Reply #16: If You Seriously Wish To Argue It, Sir

[The Magistrate]

There are two points that need to be recalled.

The first is the whole history of the matter, as this ground has been contested between the two groups since even before the Ottoman conquest of the region. In its modern, post-Ottoman history, the driving of Albanians out of Kossovo was consistant Serbian policy throughout the period of the Yugoslav monarchy, while under Axis occupation there was great dispossession of Serbs. Under Tito matters were stabilized, and with his death, the older pattern practiced under the former monarchy was resumed, growing in force and viciousness under pretext of suppressing Albanian rebellion. This latter brought the NATO intervention eventually. No one knowledgeable about the matter imagines anyone has clean hands here, and by the same token, it is clear the two peoples are not going to co-exist peacefully, and that anything which produces a semblance of peace and finality must disfavor one side or another.

The second is the question of scale, both of the contending populations and of the violence employed in securing their ends by the more radical elements. The Albanian population is, and for a very long time has been, predominant. The degree of violence employed by Serbian state organs vastly over-matched that employed, either in the nineties or today, by irridentist Kossovars. There is a natural tendency to range against the most recent and more gross offender, in a situation where neither side has any other credentials to command support. It is also generally wise, if one aims at a stable resolution, to favor the majority position in such a dispute, as it will be capable of more trouble if disfavored than the other. That there is nothing particularly smacking of justice or fairness in this is freely admitted, but my guide in such matters is expediency. Justice is a highly over-rated commodity....