The United States had prepared the aggression against Yugoslavia well in advance. The 'negotiations' undertaken in Rambouillet turned out to be a maneuver to deceive the public into giving a stamp of approval for the war.

The US attack against Yugoslavia began more than a decade ago when the World Bank and the IMF set about destroying the multiethnic federation with lethal doses of debt, market reforms and imposed poverty. Millions of jobs were destroyed. In 1989 alone, 600,000 workers, almost a quarter of the workforces, was sacked without severance pay. But the most critical reform was the ending of economic support to the six constituent republics and re-colonization by Western capital.

At the time, 'Milosevic, the reformer' was considered a favourite among senior figures in the US State Department and the KLA were considered to be "no more than terrorists". Richard Holbrooke described President Milosevic as "a man we can do business with, a man who recognizes the realities of life in former Yugoslavia". In October 1998, the US drafted a peace plan for Kosovo giving the Kosovans far less autonomy and this deal included crucially for the Americans a NATO military presence. When Milosevic objected to having NATO troops on his soil, he was swiftly transformed like Saddam Hussein from client to demon.

Frequently it is claimed that the war has provided each party, Serbs and Albanians alike, with the pretext to fuel the worst kind of nationalism. However, one fails to recognize that the situation in the Balkans has a clear origins and responsibilities. Germany followed by the rest of Western Europe hold direct responsibility for fuelling ethnic divisions and rivalry with the objective to destabilize and dismantle former Yugoslavia. Germany directly inspired the breakaway of Croatia and Slovenia, since then it new economic colonies. Later, German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroder, was to offer a glimpse of the underlying strategic context of this kind of move when he said, on 19 April 1999, that "the role of Germany in the world has changed… we are advancing to the centre of Europe for the deepening and enlargement of the process of European integration… the transfer of the Reichstag to Berlin clearly shows the extent to which German capital can become the link between East and West as the hinge of European unity."

The 'intransigence' of President Molosevic to agree to the Rambouillet peace accord became the pretext for NATO military intervention in Yugoslavia. In an article appearing in Le Monde Diplomatic of Mat 1999, Paul Marie de la Gorce revealed the 'secret history of the Rambouillet negotiations'. The 'invitation' extended o the Government of Yugoslavia by the 'Contact Group" (USA, UK, Germany, France, Italy and Russia) took the "form of an ultimatum"; it was "threatened with military reprisals should it refuse to present itself". All the elements of the Accord presented at Rambouillet as 'non-negotiable' agreement, which was published in February 1999 in the Albanian journal "Koha Ditore". The text was elaborated by Roger Hill, assistant to Richard Holbrooke, former US Secretary of State and US mediator in former Yugoslavia, following the latter's visit to Belgrade in summer 1998 o oblige President Milosevic to begin negotiations with the Kosovo Albanian community. The negotiations were delayed as rivalry escalated between the moderate Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova and the extremist Kosovo Liberation Army. Meanwhile, the US began work on its own draft.

What was hidden from the public is hat the Yugoslav delegation to Rambouillet had no objection to the political aspects of the Accord but rejected other the military section, as a violation of its national sovereignty and independence. Annex B of the Accord, in effect, provided for the occupation of the entire territory of Yugoslavia by NATO forces. In fact, there were no negotiations at Ramboullet. A compromise proposal for an 'international' presence in Kosovo made by the representative of he Government of Yugoslavia was ignored by the Western members of he Contact Group that, without further ado, acquired the signature of the Kosovo-Albanian representative. The final document was given to the Russian delegation only on the last day of the conference! Since then, France and UK, cochairs of Rambouillet, have refused to release to the public the section of he document dealing with military aspects.

A closer examination of he military clauses of the Rambouillet Accord will show why the United States and its European allies.

Section 15: "The Parties (Yugoslav and Kosovo governments) 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 he right to use all of the electromagnetic spectrum for this purpose, free of cost."

Section 22 gives NATO the right to modify the country's public infrastructure.

Section 22: "NATO may, in the conduct of the Operation, have need to make improvements or modifications to certain infrastructure in the FRY, such as roads, bridges, tunnels, buildings, and utility systems."

The military provisions of the Accord were in effect an ultimatum to the Government of Yugoslavia with a conditional declaration of war, a violation of the Hague Convention. International law forbids the "use of threat of force" which is "an express or implied promise by a Government to resort to force conditional on non-acceptance of certain demands of that Government."

Already in 1996, NATO's General Secretary, Javier Solana, declared: "the experience acquired in Bosnia could serve as a model for future NATO operations." Ivo Daalder, Director at the Brookings Institution in Washington, echoed these sentiments: "If NATO is unable to get rid of a paper tiger in the centre of Europe, then what purpose does the Alliance serve? NATO cannot lose its first war in 50 years. Kosovo constitutes a determining moment for NATO."

The Financial Times of 21 April 1999 reveals how the Western imperialist scenario for the Balkans was planned in a computer simulated programme run by NATO's Consultation Command and Control Agency known as C-3 and used by NATO planners to prepare for a post-war Balkan future. As peace-talks were being held in Rambouillet, 30 senior official from the Yugoslav Republic of Montenegro were taken to the Hague by the US embassy in Belgrade for five days of computer games! The game revolved around a fictitious Moslem-dominated state, Akrona, in which civil war had claimed 200,000 lives, displaced 60% of the people, destroyed 60% of housing, wrecked infrastructure and made 80% of the people dependent on foreign aid. The game's handbook defined Akrona's place within the US orbit: "The US is the major player in Akrona's world. It broke a logjam by creating the accords, brought shaky allies aboard and in the end provided the military and security strength." The actors in the game included the President and Prime Minister of Akrona, the foreign head of the Central bank, the IMF and World Bank, private US banks, NATO as the "bulwark of Akronian security", aid agencies and NGOs!

Would have known in advance that such a condition would be unacceptable to any sovereign State, even a NATO member State! The provisions reduce not only Kosovo, but also all of Yugoslavia into a colony of the United States, the dominant NATO power.

Sections 2,5 and 7 provide for a permanent NATO presence in Kosovo. OSCE would control the functioning of the police and justice. In case of litigation, the two parties would have appeal to NATO and only to NATO.

Sections 6 and 7 stipulate that NATO forces will be immune "under all circumstances and at all times" from the jurisdiction of the Yugoslav Federation "in respect of civil, administrative, criminal or disciplinary offenses which may be committed by them in the FRY" (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). Richard Becker, Western Regional Co-Director of the International Action Centre, describes this provision as comprising "the old, hated colonial concept of "extraterritoriality," under which the colonizers were immune from being tried by the courts of the colonized country, even if they committed - as they often did - rape, murder and mayhem" exempt from all provisions of the constitution and legislation of the Yugoslav Federation.

Sections 8 and 9 provide forces, their vehicles and equipment with free, unrestricted and unimpeded access throughout Yugoslavia, including its airspace and territorial water:

Section 8: "NATO personnel shall enjoy, together with their vehicles, 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 9: "NATO shall be exempted from duties, taxes, and other charges and inspections and custom regulations including providing inventories or other routine customs documentation, for personnel, vehicles, aircraft, equipment, supplies and provisions entering, exiting, or transiting the territory of the FRY in support if the Operation."

Section 11 and 15 give NATO the right to use, in all 9of Yugoslavia and free of cost, the country's transport infrastructure and telecommunications services, including broadcast services;