Informazione
http://www.jungewelt.de
JW, 24.11.2004 Jürgen Elsässer
Die Hunde des Krieges
Abu Ghraib, Krajina, Kosovo: Söldnerfirmen erledigen Schmutzarbeiten für
das Pentagon
Privatisierung, Outsorcing, Lean Production – die Schlagworte der
neoliberalen Wirtschaft machen auch vor dem US-Militär nicht halt. Immer
mehr Aufträge werden an ausgelagerte Fremdfirmen vergeben – das spart
Geld. Während des ersten Golfkrieges 1991 war einer von fünfzig
eingesetzten US-Amerikanern bei einer privaten Söldnerfirma angestellt,
beim US-Einsatz im Rahmen der Bosnien-Stabilisierungstruppe ab 1996
bereits jeder zehnte. (New York Times, 14.10.2002) Niemand kennt den
Umfang dieses geheimen Militärgeschäfts genau, und auch die einzelnen
Unternehmen lassen sich ungern in die Karten schauen, was viele im
weiteren genannte Zahlen unter Vorbehalt stellt. Kenner beziffern
jedenfalls des Volumen der Aufträge allein des Pentagon an zwölf
Privatfirmen auf mehr als 300 Milliarden US-Dollar.
Folter-Eldorado Irak
Im Unterschied zu den klassischen Söldnern, die etwa in dem Film »Die
Wildgänse kommen« verherrlicht wurden, verrichten ihre postmodernen
Nachfolger ihre Arbeit zumeist nicht an der Front, sondern stellen sich
ihren Kunden als militärische Planer, als Informationsbeschaffer und als
Ausbilder zur Verfügung. Während der Kampfhandlungen sind sie in den
militärischen Stäben vertreten und sorgen später für die sogenannte
Befriedung des Terrains. Dabei kann es durchaus vorkommen, daß sie
selbst töten und foltern, wie wir gleich sehen werden.
»Der wichtigste Grund, warum wir Vertragsfirmen benutzen, liegt darin,
daß wir dann unsere eigenen Truppen nicht einsetzen müssen, die sich
voll aufs Kämpfen konzentrieren können«, sagt Colonel Thomas Sweeney,
Strategieprofessor am Army War College in Carlisle/Pennsylvania. »Das
ist billiger, denn man muß diese Firmen nur bezahlen, wenn man sie
nutzt.«
Mit Vertragsfirmen spart der Staat aber nicht nur Geld, sondern kann
auch leichter Schmutzarbeiten erledigen lassen. So können Pentagon und
CIA die nach der Iran-Contra-Affäre strenger gewordenen
Genehmigungsbestimmungen für verdeckte Operationen umgehen.
Privatsöldner sind – so die offizielle Lesart Washingtons – weder der
Jurisdiktion der US-Armee unterstellt noch der im Stationierungsland.
Für Straftaten können sie nur belangt werden, wenn die US-Regierung ihre
Auslieferung verlangt. Die Konsequenzen dieser stark verminderten
Haftung zeigten sich im Irak, wo seit dem vergangenen Jahr rund 20000
private Sicherheitsleute beschäftigt sind. Dabei geht es um
Personenschutz, Sicherung von Ölfeldern und anderem Privatbesitz – und
um Spezialaufträge der US-Armee. So arbeiteten im Folter-Gefängnis von
Abu Ghraib 37 solche »Contractors« (im Lager Guantánamo auf Kuba sind es
übrigens 30). Der offizielle Untersuchungsbericht der US-Armee nennt
vier Hauptverdächtige, die entweder direkt oder indirekt für die
Mißhandlungen in Abu Ghraib verantwortlich waren. Zwei dieser
Verhörspezialisten waren Angestellte der amerikanischen Firmen Caci bzw.
Titan. In Stellenanzeigen hatte Caci zuvor nach Spezialisten für die
Durchführung und Auswertung von Verhören im Irak gesucht, wobei ein
Angebot mit dem bezeichnenden Argument warb, der Kandidat könne unter
»minimaler Aufsicht« arbeiten. Caci führt seit einiger Zeit auch Verhöre
von Terrorverdächtigen in Bosnien und im Kosovo durch.
Die derzeit beste Adresse unter den Privaten ist die Firma Blackwater
Security Consulting, von der sich auch der US-amerikanische
Irak-Gouverneur Paul Bremer bewachen ließ. Das 1998 gegründete
Unternehmen schloß im Herbst 2002 einen Vertrag über 35,7 Millionen
Dollar mit dem Pentagon ab, der die Ausbildung von 10000 Matrosen in der
Aufstandsbekämpfung – in den Dokumenten vornehm als »force protection
training« umschrieben – vorsieht. Das Ganze läuft auf dem fünf Hektar
großen firmeneigenen Manövergelände in Moyock/North Carolina. Unter
ihren mehreren hundert Mitarbeitern im Irak befinden sich mindestens 60
aus dem ehemaligen Folter-Staat Chile und eine unbekannte Zahl von
weißen Söldnern aus Südafrika.
Anfang April 2004, als Aufständische das Hauptquartier der
Besatzungsbehörden in Nadschaf belagerten, verteidigten acht Mitarbeiter
der Firma und eine Handvoll amerikanische Soldaten das Gebäude. Ein von
Blackwater zu Hilfe geschickter Helikopter griff aus der Luft in die
Kämpfe ein. Kurz zuvor waren vier Blackwater-Leute in Falludscha
gelyncht und ihre Leichen verstümmelt worden. Die westliche
Öffentlichkeit reagierte schockiert auf die Bilder – die
Mainstream-Medien hatten verschwiegen, daß es sich bei den Opfern um
Söldner handelte, und statt dessen von zivilen Aufbauhelfern gesprochen.
Infolge dieser beiden Ereignisse schlossen sich alle Söldnerfirmen im
Irak enger zusammen, die Washington Post sprach von der »effektiv
größten Privatarmee der Welt, mit eigenem Rettungsdienst und eigenem
Geheimdienst«.
DynCorp und der Kosovo-Krieg
Zu diesem »Rising Corporate Military Monster« – so das Internetmagazin
Mother Jones über die Allianz der Privaten an Euphrat und Tigris -
gehört auch die Firma DynCorp, mit 20000 Beschäftigten in mehr als 550
Filialen oder Einsatzgebieten und einem Jahresumsatz von 1,8 Milliarden
US-Dollar zahlenmäßig die Nummer eins im Geschäft. Schwerpunkt ihrer
Subversionstätigkeit war zunächst Kolumbien, wo die Firma laut Jane’s
Intelligence Review 1997 elf Flugzeuge im Einsatz hatte, fünf weitere
und Hubschrauber sollten folgen. Angeblich ging es um die Bekämpfung der
Kokainmafia. Laut einem Zeitungsbericht verloren DynCorp und das
assoziierte Unternehmen EAST Inc. 1998 drei Flugzeuge in dem
lateinamerikanischen Land. Im Jahr 2003 wurde der Nahe Osten zum
wichtigsten Einsatzgebiet von DynCorp – insgesamt etwa 1 000 seiner
Leute sind dort aktiv.
In Bosnien-Herzegowina half die Firma bei der sogenannten Stabilisierung
des Landes nach dem Dayton-Abkommen Ende 1995. Zwei Mitarbeiter standen
im Mittelpunkt eines Sexskandals – sie kauften, verkauften und
mißbrauchten Minderjährige als Sexsklavinnen. Teilweise waren die Opfer
erst 13 Jahre alt. Die Täter wurden nie juristisch belangt, sondern von
DynCorp lediglich in die USA zurückgeflogen. Statt ihrer wurden die
beiden Mitarbeiter gefeuert, die das kriminelle Treiben angezeigt
hatten. Dem Unternehmen selbst hat die Sache nicht geschadet: Die Firma
wurde damit beauftragt, das US-amerikanische Kontingent der Kosovo
Verification Mission (KVM) im Herbst 1998 zusammenzustellen. Angeblich
waren 150 von 200 US-Beobachtern der KVM Mitarbeiter dieser Firma. In
vielen Fällen ist nachgewiesen, daß US-Verifikateure die Überwachung des
Waffenstillstandes in der Krisenprovinz nutzten, um Ziele für die
späteren US-Luftangriffe zu markieren. Außerdem standen alle
Verifikateure, die im Auftrag der OSZE Mitte Januar 1999 ein serbisches
Massaker im Kosovo-Dörfchen Racak entdeckt haben wollten (was der NATO
dann den Kriegsvorwand lieferte), bei DynCorp unter Vertrag. Nach dem
Krieg gegen Jugoslawien 1999 hat DynCorp einen Vertrag über 628
Millionen Dollar für die Ausbildung von US-Polizeikräften im Kosovo
abgeschlossen.
Ähnlich gewichtig ist die Firma Vinnell, die die saudische Nationalgarde
ausbildet und von der Carlyle Group kontrolliert wird, an der neben der
Familie Bush auch die Familie Bin Laden bis zum 11. September Anteile
hatte. Unternehmen wie Betac (Auftragsarbeiten für die CIA), die
britische Executive Outcomes (Sicherung der Ölquellen in Angola), Ronco
(weitere Afrika-Einsätze), Sandline (im Auftrag der Blair-Regierung
Aufstandsbekämpfung in Sierra Leone), O’Gara Protective Service
(engagiert vom saudischen Verteidigungsministerium) und SAIC (im
Vorstand mit John Deutch und Robert Gates zwei frühere CIA-Chefs)
vervollständigen die Aufzählung noch lange nicht.
Mehr Generale als das Pentagon
Nach DynCorp wahrscheinlich die umsatzstärkste Hilfstruppe des
US-Militärs ist die bereits erwähnte Military Professional Ressources
Inc. (MPRI). In den balkanischen Kriegen der neunziger Jahre spielte die
Firma eine entscheidende Rolle und war wichtiger als alle Konkurrenten.
MPRI wurde im Jahre 1987 von acht pensionierten US-Topoffizieren
gegründet und hat mittlerweile »mehr Vier-Sterne-Generale hat als das
Pentagon selbst« Auf ihrer Website vermeldete die Firma im Sommer 2004
stolz, daß sie weltweit 1500 Angestellte im Einsatz hat und innerhalb
und außerhalb der USA 150 Programme durchführt. Demnach kann sie
jederzeit auf »125000 frühere Mitarbeiter des Verteidigungsministeriums,
der Strafverfolgungsbehörden und andere Experten« zurückgreifen, »die am
besten wissen, wie man schwierige Aufgaben unter den anspruchvollsten
Bedingungen durchführt«. An anderer Stelle wirbt die Firma mit den
Worten, sie könne »jede Aufgabe durchführen und jede Mission übernehmen,
für die man Experten aus dem Verteidigungsbereich braucht«. Der
Jahresumsatz von MPRI übersteigt 100 Millionen US-Dollar.
Ganz offen wird eingestanden, daß MPRI »dem US-Verteidigungsministerium
seine Erfahrung zur Verfügung stellt und Unterstützung leistet«. Weiter
heißt es: »Wir bieten ein großes Spektrum internationaler
Dienstleistungen, in einigen Fällen für die US-Regierung, in anderen
Fällen direkt für andere Regierungen im Lizenzauftrag des
US-Außenministeriums.« US-Offizier Thomas Milton schrieb im April 1998
in der Fachzeitschrift Military Review über das Verhältnis von MPRI und
Staat: »Es gibt Unternehmen, die nicht nur zugunsten von US-Interessen
arbeiten, sondern sogar Teil der vom Verteidigungsministerium
erarbeiteten Pläne sind. (...) Diese Sicherheitsunternehmen sind zu
einem integralen Bestandteil der Pläne und Operationen des
Verteidigungsministeriums geworden.«
MPRI hat 340 frühere US-Generale in seiner Kartei, die 22 besten davon
unter Vertrag. Sie erhalten das Doppelte bis Dreifache ihrer früheren
Staatsbezüge, zuzüglich Vorsorgeleistungen und MPRI-Aktien – und ihre
Pentagon-Pensionen laufen weiter. Dabei sind es längst nicht nur
Pensionäre, die auf der Gehaltsliste der Firma stehen. Vielmehr handelt
es sich um einen steten Austausch von Fachpersonal. »Ein amerikanischer
Offizier oder Unteroffizier nimmt unbezahlten Urlaub von den
Streitkräften, engagiert sich für zwei oder drei Jahre bei MPRI, wird
dann in die amerikanische Armee reintegriert und in der Regel sofort
befördert. Zum einen stellt die Armee ihre Führungskräfte also unbezahlt
frei, um für MPRI zu arbeiten. Zum anderen tut dies der Karriere dieser
Militärs keinen Abbruch, im Gegenteil.«
An der Spitze des Unternehmens steht Carl Vuono, Generalstabschef der
US-Armee unter anderem bei der Invasion in Panama (1989) und im ersten
Krieg gegen den Irak (1991). In der Chefetage am Konzernsitz in
Alexandria (Virginia) saßen in den neunziger Jahren außerdem General
Crosbie »Butch« Saint und Frederick Kroesen, beide in ihrer aktiven
Dienstzeit Kommandeure der US-Armee in Europa. Ebenfalls in den
neunziger Jahren leitete General Harry E. Soyster die internationale
Abteilung des MPRI, teilweise in Absprache mit Saint. Soyster war ab
1982 stellvertretender Kommandeur der US-Armee in Europa und von 1988
bis 1991 Chef des US-Militärgeheimdienstes DIA. Schon damals verhehlte
er nicht, daß sich seiner Meinung nach Regierungsagenten auch mit
zweifelhaften Elementen einlassen müssen. »Ich denke, wenn sie sich
nicht in solchen Kreisen bewegen, sollten wir sie nicht bezahlen.« Und
weiter: »Wenn man es mit Leuten zu tun hat, die Schweine füttern, steht
man dort herum, wo es stinkt.« Montreal Gazette, 15.12.1999) Diesem Mann
unterstanden die Balkan-Operationen der Firma, von denen gleich noch die
Rede sein wird. »Wir können 20 qualifizierte Leute innerhalb von 24
Stunden an die serbische Grenze bringen. Die Armee kann das nicht.«
Im Irak hat die Firma 2003 zwei Aufträge im Volumen von 2,6 Millionen
Dollar bekommen. Im Auftrag des US-Verteidigungsministeriums sollen
angeblich frühere irakische Soldaten zivil umgeschult und »effektive
Regierungsstrukturen auf der Ebene von Kommunen, Provinzen und
gesamtstaatlich in einer Nachkriegsgesellschaft« entwickelt werden.
MPRI wurde im Juli 2000 von der Firma L-3 Communications aufgekauft. Mit
zwei Milliarden US-Dollar gehört L-3 nicht gerade zu den Leichtgewichten
im Rüstungsbusineß, obwohl das Unternehmen erst 1997 entstanden ist,
u.a. durch den Aufkauf von Sparten anderer Militärkonzerne wie Loral
Corporation und Lockheed Martin. Der Deal machte die MPRI-Gründer zu
Millionären: L-3 bezahlte 40 Millionen Dollar für das Unternehmen – in
Cash.
Der Balkansturm des MPRI
Einer der ersten hochkarätigen Auftritte der MPRI war die Unterstützung
der kroatischen Armee bei einer Großoffensive gegen die Serben in der
Krajina Anfang August 1995, die als Operation Sturm (serbokroatisch:
Oluja) in die Geschichtsbücher einging. Eine erste Anfrage vom
kroatischen Verteidigungsminister Gojko Susak gab es schon im März 1994.
»Zwischen 6. und 8. August (1994) (...) kam die Clinton-Regierung zur
Auffassung, daß die internationalen Unterhändler im früheren Jugoslawien
wohl nichts mehr erreichen würden.« (Robert Fox im Sunday Telegraph,
15.10.1995) Bereits im September 1994 schlossen MPRI-Spezialisten mit
Zagreb einen Beratervertrag zur Ausbildung der Armee. Ein weiterer mit
Sarajevo folgte, der war bei einem Treffen des muslimischen Generals
Mehmet Alagic mit DIA-Chef Dyke Hayden und US-Emissär Richard Holbrooke
perfekt gemacht worden. Diesen de jure privaten Deals folgte im November
1994 ein offizielles Abkommen über militärische Zusammenarbeit zwischen
dem Pentagon und der kroatischen Armee.
Nach Auskunft eines kroatischen Offiziers »brachten uns die MPRI-Berater
Militärtaktik und großräumige Kriegsoperationen bei«. Kroatische Quellen
berichten außerdem über US-amerikanische Satellitenunterstützung für
Zagreb. Fünfzehn hochrangige US-Militärberater, angeführt vom
pensionierten Zwei-Sterne-General Richard Griffiths, tauchten Anfang
1995 in Kroatien auf. MPRI-Chef Vuono hielt ein »Geheimtreffen mit dem
kroatischen General Varimar Cervenko, dem Architekten der
Krajina-Offensive, auf der Insel Brioni vor der kroatischen Küste ab. In
den fünf Tagen, die dem Angriff vorausgingen, fanden mindestens zehn
Sitzungen zwischen MPRI-General Vuono und Offizieren statt, die in den
Angriff mit einbezogen waren.« Der Bundeswehr-Berufsoffizier und spätere
Stern-Reporter Franz-Josef Hutsch geht noch weiter: »MPRI hat konkret
die Operationen geführt und auch dafür gesorgt, daß während der
Operation Sturm NATO-Luftangriffe auf serbische Stellungen erfolgten.
Das würde man militärisch als ›Close Air Support‹, also
Luft-Nah-Unterstützung für Bodentruppen bezeichnen (...) Ich habe selbst
gesehen und gehört, wie ein amerikanischer MPRI-Offizier einem
kroatischen Brigadekommandeur bei den Angriffen auf Glina (serbischer
Ort in der Krajina – J.E.) während der Operation Sturm Anweisungen
gegeben hat.«
Nach Auskunft von John Dinger, einem Sprecher des US-Außenministeriums,
half MPRI den Kroaten dabei, »Exzesse und Grausamkeiten bei
militärischen Operationen zu vermeiden«. Falls das das Lernziel für die
MPRI-Ausbilder gewesen sein sollte, so haben sie es ihren kroatischen
Kollegen höchst unzureichend vermittelt: Im Rahmen von Oluja wurden die
in der Krajina lebenden 200000 Serben vertrieben – die größte ethnische
Säuberung in Europa nach 1945. Nach Ansicht des kroatischen
Helsinki-Ausschusses für Menschenrechte kam es während des dreitägigen
Blitzkrieges zu etlichen Massakern, denen mindestens 410 namentlich
identifizierte Zivilisten zum Opfer fielen. Die serbische
Menschenrechtsorganisation Veritas berichtet, daß im Jahre 1995
insgesamt 2 101 serbische Zivilisten in der Krajina und in Kroatien
getötet wurden oder spurlos verschwanden – die meisten davon während der
Operation Sturm. Kanadische Blauhelmsoldaten waren Zeugen der Greuel
kroatischer Truppen: »Alle Serben, die ihre Häuser nicht verlassen
hatten, wurden von umherziehenden kroatischen Todeskommandos
systematisch ›ethnisch gesäubert‹. Jedes verlassene Tier wurde
erschossen und jede mögliche serbische Wohnung wurde geplündert und
angezündet.« (The Sunday Sun, Toronto, 2.11.1998)
Außerdem brachte MPRI zwischen 80 und 120 fundamentalistische
Gotteskrieger, die im bosnischen Bürgerkrieg (1992 bis 1995) gegen die
Serben gekämpft hatten, zur Militärausbildung in die Türkei. Dort
durften sie Spezialaufgaben wie Luftunterstützung zum Teil in echten
Kampfeinsätzen gegen Kurden im Nordirak ausprobieren. Ab Sommer 1998
schleuste MPRI die Terrorschüler ins Kosovo ein, wo sie im Auftrag der
albanischen Untergrundbewegung UCK und der NATO Ziele für den
Bombenkrieg (von März bis Juni 1999) markierten. (vgl. dazu ausführlich
jW vom 14. Oktober 2004) Wer diese Kooperation zwischen US-Militärs und
radikalen Islamisten widernatürlich findet, kennt das Motto der MPRI
nicht: »Wenn man es mit Leuten zu tun hat, die Schweine füttern, steht
man dort herum, wo es stinkt.« (General Harry A. Soyster, MPRI-Chef für
internationale Einsätze)
JW, 24.11.2004 Jürgen Elsässer
Die Hunde des Krieges
Abu Ghraib, Krajina, Kosovo: Söldnerfirmen erledigen Schmutzarbeiten für
das Pentagon
Privatisierung, Outsorcing, Lean Production – die Schlagworte der
neoliberalen Wirtschaft machen auch vor dem US-Militär nicht halt. Immer
mehr Aufträge werden an ausgelagerte Fremdfirmen vergeben – das spart
Geld. Während des ersten Golfkrieges 1991 war einer von fünfzig
eingesetzten US-Amerikanern bei einer privaten Söldnerfirma angestellt,
beim US-Einsatz im Rahmen der Bosnien-Stabilisierungstruppe ab 1996
bereits jeder zehnte. (New York Times, 14.10.2002) Niemand kennt den
Umfang dieses geheimen Militärgeschäfts genau, und auch die einzelnen
Unternehmen lassen sich ungern in die Karten schauen, was viele im
weiteren genannte Zahlen unter Vorbehalt stellt. Kenner beziffern
jedenfalls des Volumen der Aufträge allein des Pentagon an zwölf
Privatfirmen auf mehr als 300 Milliarden US-Dollar.
Folter-Eldorado Irak
Im Unterschied zu den klassischen Söldnern, die etwa in dem Film »Die
Wildgänse kommen« verherrlicht wurden, verrichten ihre postmodernen
Nachfolger ihre Arbeit zumeist nicht an der Front, sondern stellen sich
ihren Kunden als militärische Planer, als Informationsbeschaffer und als
Ausbilder zur Verfügung. Während der Kampfhandlungen sind sie in den
militärischen Stäben vertreten und sorgen später für die sogenannte
Befriedung des Terrains. Dabei kann es durchaus vorkommen, daß sie
selbst töten und foltern, wie wir gleich sehen werden.
»Der wichtigste Grund, warum wir Vertragsfirmen benutzen, liegt darin,
daß wir dann unsere eigenen Truppen nicht einsetzen müssen, die sich
voll aufs Kämpfen konzentrieren können«, sagt Colonel Thomas Sweeney,
Strategieprofessor am Army War College in Carlisle/Pennsylvania. »Das
ist billiger, denn man muß diese Firmen nur bezahlen, wenn man sie
nutzt.«
Mit Vertragsfirmen spart der Staat aber nicht nur Geld, sondern kann
auch leichter Schmutzarbeiten erledigen lassen. So können Pentagon und
CIA die nach der Iran-Contra-Affäre strenger gewordenen
Genehmigungsbestimmungen für verdeckte Operationen umgehen.
Privatsöldner sind – so die offizielle Lesart Washingtons – weder der
Jurisdiktion der US-Armee unterstellt noch der im Stationierungsland.
Für Straftaten können sie nur belangt werden, wenn die US-Regierung ihre
Auslieferung verlangt. Die Konsequenzen dieser stark verminderten
Haftung zeigten sich im Irak, wo seit dem vergangenen Jahr rund 20000
private Sicherheitsleute beschäftigt sind. Dabei geht es um
Personenschutz, Sicherung von Ölfeldern und anderem Privatbesitz – und
um Spezialaufträge der US-Armee. So arbeiteten im Folter-Gefängnis von
Abu Ghraib 37 solche »Contractors« (im Lager Guantánamo auf Kuba sind es
übrigens 30). Der offizielle Untersuchungsbericht der US-Armee nennt
vier Hauptverdächtige, die entweder direkt oder indirekt für die
Mißhandlungen in Abu Ghraib verantwortlich waren. Zwei dieser
Verhörspezialisten waren Angestellte der amerikanischen Firmen Caci bzw.
Titan. In Stellenanzeigen hatte Caci zuvor nach Spezialisten für die
Durchführung und Auswertung von Verhören im Irak gesucht, wobei ein
Angebot mit dem bezeichnenden Argument warb, der Kandidat könne unter
»minimaler Aufsicht« arbeiten. Caci führt seit einiger Zeit auch Verhöre
von Terrorverdächtigen in Bosnien und im Kosovo durch.
Die derzeit beste Adresse unter den Privaten ist die Firma Blackwater
Security Consulting, von der sich auch der US-amerikanische
Irak-Gouverneur Paul Bremer bewachen ließ. Das 1998 gegründete
Unternehmen schloß im Herbst 2002 einen Vertrag über 35,7 Millionen
Dollar mit dem Pentagon ab, der die Ausbildung von 10000 Matrosen in der
Aufstandsbekämpfung – in den Dokumenten vornehm als »force protection
training« umschrieben – vorsieht. Das Ganze läuft auf dem fünf Hektar
großen firmeneigenen Manövergelände in Moyock/North Carolina. Unter
ihren mehreren hundert Mitarbeitern im Irak befinden sich mindestens 60
aus dem ehemaligen Folter-Staat Chile und eine unbekannte Zahl von
weißen Söldnern aus Südafrika.
Anfang April 2004, als Aufständische das Hauptquartier der
Besatzungsbehörden in Nadschaf belagerten, verteidigten acht Mitarbeiter
der Firma und eine Handvoll amerikanische Soldaten das Gebäude. Ein von
Blackwater zu Hilfe geschickter Helikopter griff aus der Luft in die
Kämpfe ein. Kurz zuvor waren vier Blackwater-Leute in Falludscha
gelyncht und ihre Leichen verstümmelt worden. Die westliche
Öffentlichkeit reagierte schockiert auf die Bilder – die
Mainstream-Medien hatten verschwiegen, daß es sich bei den Opfern um
Söldner handelte, und statt dessen von zivilen Aufbauhelfern gesprochen.
Infolge dieser beiden Ereignisse schlossen sich alle Söldnerfirmen im
Irak enger zusammen, die Washington Post sprach von der »effektiv
größten Privatarmee der Welt, mit eigenem Rettungsdienst und eigenem
Geheimdienst«.
DynCorp und der Kosovo-Krieg
Zu diesem »Rising Corporate Military Monster« – so das Internetmagazin
Mother Jones über die Allianz der Privaten an Euphrat und Tigris -
gehört auch die Firma DynCorp, mit 20000 Beschäftigten in mehr als 550
Filialen oder Einsatzgebieten und einem Jahresumsatz von 1,8 Milliarden
US-Dollar zahlenmäßig die Nummer eins im Geschäft. Schwerpunkt ihrer
Subversionstätigkeit war zunächst Kolumbien, wo die Firma laut Jane’s
Intelligence Review 1997 elf Flugzeuge im Einsatz hatte, fünf weitere
und Hubschrauber sollten folgen. Angeblich ging es um die Bekämpfung der
Kokainmafia. Laut einem Zeitungsbericht verloren DynCorp und das
assoziierte Unternehmen EAST Inc. 1998 drei Flugzeuge in dem
lateinamerikanischen Land. Im Jahr 2003 wurde der Nahe Osten zum
wichtigsten Einsatzgebiet von DynCorp – insgesamt etwa 1 000 seiner
Leute sind dort aktiv.
In Bosnien-Herzegowina half die Firma bei der sogenannten Stabilisierung
des Landes nach dem Dayton-Abkommen Ende 1995. Zwei Mitarbeiter standen
im Mittelpunkt eines Sexskandals – sie kauften, verkauften und
mißbrauchten Minderjährige als Sexsklavinnen. Teilweise waren die Opfer
erst 13 Jahre alt. Die Täter wurden nie juristisch belangt, sondern von
DynCorp lediglich in die USA zurückgeflogen. Statt ihrer wurden die
beiden Mitarbeiter gefeuert, die das kriminelle Treiben angezeigt
hatten. Dem Unternehmen selbst hat die Sache nicht geschadet: Die Firma
wurde damit beauftragt, das US-amerikanische Kontingent der Kosovo
Verification Mission (KVM) im Herbst 1998 zusammenzustellen. Angeblich
waren 150 von 200 US-Beobachtern der KVM Mitarbeiter dieser Firma. In
vielen Fällen ist nachgewiesen, daß US-Verifikateure die Überwachung des
Waffenstillstandes in der Krisenprovinz nutzten, um Ziele für die
späteren US-Luftangriffe zu markieren. Außerdem standen alle
Verifikateure, die im Auftrag der OSZE Mitte Januar 1999 ein serbisches
Massaker im Kosovo-Dörfchen Racak entdeckt haben wollten (was der NATO
dann den Kriegsvorwand lieferte), bei DynCorp unter Vertrag. Nach dem
Krieg gegen Jugoslawien 1999 hat DynCorp einen Vertrag über 628
Millionen Dollar für die Ausbildung von US-Polizeikräften im Kosovo
abgeschlossen.
Ähnlich gewichtig ist die Firma Vinnell, die die saudische Nationalgarde
ausbildet und von der Carlyle Group kontrolliert wird, an der neben der
Familie Bush auch die Familie Bin Laden bis zum 11. September Anteile
hatte. Unternehmen wie Betac (Auftragsarbeiten für die CIA), die
britische Executive Outcomes (Sicherung der Ölquellen in Angola), Ronco
(weitere Afrika-Einsätze), Sandline (im Auftrag der Blair-Regierung
Aufstandsbekämpfung in Sierra Leone), O’Gara Protective Service
(engagiert vom saudischen Verteidigungsministerium) und SAIC (im
Vorstand mit John Deutch und Robert Gates zwei frühere CIA-Chefs)
vervollständigen die Aufzählung noch lange nicht.
Mehr Generale als das Pentagon
Nach DynCorp wahrscheinlich die umsatzstärkste Hilfstruppe des
US-Militärs ist die bereits erwähnte Military Professional Ressources
Inc. (MPRI). In den balkanischen Kriegen der neunziger Jahre spielte die
Firma eine entscheidende Rolle und war wichtiger als alle Konkurrenten.
MPRI wurde im Jahre 1987 von acht pensionierten US-Topoffizieren
gegründet und hat mittlerweile »mehr Vier-Sterne-Generale hat als das
Pentagon selbst« Auf ihrer Website vermeldete die Firma im Sommer 2004
stolz, daß sie weltweit 1500 Angestellte im Einsatz hat und innerhalb
und außerhalb der USA 150 Programme durchführt. Demnach kann sie
jederzeit auf »125000 frühere Mitarbeiter des Verteidigungsministeriums,
der Strafverfolgungsbehörden und andere Experten« zurückgreifen, »die am
besten wissen, wie man schwierige Aufgaben unter den anspruchvollsten
Bedingungen durchführt«. An anderer Stelle wirbt die Firma mit den
Worten, sie könne »jede Aufgabe durchführen und jede Mission übernehmen,
für die man Experten aus dem Verteidigungsbereich braucht«. Der
Jahresumsatz von MPRI übersteigt 100 Millionen US-Dollar.
Ganz offen wird eingestanden, daß MPRI »dem US-Verteidigungsministerium
seine Erfahrung zur Verfügung stellt und Unterstützung leistet«. Weiter
heißt es: »Wir bieten ein großes Spektrum internationaler
Dienstleistungen, in einigen Fällen für die US-Regierung, in anderen
Fällen direkt für andere Regierungen im Lizenzauftrag des
US-Außenministeriums.« US-Offizier Thomas Milton schrieb im April 1998
in der Fachzeitschrift Military Review über das Verhältnis von MPRI und
Staat: »Es gibt Unternehmen, die nicht nur zugunsten von US-Interessen
arbeiten, sondern sogar Teil der vom Verteidigungsministerium
erarbeiteten Pläne sind. (...) Diese Sicherheitsunternehmen sind zu
einem integralen Bestandteil der Pläne und Operationen des
Verteidigungsministeriums geworden.«
MPRI hat 340 frühere US-Generale in seiner Kartei, die 22 besten davon
unter Vertrag. Sie erhalten das Doppelte bis Dreifache ihrer früheren
Staatsbezüge, zuzüglich Vorsorgeleistungen und MPRI-Aktien – und ihre
Pentagon-Pensionen laufen weiter. Dabei sind es längst nicht nur
Pensionäre, die auf der Gehaltsliste der Firma stehen. Vielmehr handelt
es sich um einen steten Austausch von Fachpersonal. »Ein amerikanischer
Offizier oder Unteroffizier nimmt unbezahlten Urlaub von den
Streitkräften, engagiert sich für zwei oder drei Jahre bei MPRI, wird
dann in die amerikanische Armee reintegriert und in der Regel sofort
befördert. Zum einen stellt die Armee ihre Führungskräfte also unbezahlt
frei, um für MPRI zu arbeiten. Zum anderen tut dies der Karriere dieser
Militärs keinen Abbruch, im Gegenteil.«
An der Spitze des Unternehmens steht Carl Vuono, Generalstabschef der
US-Armee unter anderem bei der Invasion in Panama (1989) und im ersten
Krieg gegen den Irak (1991). In der Chefetage am Konzernsitz in
Alexandria (Virginia) saßen in den neunziger Jahren außerdem General
Crosbie »Butch« Saint und Frederick Kroesen, beide in ihrer aktiven
Dienstzeit Kommandeure der US-Armee in Europa. Ebenfalls in den
neunziger Jahren leitete General Harry E. Soyster die internationale
Abteilung des MPRI, teilweise in Absprache mit Saint. Soyster war ab
1982 stellvertretender Kommandeur der US-Armee in Europa und von 1988
bis 1991 Chef des US-Militärgeheimdienstes DIA. Schon damals verhehlte
er nicht, daß sich seiner Meinung nach Regierungsagenten auch mit
zweifelhaften Elementen einlassen müssen. »Ich denke, wenn sie sich
nicht in solchen Kreisen bewegen, sollten wir sie nicht bezahlen.« Und
weiter: »Wenn man es mit Leuten zu tun hat, die Schweine füttern, steht
man dort herum, wo es stinkt.« Montreal Gazette, 15.12.1999) Diesem Mann
unterstanden die Balkan-Operationen der Firma, von denen gleich noch die
Rede sein wird. »Wir können 20 qualifizierte Leute innerhalb von 24
Stunden an die serbische Grenze bringen. Die Armee kann das nicht.«
Im Irak hat die Firma 2003 zwei Aufträge im Volumen von 2,6 Millionen
Dollar bekommen. Im Auftrag des US-Verteidigungsministeriums sollen
angeblich frühere irakische Soldaten zivil umgeschult und »effektive
Regierungsstrukturen auf der Ebene von Kommunen, Provinzen und
gesamtstaatlich in einer Nachkriegsgesellschaft« entwickelt werden.
MPRI wurde im Juli 2000 von der Firma L-3 Communications aufgekauft. Mit
zwei Milliarden US-Dollar gehört L-3 nicht gerade zu den Leichtgewichten
im Rüstungsbusineß, obwohl das Unternehmen erst 1997 entstanden ist,
u.a. durch den Aufkauf von Sparten anderer Militärkonzerne wie Loral
Corporation und Lockheed Martin. Der Deal machte die MPRI-Gründer zu
Millionären: L-3 bezahlte 40 Millionen Dollar für das Unternehmen – in
Cash.
Der Balkansturm des MPRI
Einer der ersten hochkarätigen Auftritte der MPRI war die Unterstützung
der kroatischen Armee bei einer Großoffensive gegen die Serben in der
Krajina Anfang August 1995, die als Operation Sturm (serbokroatisch:
Oluja) in die Geschichtsbücher einging. Eine erste Anfrage vom
kroatischen Verteidigungsminister Gojko Susak gab es schon im März 1994.
»Zwischen 6. und 8. August (1994) (...) kam die Clinton-Regierung zur
Auffassung, daß die internationalen Unterhändler im früheren Jugoslawien
wohl nichts mehr erreichen würden.« (Robert Fox im Sunday Telegraph,
15.10.1995) Bereits im September 1994 schlossen MPRI-Spezialisten mit
Zagreb einen Beratervertrag zur Ausbildung der Armee. Ein weiterer mit
Sarajevo folgte, der war bei einem Treffen des muslimischen Generals
Mehmet Alagic mit DIA-Chef Dyke Hayden und US-Emissär Richard Holbrooke
perfekt gemacht worden. Diesen de jure privaten Deals folgte im November
1994 ein offizielles Abkommen über militärische Zusammenarbeit zwischen
dem Pentagon und der kroatischen Armee.
Nach Auskunft eines kroatischen Offiziers »brachten uns die MPRI-Berater
Militärtaktik und großräumige Kriegsoperationen bei«. Kroatische Quellen
berichten außerdem über US-amerikanische Satellitenunterstützung für
Zagreb. Fünfzehn hochrangige US-Militärberater, angeführt vom
pensionierten Zwei-Sterne-General Richard Griffiths, tauchten Anfang
1995 in Kroatien auf. MPRI-Chef Vuono hielt ein »Geheimtreffen mit dem
kroatischen General Varimar Cervenko, dem Architekten der
Krajina-Offensive, auf der Insel Brioni vor der kroatischen Küste ab. In
den fünf Tagen, die dem Angriff vorausgingen, fanden mindestens zehn
Sitzungen zwischen MPRI-General Vuono und Offizieren statt, die in den
Angriff mit einbezogen waren.« Der Bundeswehr-Berufsoffizier und spätere
Stern-Reporter Franz-Josef Hutsch geht noch weiter: »MPRI hat konkret
die Operationen geführt und auch dafür gesorgt, daß während der
Operation Sturm NATO-Luftangriffe auf serbische Stellungen erfolgten.
Das würde man militärisch als ›Close Air Support‹, also
Luft-Nah-Unterstützung für Bodentruppen bezeichnen (...) Ich habe selbst
gesehen und gehört, wie ein amerikanischer MPRI-Offizier einem
kroatischen Brigadekommandeur bei den Angriffen auf Glina (serbischer
Ort in der Krajina – J.E.) während der Operation Sturm Anweisungen
gegeben hat.«
Nach Auskunft von John Dinger, einem Sprecher des US-Außenministeriums,
half MPRI den Kroaten dabei, »Exzesse und Grausamkeiten bei
militärischen Operationen zu vermeiden«. Falls das das Lernziel für die
MPRI-Ausbilder gewesen sein sollte, so haben sie es ihren kroatischen
Kollegen höchst unzureichend vermittelt: Im Rahmen von Oluja wurden die
in der Krajina lebenden 200000 Serben vertrieben – die größte ethnische
Säuberung in Europa nach 1945. Nach Ansicht des kroatischen
Helsinki-Ausschusses für Menschenrechte kam es während des dreitägigen
Blitzkrieges zu etlichen Massakern, denen mindestens 410 namentlich
identifizierte Zivilisten zum Opfer fielen. Die serbische
Menschenrechtsorganisation Veritas berichtet, daß im Jahre 1995
insgesamt 2 101 serbische Zivilisten in der Krajina und in Kroatien
getötet wurden oder spurlos verschwanden – die meisten davon während der
Operation Sturm. Kanadische Blauhelmsoldaten waren Zeugen der Greuel
kroatischer Truppen: »Alle Serben, die ihre Häuser nicht verlassen
hatten, wurden von umherziehenden kroatischen Todeskommandos
systematisch ›ethnisch gesäubert‹. Jedes verlassene Tier wurde
erschossen und jede mögliche serbische Wohnung wurde geplündert und
angezündet.« (The Sunday Sun, Toronto, 2.11.1998)
Außerdem brachte MPRI zwischen 80 und 120 fundamentalistische
Gotteskrieger, die im bosnischen Bürgerkrieg (1992 bis 1995) gegen die
Serben gekämpft hatten, zur Militärausbildung in die Türkei. Dort
durften sie Spezialaufgaben wie Luftunterstützung zum Teil in echten
Kampfeinsätzen gegen Kurden im Nordirak ausprobieren. Ab Sommer 1998
schleuste MPRI die Terrorschüler ins Kosovo ein, wo sie im Auftrag der
albanischen Untergrundbewegung UCK und der NATO Ziele für den
Bombenkrieg (von März bis Juni 1999) markierten. (vgl. dazu ausführlich
jW vom 14. Oktober 2004) Wer diese Kooperation zwischen US-Militärs und
radikalen Islamisten widernatürlich findet, kennt das Motto der MPRI
nicht: »Wenn man es mit Leuten zu tun hat, die Schweine füttern, steht
man dort herum, wo es stinkt.« (General Harry A. Soyster, MPRI-Chef für
internationale Einsätze)
IMF Sponsored "Democracy" in The Ukraine
by Michel Chossudovsky
www.globalresearch.ca 28 November 2004
The URL of this article is:
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO411D.html
Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko is firmly backed by the
Washington Consensus. He is not only supported by the IMF and the
international financial community, he also has the endorsement of the
National Endowment for Democracy (NED). the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace and George Soros' Open Society Institute, which
played a behind the scnes role last year in helping "topple Georgia's
president Eduard Shevardnadze by putting financial muscle and
organizational metal behind his opponents." (New Statesman, 29 November
2004)
In the Ukraine, the NED funds Yushchenko's party Nasha Ukraina, it
also finances the Kiev Press Club. In turn, The Independent Republican
Institute (IRI), an affiliate of the NED, is involved in assessing the
"fairness of elections and their results". IRI has staff present in
"poll watching" in 9 oblasts (districts), and local staff in all 25
oblasts. (See also Ian Traynor 26 November 2004,
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/TRA411A.html )
The National Endowment for Democracy (and its affiliates including
IRI) although not formally part of the CIA, performs an important
intelligence function in party politics in some seventy countries. NED
was created in 1983, when the CIA was being accused of covertly bribing
politicians and setting up phony civil society front organizations.
According to Allen Weinstein, who was responsible for establishing the
NED during the Reagan Administration: "A lot of what we do today was
done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA." (Washington Post, Sept. 21,
1991).
In the former Soviet Union including the Ukraine, the NED
constitutes, so to speak, the CIA's "civilian arm". CIA-NED
interventions are characterized by a consistent pattern.
In the former Yugoslavia, the CIA channeled support to the Kosovo
Liberation Army (KLA) (since 1995), a paramilitary group involved in
terrorist attacks on the Yugoslav police and military. Meanwhile, the
NED through the "Center for International Private Enterprise" (CIPE)
was backing the DOS opposition coalition in Serbia and Montenegro. More
specifically, NED was financing the G-17, an opposition group of
economists responsible for formulating (in liaison with the IMF) the
DOS coalition's "free market" reform platform in the 2000 presidential
election, which led to the downfall of Slobodan Milosevic.
Copy and Paste? The Center for International Private Enterprise
(CIPE) has a very similar mandate in the Ukraine, where it directly
funds research on free market reforms in several key "independent think
tanks" and policy research institutes. The International Center for
Policy Studies (ICPS) supported by CIPE, has a similar structure to
that of the G-17 in Serbia and Montenegro. A group of local economists
hired by ICPS was put in charge of drafting, with the support of the
World Bank a comprehensive blueprint of post-election macro-economic
reform.
Who is Viktor Yushchenko? IMF Sponsored Candidate
In 1993, Viktor Yushchenko was appointed head of the newly-formed
National Bank of Ukraine. Hailed as a "daring reformer", he was among
the main architects of the IMF's deadly economic medicine which served
to impoverish The Ukraine and destroy its economy.
A year later, the Ukraine reached a historical agreement with the
IMF.
Mr Yushchenko played a key role in negotiating the agreement as
well as creating a new Ukrainian national currency, which resulted in a
dramatic plunge in real wages.
The 1994 IMF package was negotiated behind closed doors at the
Madrid 50 years anniversary Summit of the Bretton Woods institutions.
It required the Ukrainian authorities to abandon State controls over
the exchange rate leading to an impressive collapse of the currency.
Yushchenko as Head of the Central Bank was responsible for
deregulating the national currency under the October 1994 "shock
treatment":
* The price of bread increased overnight by 300 percent,
* electricity prices by 600 percent,
* public transportation by 900 percent.
* the standard of living tumbled
According to the Ukrainian State Statistics Committee, quoted by
the IMF, real wages in 1998 had fallen by more than 75 percent in
relation to their 1991 level. Ironically, the IMF sponsored program was
intended to alleviate inflationary pressures: it consisted in imposing
"dollarised" prices on an impoverished population with earnings below
ten dollars a month.
Combined with the abrupt hikes in fuel and energy prices, the
lifting of subsidies and the freeze on credit contributed to destroying
industry (both public and private) and undermining Ukraine's
breadbasket economy.
In November 1994, World Bank negotiators were examining the
overhaul of Ukraine's agriculture. With trade liberalization (which was
part of the proposed package), the door was open to the dumping of US
grain surpluses and "food aid" on the domestic market, contributing to
destabilizing one of the World's largest and most productive wheat
economy.
By 1998, the deregulation of the grain market resulted in a decline
in the production of grain by 45 percent in relation to its 1986-90
level. The collapse in livestock production, poultry and dairy products
was even more dramatic.( See
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2003/cr03174.pdf )
The cumulative collapse in GDP resulting from the IMF sponsored
reforms was in excess of 60 percent (from 1992 to 1995).
Under these circumstances, why is it that the public image and
political reputation of the IMF's protégé and architect of these
deadily reforms, namely Mr. Yushchenko was unscathed. Why did he remain
so popular? Answer: a massive propaganda and public relations campaign
supported by the US, money from Washington, manipulation of civil
society organizations, etc.
The IMF and "Governance"
IMF conditionalities, however, not only applied to the
macroeconomic agenda, the IMF had also intervened in the arena of
domestic politics. As in Russia in 1993, the Ukrainian parliament was
seen as an obstacle to the pursuit of the "free market reforms". In
1999, under pressure from the IMF, Yushchenko was appointed Prime
Minister:
<< Yushchenko's candidacy had been proposed by 10 parliamentary
groups and factions, and Kuchma agreed with their choice...
The weightiest argument may be the International Monetary
Fund's desire to see Yushchenko as Ukraine's prime minister, because
the provision of the former Soviet republic with extended finance
facilities depends on that.
Several parliament members believe the IMF is ready to extend a
loan worth 300m dollars to Ukraine in January in case Yushchenko
becomes prime minister. >>
(ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, 17 Dec 1999)
Following his appointment Yushchenko implemented a major IMF
sponsored bankruptcy program directed against major industries, He also
attempted to undermine the bilateral trade in oil and natural gas
between Russia and the Ukraine on behalf of the IMF which had demanded
that this trade be conducted in US dollars rather than in terms of
commodity barter.
In 2001, Yushchenko was sacked as prime minister following a non
confidence vote in the parliament. Yushchenko was accused of having put
the interests of the IMF ahead of those of the country:
"Viktor Yushchenko has fulfilled obligations to the IMF better
and more accurately than his duties to citizens of his our country,
Olena Markosyan, a Kharkov-based analyst, has opined in Ukrainian
centrist daily Den" (BBC Monitoring, 16 Nov 2004)
"This [Yushchenko] government openly states that it executes
all IMF recommendations. Though the government declares the social
direction of its policy, actually it is carrying out an anti-social,
anti-national policy," said Communist Party leader Heorhiy Kruchkov (
quoted in Financial Times, May 17, 2001)
They have sacked "our own" Prime Minister!
The international financial community responded. IMF Managing
Director Horst Kohler was adamant. "Yushchenko has gained a lot of
credibility outside of Ukraine, and I think he also deserves support
inside of Ukraine." (quoted in the Financial Times, 27 April 2001).
The IMF Head did not mince his words:
"He added that the IMF respects Ukraine's right to choose its
leaders, but maintained that the direction of reforms must be
preserved. He questioned the wisdom of the VR spending time on
maneuvering for a vote of no-confidence in the government while reforms
need to be implemented."
The Ukraine was back on the creditors' blacklist following
Yushchenko's dismissal:
"The West, which openly put its stake on Yushchenko recently,
is not likely to sit on its hands. There is no lack of instruments to
bring pressure on Kiev. Most probably the question of resuming IMF,
World Bank and EBRD credits to Ukraine will be put on hold because they
were expressly linked with Yushchenko's stay in power.... Talks with
the Paris Club on restructuring Ukraine's $1.2 billion debt may run
into difficulty... Not surprisingly, (Ukrainian President) Leonid
Kuchma yesterday hastened to distance himself from what is happening
and spoke critically about the Rada [Parliament] decision. (Vremya
Novostei, 1 May 2001, original Russian)
Following his dismissal, Yushchenko was in Washington for talks
with senior members of the Bush administration. He was back in
Washington in early 2003 under the auspices of the International
Republican Institute. During his visit he met with Vice President Dick
Cheney and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
Washington was "setting the stage" for the October-November
presidential elections.
Military Realignments in support of the Free Market
While Yushchenko is considered a protégé of the international
financial institutions, his colleague, former Defense Minister Yevyen
Marchuk is a unbending supporter of US and NATO military presence in
the region.
It was largely the initiative of Yevyen Marchuk as Defense Minister
to send Ukrainian troops to Iraq, a decision which was opposed by the
majority of the Ukrainian population.
In August, Marchuk met with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at
The Crimean seaside resort of Yalta.
On the agenda of the August talks: Ukraine's participation in the
Iraqi war theater but also the upcoming Ukrainian elections. Defense
Minister Marchuk announced following these meetings that Kiev would
continue to participate in "the coalition of the willing" and would
maintain its troops in Iraq.
Marchuk was sacked in September, barely a month before the first
round of the presidential elections.
Attempting a Coup d'Etat?
In a televised address on November 25th, Marchuk, sent a message to
the military, police and security forces to disobey the authority of
the civil authorities, namely the government of Leonid Kuchma.
"Ukraine’s former defense minister and head of the National
Security and Defense Council has declared that he’s convinced that
opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko is entitled to be recognized as the
president of Ukraine.
Former Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk called on President
Leonid Kuchma and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych to exercise good
sense. Marchuk underscored that there should be no bloodshed in Ukraine.
Marchuk appealed to state security officers not to fulfill
illegal orders and to remember their official honor and dignity.
He stressed that election fraud in the Nov. 21 presidential
run-off election, which the government says was won by Prime Minister
Yanukovych, was on a mass scale. He said that there is only one way out
of the tense political stand-off that has engulfed Ukraine since
Monday: negotiations between equals.
Marchuk also appealed to Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Viktor
Chernomyrdin to pass along to Russian President Vladimir Putin only
objective information. He reminded officers of the Russian Black Sea
fleet in Sevastopol that they are on the territory of a foreign
government, and that they should remain mindful of that, calling on the
Russian Federation’s defense minister to obey the law."
(See Kiev Post, 26 Nov 2004 and Kanal 5 transcripts, BBC Monitoringm 26
Nov 2004)
This statement by Marchuk, which calls upon the Armed forces and
the Police to go against the government, essentially sets the stage for
a US-NATO sponsored Coup d'Etat.
Power Struggle: Oil and Pipeline Corridors
Behind the presidential elections, there is a power struggle
between pro-US-NATO and pro-Russian factions within the leading
political establishment and the military.
What is at stake is not only the maintenance of the IMF sponsored
macroeconomic agenda, strategic US-NATO military interests in the
region are also at stake.
The objective of the Bush Administration is to install a Ukrainian
government which is firmly aligned with Washington, with the ultimate
objective of displacing the Russian military from the Black Sea.
In this regard, The Ukraine has already signed several military
agreements with NATO and Washington under the government of Leonid
Kuchma.
The Ukraine is a member of GUUAM, a military alliance between five
former Soviet republics ( Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and
Moldova). This military alliance was initially designed in 1997 by the
Ukrainian National Security Services (NSBU) in close liaison with
Washington. Its objective was to undermine the alliance between Russia
and Belarus, signed between Moscow and Minsk in 1996.
The Ukraine also signed agreements with Poland and the Baltic
states, pertaining to the control of transport corridors and pipeline
routes.
GUUAM lies strategically at the hub of the Caspian oil and gas
wealth, "with Moldava and the Ukraine offering [pipeline] export routes
to the West." The objective of GUUAM was to exclude Russia from the
Black Sea, protect the Anglo-American pipeline routes out of Central
Asia and the Caspian sea and essentially cut Russia off not only from
the Caspian sea oil basin but also from the Black sea.
Coinciding with the ceremony of NATO's 50th anniversary at the
outset of the war on Yugoslavia in 1999, the heads of State from all
five GUUAM countries were present including President Leonid Kuchma of
The Ukraine. They had been invited to NATO's three day celebration in
Washington to sign the GUUAM agreement under NATO and US auspices.
Georgia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, immediately announced that they
would be leaving the Commonwealth of Independent States= (CIS)
Asecurity union, which defines the framework of military cooperation
between the former Soviet republics, as well their links to Moscow.
"The formation of GUUAM (under NATO's umbrella and financed by
Western military aid) was intent upon further fracturing the CIS. The
Cold War, although officially over, had not yet reached its climax: the
members of this new pro-NATO political grouping were not only
supportive of the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia, they had also agreed to
'low level military cooperation with NATO while insisting that 'the
group is not a military alliance directed against any third party,
namely Moscow.' Dominated by Anglo-American oil interests, the
formation of GUUAM ultimately purports on excluding Russia from the oil
and gas deposits in the Caspian area as well as isolating Moscow
politically."
(Michel Chossudovsky, War and Globalization, the Truth behind September
11, Global Research, Montreal, 2002, Chapter V)
---
Text of Former Defense Minister Marchuk's speech on Kanal 5 TV.
25 November 2004
Speaking on opposition 5 Kanal, former Defence Minister Yevhen
Marchuk urged President Leonid Kuchma to admit widespread vote rigging
(Marchuk) Dear viewers of 5 Kanal, dear participants in the political
events, dear government officials, dear military.
(Passage omitted: could not speak earlier due to illness)
Police must help, not fight civilians
(Addressing servicemen) When fulfilling any orders given to you,
you must remember one thing: you are dealing with human beings,
civilians, citizens, your brothers, sisters or friends. The main thing
is: using force - to say nothing of using arms - against civilians,
against your fellow citizens is an extremely high risk.
You must remember that any political orders are usually issued
verbally, while commanders issue orders either in writing or verbally.
Therefore you must be very clear about formulating and understanding
orders.
Using force, in any form, is not only a great risk as I said, but
is always fraught with casualties, even when weapons are not used.
Servicemen know well that you can use force without using arms and
cause panic and casualties among protesters because of chaotic movement
of a panicking crowd of people. This is a science you've studied well.
It is worth reminding you that the law on the fundamental
principles of national security says that before deciding to use force
a government must weigh its force compared to the object it plans to
using force against. To put it simply, you cannot use force against the
peaceful population. While using other means, you must ask yourselves
whether this could lead to panic and casualties.
To special forces. I understand that today you are called upon to
perform various tasks as special units within the Ministry of Interior
and the Security Service. When I worked on the law on the Security
Services of Ukraine, I had to add one article, almost in the last
minute: officers, servicemen and officials at the Security Service of
Ukraine must not perform orders that do not correspond to the
constitution and the law. The same is stipulated in other laws that
regulate security agencies. In this connection I want to remind you
that most special units must now, first of all, stay at their home base
and, mainly, not to perform any tasks in plain clothes, especially in
protesters' midst. The only thing you can do is help protesters in
keeping order, preventing provocations and identifying provocateurs who
can cause a lot of trouble.
I also want to address special units of the Interior Ministry and
interior troops. It's hard work now. But you must remember one thing.
You are facing people who disagree with the outcome of the election.
They are defending their constitutional right to protest. It is their
constitutional right, and you must help them.
Protesters must not storm
I also want to address protesters themselves. Friends, you need to
understand that there are instances when governments can legitimately
use force: when government bodies come under attack: either the
presidential administration, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Supreme
Council, the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court.
(Passage omitted: these are guarded by police)
Therefore, there should be no storming. Any storming will
invariably cause casualties.
Russia warned
I also wish to address the leaders of the Russian Black Sea Fleet
and my colleague, Russian Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov. Please give
an order to all your units. It is desirable now, while there is a
crisis in Ukraine, that the main units of the Black Sea Fleet stay at
their home base. This would be the wisest and farsighted decision. You
have a complex status. You are based in a foreign state. Therefore, any
careless action could cause great harm to Ukrainian-Russian relations
and the fleet's continued deployment in Ukraine.
I would also like to address the Russian ambassador in Ukraine,
Viktor Chernomyrdin. (In Russian) Viktor Stepanovich, please try and
insist that your staff report unbiased information to the Russian
president about the true state of affairs in Ukraine regarding the
election. The Russian president must receive maximum objective
information about developments in Ukraine. I am sorry, I have certain
reasons to give you this advice. But we have known each other for a
long time, and I think you get my meaning.
Message to President Kuchma: vote was rigged
(In Ukrainian) I would also like to address the president of
Ukraine. Leonid Danylovych, you know very well the true state of
affairs and the true reasons for the current situation. I have told you
before, it is sad to see how you are ending your presidency. But
unfortunately this is the way it is. You are president now, and very
much depends on you. And intimidation is not the way out - for either
side. The situation has reached boiling point, a level of confrontation
with such potential that the risk is growing every day. Only talks and
nothing else can resolve this problem. You as president must seize the
initiative and understand that today you as the guardian of the
constitution and stability you bear the chief responsibility for
stability and a peaceful way to resolve this conflict situation.
Leonid Danylovych, all people know there was widespread
vote-rigging. Maybe you don't know this, but teams of Donbass people
toured the country in carousel voting by absentee ballots. And before
that there were squads going around intimidating electoral commissions
and voters. They added a huge number of people to the circle of
(opposition leader Viktor) Yushchenko's supporters and turned many
people away from you. Believe me, it is these circumstances that scared
many people, that this is possible in Ukraine, - these very
circumstances caused the greatest damage to your reputation. Maybe your
headquarters do not tell you this, but I have the moral right - and you
know why - to say this straight to your face.
(Passage omitted: more in this vein)
There is only one solution: talks. But not talks between the
victorious and the defeated, but talks between equals. And to reach the
platform of equals, you must seriously consider what happened during
the election. And the fact that there was widespread vote rigging has
been proven.
(Passage omitted: hopes there will be no bloodshed.)
The protest potential is growing fast. But the government is also
concentrating a large potential to counter it. And I know that this
potential is strong. Therefore, you must stop. Just as the arms race
which seemed insurmountable was once stopped, now we must stop the
growth of potential on both sides. The situation is extremely dangerous.
Courts will prove opposition victory
I also wish to address Viktor Yushchenko. Viktor Andriyovych, I am
firmly convinced that legal and constitutional procedures can prove
that you won.
© Copyright MICHEL CHOSSUDOVSKY CRG 2004
www.globalresearch.ca
by Michel Chossudovsky
www.globalresearch.ca 28 November 2004
The URL of this article is:
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO411D.html
Opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko is firmly backed by the
Washington Consensus. He is not only supported by the IMF and the
international financial community, he also has the endorsement of the
National Endowment for Democracy (NED). the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace and George Soros' Open Society Institute, which
played a behind the scnes role last year in helping "topple Georgia's
president Eduard Shevardnadze by putting financial muscle and
organizational metal behind his opponents." (New Statesman, 29 November
2004)
In the Ukraine, the NED funds Yushchenko's party Nasha Ukraina, it
also finances the Kiev Press Club. In turn, The Independent Republican
Institute (IRI), an affiliate of the NED, is involved in assessing the
"fairness of elections and their results". IRI has staff present in
"poll watching" in 9 oblasts (districts), and local staff in all 25
oblasts. (See also Ian Traynor 26 November 2004,
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/TRA411A.html )
The National Endowment for Democracy (and its affiliates including
IRI) although not formally part of the CIA, performs an important
intelligence function in party politics in some seventy countries. NED
was created in 1983, when the CIA was being accused of covertly bribing
politicians and setting up phony civil society front organizations.
According to Allen Weinstein, who was responsible for establishing the
NED during the Reagan Administration: "A lot of what we do today was
done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA." (Washington Post, Sept. 21,
1991).
In the former Soviet Union including the Ukraine, the NED
constitutes, so to speak, the CIA's "civilian arm". CIA-NED
interventions are characterized by a consistent pattern.
In the former Yugoslavia, the CIA channeled support to the Kosovo
Liberation Army (KLA) (since 1995), a paramilitary group involved in
terrorist attacks on the Yugoslav police and military. Meanwhile, the
NED through the "Center for International Private Enterprise" (CIPE)
was backing the DOS opposition coalition in Serbia and Montenegro. More
specifically, NED was financing the G-17, an opposition group of
economists responsible for formulating (in liaison with the IMF) the
DOS coalition's "free market" reform platform in the 2000 presidential
election, which led to the downfall of Slobodan Milosevic.
Copy and Paste? The Center for International Private Enterprise
(CIPE) has a very similar mandate in the Ukraine, where it directly
funds research on free market reforms in several key "independent think
tanks" and policy research institutes. The International Center for
Policy Studies (ICPS) supported by CIPE, has a similar structure to
that of the G-17 in Serbia and Montenegro. A group of local economists
hired by ICPS was put in charge of drafting, with the support of the
World Bank a comprehensive blueprint of post-election macro-economic
reform.
Who is Viktor Yushchenko? IMF Sponsored Candidate
In 1993, Viktor Yushchenko was appointed head of the newly-formed
National Bank of Ukraine. Hailed as a "daring reformer", he was among
the main architects of the IMF's deadly economic medicine which served
to impoverish The Ukraine and destroy its economy.
A year later, the Ukraine reached a historical agreement with the
IMF.
Mr Yushchenko played a key role in negotiating the agreement as
well as creating a new Ukrainian national currency, which resulted in a
dramatic plunge in real wages.
The 1994 IMF package was negotiated behind closed doors at the
Madrid 50 years anniversary Summit of the Bretton Woods institutions.
It required the Ukrainian authorities to abandon State controls over
the exchange rate leading to an impressive collapse of the currency.
Yushchenko as Head of the Central Bank was responsible for
deregulating the national currency under the October 1994 "shock
treatment":
* The price of bread increased overnight by 300 percent,
* electricity prices by 600 percent,
* public transportation by 900 percent.
* the standard of living tumbled
According to the Ukrainian State Statistics Committee, quoted by
the IMF, real wages in 1998 had fallen by more than 75 percent in
relation to their 1991 level. Ironically, the IMF sponsored program was
intended to alleviate inflationary pressures: it consisted in imposing
"dollarised" prices on an impoverished population with earnings below
ten dollars a month.
Combined with the abrupt hikes in fuel and energy prices, the
lifting of subsidies and the freeze on credit contributed to destroying
industry (both public and private) and undermining Ukraine's
breadbasket economy.
In November 1994, World Bank negotiators were examining the
overhaul of Ukraine's agriculture. With trade liberalization (which was
part of the proposed package), the door was open to the dumping of US
grain surpluses and "food aid" on the domestic market, contributing to
destabilizing one of the World's largest and most productive wheat
economy.
By 1998, the deregulation of the grain market resulted in a decline
in the production of grain by 45 percent in relation to its 1986-90
level. The collapse in livestock production, poultry and dairy products
was even more dramatic.( See
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2003/cr03174.pdf )
The cumulative collapse in GDP resulting from the IMF sponsored
reforms was in excess of 60 percent (from 1992 to 1995).
Under these circumstances, why is it that the public image and
political reputation of the IMF's protégé and architect of these
deadily reforms, namely Mr. Yushchenko was unscathed. Why did he remain
so popular? Answer: a massive propaganda and public relations campaign
supported by the US, money from Washington, manipulation of civil
society organizations, etc.
The IMF and "Governance"
IMF conditionalities, however, not only applied to the
macroeconomic agenda, the IMF had also intervened in the arena of
domestic politics. As in Russia in 1993, the Ukrainian parliament was
seen as an obstacle to the pursuit of the "free market reforms". In
1999, under pressure from the IMF, Yushchenko was appointed Prime
Minister:
<< Yushchenko's candidacy had been proposed by 10 parliamentary
groups and factions, and Kuchma agreed with their choice...
The weightiest argument may be the International Monetary
Fund's desire to see Yushchenko as Ukraine's prime minister, because
the provision of the former Soviet republic with extended finance
facilities depends on that.
Several parliament members believe the IMF is ready to extend a
loan worth 300m dollars to Ukraine in January in case Yushchenko
becomes prime minister. >>
(ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, 17 Dec 1999)
Following his appointment Yushchenko implemented a major IMF
sponsored bankruptcy program directed against major industries, He also
attempted to undermine the bilateral trade in oil and natural gas
between Russia and the Ukraine on behalf of the IMF which had demanded
that this trade be conducted in US dollars rather than in terms of
commodity barter.
In 2001, Yushchenko was sacked as prime minister following a non
confidence vote in the parliament. Yushchenko was accused of having put
the interests of the IMF ahead of those of the country:
"Viktor Yushchenko has fulfilled obligations to the IMF better
and more accurately than his duties to citizens of his our country,
Olena Markosyan, a Kharkov-based analyst, has opined in Ukrainian
centrist daily Den" (BBC Monitoring, 16 Nov 2004)
"This [Yushchenko] government openly states that it executes
all IMF recommendations. Though the government declares the social
direction of its policy, actually it is carrying out an anti-social,
anti-national policy," said Communist Party leader Heorhiy Kruchkov (
quoted in Financial Times, May 17, 2001)
They have sacked "our own" Prime Minister!
The international financial community responded. IMF Managing
Director Horst Kohler was adamant. "Yushchenko has gained a lot of
credibility outside of Ukraine, and I think he also deserves support
inside of Ukraine." (quoted in the Financial Times, 27 April 2001).
The IMF Head did not mince his words:
"He added that the IMF respects Ukraine's right to choose its
leaders, but maintained that the direction of reforms must be
preserved. He questioned the wisdom of the VR spending time on
maneuvering for a vote of no-confidence in the government while reforms
need to be implemented."
The Ukraine was back on the creditors' blacklist following
Yushchenko's dismissal:
"The West, which openly put its stake on Yushchenko recently,
is not likely to sit on its hands. There is no lack of instruments to
bring pressure on Kiev. Most probably the question of resuming IMF,
World Bank and EBRD credits to Ukraine will be put on hold because they
were expressly linked with Yushchenko's stay in power.... Talks with
the Paris Club on restructuring Ukraine's $1.2 billion debt may run
into difficulty... Not surprisingly, (Ukrainian President) Leonid
Kuchma yesterday hastened to distance himself from what is happening
and spoke critically about the Rada [Parliament] decision. (Vremya
Novostei, 1 May 2001, original Russian)
Following his dismissal, Yushchenko was in Washington for talks
with senior members of the Bush administration. He was back in
Washington in early 2003 under the auspices of the International
Republican Institute. During his visit he met with Vice President Dick
Cheney and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
Washington was "setting the stage" for the October-November
presidential elections.
Military Realignments in support of the Free Market
While Yushchenko is considered a protégé of the international
financial institutions, his colleague, former Defense Minister Yevyen
Marchuk is a unbending supporter of US and NATO military presence in
the region.
It was largely the initiative of Yevyen Marchuk as Defense Minister
to send Ukrainian troops to Iraq, a decision which was opposed by the
majority of the Ukrainian population.
In August, Marchuk met with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at
The Crimean seaside resort of Yalta.
On the agenda of the August talks: Ukraine's participation in the
Iraqi war theater but also the upcoming Ukrainian elections. Defense
Minister Marchuk announced following these meetings that Kiev would
continue to participate in "the coalition of the willing" and would
maintain its troops in Iraq.
Marchuk was sacked in September, barely a month before the first
round of the presidential elections.
Attempting a Coup d'Etat?
In a televised address on November 25th, Marchuk, sent a message to
the military, police and security forces to disobey the authority of
the civil authorities, namely the government of Leonid Kuchma.
"Ukraine’s former defense minister and head of the National
Security and Defense Council has declared that he’s convinced that
opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko is entitled to be recognized as the
president of Ukraine.
Former Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk called on President
Leonid Kuchma and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych to exercise good
sense. Marchuk underscored that there should be no bloodshed in Ukraine.
Marchuk appealed to state security officers not to fulfill
illegal orders and to remember their official honor and dignity.
He stressed that election fraud in the Nov. 21 presidential
run-off election, which the government says was won by Prime Minister
Yanukovych, was on a mass scale. He said that there is only one way out
of the tense political stand-off that has engulfed Ukraine since
Monday: negotiations between equals.
Marchuk also appealed to Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Viktor
Chernomyrdin to pass along to Russian President Vladimir Putin only
objective information. He reminded officers of the Russian Black Sea
fleet in Sevastopol that they are on the territory of a foreign
government, and that they should remain mindful of that, calling on the
Russian Federation’s defense minister to obey the law."
(See Kiev Post, 26 Nov 2004 and Kanal 5 transcripts, BBC Monitoringm 26
Nov 2004)
This statement by Marchuk, which calls upon the Armed forces and
the Police to go against the government, essentially sets the stage for
a US-NATO sponsored Coup d'Etat.
Power Struggle: Oil and Pipeline Corridors
Behind the presidential elections, there is a power struggle
between pro-US-NATO and pro-Russian factions within the leading
political establishment and the military.
What is at stake is not only the maintenance of the IMF sponsored
macroeconomic agenda, strategic US-NATO military interests in the
region are also at stake.
The objective of the Bush Administration is to install a Ukrainian
government which is firmly aligned with Washington, with the ultimate
objective of displacing the Russian military from the Black Sea.
In this regard, The Ukraine has already signed several military
agreements with NATO and Washington under the government of Leonid
Kuchma.
The Ukraine is a member of GUUAM, a military alliance between five
former Soviet republics ( Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and
Moldova). This military alliance was initially designed in 1997 by the
Ukrainian National Security Services (NSBU) in close liaison with
Washington. Its objective was to undermine the alliance between Russia
and Belarus, signed between Moscow and Minsk in 1996.
The Ukraine also signed agreements with Poland and the Baltic
states, pertaining to the control of transport corridors and pipeline
routes.
GUUAM lies strategically at the hub of the Caspian oil and gas
wealth, "with Moldava and the Ukraine offering [pipeline] export routes
to the West." The objective of GUUAM was to exclude Russia from the
Black Sea, protect the Anglo-American pipeline routes out of Central
Asia and the Caspian sea and essentially cut Russia off not only from
the Caspian sea oil basin but also from the Black sea.
Coinciding with the ceremony of NATO's 50th anniversary at the
outset of the war on Yugoslavia in 1999, the heads of State from all
five GUUAM countries were present including President Leonid Kuchma of
The Ukraine. They had been invited to NATO's three day celebration in
Washington to sign the GUUAM agreement under NATO and US auspices.
Georgia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, immediately announced that they
would be leaving the Commonwealth of Independent States= (CIS)
Asecurity union, which defines the framework of military cooperation
between the former Soviet republics, as well their links to Moscow.
"The formation of GUUAM (under NATO's umbrella and financed by
Western military aid) was intent upon further fracturing the CIS. The
Cold War, although officially over, had not yet reached its climax: the
members of this new pro-NATO political grouping were not only
supportive of the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia, they had also agreed to
'low level military cooperation with NATO while insisting that 'the
group is not a military alliance directed against any third party,
namely Moscow.' Dominated by Anglo-American oil interests, the
formation of GUUAM ultimately purports on excluding Russia from the oil
and gas deposits in the Caspian area as well as isolating Moscow
politically."
(Michel Chossudovsky, War and Globalization, the Truth behind September
11, Global Research, Montreal, 2002, Chapter V)
---
Text of Former Defense Minister Marchuk's speech on Kanal 5 TV.
25 November 2004
Speaking on opposition 5 Kanal, former Defence Minister Yevhen
Marchuk urged President Leonid Kuchma to admit widespread vote rigging
(Marchuk) Dear viewers of 5 Kanal, dear participants in the political
events, dear government officials, dear military.
(Passage omitted: could not speak earlier due to illness)
Police must help, not fight civilians
(Addressing servicemen) When fulfilling any orders given to you,
you must remember one thing: you are dealing with human beings,
civilians, citizens, your brothers, sisters or friends. The main thing
is: using force - to say nothing of using arms - against civilians,
against your fellow citizens is an extremely high risk.
You must remember that any political orders are usually issued
verbally, while commanders issue orders either in writing or verbally.
Therefore you must be very clear about formulating and understanding
orders.
Using force, in any form, is not only a great risk as I said, but
is always fraught with casualties, even when weapons are not used.
Servicemen know well that you can use force without using arms and
cause panic and casualties among protesters because of chaotic movement
of a panicking crowd of people. This is a science you've studied well.
It is worth reminding you that the law on the fundamental
principles of national security says that before deciding to use force
a government must weigh its force compared to the object it plans to
using force against. To put it simply, you cannot use force against the
peaceful population. While using other means, you must ask yourselves
whether this could lead to panic and casualties.
To special forces. I understand that today you are called upon to
perform various tasks as special units within the Ministry of Interior
and the Security Service. When I worked on the law on the Security
Services of Ukraine, I had to add one article, almost in the last
minute: officers, servicemen and officials at the Security Service of
Ukraine must not perform orders that do not correspond to the
constitution and the law. The same is stipulated in other laws that
regulate security agencies. In this connection I want to remind you
that most special units must now, first of all, stay at their home base
and, mainly, not to perform any tasks in plain clothes, especially in
protesters' midst. The only thing you can do is help protesters in
keeping order, preventing provocations and identifying provocateurs who
can cause a lot of trouble.
I also want to address special units of the Interior Ministry and
interior troops. It's hard work now. But you must remember one thing.
You are facing people who disagree with the outcome of the election.
They are defending their constitutional right to protest. It is their
constitutional right, and you must help them.
Protesters must not storm
I also want to address protesters themselves. Friends, you need to
understand that there are instances when governments can legitimately
use force: when government bodies come under attack: either the
presidential administration, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Supreme
Council, the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court.
(Passage omitted: these are guarded by police)
Therefore, there should be no storming. Any storming will
invariably cause casualties.
Russia warned
I also wish to address the leaders of the Russian Black Sea Fleet
and my colleague, Russian Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov. Please give
an order to all your units. It is desirable now, while there is a
crisis in Ukraine, that the main units of the Black Sea Fleet stay at
their home base. This would be the wisest and farsighted decision. You
have a complex status. You are based in a foreign state. Therefore, any
careless action could cause great harm to Ukrainian-Russian relations
and the fleet's continued deployment in Ukraine.
I would also like to address the Russian ambassador in Ukraine,
Viktor Chernomyrdin. (In Russian) Viktor Stepanovich, please try and
insist that your staff report unbiased information to the Russian
president about the true state of affairs in Ukraine regarding the
election. The Russian president must receive maximum objective
information about developments in Ukraine. I am sorry, I have certain
reasons to give you this advice. But we have known each other for a
long time, and I think you get my meaning.
Message to President Kuchma: vote was rigged
(In Ukrainian) I would also like to address the president of
Ukraine. Leonid Danylovych, you know very well the true state of
affairs and the true reasons for the current situation. I have told you
before, it is sad to see how you are ending your presidency. But
unfortunately this is the way it is. You are president now, and very
much depends on you. And intimidation is not the way out - for either
side. The situation has reached boiling point, a level of confrontation
with such potential that the risk is growing every day. Only talks and
nothing else can resolve this problem. You as president must seize the
initiative and understand that today you as the guardian of the
constitution and stability you bear the chief responsibility for
stability and a peaceful way to resolve this conflict situation.
Leonid Danylovych, all people know there was widespread
vote-rigging. Maybe you don't know this, but teams of Donbass people
toured the country in carousel voting by absentee ballots. And before
that there were squads going around intimidating electoral commissions
and voters. They added a huge number of people to the circle of
(opposition leader Viktor) Yushchenko's supporters and turned many
people away from you. Believe me, it is these circumstances that scared
many people, that this is possible in Ukraine, - these very
circumstances caused the greatest damage to your reputation. Maybe your
headquarters do not tell you this, but I have the moral right - and you
know why - to say this straight to your face.
(Passage omitted: more in this vein)
There is only one solution: talks. But not talks between the
victorious and the defeated, but talks between equals. And to reach the
platform of equals, you must seriously consider what happened during
the election. And the fact that there was widespread vote rigging has
been proven.
(Passage omitted: hopes there will be no bloodshed.)
The protest potential is growing fast. But the government is also
concentrating a large potential to counter it. And I know that this
potential is strong. Therefore, you must stop. Just as the arms race
which seemed insurmountable was once stopped, now we must stop the
growth of potential on both sides. The situation is extremely dangerous.
Courts will prove opposition victory
I also wish to address Viktor Yushchenko. Viktor Andriyovych, I am
firmly convinced that legal and constitutional procedures can prove
that you won.
© Copyright MICHEL CHOSSUDOVSKY CRG 2004
www.globalresearch.ca
(english)
UCK / BND:
Terror network operating in Kosovo a key for understanding March riots
[ In Germania e' finalmente scoppiato lo scandalo del sostegno fornito
dal BND (Bundesnachrichendienst - servizio segreto militare) alle bande
di assassini che da cinque anni compiono la pulizia etnica di tutte le
nazionalita' non-albanesi sul territorio della provincia serba di
Kosovo e Metohija (ultimo eclatante episodio: i pogrom di massa dello
scorso marzo, che hanno causato una ventina di morti e decine di
migliaia di profughi). Disponiamo finalmente (vedi piu' sotto in questo
messaggio) di una versione in lingua inglese di alcuni degli articoli
usciti in questi giorni sulla stampa serba e tedesca; abbiamo inviato e
continueremo a far circolare anche tutta la documentazione in lingua
tedesca, specialmente gli articoli dell'inviato di Junge Welt a
Belgrado, Juergen Elsaesser. DOBBIAMO INVECE REGISTRARE E STIGMATIZZARE
IL SILENZIO TOMBALE CHE SU QUESTO SCANDALO DI PORTATA INTERNAZIONALE E'
STATO STESO DA TUTTA LA STAMPA ITALIANA E DI ALTRI PAESI: l'Italia in
particolare, che pure ha molte migliaia di soldati in Kosovo,
inquadrati nelle forze di occupazione coloniale KFOR insieme ai
tedeschi, si distingue come al solito per la sua totale mancanza di
autonomia, sia politico-militare che giornalistico-intellettuale, anche
sulle piu' gravi questioni strategiche. (A cura di I. Slavo) ]
More links:
London Telegraph: Pogrom Aftermath: German MPs Want Answers to Army's
Failures in Kosovo (by Hannah Cleaver)
http://www.realitymacedonia.org.mk/web/news_page.asp?nid=3941
===
( see the original URL for many interesting pictures:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/decani/message/85182 )
ERP KIM Newsletter 27-11-04
Terror network operating in Kosovo a key for understanding March riots
"I assume that either from the cabinet or directly from the BND the
information got to the Bundeswehr. This means that the Albanian attacks
on Serbs in Kosovo on March 17 and 18 were tolerated by the Bundeswehr
because they did not want to ruin their relations with the KLA. Namely,
if action had been taken against militant forces in the KLA before
hand, it was to be expected that structures existed that would
afterwards turn against the Bundeswehr as an occupying army" (Erich
Schmidt-Eenboom, see down)
Contents:
1. NIN, When Intelligence Officers Fan the Flames, Nov 25, 2004
2. Neues Deutschland, Was Violence in Kosovo Tolerated, Nov 23, 2004
Disclaimer:
The views expressed by the authors of newspaper articles or other texts
which are not official communiqués or news reports by the Diocese are
their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Serbian
Orthodox Church
--- 1 ---
www.nin.co.yu
Nedeljne Informativne Novine, Belgrade
November 25, 2004
When intelligence officers fan the flames
Why is the Serbian community silent on reports by German ZDF television
presenting serious accusations against the German intelligence service
(BND) in connection with the March pogroms in Kosovo and Metohija
[PHOTO: The local network]
In two segments of more than four minutes each broadcast on November 18
and 20 as major news during the main news program, ZDF reporters
documented the following: that the German intelligence service (BND -
Bundesnachrichtendienst) knew three weeks prior to March 17 that
organized attacks on Serbs throughout Kosovo and Metohija were being
prepared, that the BND knew this because it was tapping the
conversations of one of the organizers of the pogrom, that this man's
name is Samedin Xhezairi, also known as Commander Hoxha, and that
Xhezairi, for his part, was a BND spy but also an intermediary between
Albanian extremists and al-Q'aida. The reporters cited transcripts of
conversations from the intelligence services as well as confidential
NATO documents, and the dilemmas they opened, directly and indirectly,
were why BND did not relay the information to the German government,
and through it to the commander of the German Kfor contingent in
Prizren and Holger Kammerhof, then commander in chief of NATO troops in
Kosovo? Could the violence have been prevented if key political and
military structures in Berlin and Kosovo and Metohija had received
timely information from the German intelligence officers? And finally -
with what kind of suspicious characters is the BND cooperating?
That the ZDF information was volatile was demonstrated by the quick
reaction of the German government. The very next day after the
broadcast of the first part, government spokesperson Bela Anda sharply
denied at a press conference ZDF claims that the BND but not the German
troops in the field knew that Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija were
preparing violence against the Serbs. Anda emphasized that the BND and
the German Army had a completely "mutually corresponding picture of the
situation" but refused to comment on cooperation between the BND and
the extremist Xhezairi.
The German media and the media in the region where the German language
is spoken gladly accepted the ZDF news and the government reaction,
some very gladly. The Austrian paper "Kurir", for example, placed the
headline of "Al-Q'aida fanned the violence in Kosovo" above its report.
Although things are indeed serious they are not quite as simple as the
headline suggests.
NIN's journalist accompanied the ZDF journalists during their
investigations in this region and also learned additional information.
Thanks to the exclusive information at our disposal we can put together
the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle still far from complete but clear enough
to be able to recognize the contours of the somber scenario.
The protagonist of this story is Samedin Xhezairi, called Commander
Hoxha, an Austrian citizen of Albanian origin who today lives in
Prizren. In the last issue of NIN we presented major facts about him to
which we will add that Xhezairi lived in Austria and joined the Kosovo
Liberation Army when armed conflict in Kosovo began, taking part in the
activity in three operative zones. He was a fighter in Chechnya,
trained in Afghanistan and acted as the commander of the mujaheddin
112th Brigade operating in the summer of 2001 in the region of Tetovo.
In August of the same year 80 members of the 3/502 battalion of U.S.
paratroopers evacuated him from Arachinovo, together with his Albanian
extremists and 17 instructors of the U.S. private military company MPRI
which was training the Albanian paramilitary formations.
According to confidential NATO information from 2002 prepared by the
German intelligence services BND and ZNBw (Zentrum für Nachrichtenwesen
der Bundeswehr), Xhezairi has been tasked with forming a branch of
Allah's Army - Hezbollah, and his telephone number has been found in
confiscated documents from identified members of al-Q'aida. Samedin
Xhezairi is an active member of the KLA Veterans' Association, which is
collecting money for "humanitarian aid" through a German bank. The
Albanians consider him to be a charismatic "holy man" and count him
among the most eminent Albanian leaders.
The same NATO information presented to KFOR Headquarters on May 17,
2002 indicate that his involvement with Islamist elements in Kosovo is
far reaching. At the center of local Islamist structures in Prizren is
Hoxha Mazlumi who is active in the Jeni Mahala ("New Territory")
mosque. Through his closest associates, including Xhezairi, Mazlumi has
established an organization with his own paramilitary, intelligence
service and logistical, financial and propaganda network (see
illustration). Through his people Mazlumi has ties to the Kosovo
Protection Corps, the Kosovo Police Service, UNMIK and al-Q'aida.
The NATO documents state that the potential intentions and capabilities
of Mazlumi's organization are "quick mobilization of the masses for
demonstrations, fanning of aggressive stance among the non-Islamist
population toward Kfor, development of a Islamist dam in Prizren,
initiation of unrest to demonstrate the failure of the international
community, taking advantage of the fact that Kosovska Mitrovica in the
center of Kfor's attention, while the south of Kosovo is under less
observation by international forces..."
[ Breaking news -BND admission
At the printing deadline for this issue of NIN we have learned that BND
chief August Hanning has admitted that the ZDF documents also in NIN's
possession are authentic ]
Thus, it was known for at least two years that in Prizren a cell of
extremist Islamism was being born right under the eyes of German Kfor.
It is not surprising that the temperature in that city jumped when ZDF
journalists arrived and began to ask awkward questions of both the
German troops and the Islamist extremists. At the same time, it is
interesting that the Germans were less talkative than their temporary
neighbors. They stuck firmly to the official version of events: no one
knew anything about the preparation of the March pogroms; German Kfor,
like all members of international forces throughout Kosovo, were caught
by surprise by the violence, and consequently unable to react
adequately. When confronted with evidence that the BND was informed
regarding the preparations by Albanian terrorists, the German soldiers
categorically rejected every possibility of being privy to the
information themselves.
Unlike them, Samedin Xhezairi was not particularly reluctant to admit
some things to the German reporters even though his nervousness was
apparent. He warned his collocutors no less than four times that they
must show the report they were preparing to the BND before broadcasting
it, as if it was necessary to ask the intelligence service for its
approval with the reporters' discoveries. Apparently, Xhezairi
understood this to be an obligation on his part toward his former
employers. Commander Hoxha did not deny working for the BND as a spy
but he depicted this as some form of entertainment. He did not deny
having taken part in the recorded conversations regarding the
preparation of the violence nor did he reject the fact that organized
structures exist: "We are former fighters; we know each other just like
U.S. veterans. As long as the people are alive, these structures exist."
He also explained the use of coded conversations to the German
reporters: "You agree beforehand that, for example, the word 'health'
means 'liquidate him' and then you just say 'health' and the people
tapping your conversation don't know what it means." In fact, the
conversations Xhezairi took part in at the end of February and
beginning of March were not very well coded, and any listener of
average education could understand them, let alone intelligence service
experts. Mention was made, for example, that "in two or three weeks the
party will begin" and that "in Prizren everything is prepared for a hot
party" while the question asked was "can you guarantee it will be a
blast in Urosevac". Some of Xhezairi's collocutors also complained that
they still had not organized enough buses to transport the activists.
According to transcripts in the possession of ZDF journalists, Samedin
Xhezairi commanded the March operations in Prizren and Urosevac, and
probably in Orahovac, too. The BND knew and not only the BND.
[ According to confidential NATO information from 2002 prepared by the
German intelligence services BND and ZNBw (Zentrum für Nachrichtenwesen
der Bundeswehr), Samedin Xhezairi has been tasked with forming a branch
of "Allah's Army", the Hezbollah, and his telephone number has been
found in confiscated documents from identified members of al-Q'aida.
Samedin Xhezairi is an active member of the KLA Veterans' Association,
which is collecting money for "humanitarian aid" through a German bank.
The Albanians consider him to be a charismatic "holy man" and count him
among the most eminent Albanian leaders (NIN weekly) ]
NIN also received confirmation of this from German intelligence service
expert Erich Schmidt-Eenboom who told us: "Until March 4 - two weeks
before the pogroms - Commander Hoxha was a BND spy for 500 euros per
month, probably more because of his connections with al-Q'aida than
because of Kosovo. On March 4 he was deactivated after the BND learned
from partner services - probably the Austrian military intelligence
service - that they were tapping his conversations. The BND advised him
of this fact." According to some sources, after this discovery Xhezairi
fled to Bosnia, returning immediately prior to March 17 to Prizren. It
is not known whether someone temporarily removed him or if he left for
personal reasons. What is known, and what Erich Schmidt-Eenboom
confirmed for NIN, is the fact that Xhezairi was working for at least
one other intelligence service, the CIA. That is why U.S. paratroopers
evacuated him in 2001 from Arachinovo.
Some German media and politicians these days are not even questioning
the reliability of the ZDF reports according to which the BND was aware
of the criminal activities of its collaborator Xhezairi. For example,
the spokesperson of the Greens on defense matters, Winfried Nachtwei,
stated that the ZDF investigations are based on "fairly solid and
certain indications". And former coordinator of the German secret
services in the government Bernd Schmidbauer said that the ZDF
information regarding the suspect role of the BND "must be taken very
seriously" and requires a thorough investigation into lack of
communication between the BND and the German Army.
[ PHOTO: German Defense minister Struck in Kosovo ]
The statements of Nachtwei and Schmidbauer follow a scandal after the
March events in Kosovo in which German defense minister Peter Struck
and his army were implicated. Struck and the German contingent in
Kosovo found themselves in the limelight of public attention after
media reports revealed that at the time of the attack by Albanian
terrorists there was chaos among the German troops and that the burned
body of a Serb man was found in Prizren after Struck claimed that there
were no casualties in the German area of responsibility. The latest
revelations regarding the role of the BND correspond with this stunning
picture of disorganization on the part of German military and security
structures. If the BND had the information and failed to forward it to
the government and army, that means there is no help for anyone
dependent on the protection of state institutions. That is the
approximate image of the intelligence service and the army among the
German public at present.
However, Erich Schmidt-Eenboom categorically rejects this
interpretations and tells NIN that the German government spokesperson
was telling the truth in his denial of the ZDF report: "The BND
certainly informed the Chancellor's cabinet. It is inconceivable that
the BND failed to do so under the present political conditions and good
cooperation with the German government. The statement of spokesperson
Anda is correct - the BND and the German Army had a 'mutually
corresponding picture of the situation'. That means that the German
contingent in Prizren and its commander colonel Hinkelmann consciously
failed to respond to the attacks, that they allowed everything to
happen in order to avoid coming into direct contact with the Albanians.
Because the consequence of having done so would have been Albanian
violence against the German Army, and that would have ruined the good
image of the peacekeeping mission. The irony of the whole story is that
the Germany government and the KLA have a common final goal, and that
is an independent state of Kosovo without concession of territory to
the Serbs. Only Berlin also needs to be careful with respect to the
timeline as far as allies who still oppose this are concerned, as is
the case with France."
Schmidt-Eenboom also reminds of the history of cooperation between the
BND and the KLA: "What German journalists and their Dutch colleagues at
VPRO Radio Television investigated has a long tradition. Since the
beginning of the 1990s the BND has maintained contacts with the KLA
which was then considered to be a terrorist organization. Although we
have to admit that the KLA has stronger ties with the CIA than the BND.
Commander Hoxha had ties with the CIA, the BND and with the Austrian
military intelligence service which has devoted great attention to this
region and has very good connections with the KLA."
Such facts, of course, are not mentioned in the media and among the
general public in Germany because life is not easy for those who bear
such knowledge, either. After the ZDF reports were broadcast the BND
launched a campaign against one of the authors, journalist Franz Josef
Hutsch and began to spread stories in Berlin that his revelations are
based on false information from Serbian intelligence services, and that
he is of pro-Serbian orientation because he was a defense witness in
the Milosevic trial and after than gave an interview to NIN. To be of
pro-Serbian orientation is tantamount to the German public to being,
for example, a member of al-Q'aida.
However, the editors of ZDF strongly support Hutsch, as Hans-Ulrich
Gack, one of the co-authors of the controversial broadcasts, tells NIN.
There is even more compromising material for the BND and the German
government, and now everyone is waiting for the further unfolding of
events.
[ "What German journalists and their Dutch colleagues at VPRO Radio
Television investigated has a long tradition. Since the beginning of
the 1990s the BND has maintained contacts with the KLA which was then
considered to be a terrorist organization. Although we have to admit
that the KLA has stronger ties with the CIA than the BND. Commander
Hoxha had ties with the CIA, the BND and with the Austrian military
intelligence service which has devoted great attention to this region
and has very good connections with the KLA." (NIN weekly) ]
The German public, for example, still does not know what NIN reported
in its last issue: that the terrorist structures in Kosovo are being
systematically armed by state-of-the-art G-22 sniper rifles, which are
arriving in the southern Serbian province in large quantities. Taking
into account the fact that Commander Hoxha stated in his interview for
German television that he can immediately mobilize 30,000 fighters, and
that "it is no longer necessary to wait for the spring for a new
attack; all we need is a spark" it may happen that the German public
will suddenly find itself confronted by new-old questions without clear
answers: Who will be to blame if the Albanian terrorists carry out yet
another, perhaps final ethnic cleansing in Kosovo? Can Kfor protect the
Serbs from new violence, and is it even in their interest to do so? Are
Islamist fundamentalist cells being born in Kosovo under the eyes of
the peacekeeping forces that might even become a threat to Europe? Are
Western intelligence sources participating, actively or passively, in
this process and thus creating a new army of "talibans" who will one
day turn against them? And so on and so on.
There are so many questions and the answers are wrapped in a veil of
silence or being consciously obscured. It appears that both the Serbian
public and Serbian politicians are fleeing from facing important facts.
We have not heard any official statements following the news from
Germany while "European Serbian National Television", for example,
reported on the whole issue as if Kosovo and Metohija was some province
in the Congo, not one whose fate is still, at rhetorically, a part of
Serbia's state interests. It would appear that these are matters of
interest only to "the dark forces of the past" whose remaining days are
numbered.
By Mira Beham
--- 2 ---
Was violence in Kosovo tolerated?
What did the German Intelligence Service, the Bundeswehr and the German
government know about planning of violence attacks by Albanian
extremists on the Serbian minority in Kosovo, which is under a NATO
protectorate
(Text in German: http://www.nd-online.de/artikel.asp?AID=63282&IDC=2)
Neues Deutschland, BERLIN
Interview with secret service expert Erich Schmidt-Eenboom by Stefan
Tenner
(Photo: Erich Schmidt-Eenboom, head of the Institute for Peace Policy
in Weilheim, Germany)
Berlin, November 23 - In March of this year, after the bloody pogroms
of Albanian extremists against the Serbs in Kosovo, the leadership of
the Bundeswehr established with regret that "no one suspected anything
about this concentrated operation". Reports by ZDF television and the
newspaper "Junge Welt" last week, however, support that at least the
German Intelligence Service (BND) knew of the attacks several weeks
before they occurred. During the course of a wire-tapped conversation,
former KLA fighter Samedin Xhezairi ordered am associate to take care
of the "explosive mood" in the south of Kosovo in two to three weeks.
Xhezairi was allegedly a paid spy for the BND and maintained
connections with al-Q'aida. At least 19 people died in ensuing violent
riots, including a Serb man killed in the German area of responsibility
of Prizren.
Deputies of the CDU, FDP and Greens this weekend requested an
explanation regarding whether the BND concealed important information.
The German government denies it. But why was the response inadequate?
Then Kfor commander Holger Kammerhof claims that he was not previously
informed of this. In any case, there were no more troops for the
protection of Serbian enclaves.
Question: How reliable is information that the BND knew of the
preparations for the anti-Serb pogrom?
Answer: Investigations primarily broadcast by our Dutch colleagues at
VPRO Radio are correct. Since the beginning of the 1990s the BND has
maintained connections with the KLA which is considered to be a
terrorist organization. At the same time, however, it must be admitted
that the BND does not have the first and most important role. The KLA
is first of all a child of the CIA. This was especially apparent in the
summer of 2001 in Macedonia when KLA fighters were evacuated with U.S.
military protection.
Question: What do you know about Samedin Xhezairi?
Answer: This commander of the 112th (KLA) Brigade, who fought under the
nom de guerre of Hoxha, took part in the rebellion in Macedonia in
clashes against the local government. He maintained ties with the CIA
which resulted in his being able to gather 17 U.S. military advisors
around him. In addition to the BND, the Austrian military intelligence
service should also be mentioned as it devoted special attention to
this region and has good connections with the KLA.
Question: Was Xhezairi a BND spy?
Answer: Connections with the BND existed until the beginning of March
of this year. They ceased 14 days before the pogrom in Kosovo. That
means that the BND renounced its source because he seemed too
suspicious and militant.
Question: What happened to the information regarding preparations for
the pogrom?
Answer: I will begin with the assumption that the BND certainly
informed the German government. It is almost inconceivable that such
important information from the BND, whose president August Hanning, is
a member of the Chancellor's cabinet, would not be relayed. As well, I
assume that either from the cabinet or directly from the BND the
information got to the Bundeswehr. This means that the Albanian attacks
on Serbs in Kosovo on March 17 and 18 were tolerated by the Bundeswehr
because they did not want to ruin their relations with the KLA. Namely,
if action had been taken against militant forces in the KLA before
hand, it was to be expected that structures existed that would
afterwards turn against the Bundeswehr as an occupying army.
On the other hand, from a long-term perspective, it is in Germany's
interest for Kosovo to become an independent state. It shares this
interest with the KLA, which by such violence is attempting to increase
political pressure to act. Namely, the political future of Kosovo still
has not been determined. According to the German model, the province is
expected to become an independent state. However, there are other NATO
allies, including the United States, who wish to play on another
political hand.
Question: Samedin Xhezairi allegedly also had connections with
al-Q'aida. Did al-Q'aida, then, directly participate in the preparation
of the riots in Kosovo?
Answer: We must not overestimate al-Q'aida and think of it in terms of
a centralized organization. It is in fact a loose network involving
many Islamic terrorists with common ideological principles and a common
past in Afghan training camps who share a common goal, so there is no
need for an al-Q'aida headquarters to issue a single order, a political
command.
Question: How do you assess the situation in Kosovo keeping in mind the
position of the Serbian minority and the resolution of the status issue
planned for next year?
Answer: There is a strong political need to tell the Kosovo Albanians
in clear terms what the final political configuration will look like.
An independent state of Kosovo Albanians, considering the militancy of
the KLA, would mean that the Serbian minority in the region could not
live in safety. Consequently perhaps thought should be given, since the
majority of Serbs live in the region near the border with Serbia, to
whether a line of separation could be drawn and whether the parts that
are primarily Serb could be appended to the former Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia. I think that an eventual independent state of Kosovo within
its present borders would be an explosive political solution because it
would mean the expulsion of Serbs from the centuries-old regions or
they might, on their part, resort to counter-violence with the support
of Belgrade.
Question: What needs to change in German foreign policy?
Answer: It is not enough to play the military hand and to maintain a
Kfor contingent that is supposed to look after a relative peace. People
in the region need political opportunity. And if Kosovo has the desire
to get closer to or even join the European Union then there is a strong
political argument to demand protection for minorities. At the same
time, mediation process must begin: diplomats from many countries must
sit at the same table with the conflicting sides in order to find a
political solution.
[This text was translated into English from a Serbian translation.]
---
ERP KIM Info-Service is the official Information Service of the Serbian
Orthodox Diocese of Raska and Prizren and works with the blessing of
His Grace Bishop Artemije.
Our Information Service is distributing news on Kosovo related issues.
The main focus of the Info-Service is the life of the Serbian Orthodox
Church and the Serbian community in the Province of Kosovo and
Metohija. ERP KIM Info Service works in cooperation with
www.serbian-translation.com as well as the Kosovo Daily News (KDN) News
List
Disclaimer:
The views expressed by the authors of newspaper articles or other texts
which are not official communiqués or news reports by the Diocese are
their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Serbian
Orthodox Church
Additional information on our Diocese and the life of the Kosovo Serb
Community may be found at:
http://www.kosovo.com
If you want to unsubscribe go to the page:
http://www.kosovo.com/erpkiminfo.html
Copyright 2004, ERP KIM Info-Service
UCK / BND:
Terror network operating in Kosovo a key for understanding March riots
[ In Germania e' finalmente scoppiato lo scandalo del sostegno fornito
dal BND (Bundesnachrichendienst - servizio segreto militare) alle bande
di assassini che da cinque anni compiono la pulizia etnica di tutte le
nazionalita' non-albanesi sul territorio della provincia serba di
Kosovo e Metohija (ultimo eclatante episodio: i pogrom di massa dello
scorso marzo, che hanno causato una ventina di morti e decine di
migliaia di profughi). Disponiamo finalmente (vedi piu' sotto in questo
messaggio) di una versione in lingua inglese di alcuni degli articoli
usciti in questi giorni sulla stampa serba e tedesca; abbiamo inviato e
continueremo a far circolare anche tutta la documentazione in lingua
tedesca, specialmente gli articoli dell'inviato di Junge Welt a
Belgrado, Juergen Elsaesser. DOBBIAMO INVECE REGISTRARE E STIGMATIZZARE
IL SILENZIO TOMBALE CHE SU QUESTO SCANDALO DI PORTATA INTERNAZIONALE E'
STATO STESO DA TUTTA LA STAMPA ITALIANA E DI ALTRI PAESI: l'Italia in
particolare, che pure ha molte migliaia di soldati in Kosovo,
inquadrati nelle forze di occupazione coloniale KFOR insieme ai
tedeschi, si distingue come al solito per la sua totale mancanza di
autonomia, sia politico-militare che giornalistico-intellettuale, anche
sulle piu' gravi questioni strategiche. (A cura di I. Slavo) ]
More links:
London Telegraph: Pogrom Aftermath: German MPs Want Answers to Army's
Failures in Kosovo (by Hannah Cleaver)
http://www.realitymacedonia.org.mk/web/news_page.asp?nid=3941
===
( see the original URL for many interesting pictures:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/decani/message/85182 )
ERP KIM Newsletter 27-11-04
Terror network operating in Kosovo a key for understanding March riots
"I assume that either from the cabinet or directly from the BND the
information got to the Bundeswehr. This means that the Albanian attacks
on Serbs in Kosovo on March 17 and 18 were tolerated by the Bundeswehr
because they did not want to ruin their relations with the KLA. Namely,
if action had been taken against militant forces in the KLA before
hand, it was to be expected that structures existed that would
afterwards turn against the Bundeswehr as an occupying army" (Erich
Schmidt-Eenboom, see down)
Contents:
1. NIN, When Intelligence Officers Fan the Flames, Nov 25, 2004
2. Neues Deutschland, Was Violence in Kosovo Tolerated, Nov 23, 2004
Disclaimer:
The views expressed by the authors of newspaper articles or other texts
which are not official communiqués or news reports by the Diocese are
their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Serbian
Orthodox Church
--- 1 ---
www.nin.co.yu
Nedeljne Informativne Novine, Belgrade
November 25, 2004
When intelligence officers fan the flames
Why is the Serbian community silent on reports by German ZDF television
presenting serious accusations against the German intelligence service
(BND) in connection with the March pogroms in Kosovo and Metohija
[PHOTO: The local network]
In two segments of more than four minutes each broadcast on November 18
and 20 as major news during the main news program, ZDF reporters
documented the following: that the German intelligence service (BND -
Bundesnachrichtendienst) knew three weeks prior to March 17 that
organized attacks on Serbs throughout Kosovo and Metohija were being
prepared, that the BND knew this because it was tapping the
conversations of one of the organizers of the pogrom, that this man's
name is Samedin Xhezairi, also known as Commander Hoxha, and that
Xhezairi, for his part, was a BND spy but also an intermediary between
Albanian extremists and al-Q'aida. The reporters cited transcripts of
conversations from the intelligence services as well as confidential
NATO documents, and the dilemmas they opened, directly and indirectly,
were why BND did not relay the information to the German government,
and through it to the commander of the German Kfor contingent in
Prizren and Holger Kammerhof, then commander in chief of NATO troops in
Kosovo? Could the violence have been prevented if key political and
military structures in Berlin and Kosovo and Metohija had received
timely information from the German intelligence officers? And finally -
with what kind of suspicious characters is the BND cooperating?
That the ZDF information was volatile was demonstrated by the quick
reaction of the German government. The very next day after the
broadcast of the first part, government spokesperson Bela Anda sharply
denied at a press conference ZDF claims that the BND but not the German
troops in the field knew that Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija were
preparing violence against the Serbs. Anda emphasized that the BND and
the German Army had a completely "mutually corresponding picture of the
situation" but refused to comment on cooperation between the BND and
the extremist Xhezairi.
The German media and the media in the region where the German language
is spoken gladly accepted the ZDF news and the government reaction,
some very gladly. The Austrian paper "Kurir", for example, placed the
headline of "Al-Q'aida fanned the violence in Kosovo" above its report.
Although things are indeed serious they are not quite as simple as the
headline suggests.
NIN's journalist accompanied the ZDF journalists during their
investigations in this region and also learned additional information.
Thanks to the exclusive information at our disposal we can put together
the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle still far from complete but clear enough
to be able to recognize the contours of the somber scenario.
The protagonist of this story is Samedin Xhezairi, called Commander
Hoxha, an Austrian citizen of Albanian origin who today lives in
Prizren. In the last issue of NIN we presented major facts about him to
which we will add that Xhezairi lived in Austria and joined the Kosovo
Liberation Army when armed conflict in Kosovo began, taking part in the
activity in three operative zones. He was a fighter in Chechnya,
trained in Afghanistan and acted as the commander of the mujaheddin
112th Brigade operating in the summer of 2001 in the region of Tetovo.
In August of the same year 80 members of the 3/502 battalion of U.S.
paratroopers evacuated him from Arachinovo, together with his Albanian
extremists and 17 instructors of the U.S. private military company MPRI
which was training the Albanian paramilitary formations.
According to confidential NATO information from 2002 prepared by the
German intelligence services BND and ZNBw (Zentrum für Nachrichtenwesen
der Bundeswehr), Xhezairi has been tasked with forming a branch of
Allah's Army - Hezbollah, and his telephone number has been found in
confiscated documents from identified members of al-Q'aida. Samedin
Xhezairi is an active member of the KLA Veterans' Association, which is
collecting money for "humanitarian aid" through a German bank. The
Albanians consider him to be a charismatic "holy man" and count him
among the most eminent Albanian leaders.
The same NATO information presented to KFOR Headquarters on May 17,
2002 indicate that his involvement with Islamist elements in Kosovo is
far reaching. At the center of local Islamist structures in Prizren is
Hoxha Mazlumi who is active in the Jeni Mahala ("New Territory")
mosque. Through his closest associates, including Xhezairi, Mazlumi has
established an organization with his own paramilitary, intelligence
service and logistical, financial and propaganda network (see
illustration). Through his people Mazlumi has ties to the Kosovo
Protection Corps, the Kosovo Police Service, UNMIK and al-Q'aida.
The NATO documents state that the potential intentions and capabilities
of Mazlumi's organization are "quick mobilization of the masses for
demonstrations, fanning of aggressive stance among the non-Islamist
population toward Kfor, development of a Islamist dam in Prizren,
initiation of unrest to demonstrate the failure of the international
community, taking advantage of the fact that Kosovska Mitrovica in the
center of Kfor's attention, while the south of Kosovo is under less
observation by international forces..."
[ Breaking news -BND admission
At the printing deadline for this issue of NIN we have learned that BND
chief August Hanning has admitted that the ZDF documents also in NIN's
possession are authentic ]
Thus, it was known for at least two years that in Prizren a cell of
extremist Islamism was being born right under the eyes of German Kfor.
It is not surprising that the temperature in that city jumped when ZDF
journalists arrived and began to ask awkward questions of both the
German troops and the Islamist extremists. At the same time, it is
interesting that the Germans were less talkative than their temporary
neighbors. They stuck firmly to the official version of events: no one
knew anything about the preparation of the March pogroms; German Kfor,
like all members of international forces throughout Kosovo, were caught
by surprise by the violence, and consequently unable to react
adequately. When confronted with evidence that the BND was informed
regarding the preparations by Albanian terrorists, the German soldiers
categorically rejected every possibility of being privy to the
information themselves.
Unlike them, Samedin Xhezairi was not particularly reluctant to admit
some things to the German reporters even though his nervousness was
apparent. He warned his collocutors no less than four times that they
must show the report they were preparing to the BND before broadcasting
it, as if it was necessary to ask the intelligence service for its
approval with the reporters' discoveries. Apparently, Xhezairi
understood this to be an obligation on his part toward his former
employers. Commander Hoxha did not deny working for the BND as a spy
but he depicted this as some form of entertainment. He did not deny
having taken part in the recorded conversations regarding the
preparation of the violence nor did he reject the fact that organized
structures exist: "We are former fighters; we know each other just like
U.S. veterans. As long as the people are alive, these structures exist."
He also explained the use of coded conversations to the German
reporters: "You agree beforehand that, for example, the word 'health'
means 'liquidate him' and then you just say 'health' and the people
tapping your conversation don't know what it means." In fact, the
conversations Xhezairi took part in at the end of February and
beginning of March were not very well coded, and any listener of
average education could understand them, let alone intelligence service
experts. Mention was made, for example, that "in two or three weeks the
party will begin" and that "in Prizren everything is prepared for a hot
party" while the question asked was "can you guarantee it will be a
blast in Urosevac". Some of Xhezairi's collocutors also complained that
they still had not organized enough buses to transport the activists.
According to transcripts in the possession of ZDF journalists, Samedin
Xhezairi commanded the March operations in Prizren and Urosevac, and
probably in Orahovac, too. The BND knew and not only the BND.
[ According to confidential NATO information from 2002 prepared by the
German intelligence services BND and ZNBw (Zentrum für Nachrichtenwesen
der Bundeswehr), Samedin Xhezairi has been tasked with forming a branch
of "Allah's Army", the Hezbollah, and his telephone number has been
found in confiscated documents from identified members of al-Q'aida.
Samedin Xhezairi is an active member of the KLA Veterans' Association,
which is collecting money for "humanitarian aid" through a German bank.
The Albanians consider him to be a charismatic "holy man" and count him
among the most eminent Albanian leaders (NIN weekly) ]
NIN also received confirmation of this from German intelligence service
expert Erich Schmidt-Eenboom who told us: "Until March 4 - two weeks
before the pogroms - Commander Hoxha was a BND spy for 500 euros per
month, probably more because of his connections with al-Q'aida than
because of Kosovo. On March 4 he was deactivated after the BND learned
from partner services - probably the Austrian military intelligence
service - that they were tapping his conversations. The BND advised him
of this fact." According to some sources, after this discovery Xhezairi
fled to Bosnia, returning immediately prior to March 17 to Prizren. It
is not known whether someone temporarily removed him or if he left for
personal reasons. What is known, and what Erich Schmidt-Eenboom
confirmed for NIN, is the fact that Xhezairi was working for at least
one other intelligence service, the CIA. That is why U.S. paratroopers
evacuated him in 2001 from Arachinovo.
Some German media and politicians these days are not even questioning
the reliability of the ZDF reports according to which the BND was aware
of the criminal activities of its collaborator Xhezairi. For example,
the spokesperson of the Greens on defense matters, Winfried Nachtwei,
stated that the ZDF investigations are based on "fairly solid and
certain indications". And former coordinator of the German secret
services in the government Bernd Schmidbauer said that the ZDF
information regarding the suspect role of the BND "must be taken very
seriously" and requires a thorough investigation into lack of
communication between the BND and the German Army.
[ PHOTO: German Defense minister Struck in Kosovo ]
The statements of Nachtwei and Schmidbauer follow a scandal after the
March events in Kosovo in which German defense minister Peter Struck
and his army were implicated. Struck and the German contingent in
Kosovo found themselves in the limelight of public attention after
media reports revealed that at the time of the attack by Albanian
terrorists there was chaos among the German troops and that the burned
body of a Serb man was found in Prizren after Struck claimed that there
were no casualties in the German area of responsibility. The latest
revelations regarding the role of the BND correspond with this stunning
picture of disorganization on the part of German military and security
structures. If the BND had the information and failed to forward it to
the government and army, that means there is no help for anyone
dependent on the protection of state institutions. That is the
approximate image of the intelligence service and the army among the
German public at present.
However, Erich Schmidt-Eenboom categorically rejects this
interpretations and tells NIN that the German government spokesperson
was telling the truth in his denial of the ZDF report: "The BND
certainly informed the Chancellor's cabinet. It is inconceivable that
the BND failed to do so under the present political conditions and good
cooperation with the German government. The statement of spokesperson
Anda is correct - the BND and the German Army had a 'mutually
corresponding picture of the situation'. That means that the German
contingent in Prizren and its commander colonel Hinkelmann consciously
failed to respond to the attacks, that they allowed everything to
happen in order to avoid coming into direct contact with the Albanians.
Because the consequence of having done so would have been Albanian
violence against the German Army, and that would have ruined the good
image of the peacekeeping mission. The irony of the whole story is that
the Germany government and the KLA have a common final goal, and that
is an independent state of Kosovo without concession of territory to
the Serbs. Only Berlin also needs to be careful with respect to the
timeline as far as allies who still oppose this are concerned, as is
the case with France."
Schmidt-Eenboom also reminds of the history of cooperation between the
BND and the KLA: "What German journalists and their Dutch colleagues at
VPRO Radio Television investigated has a long tradition. Since the
beginning of the 1990s the BND has maintained contacts with the KLA
which was then considered to be a terrorist organization. Although we
have to admit that the KLA has stronger ties with the CIA than the BND.
Commander Hoxha had ties with the CIA, the BND and with the Austrian
military intelligence service which has devoted great attention to this
region and has very good connections with the KLA."
Such facts, of course, are not mentioned in the media and among the
general public in Germany because life is not easy for those who bear
such knowledge, either. After the ZDF reports were broadcast the BND
launched a campaign against one of the authors, journalist Franz Josef
Hutsch and began to spread stories in Berlin that his revelations are
based on false information from Serbian intelligence services, and that
he is of pro-Serbian orientation because he was a defense witness in
the Milosevic trial and after than gave an interview to NIN. To be of
pro-Serbian orientation is tantamount to the German public to being,
for example, a member of al-Q'aida.
However, the editors of ZDF strongly support Hutsch, as Hans-Ulrich
Gack, one of the co-authors of the controversial broadcasts, tells NIN.
There is even more compromising material for the BND and the German
government, and now everyone is waiting for the further unfolding of
events.
[ "What German journalists and their Dutch colleagues at VPRO Radio
Television investigated has a long tradition. Since the beginning of
the 1990s the BND has maintained contacts with the KLA which was then
considered to be a terrorist organization. Although we have to admit
that the KLA has stronger ties with the CIA than the BND. Commander
Hoxha had ties with the CIA, the BND and with the Austrian military
intelligence service which has devoted great attention to this region
and has very good connections with the KLA." (NIN weekly) ]
The German public, for example, still does not know what NIN reported
in its last issue: that the terrorist structures in Kosovo are being
systematically armed by state-of-the-art G-22 sniper rifles, which are
arriving in the southern Serbian province in large quantities. Taking
into account the fact that Commander Hoxha stated in his interview for
German television that he can immediately mobilize 30,000 fighters, and
that "it is no longer necessary to wait for the spring for a new
attack; all we need is a spark" it may happen that the German public
will suddenly find itself confronted by new-old questions without clear
answers: Who will be to blame if the Albanian terrorists carry out yet
another, perhaps final ethnic cleansing in Kosovo? Can Kfor protect the
Serbs from new violence, and is it even in their interest to do so? Are
Islamist fundamentalist cells being born in Kosovo under the eyes of
the peacekeeping forces that might even become a threat to Europe? Are
Western intelligence sources participating, actively or passively, in
this process and thus creating a new army of "talibans" who will one
day turn against them? And so on and so on.
There are so many questions and the answers are wrapped in a veil of
silence or being consciously obscured. It appears that both the Serbian
public and Serbian politicians are fleeing from facing important facts.
We have not heard any official statements following the news from
Germany while "European Serbian National Television", for example,
reported on the whole issue as if Kosovo and Metohija was some province
in the Congo, not one whose fate is still, at rhetorically, a part of
Serbia's state interests. It would appear that these are matters of
interest only to "the dark forces of the past" whose remaining days are
numbered.
By Mira Beham
--- 2 ---
Was violence in Kosovo tolerated?
What did the German Intelligence Service, the Bundeswehr and the German
government know about planning of violence attacks by Albanian
extremists on the Serbian minority in Kosovo, which is under a NATO
protectorate
(Text in German: http://www.nd-online.de/artikel.asp?AID=63282&IDC=2)
Neues Deutschland, BERLIN
Interview with secret service expert Erich Schmidt-Eenboom by Stefan
Tenner
(Photo: Erich Schmidt-Eenboom, head of the Institute for Peace Policy
in Weilheim, Germany)
Berlin, November 23 - In March of this year, after the bloody pogroms
of Albanian extremists against the Serbs in Kosovo, the leadership of
the Bundeswehr established with regret that "no one suspected anything
about this concentrated operation". Reports by ZDF television and the
newspaper "Junge Welt" last week, however, support that at least the
German Intelligence Service (BND) knew of the attacks several weeks
before they occurred. During the course of a wire-tapped conversation,
former KLA fighter Samedin Xhezairi ordered am associate to take care
of the "explosive mood" in the south of Kosovo in two to three weeks.
Xhezairi was allegedly a paid spy for the BND and maintained
connections with al-Q'aida. At least 19 people died in ensuing violent
riots, including a Serb man killed in the German area of responsibility
of Prizren.
Deputies of the CDU, FDP and Greens this weekend requested an
explanation regarding whether the BND concealed important information.
The German government denies it. But why was the response inadequate?
Then Kfor commander Holger Kammerhof claims that he was not previously
informed of this. In any case, there were no more troops for the
protection of Serbian enclaves.
Question: How reliable is information that the BND knew of the
preparations for the anti-Serb pogrom?
Answer: Investigations primarily broadcast by our Dutch colleagues at
VPRO Radio are correct. Since the beginning of the 1990s the BND has
maintained connections with the KLA which is considered to be a
terrorist organization. At the same time, however, it must be admitted
that the BND does not have the first and most important role. The KLA
is first of all a child of the CIA. This was especially apparent in the
summer of 2001 in Macedonia when KLA fighters were evacuated with U.S.
military protection.
Question: What do you know about Samedin Xhezairi?
Answer: This commander of the 112th (KLA) Brigade, who fought under the
nom de guerre of Hoxha, took part in the rebellion in Macedonia in
clashes against the local government. He maintained ties with the CIA
which resulted in his being able to gather 17 U.S. military advisors
around him. In addition to the BND, the Austrian military intelligence
service should also be mentioned as it devoted special attention to
this region and has good connections with the KLA.
Question: Was Xhezairi a BND spy?
Answer: Connections with the BND existed until the beginning of March
of this year. They ceased 14 days before the pogrom in Kosovo. That
means that the BND renounced its source because he seemed too
suspicious and militant.
Question: What happened to the information regarding preparations for
the pogrom?
Answer: I will begin with the assumption that the BND certainly
informed the German government. It is almost inconceivable that such
important information from the BND, whose president August Hanning, is
a member of the Chancellor's cabinet, would not be relayed. As well, I
assume that either from the cabinet or directly from the BND the
information got to the Bundeswehr. This means that the Albanian attacks
on Serbs in Kosovo on March 17 and 18 were tolerated by the Bundeswehr
because they did not want to ruin their relations with the KLA. Namely,
if action had been taken against militant forces in the KLA before
hand, it was to be expected that structures existed that would
afterwards turn against the Bundeswehr as an occupying army.
On the other hand, from a long-term perspective, it is in Germany's
interest for Kosovo to become an independent state. It shares this
interest with the KLA, which by such violence is attempting to increase
political pressure to act. Namely, the political future of Kosovo still
has not been determined. According to the German model, the province is
expected to become an independent state. However, there are other NATO
allies, including the United States, who wish to play on another
political hand.
Question: Samedin Xhezairi allegedly also had connections with
al-Q'aida. Did al-Q'aida, then, directly participate in the preparation
of the riots in Kosovo?
Answer: We must not overestimate al-Q'aida and think of it in terms of
a centralized organization. It is in fact a loose network involving
many Islamic terrorists with common ideological principles and a common
past in Afghan training camps who share a common goal, so there is no
need for an al-Q'aida headquarters to issue a single order, a political
command.
Question: How do you assess the situation in Kosovo keeping in mind the
position of the Serbian minority and the resolution of the status issue
planned for next year?
Answer: There is a strong political need to tell the Kosovo Albanians
in clear terms what the final political configuration will look like.
An independent state of Kosovo Albanians, considering the militancy of
the KLA, would mean that the Serbian minority in the region could not
live in safety. Consequently perhaps thought should be given, since the
majority of Serbs live in the region near the border with Serbia, to
whether a line of separation could be drawn and whether the parts that
are primarily Serb could be appended to the former Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia. I think that an eventual independent state of Kosovo within
its present borders would be an explosive political solution because it
would mean the expulsion of Serbs from the centuries-old regions or
they might, on their part, resort to counter-violence with the support
of Belgrade.
Question: What needs to change in German foreign policy?
Answer: It is not enough to play the military hand and to maintain a
Kfor contingent that is supposed to look after a relative peace. People
in the region need political opportunity. And if Kosovo has the desire
to get closer to or even join the European Union then there is a strong
political argument to demand protection for minorities. At the same
time, mediation process must begin: diplomats from many countries must
sit at the same table with the conflicting sides in order to find a
political solution.
[This text was translated into English from a Serbian translation.]
---
ERP KIM Info-Service is the official Information Service of the Serbian
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PERCHE' L'OCCIDENTE E' TANTO INTERESSATO ALLA "DEMOCRAZIA" IN UCRAINA?
* Ukraine’s Plans to Transport Caspian Sea and Middle East Oil to
Europe (Un piano dell'Ucraina per trasportare il petrolio del Caspio e
dal Medio Oriente verso l'Europa)
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/usazerb/412.htm
* Ukraine and the Caspian An Opportunity for the United States
(L'Ucraina ed il Caspio, una opportunita' per gli USA)
http://www.rand.org/publications/IP/IP198/
* Oil Export Routes and Options in the Caspian Sea Region (I corridoi
petroliferi e le diverse opzioni nella regione del Caspio)
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/caspgrph.html
* New EU-Ukraine oil pipeline completed (Completato il nuovo oleodotto
UE-Ucraina)
http://www.eubusiness.com/imported/2001/08/55762
* U.S. expresses strong support of Odesa-Brody oil pipeline (Gli USA
esprimono un forte sostegno per l'oleodotto tra Odessa e Brody)
http://www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/2003/230308.shtml
* Ukraine sees itself as central player in new oil transportation route
(L'Ucraina vede se stessa in un ruolo centrale nel nuovo corridoio per
il trasporto del greggio)
http://www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/1998/379802.shtml
* The 'Great Game' for Caspian Sea Oil (Il "grande gioco" del petrolio
del Mar Caspio)
http://rrojasdatabank.info/agfrank/caspian.html
* The Oil Connection: Afghanistan and Caspian Sea oil pipeline routes
(Oil connection: i tracciati degli oleodotti dell'Afghanistan e del
Caspio)
http://www.newhumanist.com/oil.html
* New pipeline to pump Caspian oil to Europe (Un nuovo oleodotto per
pompare il petrolio del Caspio verso l'Europa)
http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/nte44788.htm
* Planned Black Sea-Adriatic oil pipeline route changed (Cambiato il
piano per un oleodotto dal Caspio all'Adriatico)
http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/nte44791.htm
(Source: yugoslaviainfo @yahoogroups.com)
* Ukraine’s Plans to Transport Caspian Sea and Middle East Oil to
Europe (Un piano dell'Ucraina per trasportare il petrolio del Caspio e
dal Medio Oriente verso l'Europa)
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/usazerb/412.htm
* Ukraine and the Caspian An Opportunity for the United States
(L'Ucraina ed il Caspio, una opportunita' per gli USA)
http://www.rand.org/publications/IP/IP198/
* Oil Export Routes and Options in the Caspian Sea Region (I corridoi
petroliferi e le diverse opzioni nella regione del Caspio)
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/caspgrph.html
* New EU-Ukraine oil pipeline completed (Completato il nuovo oleodotto
UE-Ucraina)
http://www.eubusiness.com/imported/2001/08/55762
* U.S. expresses strong support of Odesa-Brody oil pipeline (Gli USA
esprimono un forte sostegno per l'oleodotto tra Odessa e Brody)
http://www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/2003/230308.shtml
* Ukraine sees itself as central player in new oil transportation route
(L'Ucraina vede se stessa in un ruolo centrale nel nuovo corridoio per
il trasporto del greggio)
http://www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/1998/379802.shtml
* The 'Great Game' for Caspian Sea Oil (Il "grande gioco" del petrolio
del Mar Caspio)
http://rrojasdatabank.info/agfrank/caspian.html
* The Oil Connection: Afghanistan and Caspian Sea oil pipeline routes
(Oil connection: i tracciati degli oleodotti dell'Afghanistan e del
Caspio)
http://www.newhumanist.com/oil.html
* New pipeline to pump Caspian oil to Europe (Un nuovo oleodotto per
pompare il petrolio del Caspio verso l'Europa)
http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/nte44788.htm
* Planned Black Sea-Adriatic oil pipeline route changed (Cambiato il
piano per un oleodotto dal Caspio all'Adriatico)
http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/nte44791.htm
(Source: yugoslaviainfo @yahoogroups.com)
