NATO commanders seemed stunned by the wave of ethnic Albanian violence. NATO soldiers, like the Canadians in Pristina, found themselves in an impossible situation, arresting looters in front of one abandoned Serb store while down the street, in broad daylight, other looters brazenly entered other stores. Many believe that this was the last Balkan War, at least for a generation. But the fruits of NATO's victory have a sour taste. The victims of ethnic cleansing have become cleansers in their turn.
Evil can breed revenge and new evil.
NATO, having fought a moral war, seems incapable of enforcing a moral peace. The fires of Kosovo light the way to a uninational statelet, one that will demand independence with NATO's blessing and protection. For NATO, this is the largest unintended consequence of this struggle. Its avowed goal was to preserve a multi-ethnic Kosovo as a peaceful province of Serbia. It was probably naive to believe that the good faith of an old man could prevail over this.