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rather than extermination."9

Serbs conformed closely to the usual pattern

of guerrilla wars. The Serbian army's late-

Although the brutality of Belgrade's

March offensive in Kosovo was a response to

actions should not be minimized, such

KLA actions, "including the ambushing of

actions are not unusual in the context of

Serbian police patrols and officials by

guerrilla warfare. More to the point, they

Albanians and several instances of the kid-

were not a "horrific slaughter," or "geno-

naping and killing of Serbian civilians."7

cide," as repeatedly alleged by U.S. and

NATO officials.

Certainly, Serbia's prebombing campaign

against the KLA was harsh. Nevertheless, the

Precedents for Belgrade's Counterinsur-

total number of fatalities (including Serbian

gency Tactics

casualties) before the onset of the NATO

Students of counterinsurgencies will rec-

bombing campaign was approximately

ognize the similarities between the Serbs' tac-

2,000, a relatively low figure compared with

tics in Kosovo and those of the French in

those for other internecine conflicts in the

Algeria, the British in the Boer War, and the

1990s. Before the onset of NATO's air cam-

Americans in the Philippines and Vietnam.

paign, Belgrade's objective was not to forcibly

As military analyst Jeffrey Record says of U.S.

expel ethnic Albanians from Kosovo but

tactics in Vietnam:

rather to remove them from KLA strong-

holds, thereby depriving the KLA of its base

The evidence, including the wide-

of support.

spread declarations of free-fire zones

Once the bombing began, however, the

in "enemy"-controlled regions, strongly

Serbian campaign in Kosovo intensified as

suggests that firepower was deliber-

Belgrade moved (apparently according to a

ately employed to depopulate--by

previously formulated contingency plan) to

death or abandonment--entire rural

crush the KLA and to expel large numbers of

areas of Vietnam. During the war, at

ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. That cam-

least 50% of South Vietnam's peas-

paign had an immediate military objective:

antry was involuntarily urbanized by

combat in the countryside. . . .

By expelling ethnic Albanians from

Between 1964 and 1974, South

Kosovo, Serbian forces aimed to

Vietnam's urban population went

restrict the guerrillas' base of support

from 15 to 65% of the country's total,

and cover. By controlling the borders

The Clinton

and by 1968 refugees alone accounted

and the devastated corridors along

administration

the major highways, the Serbs

for 5 million of South Vietnam's total

population of 17 million.1 0

planned to isolate and then eradicate

and NATO have

the Kosovo Liberation Army in the

depicted Serbian

forests and mountains.8

The ferocity of the war between the Serbs

and the KLA in Kosovo was explained by the

actions in Kosovo

conflict's historical and ethnic dimensions.1 1

However, Belgrade also had a broader polit-

in the most chill-

ical objective: to reverse the demographic

In that respect, the war differed little from

ing light possible

trends in Kosovo, which, largely because of

previous Balkan conflicts. As a Carnegie

differential birthrates, have seen ethnic

Endowment report on the First Balkan War

but have remained

Albanians become almost 90 percent of the

(1912) observed:

silent about the

province's population. In stepping up their

human rights

actions in Kosovo following the start of the

The burning of villages and the exo-

NATO bombing, Serbian forces were, as

dus of the defeated population is a

atrocities perpe-

reported in the New York Times, "seeking to

normal and traditional incident of

trated by Turkey,

defuse a potential demographic time

all Balkan wars and insurrections. It

bomb," but their goal was "depopulation

is the habit of these peoples. What

a NATO member.

4