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| What caused Operation Allied Force? Yugoslavia now was broken into pieces which were trying to make it on his/her own. The mass fightings on Bosnia stopped, mostly because of the agreements in the Dayton peace accord. Kosovo was the place where things were happening. Kosovo secretly voted for a leader in 1992, and he was Ibrahim Rugova. He was dominant in politics even before, but his nonviolent ways did not make him well known. With this done, Kosovo recognized herself as an autonomous state. Serbia was angry at these actions. Kosovar Albanians started running their own community in Kosovo. They built banks, schools, hospitals, and even employed a small police force. In late 1996, Milosevic was being hated even in Serbia. He refused to accept the fact that he lost in the Serbian elections. He knew that he could not be president of Serbia again, because of recent events and because of complications with the Serbian constitution. He therefore gave himself the title of President of Yugoslavia. Albanians knew that this was bitter news so they tried to take matters in their own hands. A small guerrilla group was formed, which attacked Serbian Military. It's purpose was to gain full sovereignty of Kosovo, and to become part of Albania. This group, called UCK (Ushtria Clirimtare e Kosoves) in Albanian, and KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army) in English, was armed by an ongoing traffic of arms from Albania. The following years, fighting increased, and also support increased. Albanians knew that a man like Milosevic, did not understand peace, therefore violence was the only way. Fighting escalated even more, and now there was an ever-present threat of the fighting spreading over the whole Balkans. This could be the trigger that could cause World War III. Attacks from the Albanian side, and massacres from the Serbian side--it seemed like it was never going to be over. It was now time for some authorities to interfere with this war. NATO and U.S. took the initiative to improve this conflict, and this is where Operation Allied Force begins. "Balkan graveyards are filled with President Milosevic's broken promises." -U.S. President Bill Clinton(Oct. 12, 1998) (Houston Chronicle, source #7) |