RAMBOUILLET APPENDIX B:
'Give us your country or we'll destroy it'
By
Richard Becker
Appendix B of the Rambouillet Accord--the United States/NATO
"peace plan" for Kosovo--would have opened the door for NATO to
occupy all of Yugoslavia.
In explaining why they launched a devastating bombing war
against Yugoslavia, President Bill Clinton, Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright and other U.S. officials have repeatedly
tried to place the blame on the Belgrade government for
refusing to negotiate and failing to sign the Rambouillet
agreement.
The reality is very different: The Rambouillet accord was
presented to Yugoslavia as an ultimatum. It was a "take it or
leave it" proposition, as Albright often emphasized back in
February. There were, in fact, no negotiations.
The accord provided for a very broad form of autonomy for
Kosovo. A province of Serbia, one of two republics, along with
Montenegro, that make up present-day Yugoslavia, Kosovo would
have its own parliament, president, prime minister, supreme
court and security forces under Rambouillet. Unlike U.S.
states, the new Kosovan government would be able to negate laws
of the federal republic's legislature and conduct its own
foreign policy.
As has been reported in some of the big-business media, the
Yugoslav government indicated its willingness to accept the
autonomy part of the agreement, but rejected other sections,
including the occupation of Kosovo by a 28,000-strong NATO
ground force.
Other aspects of the accord have been given very little or
no coverage in the corporate media. Among them are:
Chapter 4a, Article I-- "The economy of Kosovo, shall
function in accordance with free market principles." Kosovo is
rich in mineral resources like gold, silver, mercury,
molybdenum and other ores.
Chapter 5, Article V-- `The CIM shall be the final
authority in theater regarding interpretation of the civilian
aspects of this Agreement, and the Parties agree to abide by
his determinations as binding on all Parties and persons." The
CIM is the Chief of the Implementation Mission, to be appointed
by the European Union countries.
Chapter 7, Article XV-- "The KFOR [NATO] commander is
the final authority in theater regarding interpretation of this
Chapter and his determinations are binding on all Parties and
persons." This chapter refers to all military matters.
Together, the CIM and the NATO commander are given complete
dictatorial powers, the right to overturn elections, shut down
organizations and media, and overrule any decisions made by the
Kosovo, Serbia or federal governments.
APPENDIX B
Appendix B, the "Status of the Multi-National Military
Implementation Force," includes even more intrusive provisions
for Yugoslavia as a whole.
Section 6a: "NATO shall be immune from all
legal process, whether civil, administrative, or criminal."
Section 6b: "NATO personnel, under all
circumstances and at all times, shall be immune from the
Parties, jurisdiction in respect of any civil, administrative,
criminal or disciplinary offenses which may be committed by
them in the FRY (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)."
Section 7: "NATO personnel shall be immune from
any form of arrest, investigation, or detention by the
authorities in the FRY."
Together, Sections 6 and 7 compose the old, hated, colonial
concept of "extraterritoriality." Under this principle, the
colonizers were immune from being tried by the courts of the
colonized country, even if they committed rape, murder and
mayhem--as they often did.
Section 8: "NATO personnel shall enjoy,
together with their vehicles, vessels, aircraft, and equipment,
free and unrestricted passage and unimpeded access throughout
the FRY including associated airspace and territorial waters.
This shall include, but not be limited to, the right of
bivouac, maneuver, billet and utilization of any areas or
facilities as required for support, training, and
operations."
Section 11: "NATO is granted the use of
airports, roads, rails, and ports without payment of fees,
duties, dues, tolls, or charges occasioned by mere use."
Section 15: "The Parties (Yugoslav government)
shall, upon simple request, grant all telecommunications
services, including broadcast services, needed for the
Operation, as determined by NATO. This shall include the right
to utilize such means and services as required to assure full
ability to communicate and the right to use all of the
electromagnetic spectrum for this purpose, free of cost."
Section 22: "NATO may, in the conduct of the
Operation, have need to make improvements or modifications to
certain infra structure in the FRY, such as roads, bridges,
tunnels, buildings, and utility systems."
Stationing 28,000 U.S./NATO troops in Kosovo, a province of
Yugoslavia would, by itself, be a gross violation of the
country's sovereignty.
But the Rambouillet accord goes even further--it requires
that Yugoslavia allow NATO unfettered access to any and all
parts of the country's territory, with all costs to be borne by
the host country.
The accord blatantly violates Yugoslavia's sovereignty in so
provocative a manner that it cannot have been accidental. It is
not difficult to imagine a working group in the State
Department charged with the task of thinking up the most
intrusive and insulting clauses possible to insert into the
agreement.
Clearly, U.S. policymakers never intended for Yugoslavia's
leadership to sign this document. It was just another step in
preparing for war.
The role of Rambouillet in this process was to unfairly put
the onus for the failure to achieve a peaceful resolution on
the Yugoslav side, in order to justify the massive bombing of
the entire country.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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