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Hitler Redux Kosovar-killin', Slobo babe, get it off, get off, get off of me. So the Western alliances have found another tin-star dictator bearing an ancient ethnic grudge on which to pin the legacy of Hitler in Slobodan Milosevic. It seems to happen every couple of years. Someone's leader gets a bit ambitious and literally starts testing his country's boundaries. If he's successful, he starts taking bigger bites, or swallows a country whole. Then the next thing you know, we're there bombing the hell out of a foreign people the general public knows little about. The public needs justification for our boys being over there, and voila - the Great Dictator all over again. No one could be blamed for being a bit cynical about the comparison to Hitler. It's become an easy flashpoint on a worldwide scale. Everyone knows the history the Hitler wrought, and the mere mention of his name brings to mind strong pictures of atrocity and war. In fact, we can't escape it. Nor should we. However, this time, the similarities are a bit too convincing. Milosevic has raised the specter of millions of dead Jews with his "ethnic cleansing" for nearly a decade. He started trying to eat up satellite countries, fed by thousand year old ethnic hostilities. And now, when he has finally broken the west's Neville Chamberlain-like inaction, the only buddy he really has is Russia, once again desperate to reassert itself as a major power while its domestic government slowly fades into chaos. The difference is that Milosevic knows international politics, and American national politics. If we thought Clinton was Houdini for escaping his libidinous escapades unscathed and with high approval ratings, Milosevic makes Clinton look more like Harry Anderson after having stayed alive and in power, and with equal support from his people. He and his allies are talented enough spin-doctors to gain some sympathy for the Serbs as victims A representative from the Serbian Information Center commented on CNN after the second week of bombings that the NATO alliance was trying to make Kosovo and Serbia their protectorates, and insinuated NATO would then try to extend its influence into Russia. Russia is paranoid enough right now. Right now, Russia is John Hinckley, and Yugoslavia is Jodie Foster. Milosevic would like America to be Ronald Reagan. It's an easy game to play. And now that the air strikes are starting to hit home a bit more, Milosevic is playing another game, searching for the smallest compromise that will stop the bombing. He offered a cease-fire and announced that all refugees could return to their homes in peace, without fear of reprisal. Trust him? Stupid! I'm sure he just forced them out of their homes so he could paint them, maybe do a little grout work, and then give back. He's posturing to improve his self-image. He knows NATO can't accept anything less than full cooperation, and he also knows that if he appears to be giving a little ground, he can play up his victim status enough to force NATO to cool down without giving up anything at all. He'll say he tried, and some may believe him. He'll also continue to say the air strikes are killing civilians and call for NATO big shots to be tried for war crimes. All the while he's herding refugees around his tanks and stationary targets, using them as human shields. He's got a chip on his shoulder and a Kosovar wrapped around his chest. And it's all going to get worse the longer it drags on. There is absolutely no historical precedent for winning a war (or a conflict, if you're touchy) using only air attacks. If Milosevic can continue to dodge the bullet, NATO has a choice - they can either back down and give Milosevic a green light to establish his own sphere of influence and expand his campaigns, or they can send in ground troops and spark a full blown war. In Washington, there are signs that this issue has pushed aside politics as usual. John McCain has put off announcing his candidacy for president, saying, "I didn't think high school bands and balloons were appropriate when our boys are in harm's way." Everyone who possibly could be on the talk show circuit was there affirming NATO's all or nothing policy. When White House Chief of Staff John Podesta was asked about partitioning Kosovo, he stood firm and said that is not on the table. Not bad for a guy who represents a human waffle in Clinton, who seems to be doing the right thing by staying out of it and letting his foreign policy people figure it out. Then again, as always, Dan Quayle popped up to prove he just doesn't get it. On "Meet the Press," he went on the offensive, clearly trying to grab the high ground for a run for president. When asked what he would do, he immediately went on the attack, saying he never would have gotten us into this mess. He led every answer with a criticism of the Clinton Administration and praise for the Bush Administration, hedging around any actual answers. And "Time" didn't help any. The April 4 cover featured a young mother holding her child, with a shapely breast hanging out of her jacket. Good job guys. Always room to fit in a little skin to really sell the story. I guess that's what "Time" thinks it takes to get America's attention. Let's hope not. If our model for handling this issue tips more toward McCain and further away from Quayle, there's a chance Milosevic won't be able to use our own politics against us. There is no clear solution, but there are clear consequences now that NATO has begun air strikes. Unless something extraordinary happens, NATO will have to bring in ground troops, and US relations with Russia will strain like Marlon Brando's sweat pants. Milosevic will keep playing the game as long as we give him the opportunity. We just have to hope that he doesn't turn out to be the Hitler we now imagine him to be. -Nick |
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