Kosovo: a battleground that can no longer be ignored

The war in Iraq and its repercussions have dominated the news for more than two years. As it… The war in Iraq and its repercussions have dominated the news for more than two years. As it has sucked the oxygen out of international press coverage, it is a shame it could not do the same for the wars that continue in other parts of the world.

Kosovo, a Balkan region smaller than New Jersey, has been on America’s plate for more than six years, since the genocide incited there by Yugoslavia’s ex-president Slobodan Mlosevic led to NATO bombing raids all over Yugoslavia. Kosovo, now governed by a United Nations mission, and the rest of the former Yugoslavia, are still pocked by the destruction of that war, while the violence in Kosovo continues.

Shortly after the wounding of four U.N. peacekeepers barely warranted a mention on the CNN news ticker, I traveled to the former Yugoslavia, now Serbia and Montenegro. Some regions of the nation show scars from decade-old conflicts, and buildings destroyed during the 1999 NATO bombings remain in ruins, not rebuilt or even properly demolished. The smoke still rises from Kosovo as you watch the border warily from the nearby city of Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro.

Podgorica is home to a large refugee camp for Kosovar Serbs, who were forced to leave by Kosovar Albanian soldiers. It appears that Albanians became the aggressors as quickly as the Serbs were beaten back by NATO, and their wrath is brought upon civilians, families and their former neighbors. Kosovo, which the United States felt proud defending during the Clinton years, has been neglected by the United States and its journalism community, and has languished as a den of criminals and rogue armies.

The flood of refugees, first Albanians and now Serbs, into Montenegro and Macedonia, has decimated these nations’ infrastructures. Macedonia, which has borne the brunt of refugees and responsibility for their care, is on the verge of economic collapse and at times refused entry to refugees. At the camp in Podgorica, a handful of health workers check thousands of displaced Kosovar Serbs for illness and injury, while kidnappers steal children and sell them on the black market as surrogate children or sex slaves. One Kosovar man tells me, “It is madness. Some nights six or eight children disappear, and no one tries to find them anymore.”

A journey to Kosovo’s capital Pristina gives one even more insight into what the land has become. Many still run from home to work in a way that is reminiscent of images from Sarajevo during the Balkan Wars of the mid-1990s. Although well-maintained overall, Pristina still has neighborhoods in ruins and sporadic violence. U.N. peacekeepers patrol roads; no one yet trusts the local police, as there are rumors of widespread corruption.

A possible success story for the international community slumped back into disrepair after the entire world seemed to lose interest. News of Kosovo to America and Western Europe was already waning when the events of September 11, 2001, occurred. Then Afghanistan, and eventually Iraq, drew audiences’ eyes to the war on terror.

The Kosovar battle terror on a daily basis, often on their own lands, sometimes against former neighbors. Hundreds are dead, and thousands more displaced. The international community and the United States would do well not to forget that we had several issues on our plates before the war on terror sprang up. These situations will not go away simply because we have ignored them. On the contrary, they may grow into situations we cannot possibly ignore. NATO and the United Nations got involved in the former Yugoslavia and in other conflicts around the world not only because people were being oppressed and murdered, but also because it was a situation that endangered the security of other nations. That remains true, even though our security seems endangered by other, more immediate foes.

For more information, go to www.un.org. E-mail Michael at realityfactory@yahoo.com.