CORRECTION, PLEASE!(corrections in a report of ethnic Albanians turing over weapons to NATO troops)(this and other items are discussed)(Brief Article)

Another Balkan Intervention

ITEM: "Hundreds of ethnic Albanian fighters lined up to hand in their weapons to NATO troops," reported the August 28th New York Times, which headlined how "smoothly" things were going. The operation is proceeding "without a hitch," said the paper. NATO troops plan to collect "3,300 weapons ... during their 30-day operation."

ITEM: "Significantly for the European allies," reported the Wall Street Journal on August 15th, "this mission will be the first in the Balkans without a visible U.S. presence."

CORRECTION: While there is reluctance to acknowledge it, the U.S. is involved. There's monetary support, for example, underwriting a media blitz in Macedonia supporting the "peace deal." But American forces are also at risk. London's Guardian for August 29th noted that U.S. troops had come under fire as "they tried to round up ethnic Albanian rebels crossing the border from Macedonia into Kosovo."

As for weapons collection, the goal of 3,300 weapons is farcical. Macedonia estimates the rebels have 70,000 weapons. Several analysts have observed that those turned in can be easily replaced by smuggling more from Albania. Believing this "disarmament" will establish peace is particularly dubious.

UN Combats Space Defense

ITEM: The United Nations urged President Bush, as Reuters reported on August 30th, "to keep his plans for a missile shield down on earth and to preserve outer space for peace." Under-Secretary-General for disarmament affairs Jayantha Dhanapala also said "a commission chartered by Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld had endorsed a view that the United States should seek total domination of space...."