After eleven weeks of air raids and cruise missile attacks, after the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians and the dislocation of hundreds of thousands more, and after the unprecedented destruction of a sovereign country and its infrastructure, and untold damage to the political, social, and environmental conditions of the region as a whole, the U.S.-led NATO war against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) has finally ended - at last for now.

NATO's war was patently illegal and unjustified from the outset. It violated the charter of the UN and trampled on the principles of international law.

It was never about any "humanitarian concern" for the welfare of the Kosovar Albanians. In fact, there was not a shred of evidence pointing to any institutional "ethnic cleansing" in Kosovo province, where there was a civil-war situation brought about by attacks from the KLA, a terrorist outfit sponsored and trained by German and U.S. intelligence services.

Reports are now leaking out that the so-called failure of Rambouillet talks was not the fault of the Yugoslavian government after all, as was widely trumpeted at the time. Reputable sources are now confirming what many critics of this war had long suspected: that the U.S. negotiators had purposely designed the treaty clauses so that the FRY would have no choice but to reject its terms, thus allowing NATO an excuse to launch its murderous aggression. What's more, these sources claim that Madeleine Albright and other NATO officials actually called a closed briefing for the mainstream bourgeois press and media before the war even started, that they confided this secret strategy to the media, and urged them to help whip public opinion in favour of the coming NATO assault.

What was the war really about? What were the real aims and objectives of the NATO powers? It was about completing the break-up of the Yugoslav state; about cementing NATO and especially U.S. presence in the Balkans; and about negating the role and authority of the Security Council in favour of U.S./NATO "unilateralism" - in other words, the unfettered rule of the most powerful imperialist states to protect and advance the interests of transnational finance capitalism around the globe.

It follows therefore that the cessation of the bombing and the so-called "peace" agreement is neither a virtuous nor just peace, but one extorted from its victim after 78 days of systematic death and destruction.

Although NATO achieved most of its objectives, it did not gain the complete triumph it had expected. It was not successful in imposing all of the onerous terms inscribed in the Rambouillet "treaty"; it was grudgingly forced to agree to a UN Security Council mandate to its occupation; and it was forced to acknowledge Kosovo as an integral part of Yugoslavia, and agree to a non-NATO presence among the KFOR occupation forces in Kosovo. It remains to be seen however if NATO will hold to these commitments.

That NATO was not able to claim complete victory is to the credit of the Yugoslavian government and people, who mounted a heroic defense of their sovereignty against overwhelmingly superior military might. Pressure from Russia, China, and non-NATO and Third World states, and from the mobilized forces for peace in the NATO countries themselves, also contributed to forcing NATO to settle for partial victory.

The U.S. and other NATO countries must make massive financial reparations to Yugoslavia for the wholesale destruction of the country's infrastructure - factories, bridges and roads, power grid, hospitals and clinics, schools and other public offices and facilities. Estimates of the cost of the damage wrought on Yugoslavia run over 150 billion Canadian dollars. Canada, which was a party to this wanton destruction, must share its rightful portion of reparations.

The Communist Party of Canada opposes the NATO-led occupation of Kosovo, which is part of the sovereign territory of Yugoslavia. The refugees have a full right to return to their villages and homes in safety and security. So too do the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanian and non-Albanian residents of Kosovo who did not flee the country during the war.

The reality however is that returning KLA forces are launching a vicious killing spree directed at Serbs, other non-Albanian minorities, and even at some Albanians who oppose the KLA. Once again, thousands of civilians are being forced from their homes and communities as a direct result of NATO action. The safety and security of all can only be guaranteed if: (1) the NATO forces are completely withdrawn and replaced with peace-keeping forces from non-combatant countries under the supervision of the Security Council; and (2) the KLA is completely disarmed. We therefore call upon all Canadian troops to be withdrawn from Kosovo province.

All Canadians, and all peace-loving peoples around the world, should be deeply concerned about the long-term damage that has been done to the status and authority of the United Nations, and to the sanctity of international law in general, as an direct result of this imperialist aggression. We note that while the U.S. and other leading imperialist powers are anxious to consolidate their unilateral control of the world's destiny, that this will never be accepted by the rest of humanity - the vast majority of the peoples. We call for an emergency Special Session of the United Nations to discuss the current crisis in international law, to oppose unilateralism by any state or group of states, and to reassert the authority of the United Nations.

The war may have ended, but the world is at a sharp turning point in history, reflecting a drive by imperialism for open military domination not just of Yugoslavia, but of all the countries and peoples. This is the new political order which international capitalism and its most powerful states want to impose. The Balkan war has already consumed hundreds of billions of dollars which will not be spent for health, education and meeting to vital economic and social needs of people, and has spawned a whole new round of arms spending. NATO's Balkan war has also undermined all progress - at least for now - towards global disarmament of nuclear, chemical, biological and other weapons of mass destruction.

The U.S. and other imperialist powers, emboldened by their Balkan campaign, are now escalating tensions elsewhere around the globe - from the Korean peninsula, to the India/Pakistan dispute over Kashmir, to Israeli aggression in Lebanon, to the horn of Africa.

These and other ominous developments point to the absolute necessity to rebuild a broad, diverse and united peace movement across Canada and internationally. Today, it is only the voices of the people of the world calling for peace and development which can act as a countervailing force to imperialism and its aggressive, neo-liberal agenda.

In Canada, this means rebuilding existing coalitions and building new peace groups and organizations where none currently exist. It means explaining the true character of this war to the Canadian people. It means confronting our "leaders" from all the parliamentary parties, calling them to account for their shameful support of this illegal and unjust war. It means struggling against the increasing subordination of Canada's foreign policy to Washington's dictates; it means demanding that Canada follow and independent policy of peace and disarmament; and it means stepping up the fight for Canada to free itself of all military blocs, including NATO and Norad.

Only the resuscitation of such a powerful movement for peace will make amends for Canada's shameful and despicable participation in NATO's "war" against Yugoslavia, and now in the imposed "peace."