The NATO bombing was aimed at workers and farmers throughout Yugoslavia. The reactionary line and course of the Milosevic regime - whipping up Serb chauvinism to repress the Albanian struggle for self-determination and dampen working- class opposition to his austerity and anti-democratic policies - opened the door to the imperialist intervention that has battered the social cohesion of Yugoslavia.
The accord institutionalizes this assault on the Yugoslav workers state. It codifies the plans of Washington and its imperialist allies, who are also rivals, to impose a protectorate on Kosova similar to their military occupation of Bosnia. The "peace plan" will give "sweeping powers" to the NATO general who will command the occupation force there and the imperialists will also gain control over Kosova's territory, air space, and borders.
In carrying out its course, Washington will use the Kosova Liberation Army most likely as a police force to help impose imperialist dictates. They will be used against Albanian workers and peasants who are fighting for self-determination and are refusing to bow to the U.S. rulers.
As Washington sinks its roots deeper in the Balkans powder keg, it is cold-bloodedly preparing, step by step, for what the U.S. rulers are convinced must be done to achieve their goal of reimposing capitalism there. The U.S.-NATO war was ultimately aimed at demoralizing Yugoslav workers and peasants, who the imperialists must defeat in battles ahead. That's why NATO bombs targeted factories, schools, roads, and bridges.
The imperialist campaign to impose a NATO occupation army in Kosova has nothing to do with defending Albanians who were expelled en masse or guaranteeing the safe return of all the refugees. Washington's opposition to the right of Kosovars to decide their future, the imperial removal of Kosovar negotiators who refused to sign the U.S. draft of the Rambouillet accord, and the refusal of the imperialist powers to open their borders to the refugees for weeks and weeks are a few examples of that. To justify the military intervention, the U.S. rulers and press are painting a picture of deep "ethnic hatred." All Kosovar Albanians now hate all Serbs, they say. All people of Serbian origin will not live in peace next to Albanians. The only way to hold these tensions at bay is through imperial might.
But the reality they try to hide is that many people still consider themselves Yugoslav, and are seeking ways to defend the Yugoslavia that came together in the 1942-45 revolution. Working people of all nationalities forged unity in the revolutionary struggle against the fascist occupation of Yugoslavia, and the subsequent overturn of capitalist property relations there.
Since the late 1980s, the Milosevic regime and other contending gangs in Yugoslavia have draped themselves in different nationalist flags as they fought among themselves to maximize the territory and resources under their control to maintain their parasitic existence. The NATO "peacekeepers" will simply reinforce these divisions, setting the stage for more conflicts. Already the big-business press points to Montenegro and Vojvodina as the next possible arenas.
The fact that many people throughout Yugoslavia still reject this course and seek ways to fight for solidarity - including a number who support the right to self- determination for Kosova as the only road forward to a union of equals - testifies to the rich revolutionary legacy that is not dead and can be reknit.
Class-conscious fighters should call for joining forces with Yugoslavs who oppose the NATO occupation force preparing to invade their country. Workers and farmers around the world should throw their weight behind those opposing the Milosevic regime and who embrace the Kosovar Albanians struggle for self-determination. We should demand:
Imperialist troops out of the Balkans!
No to the dismemberment of Yugoslavia!
Self-determination for Kosova!