PROFESSOR RONALD HATCHETT ON KOSOVO
(From a speech given at Niagara Falls, Ontario, June 1998)

...Serbia. It was Serbian hands that cleared the fields of Kosovo, built the villages and roads, and created the great Holy Places to the glory of God, his Son, Jesus Christ, and the Saints.

And it was Serbian blood that defended these treasures against the Turks in 1389 and again in 1913; against the Austrians in 1915; against the Fascist Germans, Italians, and Albanians during World War II. And it will be Serbian blood that will defend Kosovo against foreign threats today, tomorrow, and for eternity!

But the western politicians and press don't seem to understand this. They focus instead on the idea that 90% of the population of Kosovo is Albanian - as if somehow illegal immigration, a high birth rate, and a willingness to intimidate the indigenous people gives greater legitimacy to territorial claims than centuries of work and sacrifice. If this is to be the new standard by which territorial ownership is to be decided then a lot of Americans in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern California are in danger of losing their homes!

No, the actions of the Albanians today in Kosovo are clearly illegal under the standards of any nation. What nation would tolerate raids by armed terrorist against the homes of its citizens, its police stations, and other government facilities? Security forces in the United States surrounded and eventually caused the deaths of 70 Americans, including women and children, simply because they possessed unlawful firearms - and these people had not even used any of these weapons against their countrymen or government! So in Kosovo today, the Serbian government not only has the right to put down an armed rebellion, but also the obligation to do so to protect the lives and property of its law abiding citizens!

The actions of the group of outside powers led by United States and Britain in support of the Kosovo terrorists is also illegal under international law. In 1975 the Heads of State of all the States in Europe and the United States and Canada signed the Helsinki Agreement which they said is "a solemn commitment" governing relations among the signatory countries. Article I of this agreement commits the states to respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity; Article II, commits them to refrain from the threat or use of force in an effort to induce a state to renounce full exercise of its sovereignty; Article V, commits them to refrain from any intervention, direct or indirect, individual or collective, in the internal affairs of another state, and, in particular, to refrain from direct or indirect assistance to terrorist or other subversive groups operating inside one of the signatory states.

Despite these "solemn commitments" by the Heads of State, including President Gerald Ford on behalf of the United States and Prime Minister Harold Wilson on behalf of the United Kingdom, Serbia today is under economic sanctions for no other reason than its effort to exercise its sovereign authority within its internationally recognized territory. In addition, the leaders of the Kosovo terrorist group are welcomed at the White House; and hardly a day goes by that Madelyn Albright, Richard Holbroke, or Robin Cook does not threaten an imminent attack on Serbia by NATO!

But as a former military man I can tell you that military operations against Serbia in Kosovo are easier to threaten than to carry out. A military intervention in Kosovo would not be the same as the virtually unopposed military intervention in Bosnia. Intervention is Kosovo would be an act of war on a sovereign country. And Serbia would be a for more formidable foe than Republika Srbska. Serbia has over two million trained warriors that it can call upon to defend its territory and an effective air defense system. And most important, Kosovo means more to the Serbian people than it does to the Americans or British. I am convinced that the American people will not tolerate the level of sacrifice of American lives that the Serbs would extract in defense of their homeland.

The truth is that the only reason that President Clinton has been able to take the actions he has thus far in Bosnia and Kosovo is that there has been no human cost associated with these actions. The American people frankly have little interest in what is going on in the Balkans, giving President Clinton and the Washington elite a free hand to threaten, posture, deploy military forces, etc. But if American boys and girls start to come home in body bags, I guarantee you that the American people will start paying attention and they will be outraged! They will refuse to support the sacrifice for a land they know nothing about and which they do not perceive to be a threat to American interests. And as in Somalia, where American liberals also tried to dictate local politics from Washington, the loss of 20 soldiers was more than the American people were willing to pay for "nation building" in a foreign land.

So Kosovo is Serbian and it will remain Serbian as long as the Serbian people, like the martyrs on Kosovo Polje 609 years ago, are willing to sacrifice to keep it!