Many of their churches have been ransacked and destroyed in retaliation for the destruction of mosques by Yugoslav troops during their occupation of Kosovo two years ago. Last month, a bomb was detonated under a bus carrying Serbs to an enclave, killing at least eight civilians. They have squandered a lot of goodwill. Others worry that if NATO takes the hard line necessary to stop the attacks and disarm the rebels, it could lead to bloody clashes. One such incident occurred last Wednesday when a small group of rebels pointed their weapons at a U.S. patrol, which then opened fire, wounding two of the guerrillas.
Many analysts here say Western governments deserve some of the blame.
NATO has made the safety of its troops a top priority, critics say, leading to caution in the field. This has allowed rebels to smuggle arms and recruit and train soldiers in and around the buffer zone. The last two years of civil and military international administration gave too much space for extremist movements to grow. James Marshall, a spokesman. But the 1999 agreement with Yugoslavia under which NATO troops entered Kosovo prevented the troops from entering the buffer zone, he noted.