Macedonia - A Connection Between NATO and the NLA?

Skopje, Macedonia – Last Summer, rumors of an unstated connection between NATO and the NLA persisted in Macedonia. Two occasions in particular drew attention. First, the Battle of Aracinovo, in which German and Macedonian sources alleged that 17 "advisors" from MPRI took part on the Albanian side; Macedonian security sources claim that three Americans were among those killed. Second, was a mysterious airdrop by a US helicopter over the NLA stronghold of Sipkovice, filmed by a Macedonian television crew. They claimed that a "container," perhaps of weapons, was being given to the Albanians, for use against the Macedonian security forces. While American diplomats and NGO's scoff at such claims, it is well known that the KLA in Kosovo was armed by NATO, and that its core element retained power with the establishment of the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC), a kind of Albanian gendarmerie that has aided in both the expulsion of the Serbs, and the smuggling of weapons, guns and women, the last often to service NATO troops in Kosovo. And as recently as last summer, Albanians wounded in border-crossing shoot-outs were rushed to Camp Bondsteel for treatment. New evidence also attests to some kind of connection, though it cannot be determined whether this connection is of a formal or informal nature.

A report of 15 December 2001, made available to me by the Macedonian government, describes an automobile accident near the Kosovo-Macedonia border. The accident was due to snow, excessive speed, and an overloaded vehicle. We learn:

"On the road Skopje-Blace border crossing, around 15:20 hours, six people died in a car accident. The car, an 'Opel Ascona' (plates Nr. SK-269-KK) driven by Abdulai Arif, due to the overweight of the car and the high speed, crossed to the left side of the road and crashed with a bus (plates NR KO-148-69) driven by Ibishi Sefedin, citizen of FR Yugoslavia. The following people who were in the 'Opel' died:

Abdulai Arif (36);
Naim Limani (16);
Fejzula Shakir (23);
Skender Asani (22);
Atmi Bajrami (22); and
Raif Ademi (30).

According to sources from the court, three of the six ethnic Albanians who died were members of the so-called NLA. The driver of the car, Abdulai Arif, was cousin of Shakiri Jezair (the so-called Commander Hodja). Emblems of the so-called NLA were found in the car, the ID of Commander Toda, and an ID pass for a person employed in the US army.

The six dead people were buried in the village of Aracinovo, in the part of the graveyard where the important people of the village are buried. MP's from the PDP were present at the funeral."

Government officials told me that the US Army pass mentioned was one that could be used for entering Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo. It was unclear whether it was the pass of a particular soldier (which might indicate theft), or a general entry pass. In any case, the implications of the report occupy the same nebulous region as those involving the MPRI soldiers and the Sipkovice airdrop. These things may never be known, but there is no denying the growth of a body of circumstantial evidence to suggest some sort of collusion.

Christopher Deliso is a journalist and travel writer with special interest in current events in the areas of the former Byzantine Empire – the Balkans, Greece, Turkey, and Caucasus. Mr. Deliso holds a master's degree with honors in Byzantine Studies (from Oxford University), and has traveled widely in the region. His current long-term research projects include the Macedonia issue, the Cyprus problem, and ethnography of Byzantine Georgia.

Hoplite, this is a public forum and accepted MO is a Court Of Public Opinion. As we all here have limited resources, we must rely on circumstantial evidence offered by respectable sources. To remind you, circumstantial evidence is direct evidence of a fact from which a person may reasonably infer the existence or non-existence of another fact. A quilt may be proven if that evidence, while not directly establishing quilt, gives rise to an inference of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The law draws no distinction between circumstantial evidence and direct one in terms of weight or importance.

Bad news for you is that we are going to establish what facts have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Fact #1: All countries or regions which happen to be an impediment to oil transportation routes from Caspian Basin and Central Asia towards the East and West have been subjected either to US military’s direct or indirect interference or to an all-out war: Chechnya, Georgia, Kurdistan, Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia and Afghanistan. Result: US military bases in the Persian Gulf, Bosnia, Kosovo, Croatia, Macedonia, Albania, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan. In 1996, the US Trade and Development Agency granted permission for the initial feasibility study for AMBO project to the US firm Brown & Root Services and funded the project in March 2001. Brown & Root had built military base Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo, located very near the pipeline route. AMBO pipeline is scheduled to be operational by 2005.

Fact #2: “Principal agents (in this case, US government) rely on proxies (Muslim fundamentalists) to carry out their own plans (control of energy corridor) and hope to control them by means of the Special Forces and "advisors" (MPRI) working on the ground. Proxy wars -- and the problems that accompany them -- are hardly new. America fought most of its wars against Communism through proxies. It also funded Jonas Savimbi in Angola, Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia, etc.” [Michael Ignatieff is the Carr Professor of Human Rights Practice, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University]

Fact #3: "It has been now documented beyond doubt that Washington is behind the terrorist assaults in Macedonia." [Dr. Michel Chossudovsky, Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa.]

"During fighting around Aracinovo on Monday night, an American diplomat was slightly wounded by Macedonian gunfire as he emerged from the woods with two other Americans, according to an American newspaper. The paper does not speculate what an American "diplomat" might have been doing in such a covert place as a wood full of rebels." [International Herald Tribune, 26th June 2001, page 7]

"MPRI, a mercenary company in Virginia, the United States, working on contract with Pentagon has trained BOTH the KLA and the Macedonian Army. It has worked also for the Bosnian Army and was deeply involved in training the Croatian Army that drove out some 200.000 legitimate Serb citizens from Croatia in 1995. In short, the type of actor that really helps bring about the specific EU and NATO type of peace." [[Dr. Jan Oberg, former director of the Lund University Peace Research Institute, former member of the Danish government's Committee on security and disarmament.]

I’ll have mercy on you this time; no Col. Hackworth to hunt you.

If MPRI were training Macedonian Army, why would Macedonians come out with ‘fabrications’ regarding Aracinovo/MPRI, insult US Government and risk to lose support of the only superpower? Can you offer a reasonable explanation?

Good news for you is that there are others who have problems with circumstantial evidence:

Prosecuting attorney asked the farmer if he could convict someone on circumstantial evidence.

The farmer responded, "No way in hell could I do that!!" The attorney asked why he was so adamant in his answer. He replied that he once had a very bad experience with circumstantial evidence. The attorney asked him to explain."

"Well sir," the farmer began, "I was out in the barn milking ole' Bessie one hot day and as I was milking her she kicked over the milk pail with her right front foot. The milk soaked my overalls and underwear, so I took them off, rinsed them out in the water trough and hung them out to dry.

"Then, I got a piece of rope and tied her right foot to the floor. I sat back down and starting milking again and the silly cow kicked over the pail with her left front foot. So I tied that one down to the floor as well. She then proceeded to kick over the pail with each of her back feet so I tied both of them to the floor. Well, I thought I had things under control until she whipped her tail around and slapped me right in the face. Very annoyed at her antics, I moved my stool behind her, stood up on it, and as I was in the process of tying her tail to one of the rafters, wearing nothing but my T-Shirt and boots, my wife walked into the barn!"

"No Sir!! I do not believe in circumstantial evidence!"

John Green - something to work with...

An American diplomat, meanwhile, was wounded by Macedonian government troops in what was apparently inadvertent gunfire fired near Aracinovo.

The diplomat, overheard identifying himself as John Green, was emerging from the woods with two other Americans near the rebel-controlled village of Grusinovo when Macedonian troops fired warning shots.

Two of the shots wounded Green, one in the arm and the other in the leg, but apparently not seriously. The Americans, in civilian clothes, all raised their arms in the air. Realizing the mistake, the Macedonians called for an ambulance.

Green hobbled into the vehicle after shaking hands with Macedonian officers. The two sides apparently mumbled a string of apologies. Green waved his U.S. passport to reporters as he was driven away.

So this gets transmogrified by Chris Deliso into...

Apparently one of the MPRI men had been captured by the Macedonians. He panicked, and, waving his US passport, shouted “diplomatic immunity!” Through heavy US intercession, the man was freed and evacuated together with his comrades and the NLA fighters. European sources identified this particular individual as having been active in training Bosnian fighters in the 1990’s.

Do you see how actual events are changed, resulting in the fictional accounts you are now presenting me with as evidence?

Again, you have nothing to support the presence of MPRI personnel in Aracinovo - the passage referenced from IHT:

substitutes innuendo for fact - which may be good enough for you, Upland, but it's not good enough for me.

From RFERL

Macedonian TV says government security forces yesterday opened fire on a rented car about one kilometer from Nikustak, allegedly because the driver did not obey their order to stop. Four people with diplomatic passports were in the car and one of the persons was injured during the attack. The wounded diplomat was a U.S. citizen.

Further, from Richard Boucher, US State Dept Spokesman

With regard to the wounding of a member of our embassy, there was an embassy observer team that wasn't -- they were unmarked, they weren't particularly identified as such. But there was a team that was out southwest of Kumanovo. They came under fire. At this point we don't know all the facts, but one member of that team was wounded. The Macedonian forces provided first aid and assistance to the wounded team member, and he is being treated at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo. His condition is not life-threatening.

Richard Boucher meets the credibility requirements on the issue for me, Upland.

Your move.

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