The facts, however, are more complex. It is now known that the Serbs agreed to the Rambouillet ultimatum in all respects except the stationing of the Nato force in Kosovo. The draft agreement also mentioned that Nato troops would have freedom to be stationed not only in Kosovo but also in other parts of Yugoslavia, and the troops would not be subject to local laws. No sovereign state can agree to such conditions. Further, the Yugoslavparliament stated that it was not averse to an international force in Kosovo. The logical position for anyone genuinely interested in peace in the region would have been to work on that opening. Yet Nato, led by the US, did not agree, and decided to bomb. Once Nato started the bombing, of course, it had to win the war. Anything less would be a severe blow to its credibility.

Even the professions of support for the Kosovo refugees ring hollow. First, Nato does nothing when one of its constitutents-the Turkish government-carries out ethnic cleansing of its Kurd population. Second, they have been extremely reluctant to grant refugee status to any Kosovars in Nato countries, preferring instead to burden poor countries like the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Third, as Nato general Wesley Clark put it, the refugee crisis was entirely predictable once Nato started bombing. But that didn't deter Nato. The simple fact is that now that the Soviet threat does not exist, Nato needs enemies to justify itsexistence.

Apart from flouting all international norms, and totally sidelining the UN while deciding to bomb Yugoslavia, Nato is now compounding the illegality by its plan to blockade the Montnegran coast. If bombing TV stations and killing journalists is justified, would not reprisals in the Nato countries by bombing CNN and BBC be justified? But then logic has never held back the world's rogue superpower. The new millennium is taking shape, and it promises to be as ugly as the worst years of this century.