OFFICER INCOMPETENCE IN AFGHANISTAN?

Graphic courtesy of News Limited

OFFICER INCOMPETENCE IN AFGHANISTAN? 

by Sasha Uzunov

The story in the Herald Sun newspaper (see below) raises the ugly possibility that it was Australian Army Officer incompetence that contributed to the deaths of 3 diggers (soldiers) in a green on blue incident, that is Afghan soldiers who are Taliban sleeper operatives attacking Western soldiers.

Ask any former and serving enlisted Australian soldier (myself included), who has never been commissioned as an officer, their opinion of our "leader caste." It would not be too flattering.

Generally speaking, the good officers are the ones who don't buy the subliminal and subtle brainwashing at the Australian Army's Royal Military College - Duntroon about how they are the Lords of the Earth and soldiers are servants, a relic of the 19th century British aristocracy's influence in the armed forces.

Good officers earn the respect of their men by leading by example. Most soldiers accept when officers make tough & unpopular decisions that have a reason...ie. the safety of the unit.

The Australian Army and its parent, the British Army, have a tradition that young officers fresh out of the military academy are mentored by older non-commissioned officers (NCO) or warrant officers (also known as sergeant-majors) who show them the ropes.

Sometimes, the fault can lie with NCO's for not being strong enough in offering their guidance to officers.

We know that democracy does not work in the Army. The Russian Red Army during the Revolution and the Civil War period (1917-20) permitted soldiers to "elect" their commanders and to vote on whether to fight certain battles. It was found to be a disaster. So Leon Trostky, the Red Army Commissar, re-introduced the old system of a hierarchical rank structure. The Red Army went on to win the Civil War.

Good officers in the Australian Army, and there are many, listen to their men and their non-commissioned officers such as corporals and sergeants, but then show their authority by making a decision based on logic.

What is not acceptable is when officers, in order to play the promotion game, are too afraid to think outside the box, don't want to rock the boat. That is because we have a professional careerist officer corps. If they do not do as they are told they receive a poor evaluation report and their career could be destroyed.

I've witnessed how a popular and competent officer had his career destroyed for simply doing his job.

Another point, enlisted soldiers are seen as mere furniture or assets by officers, because soldiers only "make their careers" once they reach the rank of sergeant.

If you have 20 something year olds without any life experiences graduating as officers who are then expected to lead men into battle, you are asking for trouble.

Second point the I thought NATO ran the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, not the United Nations. Perhaps I'm wrong? Read the story below.

LINK to story
Herald Sun - September 25, 2013

Army fails Diggers in Afghanistan, finds secret report

A SECRET internal defence report into the murders of three soldiers in Afghanistan by a Taliban "sleeper" has revealed it was incompetence that exposed the three Australian sons to danger - and ultimately cost them their lives.

Lance Corporal Stjepan "Rick'' Milosevic, 40, Sapper James "Marto'' Martin, 21, and Private Robert "Poatey'' Poate, 23 were murdered in cold blood at Patrol Base Wahab on August 29 last year as they played cards.

But the tragedy for the fallen mates - and their families - was that the army failed to provide adequate protection despite increased risks of insider attacks.

A damning internal - and heavily censored - report has revealed the men's commanders knew of increased "green on blue" attacks by Taliban operatives against coalition forces.

The United Nations led coalition - called International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) - ordered security be beefed up.

But the warnings of the spike in insider attacks were never passed to the 22-man platoon.

Taliban operative - Sergeant Hekmatullah - quietly approached their makeshift recreation area.

It was 9.45pm and as the trained killer drew level with two Bushmaster vehicles, where the Aussies were gathered around two tables under a tarp just prior to turning in, he silently switched his weapon to automatic and squeezed the trigger.

Within seconds two bursts of automatic fire had sprayed the Diggers with 23 rounds.

Two died instantly, a third was dying and another two were wounded. In the chaos that followed, the killer had fled.
The report's key findings are;

* A high-level report boosting force protection was released on August 28 but not passed to troops at risk.

* Senior officers failed to adequately address the force protection needs at patrol base Wahab.

* The state of readiness and ability to respond to attack was "inadequate''.

* Senior officers knew that diggers would be unable to secure themselves away from Afghan troops at Wahab.

* No Australian intelligence existed about the risk from Hekmatullah.

The Taskforce Commander, a Lieutenant Colonel, and the Lieutenant in command of the platoon were both promoted months before the report was finalised.

The triple murder occurred just 13 days after a warning about increased "sleeper'' attacks from Taliban chief Mullah Omar and during a spike in so called "green on blue'' insider attacks by Afghan soldiers.

THE MIJALKOV HIT?

THE JORDAN MIJALKOV HIT - was the Macedonian Minister assassinated?

by Sasha Uzunov

Just before Christmas 1991, I got a phone call from two Melbourne based branch members, Andon Lazarevski and Vidan Zvezdakovski, from VMRO-DPMNE, now the governing party in Macedonia. They were faxing media releases about the unexpected death of Jordan Mijalkov, Macedonia's Interior Minister. One was sent to the BBC in London but with no response.

They asked if I, as an independent freelance journalist, was interested in the story? I said I was happy to talk to anyone from any political party, including Macedonia's Social Democrats (SDSM), or ethnic background for information. It is a hard business trying to steer an independent course amongst Macedonia's two major political parties.

In December 1991 Jordan Mijalkov, was killed in a car accident as he was rushing to meet with his Serbian counterpart. At the time there was speculation his death had been arranged by person or persons unknown. The other possibility was it was a genuine car crash. Link to story

A later story in the British magazine The Economist in 2011 had this to say on Mijalkov:

"Mr Mijalkov's memory is cherished by many. It was he who ordered the seizure of Yugoslav army documents, which meant that the army could not mobilise Macedonians to fight in Croatia. Soon afterwards, he was killed in a suspicious car accident in Serbia."

In 1991-92 I did some digging but could not find any further information and left it at that. However, in 1993 during my stay in Macedonia as a correspondent with the MILS news agency I was invited to dinner by a prominent Macedonian journalist in Skopje.

We devoured the tavche gravche (baked beans and meatballs) and then hit the dessert cakes and cleansed our palette with the customary Turkish coffee afterward. Then we got onto the subject of Jordan Mijalkov. To be honest  I don't remember how we got onto the subject

Without any prompting, the journalist got up from the kitchen table, walked to a set of cabinet drawers and pulled out a map. It was hand drawn in black pen, detailing where exactly Mijalkov's car had crashed in Serbia, near the town of Vranje. He was adamant that it was driver error that caused the death. I kept an open mind. To this day I still don't know what to think.

What aroused my curiosity was the fact that the journalist had this map at the ready in his kitchen to show "foreign" journalists. I told a North American colleague about the story of the map, and he too had his curiousity aroused.

Jordan Mijalkov is the uncle of Macedonia's current Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski. Mijalkov's son and Gruevski's cousin, Saso, is Macedonia's Intelligence Chief. PM Gruevski and the Mijalkov's family have never bought the official version of the death.

A later story in the British magazine The Economist in 2011 had this to say about Gruevski:

"MACEDONIANS either love him or loathe him. To his detractors, Nikola Gruevski, who was confirmed as prime minister for a third term on July 28th, is corrupt, a populist, a ruthless Machiavellian and an enemy of a free media. “No, no, no,” say his supporters. He is as clean as a whistle, modest, the scourge of tax-dodging tycoons and a family-values man to his core.

Spy mania and conspiracy theories have always been popular past times in the Balkans region of Europe. It seems history has a tendency to repeat itself. A new spy mania has spread through Macedonia.

Without passing judgment, I am a firmer believer in innocent until proven guilty, days ago a number of high profile arrests have been made in connection to people allegedly working for foreign governments. We await the investigation, where the accused can through a proper and fair legal process either clear their names or the government can prove its case. Link to story

STAMP SCANDAL - NAZI COLLABORATOR

STAMP SCANDAL - NAZI COLLABORATOR 
- Where is the European Union, where is Stefan Fule? 
- Where is NATO? WHERE IS LORD ROBERTSON? JAVIER SOLANA?

by Sasha Uzunov 

To appease ethnic Albanian nationalist sentiment within the country, the Republic of Macedonia's Post Office is about to issue a stamp commemorating Rexhep Mitrovica, a staunch Albanian nationalist, (1887 - 1967) who was the Prime Minister of Albania's government under Nazi Germany from 1943 to 1944.

The link to the Macedonian Post Office website offering the controversial stamp.

However, in a conflicting report in the Macedonian media, the Ministry for Transport and Communications, which overseas the Post Office, has said it does not support the stamp but the responsibility lies with the Post Office. Link to story is here. 

"On 6 November 1943, Berlin announced that a Pro-Nazi Germany Albanian government headed by Rexhep Mitrovica, an active member of the Balli Kombëtar from Kosovo, was formed. Mitrovica's cabinet, most of whom had credentials as nationalists as well as some German or Austrian connections." Link to source material

The Republic of Macedonia consists of about 70% ethnic Macedonians, and about 20 to 25% ethnic Albanians. Under pressure from NATO and the West, Albanian nationalist groups under Ali Ahmeti and his DUI party have pushed out other ethnic Albanian parties to share power in Macedonia's coalition government with, strangely and paradoxically, is VMRO-DPMNE, a Macedonian nationalist party. 

Lord Robertson shakes hands with Ali Ahmeti

During a short lived war in Macedonia in 2001, launched by Ali Ahmeti, Ahmeti's National Liberation Army fought the then Macedonian coalition government consisting of VMRO-DPMNE and DPA (Democratic Party of Albanians). Under pressure from NATO's Lord Robertson and the European Union's Javier Solana, Ahmeti was given a share of political power in Macedonia.

During World War 2, Macedonian Partizans fought Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Bulgaria and the Balli Kombetar (Albanian Balists) from 1941 to 1945.

The Bulgarian occupying forces were responsible for wiping out Macedonia's Jewish population.

Questions remain as to why such a stamp was authorised, considering Mitrovica's well documented links to Nazi Germany? And what action the current Macedonian coalition government and European Union Commissar and Balkan envoy Stefan Fule will take?

Photo (above): World War II - Macedonian Partizan units marching through the Macedonian town of Bitola in 1944. Some of these units in the Bitola-Prilep-Prespa-Aegean Macedonia regions fought some of the toughest and nastiest battles against Nazi Germany (1941-45), Axis allies Bulgaria (1941-44) and Fascist Italy (1941-43) and the Balli Kombetar (Albanian nationalists aligned with Nazi Germany).

STEVE JOBS OF APPLE & SKOPJE CITY !

Steve Jobs - photo credit: Matthew Yohe - Wikipedia

COULD STEVE JOBS OF APPLE COMPUTERS HAVE SUCCEEDED IN CITY OF SKOPJE?

By Sasha Uzunov

The legacy of one of the greatest geniuses the world has ever known, the late Steve Jobs, is that we have hi-tech mobile phones and computers that have allowed the average person to become a reporter of world events. This legacy together with the advent of social media has brought dramatic global political changes. But the question I would like to pose is could Steve Jobs have succeeded in Skopje, the capital city of the Republic of Macedonia?

THE ANSWER IS NO

The answer is a very obvious NO. Putting aside the lack of economic incentive, from a cultural perspective Steve Jobs would never have been able to do anything. So hypothetically if by some miracle the European Union or some other body was to pour a bag of gold or a fistful of dollars into Macedonia…there would still be no Steve Jobs.

WHY?

Firstly, Steve Jobs dropped out of university in his homeland of the United States. In status conscious Macedonia, run by the over-credentialed, City of Skopje cultural elite, Steve Jobs would have suffered ridicule for being an “uncultured peasant (nekulturen selanec).”

Secondly, Steve Jobs was not the off-spring of Macedonia’s former communist ruling elite, and in post-communist Macedonia, not belonging to any of the major political parties, he would never have been able to open his mouth, let alone create or invent anything.

Thirdly, in order to conform to the City of Skopje ruling and cultural elite and in order to “belong socially” he would have had to spent most of his time hanging out in cafes (kafic or kafani) chain-smoking and listening to Bijelo Dugme or Ceca of Serbian Turbo-folk music fame, and indulging in conspiracy theories and blaming everyone, including the government, the state, the CIA, the Vatican, the KGB, aliens etc for his predicament.

An example of Macedonian style nanny statism is Ana Stojanov(a) who did a Master's degree at Cambridge University, Britain, in child psychology and then returned to her homeland of Macedonia complaining about not being given a chance, that is a comfy public service job in an office!

Link to The Nanny State - Macedonian style article

But we know that Steve Jobs spent a lot of his time doing “uncool things” like tinkering in his parents’ garage trying to invent a computer. The City of Skopje elite would have perceived him as being crazy, even though many of them use his products, I-phones and Apple computers.

Fourthly, and this ties in with the previous point: Steve Jobs would have been punished by the City of Skopje cultural elite enforcers for being curious, for asking questions, for taking things apart and simply trying something different. He would have been hit over the head with “pravopis,” the obsession with speaking correct and formal Macedonian even though the elite itself does not practice what it preaches.

PRETEND WARRIOR SYNDROME (PWS)

PRETEND WARRIOR SYNDROME (PWS) - a biological cry for help?

by Sasha Uzunov

John Anthony Hines, aged 69, was recently found guilty in an Australian court of falsely acting as a Vietnam War veteran. Characters such as Hines evoke little sympathy from real-life veterans who have faced death or have had mates killed in battle. We tend to view military impostors as being con-men seeking financial gain or suffering from a psychological problem. I would like to offer a third explanation, even though I am not a qualified psychologist, biologist, anthropologist. However, I can only offer observations, anecdotal evidence and material that I have gleaned from the media.

What if Hines's behaviour, as well as the disturbing increase in the number of Pretend Warriors, is a biological cry for help?  What if it is the male body's pre-programmed wiring that is reacting subconsciously to a political and societal phenomenon?

LINK

As Peter McAllister, an archaeologist with the University of Western Australia and the author of the new book “Manthropology: The Science of Why the Modern Male Is Not the Man He Used to Be,”

"I have a strong feeling that masculinity is in crisis. Men are really searching for a role in modern society; the things we used to do aren’t in much demand anymore, and it seems we’re having a little trouble finding a way to establish ourselves. I don’t know about America, but it’s certainly the case in Australia, that men have an ignorant, blithe assumption that they are the best that’s ever been. But it’s not really supported by the facts at all."

Sam Vaknin, an Israeli writer, has done a herculean amount of study on narcissism and psychopathy and what he terms "Malignant Self Love. No doubt Hines would be an interesting case study for him to examine.  As mentioned above, Pretend Warriors can easily fit the profile of a narcissist who needs to feel important by inventing stories about himself or simply a conman trying to gain some kind of financial advantage--and the resulting behaviour may not have anything to do with a "biological cry for help over a crisis in masculinity."

But consider this for a moment. With the ascendancy of Western feminism beginning in the early 1970s has come the overall positive outcome of equality for women but--as with any movement such as socialism or capitalism--there has come a radical extremist fringe with outlandish conspiracy theories about masculinity. Instead of masculinity being considered a biological process or an ingrained survival behaviour in men as part of evolution it has assumed the mantle of evil itself. We know that the vast majority of crime, acts of violence are committed by men against other men and women. There has in recent times been an alarming increase in violence committed by young women but men remain the majority perpetrators.

The flip side of this is, and here lies the paradox, masculinity is needed even by those who are opposed to it on ideological grounds. On Australia Day, 26 January 2012, Australia's first female Prime Minister, who in her youth was a radical feminist, needed the protection of a male Federal Police bodyguard as Aboriginal protesters had surrounded her and the Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott in a Canberra restaurant. The image of the event, which appeared in the media, has become a national icon.

Conservative Canadian commentator Mark Steyn takes a more strident view on the paradox of modern Western masculinity. He cites the December 1989 massacre of 14 female students at the Ecole Polytechnique (University of Technology), Quebec, Canada by gunman Marc Lepine (Gamil Gharbi) who had a hatred of women:

"To those who succeeded in imposing the official narrative, Marc Lépine embodies the murderous misogynist rage that is inherent in all men, and which all must acknowledge.

“The defining image of contemporary Canadian maleness is not M Lépine/Gharbi but the professors and the men in that classroom, who, ordered to leave by the lone gunman, meekly did so, and abandoned their female classmates to their fate—an act of abdication that would have been unthinkable in almost any other culture throughout human history. The ‘men’ stood outside in the corridor and, even as they heard the first shots, they did nothing. And, when it was over and Gharbi walked out of the room and past them, they still did nothing. Whatever its other defects, Canadian manhood does not suffer from an excess of testosterone.”

Hines pretending to be a Vietnam Veteran and acting out his own fantasy world of special operations or "black bag ops" could be a symptom of masculinity in crisis. (LINK to Courier Mail story):

"Those who knew Hines... say the man who loves war movies, Rambo, John Wayne and Chuck Norris cast himself as a hero in his own fantasy.

"He can't have lived that double life, because he was too busy living his real life," said a person who knew him then."

Twice-divorced father-of-four Hines, now an invalid pensioner, went from the CMF [now Australian Army Reserve] and eight years in the NSW [New South Wales state] police force into stunt work, private investigation, carpentry and bit-part acting. 

Wannabe warriors are also found in the Fifth Estate, journalism. Take American television reporter Geraldo Rivera who claimed on camera during his tour of Afghanistan in late 2001 to have been in the southern city Kandahar at the very spot where three US Army soldiers were killed but was instead elsewhere in Afghanistan.

The question all of this poses, if masculinity is stigmatised as being evil by the mainstream media,  and young boys and girls at school are encouraged to swap traditional gender behaviour such as boys playing with girls dolls and girls playing with toy trucks, why do we still get Pretend Warrior Syndrome? 

Photo sources: News Limited

RUSSIA IN "DIS-PUTIN" WITH MACEDONIA

UP-DATE:

US STRIKE ON SYRIA BAD NEWS FOR MACEDONIA
by Sasha Uzunov

As Macedonia's coalition government, a contradictory and strange concoction of Macedonian nationalist party VMRO-DMPNE and Albanian nationalist party DUI, keeps denying that its territory is being used by Al Qaeda pro-Syrian rebels for recruitment and training, the United States is poised to launch missile strikes aimed at Bashir al-Assad's regime in Syria, namely its "weapons of mass destruction." The dilemma of the Syrian civil war is that neither side is pro-American or pro-Western in its ideology or outlook, forcing many pundits to conclude that this is a war for the Syrians to sort out themselves. The ramification of the US strike will be felt in other parts of the world, namely the Balkans region of Southern Europe, and in particular Macedonia. But it will not be positive.

In effect it will give an in-direct green light to those fringe extremists within the Albanian nationalist bloc who have been supporting Al Qaeda operatives in Macedonia. It will also put Macedonia on a collision course with Russia, one of Assad's supporters.


RUSSIA IN "DIS-PUTIN" WITH MACEDONIA - Syrian civil war could spill over into the Balkans?

Russia's President Vladimir Putin meeting with Alpha Group, the counter-terrorism unit within his country's internal intelligence agency the Federal Security Service (FSB). Putin, despite his critics ranging from domestic opponents, feminists, musicians, gay groups, western politicians, means business when it comes to maintaining Russian strength in an unstable geo-political environment. Photo source: wikipedia.

RUSSIA IN "DIS-PUTIN" WITH MACEDONIA - Syrian civil war could spill over into the Balkans?

US blowback to blame?

Is Ahmeti playing Russian Roulette?

by Sasha Uzunov

When it comes to reacting to terrorism the Russians have a record of being straight-shooters and simply cutting to the chase, if you pardon the puns. So when Moscow recently issued a warning to The Republic of Macedonia, a small nation in the Balkans region of Southern Europe, to get its house in order and stop harbouring pro-Al Qaeda Islamic terrorists, then it had better take that warning seriously--even though it is not to blame--and it is all connected to the civil war in Syria.

So why are the Russians in "dispute" with Macedonia? First, we need to clarify a few things. The warning is not directed at The Republic of Macedonia as such or the predominately ethnic Macedonian Orthodox Christian population, but at the ethnic Albanian Sunni Muslim extremists within the large ethnic Albanian minority, which forms about 20 to 25% of Macedonia's population and situated in the West along the border with Albania and Kosovo in the North-West.

Some of these extremists have found their way from Macedonia to Syria to fight on the side of the anti-Assad rebels who are aligned with Al Qaeda. One was recently killed in combat. Russia supports Syria's President Bashir al-Assad, an Alawi Muslim, who has backing from Shiite Iran.

So Russia's warning to Macedonia must be seen in this context. However, the Macedonian government, a strange coalition consisting of a Macedonian nationalist party VMRO-DPMNE and an ethnic Albanian nationalist party, DUI, deny the existence of any terrorists camps in Macedonia.

WASHINGTON'S BOSNIAN BLOWBACK?

Moreover, an Islamic civil war may even erupt in the Balkans between Al Qaeda Wahhabists and pro-Iranian Shiites. 

All of this originates from the time of the Yugoslav Wars in the early 1990s. Experts such as author Chris Deliso, in his book The Coming Balkan Caliphate, blame the US administrations of Clinton and Bush II for permitting Al Qaeda to set up shop in Bosnia and open franchises in Kosovo and Western Macedonia in the lead up to the 9/11. 

Iran, not wanting to be outdone by its Sunni Wahhabist rivals, also sent "volunteers" and intelligence operatives into Bosnia in the fight against the Serbs. American intelligence expert Dr John Schindler revealed that until recently, and after extensive pressure from the West, Iranian intelligence operatives were forced to leave Bosnia.

ISLAMIC CIVIL WAR IN WESTERN MACEDONIA?

Therefore, it is not a stretch of the imagination to assume that Iranian or even Russian intelligence or a third party acting as freelance could attack these Al Qaeda training camps in Western Macedonia, assuming they exist at all, to stop the flow of recruits to the anti-Assad forces in Syria.

RUSSIAN COUNTER-TERRORISM TACTICS -  cutting to the bone!

Russian President Vladimir Putin is a former Soviet Intelligence officer with the KGB, and reached the rank of Colonel. He spent most of his foreign service in the then East Germany. When both communism and the Soviet Union fell apart, one of the major the successor states to emerge, the Russian Federation transformed the KGB into the domestic intelligence service the FSB (Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii - Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation) and the external counterpart, SVR (Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki - Foreign Intelligence Service).

Putin for a short period of time was the Director of the FSB in 1998-99 before becoming Prime Minister and later President. His reign has been marked with Russia flexing its military and political muscle on both the domestic and international stage, after the period of decline under President Boris Yeltsin. 

In 1985 a militant Islamic group in civil war torn Lebanon had taken four Soviet diplomats hostage. One was later killed. The KGB kidnapped a relative of a member of the Islamist group and then mailed his body parts, including his genitals, back to the group. Quick smart the 3 remaining Soviet diplomats were released. At the same time, a CIA officer William Buckley was kidnapped and tortured to death by Hezbollah, a group with links to Iran. 

The FSB has taken the same no nonsense approach as the KGB with its shoot first, ask questions later method of counter-terrorism. In the 2002 Moscow Theatre Hostage crisis and the 2004 Beslan school massacre, the FSB's Alpha Group went in all guns a blazing against Chechen Islamic fundamentalists. 

In August 2008  during the Beijing Olympics the Russian Army invaded neighbouring Georgia, a then potential member of NATO, in a limited war and with the West namely the United States, Georgia's new ally, left unable to react.

ALI AHMETI'S RUSSIAN ROULETTE - PLAYING THE ISLAMIST CARD?

Chris Deliso writes: 

"In Macedonia’s brief war of 2001, directly abetted by Kosovo-based Albanian paramilitaries, the West again broadly if more quietly favored the rebels, who resorted to fundraising amongst foreign Islamist institutions and whose numbers also included a small number of veteran mujahedin. And the Western powers also allowed fundraising and personnel transfer sponsored by the Islamic world to be channeled through diaspora and charity networks in Germany, the US and Britain." (end quote)

But the Euro-cool guys and gals in reality are secretly turned on by Albanian Alpha Males, tough guys and terrorists or "romantic rebels" such as Ali Ahmeti, the former Commander of the National Liberation Army (NLA) and now political king maker in Macedonia's parliament.

Ahmeti clearly understands this. He managed to package his ethnic Albanian uprising against the Macedonian state in 2001 as a "cry for civil rights" successfully winning over the West. By doing so he became a major political player and gaining a slice of the action, in which he missed out in Kosovo in the 1999 War backed by NATO and in the process putting rival ethnic Albanian party in Macedonia, DPA's nose out of joint. 

Macedonia had cooperated with NATO during the Kosovo War and took in many Kosovar Albanian refugees but later was "rewarded" with the 2001 war.

Conservative Canadian thinker Mark Steyn in his book "After America - Get ready for Armageddon,” identified this phenomenon--the West's penchant for bad boys:

"There is a moral frivolity to the…generalised concerns for "the planet." But it quickly advances to the next stage--a moral decadence that expresses itself by venerating those who will gladly kill them when they have served their purpose as useful idiots."

Early in the 2001 war NATO-Secretary General Lord George Roberston called Ahmeti's NLA murderous thugs but later changed his tune.

In a 2001 interview with British academic and journalist Timothy Garton Ash, Ahmeti spelt out his course of action:

"Summarising what he told me, I would say that the now forty-two-year-old Ahmeti drew two main conclusions from the Kosovo war. First, you could win more by a few months of armed struggle than Albanian politicians had achieved in nearly a decade of peaceful politics. As in Kosovo, so in Macedonia. Second, that you could do this only if you got the West involved. That was the great tactical goal—and the great unknown. He told me that when the insurgency took off in February, “I knew that without the help of the West we couldn’t win. But we didn’t know how much they would help….” So he had to do everything possible to bring the West in. That meant being deliberately restrained in both their goals and their methods. This was Albanian Macedonia’s chance. This was Ali Ahmeti’s chance."

As a clever bush lawyer, Ahmeti was preparing his defence in advance, should he be called to face charges of terrorism or war crimes. As he explained to Ash:

“After a few minutes of preliminary conversation, I told Ahmeti that there was much discussion since September 11 [2001 attack on New York] about terrorism and that “some people would say you are a terrorist.” How would he answer them?

"As my question was translated, his bodyguards shifted slightly in their seats. Ahmeti replied calmly and quietly. I expected him to say words to the effect “No, I’m a freedom fighter,” but his response was more thoughtful. “That person cannot be a terrorist,” he said, “who wears an army badge, who has an objective for which he is fighting, who respects the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Tribunal, who acts in public with name and surname, and answers for everything he does…. Someone who is aiming for good reforms and democracy in the country—and that people should be equal before the law.”

Danish academic Anne Marie Dinesen took a more sceptical view of Ahmeti's motivation, highlighting the ethnic Albanians, who form about 20 to 25% of the population in the Republic of Macedonia, already had their rights protected by the Macedonian Constitution as approved by the European Union a decade before the Albanian insurgency erupted and more importantly Albanian parties since independence in 1991 from Yugoslavia had been members of successive Macedonian coalition governments.

Ethnic Macedonians form 65% to 70% of the population of the Republic of Macedonia and are predominately Orthodox Christian.

But to end the 2001 Albanian insurgency, the EU and NATO strong-armed the then Macedonian government and President Boris Trajkovski into signing the Ohrid Framework Agreement and permit Ahmeti to enter the Macedonian parliament with his own party, DUI (BDS) – Party for European Integration. DUI is a coalition partner in the current Macedonian government with nationalist VMRO-DPMNE. Paradoxically, VMRO-DPMNE was ruling government partner in coalition with DPA at the time of the 2001 War.

The Islamists in Macedonia are working in the space created by the 2001 conflict which was started by Ahmeti. The long term danger to DUI and DPA comes from radical Islamists trying to subvert the parties. If elements within DUI or DPA were trying to exploit these radicals for their own political ends, then it is playing with fire. The radical Islamists are both anti-Albanian nationalist as well as anti-Macedonian nationalist. 

Their goal, as outlined in Chris Deliso's book The Coming Balkan Caliphate, is a fundamentalist pan-Islamic entity. The concept of a Greater Albania, which would include Albania, Kosovo and Western Macedonia, is doomed to fail just as Slobodan Milosevic's Greater Serbia. If a Greater Albanian ever eventuated it would be taken over by outside forces, which would not be too friendly to women.

In one of the wikileaks documents dated 11 December 2008, Ahmeti's lieutenants Abdulkadir Memedi was appointed the Secretary of Macedonian Foreign Affairs in 2008. In his powerful position he offered on behalf of the United States to combat “Islamic fundamentalism” in Macedonia if the country was turned into a federation, which in effect would mean the end of Macedonia. It would actually suit Islamic fundamentalists to have Macedonia carved up into a federation.

see link for document

Memedi told the US Ambassador:

"...own projects in MFA, chief among them building a cadre of ethnic Albanian diplomats and ensuring money from, the Middle East does not reach any radical Islamists in Macedonia. Memedi believes only a "federal" system of government where e-Albanian consent would be required on all major policy decisions is the way to avoid ethnic confrontation... future."

Deliso:

"The November 2007 Macedonian police operation in a mountain village near the Kosovo border, which seized weaponry sufficient for 650 soldiers; the Kosovo-based Albanian paramilitary group targeted included a Wahhabi sympathizer who had been part of a foreign-sponsored plot to violently overthrow Macedonia’s Islamic leadership two years earlier." (end of quote).

KOSOVO TOUGH GUYS ?

So you are now getting an idea of Ahmeti's train of thought. But he has a double-track strategy: playing the victim of “nasty Slav-Macedonians” in front of Western liberals but then importing foreign thugs from Kosovo for the 2006 Macedonian elections. A US embassy cable spells this out: see link for document

May 12, 2006

“Anecdotal evidence indicates that DUI and DPA, despite 

their protestations to the contrary, have imported K-Albanian 

"muscle" to assist them in the elections.  Such K-Albanian 

involvement could lead to electoral fraud and violence, 

damaging Macedonia's democratic system and near-term 

prospects for NATO membership.  It would be useful if local 

authorities in Tirana and Pristina strongly urged K-Albanian 

political parties to avoid providing such "reinforcements" to 

their eAlbanian counterparts in Macedonia, and to recall 

those already here."

This revelation raises the question, why does DUI and DPA, need to bring in foreigners to help in the election campaign if they have such supposed strong support from the local ethnic Albanian community?

Perhaps it suggests there is a large body of moderate ethnic Albanians in Western Macedonia--predominately Sunni Muslim and socially conservative--who do not necessarily agree with Ahmeti's methods or goal. 

The goal of most in the Albanian nationalist political bloc is a Greater Albania or the federalisation of Macedonia, which would spell the end of the country. It would be ignoring the elephant in the room. But in trying to achieve that objective, it could unleash forces that could take over the movement and spell disaster for both Albanians and Macedonians.

LINK: 


Thinking strategically about Syria
August 27, 2013
Dr John Schindler - The XX Committee

THE NANCY WAKE OF TIMOR

Kirsty Sword-Gusmao (left) and Captain Nancy Wake (right)

We need to lobby Australian government to award Bravery Medal for Kirsty Sword Gusmao:

THE NANCY WAKE OF TIMOR - Kirsty Sword Gusmao
by Sasha Uzunov

It is incredible that Australian woman Kirsty Sword Gusmao has never been awarded a bravery medal by the Australian government for her activities in East Timor in the lead up to independence in 1999 from Indonesia.

Her story reflects that of another famous Australian heroine, the feisty Nancy Wake, a member of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) with the rank of Captain during World War II who served with the French Resistance against the Nazi German occupiers. She was a secret courier known as the White Mouse for her ability to elude.

Nancy Wake was an official combatant--Australia and the British Empire were at war with Nazi Germany. She was awarded a George Medal for Bravery. 

From 1992 to 1999, Sword-Gusmao under the cover of a civilian involved in international humanitarian work in Indonesia was as a spy for the East Timorese resistance movement. Her code name was Ruby Blade. She placed herself in danger of being arrested by the Indonesian intelligence service BAKIN and probably tortured and even murdered. If you remember when Indonesia invaded the then Portuguese colony in 1975 it without any fear from Canberra murdered 5 Australian based journalists in the border town of Balibo.

Even though Australia and Indonesia were not in a state of war, the Australian civilian Bravery Medal has scope for an award. Her actions were brave by placing her life in danger for fighting for international human rights for the Timorese people.

The 1999 intervention by Australian troops in East Timor confirmed that Sword-Gusmao's activities, though not sanctioned by the Australian government in the early 1990s, were correct.

The civilian Bravery Medal has scope for an award to Kirsty Sword-Gusmao. link to the official award site

Details: Anyone may nominate any other person for a bravery decoration.

The nomination may be for a brave act by an Australian citizen in Australia or overseas. A citizen of another country carrying out a brave act in Australia may also be nominated.

Bravery decorations may be made posthumously.

The Honours Secretariat at Government House researches the nominations. The Australian Bravery Decorations Council then considers them.

The Council has fourteen members including representatives of each state and territory, two ex-officio members and four community members appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.

The Australian Bravery Decorations Council makes recommendations for awards to the Governor-General. The Council also recommends the level of awards.

There is no set time frame for announcing bravery awards. Generally there are two announcements a year each April and August.

I would urge all Australians to write to the Honours and Awards Secretariat and to lobby the Prime Minister and the Federal Leader of the Opposition.