is also on standby.

The Yugoslav news agency Tanjug confirmed in June 2000 that Montenegro is "mobilizing and arming police reservists". Supported by Washington, the Montenegrin police (MUP) is firmly under the control of the Interior Minister, Vukasin Maras, and the Chief of Police, Vuk Boskovic. (Zoran Kusovac, 'The Balkans braces for another showdown,' Jane Intelligence Review, Vol 12, no. 4, April 1, 2000 ). According to Yugoslav sources, Croatian army officers are providing combat training "in preparation for incidents and conflicts with the Yugoslav soldiers stationed Montenegro." (UPI, 10 June 2000).

"The 600-strong police units in Herceg Novi and Kotor and another about 500 policemen in Tivat have been drawn from members of Montenegro's Croat community who have declared themselves in favor of an independent Montenegro. A unit in the coastal town of Ulcinj, close to the border with Albania, had been formed mostly of ethnic Albanians, according to Tanjug. Montenegrin security forces are constantly being indoctrinated with the idea that the Yugoslav Army is hostile and as such unwelcome in Montenegro and with hatred against the Yugoslav Federation…" (ibid.)

US Military Aid

While there is no evidence of direct US military involvement in Montenegro, there is clear evidence of indirect US involvement.

The Croatian Armed Forces - which are helping Montenegro's MUP - are receiving US military aid under the 'train and equip' program. Financed by US military aid, Military Professional Resources Inc (MPRI), a mercenary outfit linked to the Pentagon has been responsible for officer training under the so-called Croatian Armed Forces Readiness and Training System (CARTS). MPRI is also involved in the training of the Kosovo Protection Corps (led by and mainly consisting of the KLA) and the Federation Forces of the Croat Muslim Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. MPRI is under contract with the US Justice Department's International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP or "Icky-Tap") which provides training and logistical support to "friendly foreign law enforcement organizations in high profile environments." (Wayne Madden, 'The U.S. connection to the KLA,' The Progressive, August 1, 1999)

NATO has intimated that it would not remain idle if there were an incident between the Montenegrin Police (MUP) and Yugoslav forces (VJ) stationed in Montenegro. (ibid)

Destabilising Vojvodina

Vojvodina is a "bread basket" and source of raw materials for Yugoslavia. NATO's ultimate objective is the total collapse of Yugoslavia as a viable national economy.

Vojvodina has within Serbia the same status as Kosovo. It is an autonomous province with Novi Sad as its capital. During the War, Novi Sad was considered as 'strategic.' NATO bombings of the bridges on the Danube in the Novi Sad area were intended to isolate Vojvodina from the rest of Serbia.

"If NATO were to mount a full-scale invasion of Yugoslavia, the plains of Vojvodina might be an easy point of entry". ('Repeated Attacks By NATO Puzzle City of Novi Sad; Government Building Is Latest Casualty,' Washington Post, 19 April 1999).

The Alliance was not only intent upon fomenting ethnic conflict in Vojvodina but also on providing financial support to the municipality of Novi Sad which was run by opposition parties. NATO’s hidden agenda was to destabilise Vojvodina, calling for the establishment of a 'special status' for Vojvodina.

Meanwhile, the Budapest government (now a member of NATO) had called for the return of the northern territories ceded from the Austro-Hungarian empire as a result of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I. Barely a month after the end of the bombings, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, met behind closed doors with US Defence Secretary William Cohen. On the agenda: autonomy to ethnic Hungarians in the north of Vojvodina. Prime Minister Orban had insisted that:

"NATO should 'guarantee' autonomy for the Hungarian minority. Asked whether he meant by the use of force, he responded: 'How else?'" (Ben Barber, 'Hungary puts new pressure on Serbia; Autonomy sought for northern region,' The Washington Times, 15 July 1999).

C Copyright by Michel Chossudovsky, Ottawa, June 2000. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to post this text on "community Internet sites" provided the essay and the pictures remain intact and that the copyright note is displayed. For community postings, kindly send a short message to emperors1000@aol.com. To publish this text on commercial Internet sites, in printed and/or in other forms (including excerpts), contact the author at chossudovsky@videotron.ca

www.tenc.net [emperors-clothes]