A L S O+T O D A Y Arm the KLA? By Laura Rozen Watching what looks like genocide, a growing chorus begins to ask whether it's time to arm Kosovar rebels Limp Willy? By Frank Smyth Clinton's critics blast Kosovo "genocide," but disagree about deploying ground troops Humanitarian enclave? By Daryl Lindsey Experts debate NATO's options for protecting Kosovar Albanians without a massive commitment of ground troops Soldiers missing in action NATO and the Pentagon report that three U.S. troops may have been captured during a reconnaissance mission   T A B L E+T A L K Kevorkian's conviction: Was it a boon or a bomb to the assisted suicide movement? Join in the fray in the Social Issues area of Table Talk   Find deep discounts and great selection on the books you need to read at barnesandnoble.com Search by:  Keyword Title Author       R E C E N T L Y Beginner's guide to the Balkans By Laura Rozen A week ago, few Americans could find Kosovo on a map. What's behind the crisis Clinton's committed to solve Kosovo update By Laura Rozen Macedonian officials leave hundreds of Kosovo Albanian refugees stranded Bombing the baby with the bath water By Veran Matic Each missile worsens the humanitarian disaster that NATO is supposed to be preventing Milosevic's proposal The Yugoslav president says he's ready to stop his campaign against Kosovar Albanians and take his place at the negotiating table, but only if NATO halts its airstrikes Endgame? By Jeff Stein As the crisis spirals out of control, everybody scrambles for a quick solution. Everybody but Milosevic (03/30/99) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Browse the Newsreal Archives - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
		"PEC IS BURNING! WHERE ARE THE GROUND TROOPS?" | PAGE 1, 2 - - - - - - - - - - We didn't have to wait long for the answers. While we were leaving Pristina, the police and paramilitary units had set up roadblocks and were checking papers. Wade and Ron saw one man, in a car with tags from Bosnia, being beaten by police in his car. He was rifle-butted in the head, hauled out of the vehicle, handcuffed and again beaten severely. We were certain the man had little chance of living. With no checks on the Serbs, there was little hope of them respecting the human rights of ethnic Albanians or even some Serbs. There were rumors that the Serbs were targeting people who had translated for the OSCE, that they were looking for people who had worked for the foreign press, that they were going house-to-house, terrorizing the population. And then the bombing started. And Milosevic remained defiant. The bombing was stepped up, barracks were destroyed, communications posts were taken out. And Milosevic remained defiant. And then the refugees started to come. It was a trickle at first. A few had fled just after the OSCE had pulled out, suspecting the Serbs would carry out far worse atrocities than they had committed the summer before. And they were right. The police and militias went house-to-house. Masked gunmen told people they had five minutes to pack up and leave. They wanted to be Albanians, now they were going to have the chance. They tore up passports, took money and expelled the population. They packed them into cars, onto busses and sent them toward the border, to Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro. The trickle became a flood. First hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands poured across the borders. They came in cars, trucks, on tractors and by foot. They came with their belongings and without. They came pushing their parents in wheelbarrows. They came silently weeping. The Serbs are ethnically cleansing an entire homeland of its indigenous people. This is happening now. Ron and I stood on a road looking at the Serbian police. Behind the checkpoint were perhaps 200 cars. Each car was packed with at least one family, sometimes two. Those without cars came on tractors or on foot. The Serbs, as a final act of callousness, charged each car 100 deutsche marks to cross the border. After they paid they were allowed out, to start their lives over. Because in Kosovo there was nothing left for them: no houses, no cities, no family, nothing. The stares from the refugees were vapid, vacant, unbelieving at what they had witnessed and just experienced and what they had yet to face. Shock hadn't set in. Some of the children still smiled and flashed us the victory symbol, unable to grasp that they had been expelled from their homes and that they were probably not going home in the near, or the distant, future. Maybe not ever. But the women and men knew. They wept. One woman walked up to us. After learning we were American, she said, "Tell NATO that Pec is burning. Where are the ground troops?" She burst into hysterics and had to be slapped by her daughter to calm down. She had arrived in Montenegro with nothing except an overcoat and her street shoes. As each bomb falls, more refugees are being forced to flee their homeland. More wheelbarrows with old women. More men beaten to death with rifle-butts. More children smiling before they start crying. NATO says it won't send in ground troops to defend the defenseless. It says it can stop this Serbian aggression from the air. It says it can wipe out Milosevic's ability to wage war from the air. I believe they are wrong. Unless someone confronts the Yugoslav army, in the air and on the ground, this terrible campaign will continue. SALON |April 1, 1999 David Brauchli is an Associated Press photographer and writer. Until the NATO attack, he was stationed in Pristina, Kosovo. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - War in Kosovo Salon's complete coverage.