"Quite apart from the undeniable merits of independence, in political terms Kosovo 2008, is not quite Kosovo of 1998. Let us count the post-9/11 ways: ... Yet given NATO's dismal performance in Afghanistan, it has little fides in the Balkans, and the American attitude might be 'you didn't want to fight much for Afghanistan, so why should we for Kosovo?' ... Where does all this leave us? It might be a fine and noble thing for the Kosovars to have their own state like the rest of the regions of the former Yugoslavia. But let us pray that neither Serbia nor Russia calls the Western bluff and guaranteeing Kosovar automony, because in the present climate it really would be, a well, a big fat bluff", Victor Davis Hanson (VDH) at http://www.nationalreview.com/ 19 February 2008.
My favorite military historian, BH Liddell Hart (BHLH) said something about a smiliar situation in 1939, about six months before 1 September 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. I quote BHLH, "It is immoral to make promises that one cannot in practice fulfill-in the sense that the recipient expects. On that ground, in 1939, I questioned the underlying morality of the Polish Guarantee, as well as its practicality. ... It also seemed to me that any such promises [by the British and French] were the most certain way to produce war--because of the inevitable provocativeness of guaranteeing, at such a moment of tension, an area which we had hitherto treated as outside our sphere of interest; because of the manifest temptation which that guarantee offered, to a military-minded people like the Germans, to show how fatuously impractical our guarantee was; and because of its natural effect in stiffening the attitude of a people, the Poles, who had always shown themselves exceptionally intractible in negotiating a reasonable settlement of any issue", Why Don't We Learn From History, 1944, 34. "The responsibility for the consequent misery that has befallen the peoples of Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, France Yugoslavia and Greece in turn, thus lies heavily upon us--for losing the sense of military realities", 40. The Bush-Clinton administration's Kosovo policy is madness.
On 19 February 2008 at 5:09 PM Houston time, Michael Savage (MS) said, "I back China and Russia" in this matter and he wished them well in trying to prevent Kosovo's separation from Serbia. Imagine, MS, nationalist, backs Russia and China against the US. I salute MS for taking that position.
5 comments:
It seems like Jim Belushi once said something like: "Suddenly this whole thing seems very Russian to me."
I may be misquoting Red Heat, but that's how I feel about it.
Always nice to see liddel hart quoted.There is an excellent biography of John Boyd "Boyd" which I strongly recommend.He is best known for formulating the OODA Loop...his essay "creation and destruction" is among the densest and most thoughtful writing I have ever encountered.Worth Googling,and serious study.
Buzz Saw:
I don't understand your comment. The US was the victim of anti-Serb propaganda campaign before it bombed Serbia for 78 days. It is we who are creating instability in the Balkans. We are creating a Taliban state in Europe.
Anonyomous:
I will look up the essay and tell you what I think about it.
Anonymous:
I read Boyd's article and was favorably taken with it. His thinking reminds me of an obscure economist I've read, EC Harwood. You might be interested in Harwood's work. Enjoy.
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