That which hath been is that which shall be,
And that which hath been done is that which shall be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:9

By Bob Michael
LAPD Police Detective Capt. (Ret)

In 1998 through 2002, I was writing for a site called Police News Network (PNN). Bill Clinton’s dalliances with Ms. Lewinski were winding down to his NOT GUILTY result from the Democrat controlled trial of impeachment. At about this time, Clinton’s administration and NATO allies were working to stop Serbian genocide (which there was none) and suddenly they announced that Serbia wasn’t cooperating; the solution was to attack Serbia.

Let me set the scene. Yugoslavia was made up of several peoples and Serbia, of which Kosovo was a part, was the largest group in Yugoslavia. The history of the Balkans is extremely complex and the history of Serbia is a large part of that. Suffice it to say that Kosovo was a very important part of Serbia and Serbs see it as the cradle of Serbian civilization. Kosovo was populated by (Serbs) Slavs. It was invaded, and under rule of Attila in the 440s, became a part of the Byzantine Empire, and Christian, in 527.

It was not until 1389 at the First Battle of Kosovo that it came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and Islam. In 1455, the Turks completed a census of ethnicity and listed Kosovo as overwhelmingly Serbian and Christian. As long as they paid the jizya (a heavy tax for being Christian), and their kings’ daughters married Muslims, they didn’t die and could practice their Christianity. Over the next five hundred years there were many wars and border changes. But with fall of the Ottoman Empire, Kosovo became free Serbian again in the early 1900s.

After the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia remained Tito-type communist. It didn’t want to be a part of NATO, didn’t want to be in the European Union, and was doing just fine economically, sort of.

So we have a now classic Western support of Muslims and against a country who chose to not go down the Western path, whose population was Orthodox Christian, and wouldn’t give up its territory when ordered by the West to do so.

It is very similar to the Russian stance except Russia gave up communism. And Russia was a little too strong in oil and gas needed in Western Europe, and soon a little scary still with its military potential (nukes and all). The U.S. tried to muscle Russia on Chechnya (Islamic) and got told where the U.S. could go. Maybe because Chechnya was a part of Russia before California was a part of the U.S., and Mexico wasn’t too tough for us to muscle.

Russia was no Mexico and Mr. Putin was no Antonio Lopez De Santa Ana.

Russian President Putin may have wrapped his comments in some diplomatic niceties but his words amounted to a curt rebuff to the latest Western warnings.

According to the BBC:

“If Western leaders are really worried about the situation in the North Caucasus, he said, let them put pressure not only on the Russian government but also on the Chechen rebels.”

The BBC continued…

“The head of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) also acknowledged there was little his group could do at present, beyond attempting to put moral pressure on Moscow.

And Western leaders must be conscious that their expressions of concern up to now have had little apparent effect on the Russian leadership.”

The West putting moral pressure on Russia in December 1999, after the NATO group led by the bully from the side lines Tony Blair of the UK, and the weak Bill Clinton who was Commander in Chief of 98% of the military which attacked Serbia, made a mockery of the meaning of moral when the actions of NATO and the U.S. were anything but moral.

Madeline Albright: Snake wrapped around stick

Here is a press release by the U.S. Department of State, made on April 26, 2000 when Madeline Albright was Secretary of State (my comments in parentheses):

“Today’s passage of a resolution by United Nations Commission on Human Rights reflects the worldwide concern about the current situation in Chechnya. We call on the Government of the Russian Federation to act swiftly to facilitate and implement the Commission’s recommendations. Although we take no satisfaction in the need for such a resolution, the United States co-sponsored this resolution because we remain gravely concerned by the human rights situation in Chechnya.

“As Secretary Albright noted in her March 24th (2000) speech to the Commission, “We cannot ignore the fact that thousands of Chechen civilians have died and more than 200,000 have been driven from their homes (just pluck numbers out of the air as it worked for a while in Kosovo). “Together with other delegations, we have expressed our alarm at the persistent, credible reports of human rights violations by Russian forces in Chechnya, including extrajudicial killings. There are also reports that Chechen separatists have committed abuses, including the killing of civilians and prisoners (to keep things fair and balanced).

“Our consistent criticism of Russia’s policy in the North Caucasus should not be interpreted as a defense of Chechen insurgent groups. We have never questioned Russia’s responsibility to defend its territorial integrity or to combat terrorism and lawlessness. But that does not begin to justify the Russian Government’s decision to use such massive force against civilians inside Chechnya.

“The war in Chechnya has greatly damaged Russia’s international standing and is isolating Russia from the international community (where she is more comfortable). Russia’s work to repair that damage, both at home and abroad, or its choice to risk further isolating itself, is the most immediate and momentous challenge that Russia faces.

“We welcomed Russia’s appointment of a Presidential Representative for Human Rights in Chechnya, and appreciate his engagement with the international community. The Russian Government has made it possible for many groups to visit the North Caucasus region, including a delegation led by the High Commissioner for Human Rights. But reporting and visits alone are not substitutes for holding those accountable who have committed violations of human rights or international humanitarian law (like NATO in Kosovo). For that reason, it is important that Russia conduct immediate, transparent, impartial and independent investigations of all credible allegations of human rights violations, including those associated with Alkhan-Yurt, Staropromoslovsky and Aldi. We welcomed the strong statement by Acting President Putin that allegations of human rights violations would not be disregarded, that violations of Russian law would be prosecuted, and that those guilty would be brought to justice.

“To facilitate an impartial investigation, we concur with the High Commissioner’s call for Russia to engage with an independent, broad-based, national commission of inquiry to investigate promptly all allegations of violations of human rights according to international standards (like NATO didn’t before bombing Kosovo). We also support the call for Russia to engage with the relevant existing U.N. special rapporteurs, special representatives, and working groups. Unless the Russian Government moves swiftly on these proposals, the skepticism of the international community and supporters of human rights inside Russia can only mount (if Russia does as NATO says everything will be OK for Russia).

“We share Russia’s goal of a stable and secure Chechnya within the Russian Federation. We remain convinced that political means alone will achieve this goal (except sometimes NATO thinks bombing is better).”

Clinton: What? Me, Lie?

This brings us to Clinton and the earlier attack on Yugoslavia. These were tough times for Clinton and he was looking for something spectacular for a new legacy after the time of sex in the Oval Office of the White House with the young intern Monica Lewinski. His Senate impeachment trial ended on February 12, 1999 and the Kosovo War began just 16 days later on February 28, 1999 – an apparent “wag the dog” distraction form all his sex and perjury problems.

The UK Prime Minister Tony Blair came along with the perfect solution. They create the genocide story where the Serbs were slaughtering the Muslim Kosovars. Even though the Serbs agreed to engage in a diplomatic solution (which would not be as good a legacy as war); NATO gave Clinton the backing to attack Yugoslavia. The given justification? Serbs had killed 10,000 Kosovars, no it was 100,000. Then the U.S. Ambassador-at-large for war crimes, David Scheffer, announced that “as many as 225,000 ethnic Albanian men aged between 14 and 59” may have been murdered. Then the State Department said here (from The New York Times), and repeated here (from a Boston Globe article), that 500,000 was the number of the genocide victims at the hands of the Serbs; Muslims being killed by Christians.

I was receiving emails from two young women missionaries who were in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, during the bombing and they said there were absolutely no killings going on by the Serbs and that the police were helpful to all as would be expected in a civilized city. They hid under mattresses during bombings and were finally pulled out during the bombing by their missionary supervisors.

Everything about Kosovo is convoluted but the truth is out, and the team of NATO, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Madeleine Albright, William Cohen, and Robin Cook all lied. You should know that Obama was preparing for this event a long time before Syria. His basketball shooting and all the stories emanate from Secretary of Defense Cohen who went over (like McCain and his side kick Graham) and photo-oped with the Muslim gun-running and dope-running (see bottom of linked page) leaders of the KLA, and SHOT SOME HOOPS in the Muslim Stankovic refugee camp in Macedonia. And let’s not forget Robin Cook (British Foreign Secretary), Tony Blair’s hired gun with KLA; he says he was in almost daily contact with the KLA as they called him directly at his urging.

The team set up the phony excuse of genocide to justify attacking Serbia, kill 100s of Serb civilians, bomb the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and use depleted uranium (DU) in shells and rounds in 112 sites (not times); which today wreaks havoc with not only Serb civilians, but also Kosovars, and U.S. troops.

These DU munitions have approximately 1/3 the isotopes of U235/U238 uranium in its natural state (more recent information lists it as nearly the same in isotopes between the natural state and DU) and a reduction called “half life” (50% strength) occurs in 4.5 billion years. They may also contain trace elements of plutonium (a deadly element). Cancer deaths in Kosovo have increased greatly, over and above, pre-war levels. Many U.S. military are suffering from the exposure to the DU. Virtually none of our troops who handled repairs on our equipment knew of DU dust. Here is a quite indicting use of DU in weapons. And this report is from a different slant.

In fact, with the Sarin gas use in Syria (Carla Del Ponte has been a member of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, under the auspices of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, since September 2012, and in May 2013 she accused the Syrian rebels of using chemical weapons) and the U.S. horror at the event (as we should all be horrified) it is appropriate to take a paragraph from the paper just linked to on DU. The U.S. used DU weapons in both Gulf wars, as well as Kosovo.

Here is a paragraph:

“About 300 tons of DU were dispersed (by the U.S.) over Iraq in 1991. Yet the US Department of Defense (DoD) has found little health risk to soldiers who inhaled DU and continues to claim exposure to DU is safe. Nearly 580,000 soldiers were deployed in the war. 294 soldiers died and 400 were wounded or became ill. As of year 2000, there were 325,000 on permanent medical disability, and over 11,000 have died. Obviously something serious happened to the health of these men and women who served in the Gulf {emphasis mine}.”

After the Vietnam war was concluded, DOD denied any health effects from Agent Orange and it took 34 years after the end of that war for them to finally admit that Agent Orange was toxic. We might not use Agent Orange any more but our munitions stockpile consists of significant numbers of DU munitions. The U.S. and NATO may well be the biggest purveyors of deadly gas (dust) ever, making what happened in Syria ten days ago look paltry.

You’ll find that NATO itself found few bodies here. They started at the most oft reported sites where the most persons were slaughtered, according to the Muslim Kosovar refugees who were watched over threateningly by the KLA, which earlier had been determine by Interpol to be a criminal enterprise. Interestingly, the Los Angeles Times concludes an article on the lack of body findings by NATO and others by stating, “Count another victory for the Big Lie.”

The Spanish forensic (which had been in Rwanda and knows genocide) found a death toll consistent with the normal death rate of a 2 million population. It also found that the dead at a prison bombed by NATO had been buried by the Serbs with their bodies facing Mecca, which honors their Islamic beliefs in burial.

They also cover the accused connected lies (by the same Dr. Helena Ranta, a Finish forensic dentist (interesting), in each at Racak (Kosovo) and in Jenin (West Bank) against Israel, which have both been admitted by the UN to have been false accusations of murder and war crimes and alleged by Westerners to help Muslim terrorists.

This similarity is just a blueprint for the Syrian terrorists. Here is a link to a compilation of four major newspapers addressing the intentional American setting up of a provocation in Racak, Kosovo to cancel diplomacy and start a war. This is identical in intent to the radio station provocation Hitler used to invade Poland. We are now engaged in trying the exact same thing in Syria.

Russia has been threatened but was too big and strong to do anything with. The U.S. and others in the West were trying to protect the rebel Muslim terrorists in Russia, Serbia (Kosovo), and Israel.

As for the illegal war against Serbia, I have put a link to an excellent analysis and warning for the future in an article by Noam Chomsky. Many of you do not like him because he is an anarchist (in the pure and correct definition of the term) and he is not friendly to Israel. I hold those same dislikes for him. But if you read what he has to say you will understand what is happening in Syria.

Chomsky is correct that it is a violation of international law to attack a sovereign country fighting rebels in its own territory absent some very narrow circumstances. It is a violation of the UN Charter to invade another country without Security Council approval. Chomsky correctly declares that the illegal Kosovo War set a precedent for future, similar attacks.

I have spent a considerable amount of time on Kosovo because we have absolute proof of the lies told to obtain results desired for numerous political agendas unrelated to the means used, the illegal means justifying the illegal end. Kosovo occurred under a smiling, radical president. The U.S. is now operating under a scowling radical, radical, radical, radical, radical, president.
Here is a New York Times story entitled, “Air War in Kosovo Seen as Precedent in Possible Response to Syria Chemical Attack”. If the New York Times is to be believed, Obama is using the Kosovo attack air war tactics as the blueprint for attacking Syria.

Also significant is Obama “blinking” on an imminent attack. At this moment, he has decided to pause, take a deep breath, and pass the baton to Congress. He drew a red line with backing from Britain and France. Apparently the British parliament has said “no”, and now the French people are against attacking Syria. However, under French law, the president can order an invasion solely on his own authority. What a perfect out for the Obamas if he blinks again. However, his political objectives have not changed. What have the Syrians called the pause? An historic American RETREAT.

What then might we expect? First, on May 27, 1999, in another article I wrote for PNN, I stated that Russian sources (we had been in the Soviet Union before its demise and then worked with the same police personnel after Russia maintained Moscow as its capital) said not to be surprised if one morning NATO found Russian troops in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo. Exactly 17 days later, 200 Russian advanced personnel controlled the Pristina airport.

A British Brigadier confronted the Russians who denied them entry to the airport and then called his headquarters to receive permission to force his way in. Cooler heads prevailed among his senior staff (this is hard to find now since revision by the British). The Russians, having the airport, reinforced their troops and remained. The same potential exists in Syria. Certainly, Russia could respond to an invitation for Russian troops to visit the Syrian government.

Via the left-wing The Nation at the time:

“Whatever the origin of the move, the fact and symbolism of those 200 Russian troops racing across the border from Bosnia, and the reactions their arrival provoked in both Moscow and the West, show how much more complex and fragile is the Kosovo accord than Washington or Brussels will admit.”

This may be too much consideration for a “red line” by Obama and his Department of Defense.

Another aspect is maintaining troops in Syria as has been the need in Kosovo. For over fourteen years there have been continuous NATO. troops in Kosovo after the air attacks ceased. At one time there were more than 40,000 and now there are still 5,500 troops with another 700 added because of potential problems with the Muslims during Serbian elections. 760 American troops are still in Kosovo, second only to the German contingent. What will bombing only (Kosovo was only to be bombing and no ground troops), bring in Syria? Potentially a lot more than 40,000 ground troops and many more dead Americans. For what?

Did you know that a United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has been in Syria since June 1974 and has a strength of 1,302 total, including 1,165 uniformed troops and 137 civilian personnel consisting of 41 internationals and 96 locals. There have been 44 fatalities. Its budget is over $48,000,000 for 07/2013 through 06/2013.

Lastly, Clinton is (but I guess it depends on what the meaning of is, is) the consummate liar and it looks like Obama learned well in that respect. Why wouldn’t he then follow Clinton (which he is doing) in a false bombing attack? Obama is doing that according to Obama’s own spokespeople. Chomsky was correct on his precedent conclusion. Of course you can see that the Times concludes there is a “Syria chemical attack”, just like it concluded there is genocide by the Serbs in Kosovo. Wherever the gas came from, information available now cannot sustain an attack against a sovereign country and be legal.

Old Tanakh
“…and there is nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9