James Jatras Interview for Serbian Daily "Vecernje Novosti" www.novosti.co.yu Journalist: Srdja Trifkovic May 13, 2006 Translated to English from Serbian, by Alex Belgrade

Nothing is over yet

From Wednesday, May 3, on the Washington political scene, there is yet another institution - the American Council for Kosovo, a professionally led NGO whose prime mission is to prevent the independence of Kosovo and to take that stance even as a defence of America's own interests. The management of this organization consists of respectable people, former admirals and generals, diplomats and state officials, with little or no ethnic and emotional ties to the Balkans.

We are talking to James Jatras, a key figure of this new institution and who was a former foreign policy analyst for the Senate Republican Policy Committee.

What's your main goal at the moment?

Our goal is to educate the American public and decision makers about the policy of the West towards Kosovo, prinicipally the US policy, which has been so far based on inertia. Everyone knows that the current discussions are not getting anywhere. Albanians are only ready to talk about the only thing Serbs have said that they cannot give them, and that's independence. When talks at one point reach a dead end, the international community will just put into action an already prepared "solution" - one that would give Kosovo independence but would be put in a conditional form, with respect of human rights etc.

RUGOVA'S MASKS

With such a course, America will not gain any sympathies in the Islamic world, even though some suggest it will. Not only that, but just about every principle of international law will be violated. Sir Thomas Moore once said that even the devil himself would be given the right to refer to laws, and Serbia is not a devil - the devils in this case are Ceku, Haradinaj and Thaci. A simple fact is that they are terrorists and criminals. Whatever masks Rugova used, those masks are now off. Despite just saying that there will be some "guarantees" for Serbs, Roma and other communities in Kosovo (Jews are all gone, and Albanian Catholics are almost all gone too), the so called "Kosova Republic" would not have a chance for survival, yet alone a normal life.

Are your opponents ready to change their opinions?

The American Council for Kosovo and certain lobbying and PR activities related to it, want to present this issue in the light of day and place it for the judgment of the American people, outside the so-called Balkan specialists in the State Department and several quazi-independent institutes which all support the official policy. We want to place the Kosovo issue in a broader context - jihad terrorism, endangered Christians in regions with a Muslim majority, drug and human trafficking and so on.

Even in this early stage of our endeavor, many people whom we talk to, are showing signs that they are ready to question their position on Kosovo, provided that we explain it to them the right way. I am convinced that the change of the course is possible, and that it will be achieved as we progress with our activities.

It is absurd and immoral that tens of thousands of people should disappear, and not as a result of our passivity (like in Darfour), but as a result of a direct decision of "democratic" governments of nominally Christian countries, and all that allegedly just because of one man (Milosevic) who was toppled from power 6 years ago and who is now dead.

RISKS FOR THE USA

What are your key points and the points of the Council which you represent? What will, in your opinion, have a key impact on the American officials and public?

These are the two sides of the same medal - jihad terrorism and crime. If the USA were to support the taking away of Kosovo from Serbia, there would be an Islamic state, fully run by terrorists and criminal elements, and, as such, that would have the following consequences:

1. The elimination of all Christians that still remain, 2. The strengthening of global jihad and international crime, 3. Fatal disruption of the principles of international law in international relations.

Not only would that be bad for Serbia (which is not our primary problem), but it would also be bad for the USA, which is by all means our problem. When we present our case to the American public, we will make sure that they know the detailed biographies of the 3 possible leaders of an "independent Kosovo" - Agim Ceku, Ramush Haradinaj and Hashim Thaci.

This is the first lobbying and information endeavor of this kind in the United States. Why is it so? Albanians have been lobbying for decades as opposed to Serbs?

I will stress once again that this is an American endeavor, even though it was initiated by the Serbian National Council for Kosovo and Metohia. Its effectiveness will show that the current US policy is damaging to the US itself. I really can't answer why Serbia has not tried something similar in terms of lobbying, in the previous years. Perhaps Serbs were naive and they just waited for the truth to surface by itself sooner or later. In Washington, the truth needs a professional approach in order for it to be heard.

The key Albanian position is - give us what we want, or there will be chaos! But, there will be a lot more chaos if we do give them what they want.

Isn't that threat of violence effective and isn't the "international community" unprepared to stop it? Look at all the jihadist movements in the world - Bosnia, Kosovo, Chechenya, Palestine, Kashmir, the Philipines etc, and ask yourself when was giving in to terrorists and pleasing them effective? Ask the Russians, Israelis or Indians. Giving in to the jihadists in Kosovo would only boost their appetites for something bigger.

IT'S NOT TOO LATE

Isn't it too late to stop what seems unstoppable - the process of Kosovo's independence? Absolutely not! It's not too late! On the contrary, the false impression that Kosovo's independence is "inevitable", has been created by the Albanians in order to influence Western (and Russian) policies, towards an outcome that would be a disaster. Albanians want to make Belgrade submit, to accept what is unacceptable for Belgrade. The Serbian Government should stand firm on its position while we are doing our work in Washington.