Word: serb
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...Kosovar attacks on the Roma aren?t based simply on traditional European stereotyping of Gypsies as a menacing criminal element; they?re a response to the Gypsies? perceived support of Serb savagery against ethnic Albanians. Enraged by tales of Gypsies looting Albanian property or being enlisted by Serb paramilitaries to bury the bodies of massacred Albanians ? and even some accounts of torture and rape at the hands of individual Gypsies ?- returning refugees and the KLA have vowed to rid the province of its Roma population...
...That many Roma people worked for the Serbs ? usually as manual laborers ?- throughout their campaign of violence against ethnic Albanians is not in dispute. "Ever since Serbia withdrew Kosovo?s autonomy in 1989, the authorities have been reluctant to hire ethnic Albanians even as street cleaners," says TIME Central Europe bureau reporter Dejan Anastasijevic. "Because they accepted employment by the Serbs at a time when Albanians were boycotting all Serb institutions, they gained a reputation for siding with the Serbs. But as is the case all over the Balkans and Europe, Gypsies have always been the lowest class of citizen...
...when the Serbs were butchering Kosovar Albanians, they paid Gypsies to clear rubble and dig the graves. The Roma population ? many of whom painted the word "Rom" on their houses ? were also spared by the rampaging Serb paramilitaries. Some individuals are alleged to have played a more actively violent role in the Serb campaign; others to have given the Serbs political support. Other Gypsies actually joined the KLA, although a number have subsequently complained of being forced at gunpoint...
...eager to proclaim victory for a "Clinton Doctrine" of using limited military force to achieve limited goals. No, say Western military analysts surveying the bomb damage now that the dust has settled. Monday?s New York Times reports that NATO forces have discovered, upon entering Kosovo and observing the Serb withdrawal, that the damage inflicted on the Yugoslav army was considerably less than had been initially claimed by the alliance. "NATO hit a lot of dummy and deception targets," a former alliance commander was quoted as telling European diplomats. Western officers found very few damaged tanks, military vehicles and artillery...
...Serbs Monday observed the anniversary of their historic defeat in Kosovo by the Ottoman Empire in 1389, one question facing NATO is what exactly compelled Milosevic to surrender the province 610 years later. The impact of the bombing campaign appears to have weighed less on the fighting ability of the Yugoslav army in Kosovo than on the civilian infrastructure in Serbia proper. And many analysts believe it was actually the prospect of a ground invasion by NATO that forced the Serb leader?s turnabout. But the question is about a lot more than apportioning credit: Conventional wisdom holds that bombing...