This November Serbian-Americans will be faced with a choice between a
President who has endeavored to take a more even-handed approach to the former Yugoslavia than his predecessor, and a challenger whose old-guardallies and advisors helped Croatia expel hundreds of thousands of Serbs from the Krajina, armed the Muslim side in Bosnia, started an illegal and unprovoked war against Serbia, and allowed Kosovo to become a KLA fiefdom.
As individuals we may disagree with some aspects of President George W. Bush 's policies. As members of the Serbian-American community, however, we have to take into account the fact that John Kerry's foreign policy is being molded by Clinton's veterans whose zeal for anti-Serb
interventions has been abundantly proven. As The New York Times noted
(April 11, 2004),
"John F. Kerry is assembling a network of foreign policy advisors more
hawkish than most Democrats... He routinely consults [with] Biden,
Berger and Holbrooke... Potential secretaries of State Biden and
Holbrooke, for instance, were leading advocates of military intervention
against Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic during the 1990s... Many of
the key figures around Kerry staunchly supported the Kosovo war."
"People are policy," they say in Washington, and history suggests that
'range of opinion' can shape a new president's foreign policy as much as
the specific ideas the candidate advances during the campaign. Richard
Holbrooke and "Sandy" Berger will be given top posts if Kerry is
elected. James Rubin is his senior foreign policy advisor. General
Wesley Clark is tipped to be Kerry's choice for Rumsfeld'successor.
These gentlemen need no introduction. Dr. Ronald D. Asmus, Assistant
Secretary of State for European Affairs under Albright and now Kerry's
foreign policy advisor, calls the "unfinished business in the Balkans"
the most pressing foreign policy issue. Will Marshall, also Kerry's
foreign policy advisor, points to "the exemplary nature of the 1999
U.S.-led intervention in Kosovo" - a "policy consciously based on a mix
of moral values and security interests with the parallel goals of
halting a humanitarian tragedy and ensuring NATO's credibility." Philip
James, senior Democratic Party strategist, said that Abu Ghriab was
"sickeningly reminiscent of the darkest days of Serbian supremacy in the
Balkans."
An incoming Kerry regime will seek to "finish the job" in the Balkans by
dismembering Serbia, making Kosovo independent, encouraging Montenegro's secession, destroying Republika Srpska, and "internationalizing" the "crisis" (to be duly procured) in Vojvodina and the Sanjak.
On his web site Kerry says of the Balkans, "We will vigorously pursue
individuals indicted for war crimes"; "We will continue to support the
ethnic re-integration of Bosnia"; "The people of Kosovo must be able to
determine their own future." "Re-integration of Bosnia" is the code word
for the revision of the Dayton Agreement and the liquidation of the
Republika Srpska demanded by the Muslims. "Vigorous pursuit" applies
specifically to Karadzic and Mladic.
Candidate Kerry now says, "Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who
deserves his own special place in hell, but that was not, in itself, a
reason to go to war." Six years earlier Senator John Forbes Kerry voted
Yes to S Con Res 21 (introduced by Biden, D-DE, the "Kosovo Resolution")
to authorize the war against Yugoslavia, which was adopted 58-41 on
March 23, 1999.
A week after Kerry signed a vacuous note to the SNF ("Ziveli i mnogaja
ljeta!") he addressed a message to the Albanian community (July 23, 2004) in which he said he was proud to receive support from Albanians. He attacked the Bush administration for "turning its back" on the region
and leaving its people "without the opportunity to govern themselves":
"My administration will act quickly to address the issues facing Kosovo.
Kosovo's future status should be decided as soon as possible. The people
of Kosovo must be able to determine their own future, including how they
want to be governed. Proposals to change the territory of Kosovo or to
partition it along ethnic lines do not help build a multi-ethnic society
or prepare the region for its future in Europe... Continued delay -
which is all the Bush administration has offered -- hardens the
positions of extremists on all sides... I will need your help in
building the support we will need in Congress and with the American
people to carry out this historic task... I am proud that we will,
together, help make real the dream of Albanians, of Americans, of our
allies."
Last May Richard Holbrooke organized a dinner meeting with
Albanian-Americans in New York to raise funds and secure
Albanian-American votes for Kerry. It was attended by Madeleine
Albright, Wesley Clark, James Rubin, and Rep. Eliott Engel (D-NY). They
all expressed commitment to the independence of Kosovo. Two months later the KLA chief Hashim Thaci was invited to the Democratic National
Convention - which in itself was scandalous - and on his return to
Pristina declared: "It was confirmed once again that a Democratic
administration would recognize and respect the will of the people of
Kosova for self-determination."
It is our considered opinion that a Kerry administration would pursue
policies that would be destablizing to peace and stability in the
Balkans, catastrophic to the interests of the Serbian nation, deeply
detrimental to the reputation of the United States, and contrary to all
American ideals. We therefore ask you to support President George W.
Bush for the second term and to join us on the last-ditch effort to
influence the outcome of next month's election.
If you agree with this letter, please send me an e-mail with your name,
title, profession, and place of residence (U.S. citizens only, please).
Yours sincerely,
Srdja Trifkovic and friends
For and on behalf of the Serbian-Americans for Bush
