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AFTERMATH: Return and Reconstruction Contents There AFTERMATH: Return and Reconstruction Contents There is little doubt that the war in Yugoslavia and Kosovo is a conflict not restricted to that region alone. This part of the special examines the complexity of the international response, both military and humanitarian, and the global balance of power that has shifted significantly as a result of the conflict. But it is perhaps the international response to the refugee situation and the questions of ethnic cleansingthe causes and effects of the conflictthat are at the heart of this part of the story. Introduction The Real Picture Inhumanity Method in Madness Crimes Against Humanity Credibility and Plausibility Resistance Within and Without Ravage and Refuge Discussion, Research, and Essay Questions Indicates material appropriate or adaptable for younger viewers. Comprehensive News in Review Study Modules Using both the print and non-print material from various issues of News in Review, teachers and students can create comprehensive, thematic modules that are excellent for research purposes, independent assignments, and small group study. We recommend the stories indicated below for the universal issues they represent and for the archival and historic material they contain. "The Persian Gulf War," March 1991 "The Kurds: Another Displaced People," May 1991 "Somalia: War and Starvation," October 1992 "Refugees in Canada: Getting Through the Door," March 1994 "Somalia: Help Arrives," February 1993 "Rwanda: The Crisis and the Challenge," September 1994 AFTERMATH: Return and Reconstruction Introduction "[Seeing] the brutality, the humiliation of people simply because of their ethnic background, the systematic rape of women, the terrorizing of young children . How can you not think that it is wrong? . I have honestly never had a moment's doubt that it was right to do this." This was the response of British Prime Minister Tony Blair when he was asked in a CNN interview why he felt it was necessary for the NATO forces to act so decisively against the Serbs in Kosovo. He spoke with conviction, which was expected since he, more than any other Western leader, championed the cause of the role of NATO in the air strikes for humanitarian reasons. Those strikes started on the evening of March 24, 1999. At the same time, a wave of increased violence against the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo by Serb forces occurred. Critics have argued that although atrocities occurred prior to NATO air strikes, the bombing campaign only served to intensify them. However, supporters of the air attacks argue that in light of the grave human rights violations committed against the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, the member nations of NATO had no choice but to act. While each side argued its respective points, the bombs continued to fall, both in Yugoslavia as a whole and in the formerly semi-autonomous province of Kosovo. The costs in terms of the destruction of the infrastructure in the country and of civilian and military casualties as a result of the bombing campaign is difficult to calculate at the present time, but conservative estimates suggest that for the Yugoslavian people as a whole, rebuilding the infrastructure so that life returns to some semblance of normalcy will take years, if not decades. And for many of the estimated 900 000 refugees, internal and external, who left their homes, life may never be the same. Some would say that, in an attempt to provide a neutral and objective understanding, there is a tendency in news media, historical documents, and learning materials to focus the analysis of war on dates, major events, political and historical dynamics, alliances, and outcomes, with only a superficial recording of the suffering of the victims. This is understandable given that the study of news, current affairs, and history requires a certain degree of emotional detachment. Such "neutrality," however, can be both a strength and a weakness. In crises, cool heads must prevail for practical reasons. On the other hand, if we fail to understand fully what the real costs are in terms of human suffering, we have only studied part of the historical event. Wars are sorrowful and significant events in human history as well as historical phenomena to be studied in as objective a context as possible. When war occurs how do we decide which victims to help first? Is there a priority or hierarchy among the victims of war? In his position as head of government of a NATO power, Tony Blair responded first to the ethnic Albanians and stated Britain's intention to withhold postwar aid to Yugoslavia until Milosevic was removed from power. Serbs in Yugoslaviafor the most part ordinary citizenshave certainly suffered because of an attack directed at their country primarily as a result of the actions of their head of state, a dictator who many critics would say has remained in power because the people have allowed it. And with the return of the refugees, the minority Serbs in Kosovo also suffered heavy losses. How should the world community respond to their suffering? What is the difference between accountability, retribution, and vengeance? How will these people achieve truth and reconciliation? Introduction The Real Picture Inhumanity Method in Madness Crimes Against Humanity Credibility and Plausibility Resistance Within and Without Ravage and Refuge Discussion, Research, and Essay Questions AFTERMATH: Return and Reconstruction The Real Picture "There are horrors that must not be tampered with, a pain so intense that even compassion is insulting. To go beyond the mere description of such terror and such anguish is to belittle it. There are no inferences to be drawn from it, there are no lessons to be learned from it, there is no hope of ever achieving the absolute, the categorical ruthlessness and self-sufficiency of such an experience." Fred Licht from the article "The Disasters of War" in the book Goya: The Origins of the Modern Temper in Art In 1808, Napoleon, in his quest for increased power in Europe, invaded Spain. The Spanish people, determined to rid their country of this foreign invader, took up arms and created an effective resistance to Napoleon's armies. The campaign dragged on until 1813, when guerrilla warfare by Spanish civilians, aided by the presence of the British Army, finally drove the French troops back across the border. Thus ended one more war, in a European history rife with wars. A student sitting in a classroom in 1999 reading about Napoleon's Spanish campaign in a history textbook might find at most a page or two describing the invasion. The textbook might explain Napoleon's reasons for invading Spain, the manner in which he installed his brother Joseph Bonaparte onto the Spanish throne, the reasons for Spanish resistance, and the part played by the British in helping Spain repel the invasion by the French. The textbook would probably discuss the significance of the battle, identifying the first indication that Napoleon could be beatena foreshadowing of things to come. The student might make notes of the salient points, learn the important dates, and summarize the importance and significance of this conflict. In the same manner, the student would study other wars. Yet, in this relatively obscure event in time, people died horrible, brutal deaths. These deaths were documented through the art of Francisco José de Goya in a series of etchings titled The Disasters of War (Los Desastres de la Guerra). Goya depicted the atrocities of the 1808 invasion of Spain in 62 etchingsa testimony to the terror, chaos, brutality, and insanity of this war and of war in general. The images are horrific, the portrayals too graphic to be considered romantic. The series was not meant for public consumption, but rather was a form of personal exorcism of the horrors that Goya personally witnessed. The series was not exhibited until 1863, 35 years after Goya's death and 50 years after the end of Napoleon's invasion of Spain. The titles ascribed to the images render them even more haunting. "I saw this" is the caption on Plate 44; "Why?" is the simple, yet profound, caption on Plate 32. The images and titles can overwhelm or even confuse the viewer. They do not, however, lay blame. They do not provide simplistic answers; they depict the horror. Atrocities were committed by both sides in the conflict. Rather than tallying up the wrong-doings of either side, Goya's etchings demonstrate through their brutal honesty the importance of recording what occurred. They do not "go beyond the mere description of such terror and such anguish" thus belittling it. In the same article in which Licht writes about this monumental series of etchings, he also says "Either every fiber within us calls out to stop the killing or else we seek cowardly refuge by trying to get the facts straight so that we can judge.' But there is no time to get the facts straight." Do we use an academic study of the facts of war as a filter to help us reconcile the horror? Have we become immune to the images of war? Have no lessons been learned? The horrors witnessed and recorded by Goya have been played out many times since 1808 in many different venues: the extermination of over six million Jews at the hands of the Nazis during the Second World War, the killing fields created by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and the 1994 massacre of hundreds of thousands of Tutsis in Rwanda are just a few examples. The only thing that seems to have changed is our reaction to the images of war. When Goya's etchings were first shown to the public, people were shocked by them. Images depicting horror of that magnitude had never been exhibited before.
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