Informazione
http://www.antiwar.com/malic/m092503.html
Balkan Express - September 25, 2003
Return to the Crime Scene
Kosovo and Bosnia Revisited
by Nebojsa Malic
Nearly three years after he left office, Bill Clinton was Emperor
again – at least in the minds of worshipful Balkans peons,
who cheered him on as he strutted down his namesake
boulevard in Pristina and pontificated about good and evil in
Srebrenica.
Clinton deserves some credit because he at least visited only
the scenes of his own crimes; he left Macedonia to George W.
Bush, perhaps for a similar ego trip after his reign. Perhaps that
is not quite fair. What Reuters called the "Balkans lap of honor"
wasn’t entirely a celebration of Clinton’s ego, but also a
powerful propaganda show for the benefit of the Empire, aimed
to "highlight the peace gains of the previous Democratic
administration." (AFP) Clinton’s showboating was a message
that even if the current Emperor is in some difficulty over his
Mesopotamian adventure, the Empire itself is not in question.
False Honors and Bogus Tolerance
Clinton began his visit in Kosovo, where he was greeted by
cheering throngs of adulating Albanians. Upon arrival, he said
that he was "very pleased to see things look so well." (AFP)
Either he wasn’t paying attention, or – more likely – he didn’t
care.
Media coverage of the visit recycled the 1999 propaganda,
including the arbitrary figure of "estimated 10,000 ethnic
Albanians… killed during the crackdown." (AP)
The main event was his speech at Pristina University, site of
several grisly murders during Kosovo’s "liberation" from
international law, where Clinton was also granted an honorary
degree. Clinton confessed to an ethnically pure crowd
that he was "honoured to have been part of ridding Kosovo
of the scourge of oppression." (AFP)
He should really tell that to Albanians oppressed by the KLA
thugs, who murder and extort them freely. Or to Albanians
who believe they are oppressed by the international
protectorate that bars them from statehood. Or perhaps to
Kosovo’s non-Albanians, exposed to constant Albanian
violence, shrinking in numbers, invisible in public and living in
ghettos. But Albanians won’t blame Clinton, and non-
Albanians don’t take him seriously anyway.
During the speech described by the media as conciliatory, the
former Emperor asked the Albanians, "don’t you want to get
even?" (AFP) Note the form of the question, implying it would
be the expected and natural thing to do. He also referred to
"you" (Albanians) and "them" (Serbs and others), and said he
wanted "you" to be free. (AP) No one should care about "them";
they are only things, anyway.
The Farce in Potocari
Bosnia was Clinton’s pet issue in the 1992 election, and his
first "nation-building" experiment. On Saturday, he attended the
ceremony for victims of Srebrenica at the new memorial shrine
in nearby Potocari. There he opened a political monument to a
politicized massacre, delivering an insipid speech brimming
with clichés, hypocrisy and outright lies. Then he paid a visit
to the dying ayatollah Izetbegovic.
The Potocari speech, carried in fragments by wire services and
newspapers, sounds like standard Clintoniana. For example,
he claimed that "for much of [Bosnia’s] history, [Muslims],
Croats and Serbs have lived together in peace." (AFP)
What kind of history books has he been reading? But there is
more:
"We must pay tribute to the innocent lives, many of them
children, snuffed out in what must be called genocidal
madness." (BBC)
How is the alleged killing of 7000 (more on that later)
"genocidal madness," but starving 500,000 children isn’t? Well,
when the first is done by the designated villain and the latter
by the indispensable nation, the first is an atrocity beyond the
pale, and the second is the price "worth it." Modernist logic
personified.
"Bad people who lusted for power killed these good people
simply because of who they were." (NY Times)
Bad people? Good people? Who was he addressing, children?
And who is Clinton to lecture about evils of lust, of all things?
"[P]ride in our own religious or ethnic heritage does not require
or permit us to dehumanize or kill those who are different" (AP)
This must have been spoken from experience.
"I hope you can build on the bedrock of Srebrenica in Bosnia-
Hercegovina a place where all children are safe and loved and
able to live out their dreams" (AFP)
Certainly Srebrenica, a tragedy surrounded by a tangled web
of lies and propaganda, is just the perfect foundation for raising
Bosnia’s children.
"Children must be taught to hate." (NY Times)
Was this a lapse of tongue, lapse of pen, or a lapse in
judgment? Even if he’d said, "Children must not be taught to
hate," that would sound hollow at the dedication of a shrine
dedicated to teaching just that.
"I hope you will teach them instead to trust," he said, and to
choose "the freedom of forgiveness over the prison of hatred,
tomorrow’s dreams over yesterday’s nightmares." (NY Times)
Nice words, but consider the source – and the occasion. The
Potocari memorial is a shrine to vengeance and hatred, not
forgiveness and hope. Many Muslims in attendance felt that
way, as did their political leader, who spoke afterwards.
Media Madness
The Clinton visit gave the mainstream media a chance to
indulge in propagandistic exaggeration of the worst kind.
Familiar clichés were trotted out to describe what allegedly
happened in Srebrenica: "the worst organized slaughter since
World War II" (Reuters), "the worst massacre in Europe since
the end of World War II" (AP), "Europe’s worst atrocity since
World War II" (AFP and BBC), the "worst war crime in Europe
since World War II," (NY Times).
Absent the actual truthful information, speculation about the
scale of Bosnian atrocities ran rampant: "up to 8000" were
killed in Srebrenica, and "260,000" in the entire war, said the
AP; Reuters "estimated 8000 killed" in Srebrenica, and "some
200,000" in Bosnia; "more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys" in
Srebrenica, and "more than 250,000 people" altogether,
claimed the BBC, while the AFP lowered it somewhat to "more
than 200,000." The BBC also noted that the memorial in
Potocari was designed to eventually contain "Ten thousand
white tombstones." Only the New York Times, while dutifully
repeating the number of "more than 7000" in Srebrenica, did
not speculate on the total death toll in Bosnia, at least not on
this occasion.
Both figures come from the claims made by the Muslim
government during the war, and have never been
independently verified. The International Red Cross said they
received "7,599 enquiries regarding people who went missing
in the town. Only 22 people have been found alive; the mortal
remains of 1,083 others have been identified." Also, "currently,
the identities of 6,461 Srebrenica-related individuals are
recorded in an ICRC-managed… database." Here are some
very real numbers, even if they only indicate that the fate of
some 6500 people is unknown. But no one bothers to cite
them.
All reporters embellished their accounts with strong and vivid
language, presenting sheer speculation as established truth.
In their eagerness, they often contradicted themselves and the
official story. For example, Reuters claimed that Srebrenica
was "95 percent" Muslim before the war. The actual figure is 72
percent. Muslims were a majority either way, so why lie?
Funny thing is, every Reuters story on Kosovo mentions a "95
percent Albanian majority." Magic numbers, sloppy editing, or
something else altogether?
Then there are attempts to capitalize on the identity and age of
the deceased. AFP cites, for example, the burial of the Delic
family – a father and three brothers, aged 33, 25, and 20. Yet
the Reuters story says:
"107 victims were laid to rest alongside 882 already buried
here, among them three Delic brothers and their father, the
youngest 17 and the oldest 75."
This clearly implies the youth and the senior were among the
Delics. BBC did even worse:
"The victims included three Delic brothers and their father - the
youngest 17 and the oldest 75."
While Reuters could use the excuse of sloppy editing, the BBC
clearly lied.
Why is mentioning the age so important? Because it creates
the impression that the victims were civilians, boys and old
men, not conscripts in the Muslim military, as all males above
the age of 16 had to be by law. (Though executing POWs is
also a war crime, it doesn’t have the visceral impact of
"genocide" and is thus far less politically useful. The Muslims
and their backers knew exactly what they were doing.)
But as a local reporter for Transitions Online indicates,
"Since July, 881 bodes have been buried here, and, of them,
four were under 18 years old, [emphasis NM] while the
oldest victim was 75." Yet Clinton spoke, of "innocent lives,
many of them children" – and the press repeated in unison.
Obviously, Bill Clinton’s loose relationship with the truth isn’t
the only problem here. The specter of Jayson Blair still haunts
Western journalism.
Hatred and Entitlement
Munira Subasic, president of Mothers of Srebrenica, is quoted
by Transitions Online:
"Clinton said there was nothing he could do to stop it because
there was always someone who was slowing down the
process of Western intervention, and I believe him. I think he is
an honest man."
Even if they were somehow honest, Clinton’s calls to
forgiveness and rebuilding in Potocari fell on deaf ears.
Speaking at the same ceremony, the highest Bosnian Muslim
official, Sulejman Tihic, said:
"Everybody knew about the concentration camps, genocide
and the other ways of crime. They knew who was participating
in it. They knew who was the criminal and who was the
victim." (NY Times)
This is rhetoric typical of the wartime Sarajevo regime: long on
name-calling, claims of moral purity, and serious accusations
aimed at emotional impact, but utterly devoid of evidence.
Tihic’s words also continued the policy of deliberate ingratitude
to the Muslim government’s benefactors, calculated to shame
them into even more favorable behavior. Whatever anyone
does for this cabal, it will never be enough to satisfy their
feeling of entitlement.
Consider the words of Ahmija Delic, a former Srebrenica
resident:
"Even if someone killed all the cheniks, [sic]" she said, using
the word for Serbian nationalists, "I cannot forgive. They were
not human beings and it was a shame for the rest of the world
to allow one people to carry out these killings. […] Clinton
could have helped this not to happen," she said. (NY Times,
emphasis NM)
The ignorant NYT reporter did not know that in modern Muslim
parlance, "chetniks" are Serbs in general, not just ‘nationalists.’
Ms. Delic clearly believes that Serbs were collectively
responsible for mass murder, that this makes them inhuman,
and that they deserve collective extermination. Because
Clinton was perceived to have the ability to ‘help,’ he was also
perceived to have the obligation. And because he did not
exterminate the Serbs, as Ms. Delic desired, he obviously did
not do his job well.
If Clinton’s policies really aimed at peace, and his speech at
reconciliation, he failed on both counts.
The Politics of Empire
In their coverage of Clinton’s visit to Srebrenica, AFP cited a
local Serb, Novo Mladenovic: "Clinton is not coming here for us
or for them, but rather so that his picture from Srebrenica will be
broadcast in the United States."
At the time when war criminal Wesley Clark is championed as
the likeliest Democratic challenger to Bush the Younger,
supported even by some otherwise reasonable people, it
seems logical for Clark’s political patron and former boss to
stump for his favorite in their Balkans battlefields. It would also
seem logical for Americans to look at their former Emperor,
his favorite to become the next one, and the current one,
and understand that all three believe in power and force.
They use them in different places, and mask them with different
platitudes, but does that really make a difference?
It shouldn’t.
– Nebojsa Malic
Balkan Express - September 25, 2003
Return to the Crime Scene
Kosovo and Bosnia Revisited
by Nebojsa Malic
Nearly three years after he left office, Bill Clinton was Emperor
again – at least in the minds of worshipful Balkans peons,
who cheered him on as he strutted down his namesake
boulevard in Pristina and pontificated about good and evil in
Srebrenica.
Clinton deserves some credit because he at least visited only
the scenes of his own crimes; he left Macedonia to George W.
Bush, perhaps for a similar ego trip after his reign. Perhaps that
is not quite fair. What Reuters called the "Balkans lap of honor"
wasn’t entirely a celebration of Clinton’s ego, but also a
powerful propaganda show for the benefit of the Empire, aimed
to "highlight the peace gains of the previous Democratic
administration." (AFP) Clinton’s showboating was a message
that even if the current Emperor is in some difficulty over his
Mesopotamian adventure, the Empire itself is not in question.
False Honors and Bogus Tolerance
Clinton began his visit in Kosovo, where he was greeted by
cheering throngs of adulating Albanians. Upon arrival, he said
that he was "very pleased to see things look so well." (AFP)
Either he wasn’t paying attention, or – more likely – he didn’t
care.
Media coverage of the visit recycled the 1999 propaganda,
including the arbitrary figure of "estimated 10,000 ethnic
Albanians… killed during the crackdown." (AP)
The main event was his speech at Pristina University, site of
several grisly murders during Kosovo’s "liberation" from
international law, where Clinton was also granted an honorary
degree. Clinton confessed to an ethnically pure crowd
that he was "honoured to have been part of ridding Kosovo
of the scourge of oppression." (AFP)
He should really tell that to Albanians oppressed by the KLA
thugs, who murder and extort them freely. Or to Albanians
who believe they are oppressed by the international
protectorate that bars them from statehood. Or perhaps to
Kosovo’s non-Albanians, exposed to constant Albanian
violence, shrinking in numbers, invisible in public and living in
ghettos. But Albanians won’t blame Clinton, and non-
Albanians don’t take him seriously anyway.
During the speech described by the media as conciliatory, the
former Emperor asked the Albanians, "don’t you want to get
even?" (AFP) Note the form of the question, implying it would
be the expected and natural thing to do. He also referred to
"you" (Albanians) and "them" (Serbs and others), and said he
wanted "you" to be free. (AP) No one should care about "them";
they are only things, anyway.
The Farce in Potocari
Bosnia was Clinton’s pet issue in the 1992 election, and his
first "nation-building" experiment. On Saturday, he attended the
ceremony for victims of Srebrenica at the new memorial shrine
in nearby Potocari. There he opened a political monument to a
politicized massacre, delivering an insipid speech brimming
with clichés, hypocrisy and outright lies. Then he paid a visit
to the dying ayatollah Izetbegovic.
The Potocari speech, carried in fragments by wire services and
newspapers, sounds like standard Clintoniana. For example,
he claimed that "for much of [Bosnia’s] history, [Muslims],
Croats and Serbs have lived together in peace." (AFP)
What kind of history books has he been reading? But there is
more:
"We must pay tribute to the innocent lives, many of them
children, snuffed out in what must be called genocidal
madness." (BBC)
How is the alleged killing of 7000 (more on that later)
"genocidal madness," but starving 500,000 children isn’t? Well,
when the first is done by the designated villain and the latter
by the indispensable nation, the first is an atrocity beyond the
pale, and the second is the price "worth it." Modernist logic
personified.
"Bad people who lusted for power killed these good people
simply because of who they were." (NY Times)
Bad people? Good people? Who was he addressing, children?
And who is Clinton to lecture about evils of lust, of all things?
"[P]ride in our own religious or ethnic heritage does not require
or permit us to dehumanize or kill those who are different" (AP)
This must have been spoken from experience.
"I hope you can build on the bedrock of Srebrenica in Bosnia-
Hercegovina a place where all children are safe and loved and
able to live out their dreams" (AFP)
Certainly Srebrenica, a tragedy surrounded by a tangled web
of lies and propaganda, is just the perfect foundation for raising
Bosnia’s children.
"Children must be taught to hate." (NY Times)
Was this a lapse of tongue, lapse of pen, or a lapse in
judgment? Even if he’d said, "Children must not be taught to
hate," that would sound hollow at the dedication of a shrine
dedicated to teaching just that.
"I hope you will teach them instead to trust," he said, and to
choose "the freedom of forgiveness over the prison of hatred,
tomorrow’s dreams over yesterday’s nightmares." (NY Times)
Nice words, but consider the source – and the occasion. The
Potocari memorial is a shrine to vengeance and hatred, not
forgiveness and hope. Many Muslims in attendance felt that
way, as did their political leader, who spoke afterwards.
Media Madness
The Clinton visit gave the mainstream media a chance to
indulge in propagandistic exaggeration of the worst kind.
Familiar clichés were trotted out to describe what allegedly
happened in Srebrenica: "the worst organized slaughter since
World War II" (Reuters), "the worst massacre in Europe since
the end of World War II" (AP), "Europe’s worst atrocity since
World War II" (AFP and BBC), the "worst war crime in Europe
since World War II," (NY Times).
Absent the actual truthful information, speculation about the
scale of Bosnian atrocities ran rampant: "up to 8000" were
killed in Srebrenica, and "260,000" in the entire war, said the
AP; Reuters "estimated 8000 killed" in Srebrenica, and "some
200,000" in Bosnia; "more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys" in
Srebrenica, and "more than 250,000 people" altogether,
claimed the BBC, while the AFP lowered it somewhat to "more
than 200,000." The BBC also noted that the memorial in
Potocari was designed to eventually contain "Ten thousand
white tombstones." Only the New York Times, while dutifully
repeating the number of "more than 7000" in Srebrenica, did
not speculate on the total death toll in Bosnia, at least not on
this occasion.
Both figures come from the claims made by the Muslim
government during the war, and have never been
independently verified. The International Red Cross said they
received "7,599 enquiries regarding people who went missing
in the town. Only 22 people have been found alive; the mortal
remains of 1,083 others have been identified." Also, "currently,
the identities of 6,461 Srebrenica-related individuals are
recorded in an ICRC-managed… database." Here are some
very real numbers, even if they only indicate that the fate of
some 6500 people is unknown. But no one bothers to cite
them.
All reporters embellished their accounts with strong and vivid
language, presenting sheer speculation as established truth.
In their eagerness, they often contradicted themselves and the
official story. For example, Reuters claimed that Srebrenica
was "95 percent" Muslim before the war. The actual figure is 72
percent. Muslims were a majority either way, so why lie?
Funny thing is, every Reuters story on Kosovo mentions a "95
percent Albanian majority." Magic numbers, sloppy editing, or
something else altogether?
Then there are attempts to capitalize on the identity and age of
the deceased. AFP cites, for example, the burial of the Delic
family – a father and three brothers, aged 33, 25, and 20. Yet
the Reuters story says:
"107 victims were laid to rest alongside 882 already buried
here, among them three Delic brothers and their father, the
youngest 17 and the oldest 75."
This clearly implies the youth and the senior were among the
Delics. BBC did even worse:
"The victims included three Delic brothers and their father - the
youngest 17 and the oldest 75."
While Reuters could use the excuse of sloppy editing, the BBC
clearly lied.
Why is mentioning the age so important? Because it creates
the impression that the victims were civilians, boys and old
men, not conscripts in the Muslim military, as all males above
the age of 16 had to be by law. (Though executing POWs is
also a war crime, it doesn’t have the visceral impact of
"genocide" and is thus far less politically useful. The Muslims
and their backers knew exactly what they were doing.)
But as a local reporter for Transitions Online indicates,
"Since July, 881 bodes have been buried here, and, of them,
four were under 18 years old, [emphasis NM] while the
oldest victim was 75." Yet Clinton spoke, of "innocent lives,
many of them children" – and the press repeated in unison.
Obviously, Bill Clinton’s loose relationship with the truth isn’t
the only problem here. The specter of Jayson Blair still haunts
Western journalism.
Hatred and Entitlement
Munira Subasic, president of Mothers of Srebrenica, is quoted
by Transitions Online:
"Clinton said there was nothing he could do to stop it because
there was always someone who was slowing down the
process of Western intervention, and I believe him. I think he is
an honest man."
Even if they were somehow honest, Clinton’s calls to
forgiveness and rebuilding in Potocari fell on deaf ears.
Speaking at the same ceremony, the highest Bosnian Muslim
official, Sulejman Tihic, said:
"Everybody knew about the concentration camps, genocide
and the other ways of crime. They knew who was participating
in it. They knew who was the criminal and who was the
victim." (NY Times)
This is rhetoric typical of the wartime Sarajevo regime: long on
name-calling, claims of moral purity, and serious accusations
aimed at emotional impact, but utterly devoid of evidence.
Tihic’s words also continued the policy of deliberate ingratitude
to the Muslim government’s benefactors, calculated to shame
them into even more favorable behavior. Whatever anyone
does for this cabal, it will never be enough to satisfy their
feeling of entitlement.
Consider the words of Ahmija Delic, a former Srebrenica
resident:
"Even if someone killed all the cheniks, [sic]" she said, using
the word for Serbian nationalists, "I cannot forgive. They were
not human beings and it was a shame for the rest of the world
to allow one people to carry out these killings. […] Clinton
could have helped this not to happen," she said. (NY Times,
emphasis NM)
The ignorant NYT reporter did not know that in modern Muslim
parlance, "chetniks" are Serbs in general, not just ‘nationalists.’
Ms. Delic clearly believes that Serbs were collectively
responsible for mass murder, that this makes them inhuman,
and that they deserve collective extermination. Because
Clinton was perceived to have the ability to ‘help,’ he was also
perceived to have the obligation. And because he did not
exterminate the Serbs, as Ms. Delic desired, he obviously did
not do his job well.
If Clinton’s policies really aimed at peace, and his speech at
reconciliation, he failed on both counts.
The Politics of Empire
In their coverage of Clinton’s visit to Srebrenica, AFP cited a
local Serb, Novo Mladenovic: "Clinton is not coming here for us
or for them, but rather so that his picture from Srebrenica will be
broadcast in the United States."
At the time when war criminal Wesley Clark is championed as
the likeliest Democratic challenger to Bush the Younger,
supported even by some otherwise reasonable people, it
seems logical for Clark’s political patron and former boss to
stump for his favorite in their Balkans battlefields. It would also
seem logical for Americans to look at their former Emperor,
his favorite to become the next one, and the current one,
and understand that all three believe in power and force.
They use them in different places, and mask them with different
platitudes, but does that really make a difference?
It shouldn’t.
– Nebojsa Malic
Promjena vremena u emitiranju "Jugoslavenskog glasa", u 14,00 sati
umjesto u 13,30.
Svakog utorka, od 14,00 do 14,30 sati, na Radio Città Aperta, i valu FM
88.9 za regiju "Lazio", emisija "JUGOSLAVENSKI GLAS". Emisija je u
direktnom prijenosu. Moze se pratiti i preko Interneta:
http://www.radiocittaperta.it
Kratke intervencije na telefon 06 4393512. Emisija je dvojezicna, po
potrebi i vremenu na raspolaganju.
Podrzite taj slobodni i nezavisni glas, kupujuci knjige, video kazete,
brosure, koje imamo na raspolaganju.
Pisite nam na Jugocoord@..., ili fax +39 06 4828957.
Trazimo zainteresirane za usvajanje na daljinu, t.j. djacke stipendije
za djecu prognanika.
Cambiamento di orario della trasmissione:
"Voce jugoslava" inizia alle ore 14,00 invece delle 13,30.
Ogni martedì dalle ore 14,00 alle 14,30, "VOCE JUGOSLAVA" su Radio
Città Aperta, FM 88.9 per il Lazio. Si può seguire, come del resto
anche le altre trasmissioni della Radio, via Internet:
http://www.radiocittaperta.it
La trasmissione è bilingue (a seconda del tempo disponibile e della
necessità). La trasmissione è in diretta. Brevi interventi sono
possibili telefonando al 06 4393512.
Sostenete questa voce libera e indipendente acquistando video cassette,
libri, bollettini a nostra disposizione. Possibili adozioni a distanza
(borse di studio). Scriveteci all'indirizzo: Jugocoord@...,
tel/fax 06 4828957.
Program - programma 30. 9. 2003.
1. Jucer, danas sutra, datumi ... da se ne zaboravi.
2. Vijesti "Od Triglava do Vardara...."
3. Razno
1. Ieri, oggi, domani, date ... per non dimenticare.
2. Notizie "Dal monte Triglav al fiume Vardar..."
3. Varie
umjesto u 13,30.
Svakog utorka, od 14,00 do 14,30 sati, na Radio Città Aperta, i valu FM
88.9 za regiju "Lazio", emisija "JUGOSLAVENSKI GLAS". Emisija je u
direktnom prijenosu. Moze se pratiti i preko Interneta:
http://www.radiocittaperta.it
Kratke intervencije na telefon 06 4393512. Emisija je dvojezicna, po
potrebi i vremenu na raspolaganju.
Podrzite taj slobodni i nezavisni glas, kupujuci knjige, video kazete,
brosure, koje imamo na raspolaganju.
Pisite nam na Jugocoord@..., ili fax +39 06 4828957.
Trazimo zainteresirane za usvajanje na daljinu, t.j. djacke stipendije
za djecu prognanika.
Cambiamento di orario della trasmissione:
"Voce jugoslava" inizia alle ore 14,00 invece delle 13,30.
Ogni martedì dalle ore 14,00 alle 14,30, "VOCE JUGOSLAVA" su Radio
Città Aperta, FM 88.9 per il Lazio. Si può seguire, come del resto
anche le altre trasmissioni della Radio, via Internet:
http://www.radiocittaperta.it
La trasmissione è bilingue (a seconda del tempo disponibile e della
necessità). La trasmissione è in diretta. Brevi interventi sono
possibili telefonando al 06 4393512.
Sostenete questa voce libera e indipendente acquistando video cassette,
libri, bollettini a nostra disposizione. Possibili adozioni a distanza
(borse di studio). Scriveteci all'indirizzo: Jugocoord@...,
tel/fax 06 4828957.
Program - programma 30. 9. 2003.
1. Jucer, danas sutra, datumi ... da se ne zaboravi.
2. Vijesti "Od Triglava do Vardara...."
3. Razno
1. Ieri, oggi, domani, date ... per non dimenticare.
2. Notizie "Dal monte Triglav al fiume Vardar..."
3. Varie
Milosevic "trial"
1. ICDSM Addresses the Press at The Hague - TODAY
2. Protest in Belgrade hits NATO court (by John Catalinotto)
3. SLOBODA Assembly Resolution (27.09.2003)
4. Legal arguments against the legal violence: The Statement of ICDSM
Québec and Canada
AN IMPORTANT LINK - From: "Vladimir Krsljanin":
Dutch TV documentary on the Hague process, in two parts
Perhaps the most objective and comprehensive documentary on the process
against President Milosevic that appeared in Western media can be
watched at
http://info.vpro.nl/info/tegenlicht/index.shtml?7738514+7738518+8048024
=== 1 ===
Announcement: ICDSM Addresses the Press at The Hague
ICDSM
THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE TO DEFEND SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC
ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE MEDIA:
ICDSM representative Ian Johnson at The Hague on Tuesday, September 30
On the occasion of the "special hearing" at The Hague on Tuesday,
September 30 at the ICTY courtroom I in The Hague ("Prosecution Motion
for a Hearing to Discuss the Implications of the Accused's Recurring
Ill Health"), schedulled to occur in absence of President Milosevic,
the ICDSM representative Mr. Ian Johnson will be present at The Hague.
After the 1 hour court session, Mr. Johnson will deliver a statement to
the press outside the tribunal building. He is member of the Board of
ICDSM and coordinator of its British section.
The tribunal announced earlier:
"Press Advisory . Avis pour information
(Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document)
The Hague, 25 September 2003
P.I.S./PA131
MILOSEVIC CASE:
NO TRIAL NEXT WEEK BUT HEARING SCHEDULED REGARDING PROSECUTION MOTION ON
IMPLICATIONS OF THE ACCUSED'S RECURRING ILL HEALTH
Please be advised that the Milosevic trial next week, Monday 29
September to Friday 3 October 2003, has been cancelled due to the
ill-health of the accused.
However, following the filing on 23 September 2003 of the "Prosecution
Motion for a Hearing to Discuss the Implications of the Accused's
Recurring Ill Health", Trial Chamber III has ordered that it shall hear
oral submissions of the parties, including the amici curiae, on
Tuesday, 30 September 2003 at 10.00 a.m. in Courtroom I. "
=== 2 ===
> http://www.workers.org/ww/2003/milosevic1002.php
Protest in Belgrade hits NATO court
By John Catalinotto
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton visited the city of Srebrenica in
Bosnia on Sept. 20 in an attempt to justify the 10 years of
destabilization, subversion and outright war, starting in 1990, that
the U.S. and NATO waged to break up the multinational country of
Yugoslavia, which for years had been a peaceful federation of socialist
republics.
The July 1995 battle of Srebrenica was allegedly the bloodiest of the
brutal civil war in Bosnia. It would never have taken place, however,
if Washington had not earlier sabotaged a peace agreement by urging the
right-wing government of Alija Izbetgovic not to sign it. Then, in
1999, Clinton ordered an air war on what remained of Yugoslavia. Gen.
Wesley Clark, now a candidate for the Democratic presidential
nomination in 2004, headed NATO's 78-day bombing campaign.
While Clinton was in Srebrenica, hundreds of people led by the Sloboda
organization marched in downtown Belgrade, Serbia, which used to be the
capital of Yugoslavia, to protest his visit and to demand that former
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic be released from prison and given
ample time to prepare his defense, and that he no longer be isolated
from his family and supporters.
The NATO victors established a court in The Hague, Belgium, to try
Yugoslav officials for alleged war crimes because they had resisted a
Western takeover. That court has refused to release Milosevic from
prison to prepare his defense. It also has allowed him only three
months to go over almost 10,000 pages of prosecution documentation.
The Yugoslav leader had demanded he be released for two years to go
over the documents and prepare a defense. Despite poor health and the
court-imposed isolation, he has been defending himself effectively
since the trial started in February 2002. He has often been able to put
the court and NATO on the defensive for NATO's aggression in the
Balkans.
National sections of the International Committee for the Defense of
Slobodan Milosevic in Russia, Serbia, Germany and the U.S. have issued
statements supporting the former president's demands. Defense
committees in Europe and organizations representing the Yugoslav
diaspora there have called for a demonstration Nov. 8 in The Hague
criticizing the court, the second such action this year.
Many Yugoslavs say the charges against Milosevic are really directed
against the entire Serb people. Milosevic is targeted, they say,
because he was the leader of Yugoslavia during much of the period when
it was attempting to resist being destroyed as a multinational state.
They say Bill Clinton and Wesley Clark are the real war criminals in
the Balkans, along with some European NATO leaders.
In addition, a group of 12 doctors from Germany have written a letter
to the court in The Hague demanding that the court act responsibly
regarding Milosevic's health. The former president has suffered from
high blood pressure and from "the possibility of coronary disease,
cerebrovascular accident, heart attack and death." Numerous times the
court has had to suspend sessions because of these health problems.
The doctors' letter supports the request for an extended pause in the
proceedings and for Milosevic's release and examination by doctors of
his choice.
Reprinted from the Oct. 2, 2003, issue of Workers World newspaper
(Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and
distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not
allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY,
NY 10011; via email: ww@.... Subscribe
wwnews-on@...)
=== 3 ===
Da: "Vladimir Krsljanin"
Data: Mar 30 Set 2003 00:02:44 Europe/Rome
Oggetto: Sloboda Assembly Resolution
The SLOBODA/Freedom Association has held its Assembly Meeting in
Belgrade on September 27, 2003. The Assembly has 180 members. At the
September 27th meeting important personalities from the political and
intellectual life of Serbia, Montenegro, the Republic of Srpska and the
Republic of Serb Krajina took part, including Mirko Marjanovic, long
time Serbian Prime Minister, Momir Bulatovic, former Federal Prime
Minister and President of the Republic of Montenegro, members of the
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Professor Mihajlo Markovic,
Professor Milos Macura, Professor Cedomir Popov, Professor Kosta
Mihailovic, Professor Ivan Maksimovic and many others. The Founder and
Co-Chairman of the ICDSM, Professor Velko Valkanov, and the Chairman of
the Russian Committee, Alexander Zinoviev, have sent their written
messages. Greetings were received from the leader of the Communist
Party of the Russian Federation, Gennadi Zyuganov, the former Soviet
Prime Minister Nikolai Rizhkov, and ICDSM Co-Chairman Ramsey Clark.
Bishop Filaret of the
Serbian Orthodox Church has sent his blessing. Professor Mirko Zurovac,
a well known Belgrade philosopher, has been elected Assembly Chairman
for the next two-year term. All previous members of the Board have been
re-elected and the Board was expanded to 30 members. The Assembly
unanimously adopted the following:
RESOLUTION:
For The Immediate Release Of President Slobodan Milosevic
1. President Slobodan Milosevic, fighting on the front lines in
the struggle for truth, freedom, national sovereignty and dignity,
raises the hopes and self-confidence of the people and inspires all
progressive men and women in the world with his merit, strength and
self-sacrifice.
In despair, due to the failed attempt to distort our history in
accordance with the plans of the secret and propaganda services of the
aggressors, the Hague tribunal has reached the level of unimpeded crime.
Acting together, the judges and the prosecutors of the tribunal
are trying to prevent President Milosevic from presenting the full
truth about the aggressors and their servants, physically even
threatening his life.
Instead of providing therapy and recuperation in freedom, as
demanded by the President's medical condition - which no judge has a
right to deny and especially not to refuse without discussion - the
President has been forced to prepare within three months, in fact in
six weeks, from a prison cell, a presentation to bury forever the whole
aggressor's propaganda, systematized in the "prosecution case", through
several years of work of intelligence services and hundreds of
tribunal's employees, who have been paid with hundreds of millions of
dollars. In his life threatening physical condition he is expected to
analyze within six weeks several hundred thousand pages of the
prosecution disclosure, several tens of
thousand pages of the transcripts, to contact and prepare for testimony
at least 300 of his witnesses, to collect and systematize several
hundred of thousand pages of his own documents and to inform the
prosecution of all of this in advance! Even from the point of view of
elementary logic, this is an impossible task to perform. On top of
this, the witnesses and evidence he will be allowed to present, only
the so-called judges will decide that! And all that in a situation
where the visits of his wife and son, as well as all members of Sloboda
and all members of SPS, are banned.
Against freedom - bombs! Against truth - Inquisition!
2. They created the terrorists, they organized and financed
their crimes, and then they used them as an excuse for the bombing and
submission of a whole people, and for the cruel persecution of honest
fighters and patriots. And still the terrorists remain unpunished.
There is even more dirty work than the work of Carla Del Ponte
and the other Hague mercenaries. For that work the people of the
criminal past and present are charged, who step on human rights,
democracy and the freedom of the press in the same way as the Chilean
or Turkish military juntas have done in the past. The people who call
themselves ministers and who for their "democratic achievements"
receive praise and tips from the foreign ambassadors ruling Serbia.
The persecution of the family and associates of President
Milosevic goes on. And he himself is attacked by ruthless, false and
absurd charges which are motivated by one overarching goal - to destroy
even the hope for Serbia to restore its freedom.
3. The Hague-DOS machinery for destruction of the people and of their
dignity, for the murder of freedom and the annihilation of the nation,
trembles before every expression of resistance by the people. As NATO
was shaken during the aggression, today confronted by Slobodan
Milosevic and Sloboda, The Hague and DOS are in agony.
The bigger the resistance to the machinery of crime, the bigger
the international solidarity. From day to day, since The Hague has
shown openly its criminal face, the Russian Duma, American academics,
Canadian lawyers, German doctors, the International and the National
Committees for the defense of Slobodan Milosevic and many others,
demand from the United
Nations, from their countries' governments and from the tribunal itself
- freedom for Slobodan!
The battles for the freedom of Slobodan Milosevic and for the
freedom and dignity of Serbia are one in the same battle. They can be
won only if the humiliation, dissatisfaction and anger of the people
are turned into the gathering and the common organized action of all
patriots, of all honest people and of all of their political and
creative potentials.
Sloboda exists for that goal and will be totally devoted to it.
4. A fighter to free humanity from the global tyranny of the
"New World Order", the most important political prisoner of today, the
war prisoner of NATO, several times democratically and directly elected
President of all citizens of Serbia and the legitimate President of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - Slobodan Milosevic must be immediately
released from the Hague dungeon!
After two years in freedom, so that he would have at least
approximately the same possibility to present the truth as much as the
Tribunal has presented its lies - that was and is a gentleman's fair
proposal by a great man capable of offering even his enemies the chance
to show a human face. Two years in freedom is also the necessary
guarantee for protecting the life of President Milosevic and for
insuring that the full truth about the epic suffering and heroism of
this people in its struggle for freedom and also about the crimes
committed against are recorded in history.
The Sloboda/Freedom Association, led by Slobodan Milosevic, will
mobilize all patriotic and progressive forces to continue the struggle
for the universal values of freedom and justice, the struggle to
restore freedom and democracy in Serbia - until victory!
Belgrade, September 27, 2003
Assembly of Sloboda/Freedom Association
The Serbian original of the Resolution and the pictures from the
Sloboda Assembly can be seen at:
http://www.sloboda.org.yu/aktuelno/skupstina.htm
=== 4 ===
Da: "Vladimir Krsljanin"
Data: Mar 30 Set 2003 02:18:24 Europe/Rome
Oggetto: Legal arguments against the legal violence: The Statement of
ICDSM Québec and Canada
THREE MONTHS TO PREPARE THE DEFENCE IN THE "TRIAL OF THE CENTURY": AN
ATTEMPT TO SILENCE THE TRUTH
The Québec and Canada sections of the International Committee for the
Defence of Slobodan Milosevic (ICDSM) wish to register our outrage at
the decision of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia (ICTY) to grant President Slobodan Milosevic only three
months' preparation
time for the presentation of his defence against a "case" built only on
the cynical distortion of the ten most turbulent years of Yugoslavia's
history.
This decision is yet another illustration of the ICTY's contempt for
the most basic international norms of jurisprudence and prisoners'
rights. This decision is also a clear signal that this institution,
born of political pressure from the US administration - which has
institutionalized legal impunity for its own, ongoing crimes - was not
designed for and does not intend to conduct a trial. This process
merely seeks to divert scrutiny from the West's responsibility for the
destruction of a nation. Faced with
President Milosevic's refusal to accept the political manipulations of
The Hague, his principled defence of his people and their history, and
successful courtroom performance, the ICTY is now attempting to prevent
him
from presenting his case.
This is, as the renowned Canadian criminal lawyer Edward Greenspan put
it, a lynching.
Imposition of counsel?
On April 4th 2003, the ICTY acknowledged Slobodan Milosevic's right to
defend himself in person, and denied a Prosecution motion to impose
counsel against his will. This fundamental right to self-representation
without the imposition of counsel over the will of an accused is
paramount. The United States Supreme Court has held that imposition of
counsel on an unwilling accused is unprecedented with the exception of
the Star Chamber, which carried out political trials. The Prosecutor
now seeks to revisit this issue, and will petition for the imposition
of counsel against President Milosevic's wishes, despite the fact that
this very applicartion betrays the
political nature of this process.
The ICTY's decision to permit Slobodan Milosevic to represent himself
held, in reference to Article 21 of the ICTY Statute, that it "has
indeed an obligation to ensure that a trial is fair and expeditious;
moreover, where the health of the Accused is in issue, that obligation
takes on special significance." Article 21 states that the Chamber
must exercise this obligation "with full respect for the rights of the
accused."
More expeditious than fair!
The Chamber's decision to grant Mr. Milosevic three months to prepare
his defence flies completely in the face of its stated concern to
ensure a fair trial and respect for the rights of the accused. It is a
wholly unrealistic preparation time for a trial of this magnitude,
especially so since Mr. Milosevic is defending himself while detained.
The Chamber has visited an additional hardship upon Mr. Milosevic by
ordering him to provide, within six weeks of the close of the
Prosecution's case, a detailed list of witnesses he intends to call,
including a summary of the facts on which each witness will testify,
and an indication of whether the witness will testify in person or by
way of written statement or use of a transcript of testimony from other
proceedings before the Tribunal. He must also list the exhibits he
intends to offer in his case, and serve the Prosecutor copies of same.
The Chamber cannot even guarantee that Mr. Milosevic will have
"permission" to call any witness he chooses, as the decision states it
will hold a "Pre-Defence Conference" to review the witness list for
approval and determine the time allowed to him to present his case.
Equality of arms?
Numerous international conventions affirm the right of anyone accused
of a criminal offence to adequate time and facilities to prepare their
defence.
This right is an important aspect of the fundamental principle of
"equality of arms," which holds that the defence and the prosecution
must be treated in a manner that ensures that both parties have an
equal opportunity to prepare and present their case during the course
of the proceedings. The Tribunal has claimed recognition of this
principle in its Statute which states that the accused has the right to
"examine the witnesses against him or her and to obtain the attendance
and examination of witnesses on his or her behalf under the same
conditions as witnesses against him or her."
The Tribunal's stated respect for "equality of arms" is belied by the
absence of any restraints on the Prosecution remotely analogous to
those operating on Mr. Milosevic, who has had to face almost 300
witnesses over 250 days of trial proceedings during the presentation of
the Prosecution's case, and received over 500,000 pages of disclosure
to review. Just the burden of preparing the cross-examination of so
many witnesses every night in a jail cell is mind-boggling. And now
he has a mere three months to review this mass of testimony and
documentation, and review transcripts generated so far. He has six
weeks to identify, meet, and interview defence
witnesses, as well as to select and tender key defence documents.
Taking just for example the half-million pages of disclosure to review,
and assuming each page is read only once, at a rate of one page a
minute, it would take 347 24-hour days to read it all. That's over ten
months, not three. By contrast, the ICTY filed its "Kosovo indictment"
four and half
years ago, and enjoyed a two-year preparation period for their
additional indictments in 2001 related to the Croatian and Bosnian
conflicts. The Prosecutor has had eight years to collect evidence on
Srebrenica.
President Milosevic's life is in danger!
The decision to permit only three months' preparation, and only six
weeks to produce a list of witnesses along with a summary of their
statements fails to take into account President Milosevic's health.
The court as been obliged to acknowledge, again and again, by
adjourning the proceedings, that the UN doctors were right when they
reported that President Milosevic's life was at risk because of the
intensity of the proceedings. Affording three months increases his
stress and could lead to increased blood pressure, leading to stroke,
or death.
In November of last year, the ICDSM requested standing before the
Chamber to argue that Slobodan Milosevic's medical condition required
immediate specialized medical attention, and that his state of health
required he be released from custody, given adequate time for his
convalescence, and be allowed to prepare his defence in a non-custodial
setting. The ICTY has not granted this request, nor has it denied it.
The "Tribunal" has simply ignored it.
Appalling conditions
In addition to having only three months to prepare his defence, Mr.
Milosevic must do so from a jail cell under appalling limitations. At
the present time, Mr. Milosevic cannot meet with his wife and family.
His closest associates and friends are inaccessible, as the Registrar
has banned him from contact with members of his party, the SPS, and
"associated entities". Sloboda, the leading association in defence of
President
Milosevic has been listed as a banned group. The Registrar applied
this measure based on the suspicion that two SPS members had spoken to
the press.
President Milosevic's preparation of his defence requires that he meet
witnesses and resource persons, many of whom are now unable to meet
with him because they are banned. "Associated entities" could be
anyone, it is for the Registrar's discretion. Sloboda has challenged
the ban on legal grounds. It has yet to hear from the ICTY.
In addition to having severely curtailed President Milosevic's contact
with his closest advisors, and the Registrar has provided inadequate
facilities to prepare his defence. He has been permitted a controlled
access to a few basic rudiments of electronic and print communication
(phone, fax, a computer in his cell, a VCR for reviewing trial
footage), but the frequency
and duration of his visits with his legal associates are tightly
circumscribed, usually amounting to no more than a few hours a week if
at all, and effectively limited to days when the trial finishes early.
Again, it is telling to contrast these conditions and facilities
"permitted" a man who is defending himself alone against the most
serious charges known to humanity in what has been called the "trial of
the century," with the vast resources available to the Office of the
Prosecutor, and the unlimited
prerogatives the Prosecution enjoys for meeting with its investigators,
assistants, researchers and various other members of its much larger
team.
The Prosecutor's spokeswoman attends joint press conferences with the
ICTY spokesman, while Slobodan Milosevic cannot meet with members of
his party, Sloboda, or undefined "associated entities" because two
individuals are
suspected of having spoken to the media about meeting with him.
A public trial?
Article 11 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms the
presumption of innocence and the right of the accused to a public trial.
But the "trial" of Slobodan Milosevic is often not public, and shielded
from international public scrutiny. Security concerns are
systematically invoked to justify the numerous closed sessions,
pseudonym witnesses, and ex parte motions filed by the Prosecutor,
motions whose content Mr. Milosevic is not
entitled to review. In the past six months, the Chamber has handed
down seven decisions following ex parte motions. Another fundamental
right is to be present for one's own trial. If Mr. Milosevic cannot
read Prosecution submissions to the judges, let alone respond to them,
can it be said that he is actually present at his trial?
Release President Milosevic!
These developments bespeak a process which is much more expeditious
than it is fair, and compel the Québec and Canada Sections of the ICDSM
to reiterate the ICDSM's call for a two-year recess in the trial in
order for Slobodan Milosevic to prepare his defence, to end the ban on
his visitation rights,
and to have his medical condition treated by a medical professional of
his choice. He must be released from custody. To proceed otherwise is
only to continue the shameful mockery of justice at The Hague. Indeed,
the most enduring remedy to this judicial circus - and one which we
support - is the complete disbandment of this incurably politicized
"court" and the release of all its prisoners.
---
SLOBODA urgently needs your donation.
Please find the detailed instructions at:
http://www.sloboda.org.yu/pomoc.htm
To join or help this struggle, visit:
http://www.sloboda.org.yu/ (Sloboda/Freedom association)
http://www.icdsm.org/ (the international committee to defend Slobodan
Milosevic)
http://www.free-slobo.de/ (German section of ICDSM)
http://www.icdsmireland.org/ (ICDSM Ireland)
http://www.wpc-in.org/ (world peace council)
http://www.geocities.com/b_antinato/ (Balkan antiNATO center)
1. ICDSM Addresses the Press at The Hague - TODAY
2. Protest in Belgrade hits NATO court (by John Catalinotto)
3. SLOBODA Assembly Resolution (27.09.2003)
4. Legal arguments against the legal violence: The Statement of ICDSM
Québec and Canada
AN IMPORTANT LINK - From: "Vladimir Krsljanin":
Dutch TV documentary on the Hague process, in two parts
Perhaps the most objective and comprehensive documentary on the process
against President Milosevic that appeared in Western media can be
watched at
http://info.vpro.nl/info/tegenlicht/index.shtml?7738514+7738518+8048024
=== 1 ===
Announcement: ICDSM Addresses the Press at The Hague
ICDSM
THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE TO DEFEND SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC
ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE MEDIA:
ICDSM representative Ian Johnson at The Hague on Tuesday, September 30
On the occasion of the "special hearing" at The Hague on Tuesday,
September 30 at the ICTY courtroom I in The Hague ("Prosecution Motion
for a Hearing to Discuss the Implications of the Accused's Recurring
Ill Health"), schedulled to occur in absence of President Milosevic,
the ICDSM representative Mr. Ian Johnson will be present at The Hague.
After the 1 hour court session, Mr. Johnson will deliver a statement to
the press outside the tribunal building. He is member of the Board of
ICDSM and coordinator of its British section.
The tribunal announced earlier:
"Press Advisory . Avis pour information
(Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document)
The Hague, 25 September 2003
P.I.S./PA131
MILOSEVIC CASE:
NO TRIAL NEXT WEEK BUT HEARING SCHEDULED REGARDING PROSECUTION MOTION ON
IMPLICATIONS OF THE ACCUSED'S RECURRING ILL HEALTH
Please be advised that the Milosevic trial next week, Monday 29
September to Friday 3 October 2003, has been cancelled due to the
ill-health of the accused.
However, following the filing on 23 September 2003 of the "Prosecution
Motion for a Hearing to Discuss the Implications of the Accused's
Recurring Ill Health", Trial Chamber III has ordered that it shall hear
oral submissions of the parties, including the amici curiae, on
Tuesday, 30 September 2003 at 10.00 a.m. in Courtroom I. "
=== 2 ===
> http://www.workers.org/ww/2003/milosevic1002.php
Protest in Belgrade hits NATO court
By John Catalinotto
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton visited the city of Srebrenica in
Bosnia on Sept. 20 in an attempt to justify the 10 years of
destabilization, subversion and outright war, starting in 1990, that
the U.S. and NATO waged to break up the multinational country of
Yugoslavia, which for years had been a peaceful federation of socialist
republics.
The July 1995 battle of Srebrenica was allegedly the bloodiest of the
brutal civil war in Bosnia. It would never have taken place, however,
if Washington had not earlier sabotaged a peace agreement by urging the
right-wing government of Alija Izbetgovic not to sign it. Then, in
1999, Clinton ordered an air war on what remained of Yugoslavia. Gen.
Wesley Clark, now a candidate for the Democratic presidential
nomination in 2004, headed NATO's 78-day bombing campaign.
While Clinton was in Srebrenica, hundreds of people led by the Sloboda
organization marched in downtown Belgrade, Serbia, which used to be the
capital of Yugoslavia, to protest his visit and to demand that former
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic be released from prison and given
ample time to prepare his defense, and that he no longer be isolated
from his family and supporters.
The NATO victors established a court in The Hague, Belgium, to try
Yugoslav officials for alleged war crimes because they had resisted a
Western takeover. That court has refused to release Milosevic from
prison to prepare his defense. It also has allowed him only three
months to go over almost 10,000 pages of prosecution documentation.
The Yugoslav leader had demanded he be released for two years to go
over the documents and prepare a defense. Despite poor health and the
court-imposed isolation, he has been defending himself effectively
since the trial started in February 2002. He has often been able to put
the court and NATO on the defensive for NATO's aggression in the
Balkans.
National sections of the International Committee for the Defense of
Slobodan Milosevic in Russia, Serbia, Germany and the U.S. have issued
statements supporting the former president's demands. Defense
committees in Europe and organizations representing the Yugoslav
diaspora there have called for a demonstration Nov. 8 in The Hague
criticizing the court, the second such action this year.
Many Yugoslavs say the charges against Milosevic are really directed
against the entire Serb people. Milosevic is targeted, they say,
because he was the leader of Yugoslavia during much of the period when
it was attempting to resist being destroyed as a multinational state.
They say Bill Clinton and Wesley Clark are the real war criminals in
the Balkans, along with some European NATO leaders.
In addition, a group of 12 doctors from Germany have written a letter
to the court in The Hague demanding that the court act responsibly
regarding Milosevic's health. The former president has suffered from
high blood pressure and from "the possibility of coronary disease,
cerebrovascular accident, heart attack and death." Numerous times the
court has had to suspend sessions because of these health problems.
The doctors' letter supports the request for an extended pause in the
proceedings and for Milosevic's release and examination by doctors of
his choice.
Reprinted from the Oct. 2, 2003, issue of Workers World newspaper
(Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and
distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not
allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY,
NY 10011; via email: ww@.... Subscribe
wwnews-on@...)
=== 3 ===
Da: "Vladimir Krsljanin"
Data: Mar 30 Set 2003 00:02:44 Europe/Rome
Oggetto: Sloboda Assembly Resolution
The SLOBODA/Freedom Association has held its Assembly Meeting in
Belgrade on September 27, 2003. The Assembly has 180 members. At the
September 27th meeting important personalities from the political and
intellectual life of Serbia, Montenegro, the Republic of Srpska and the
Republic of Serb Krajina took part, including Mirko Marjanovic, long
time Serbian Prime Minister, Momir Bulatovic, former Federal Prime
Minister and President of the Republic of Montenegro, members of the
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Professor Mihajlo Markovic,
Professor Milos Macura, Professor Cedomir Popov, Professor Kosta
Mihailovic, Professor Ivan Maksimovic and many others. The Founder and
Co-Chairman of the ICDSM, Professor Velko Valkanov, and the Chairman of
the Russian Committee, Alexander Zinoviev, have sent their written
messages. Greetings were received from the leader of the Communist
Party of the Russian Federation, Gennadi Zyuganov, the former Soviet
Prime Minister Nikolai Rizhkov, and ICDSM Co-Chairman Ramsey Clark.
Bishop Filaret of the
Serbian Orthodox Church has sent his blessing. Professor Mirko Zurovac,
a well known Belgrade philosopher, has been elected Assembly Chairman
for the next two-year term. All previous members of the Board have been
re-elected and the Board was expanded to 30 members. The Assembly
unanimously adopted the following:
RESOLUTION:
For The Immediate Release Of President Slobodan Milosevic
1. President Slobodan Milosevic, fighting on the front lines in
the struggle for truth, freedom, national sovereignty and dignity,
raises the hopes and self-confidence of the people and inspires all
progressive men and women in the world with his merit, strength and
self-sacrifice.
In despair, due to the failed attempt to distort our history in
accordance with the plans of the secret and propaganda services of the
aggressors, the Hague tribunal has reached the level of unimpeded crime.
Acting together, the judges and the prosecutors of the tribunal
are trying to prevent President Milosevic from presenting the full
truth about the aggressors and their servants, physically even
threatening his life.
Instead of providing therapy and recuperation in freedom, as
demanded by the President's medical condition - which no judge has a
right to deny and especially not to refuse without discussion - the
President has been forced to prepare within three months, in fact in
six weeks, from a prison cell, a presentation to bury forever the whole
aggressor's propaganda, systematized in the "prosecution case", through
several years of work of intelligence services and hundreds of
tribunal's employees, who have been paid with hundreds of millions of
dollars. In his life threatening physical condition he is expected to
analyze within six weeks several hundred thousand pages of the
prosecution disclosure, several tens of
thousand pages of the transcripts, to contact and prepare for testimony
at least 300 of his witnesses, to collect and systematize several
hundred of thousand pages of his own documents and to inform the
prosecution of all of this in advance! Even from the point of view of
elementary logic, this is an impossible task to perform. On top of
this, the witnesses and evidence he will be allowed to present, only
the so-called judges will decide that! And all that in a situation
where the visits of his wife and son, as well as all members of Sloboda
and all members of SPS, are banned.
Against freedom - bombs! Against truth - Inquisition!
2. They created the terrorists, they organized and financed
their crimes, and then they used them as an excuse for the bombing and
submission of a whole people, and for the cruel persecution of honest
fighters and patriots. And still the terrorists remain unpunished.
There is even more dirty work than the work of Carla Del Ponte
and the other Hague mercenaries. For that work the people of the
criminal past and present are charged, who step on human rights,
democracy and the freedom of the press in the same way as the Chilean
or Turkish military juntas have done in the past. The people who call
themselves ministers and who for their "democratic achievements"
receive praise and tips from the foreign ambassadors ruling Serbia.
The persecution of the family and associates of President
Milosevic goes on. And he himself is attacked by ruthless, false and
absurd charges which are motivated by one overarching goal - to destroy
even the hope for Serbia to restore its freedom.
3. The Hague-DOS machinery for destruction of the people and of their
dignity, for the murder of freedom and the annihilation of the nation,
trembles before every expression of resistance by the people. As NATO
was shaken during the aggression, today confronted by Slobodan
Milosevic and Sloboda, The Hague and DOS are in agony.
The bigger the resistance to the machinery of crime, the bigger
the international solidarity. From day to day, since The Hague has
shown openly its criminal face, the Russian Duma, American academics,
Canadian lawyers, German doctors, the International and the National
Committees for the defense of Slobodan Milosevic and many others,
demand from the United
Nations, from their countries' governments and from the tribunal itself
- freedom for Slobodan!
The battles for the freedom of Slobodan Milosevic and for the
freedom and dignity of Serbia are one in the same battle. They can be
won only if the humiliation, dissatisfaction and anger of the people
are turned into the gathering and the common organized action of all
patriots, of all honest people and of all of their political and
creative potentials.
Sloboda exists for that goal and will be totally devoted to it.
4. A fighter to free humanity from the global tyranny of the
"New World Order", the most important political prisoner of today, the
war prisoner of NATO, several times democratically and directly elected
President of all citizens of Serbia and the legitimate President of the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - Slobodan Milosevic must be immediately
released from the Hague dungeon!
After two years in freedom, so that he would have at least
approximately the same possibility to present the truth as much as the
Tribunal has presented its lies - that was and is a gentleman's fair
proposal by a great man capable of offering even his enemies the chance
to show a human face. Two years in freedom is also the necessary
guarantee for protecting the life of President Milosevic and for
insuring that the full truth about the epic suffering and heroism of
this people in its struggle for freedom and also about the crimes
committed against are recorded in history.
The Sloboda/Freedom Association, led by Slobodan Milosevic, will
mobilize all patriotic and progressive forces to continue the struggle
for the universal values of freedom and justice, the struggle to
restore freedom and democracy in Serbia - until victory!
Belgrade, September 27, 2003
Assembly of Sloboda/Freedom Association
The Serbian original of the Resolution and the pictures from the
Sloboda Assembly can be seen at:
http://www.sloboda.org.yu/aktuelno/skupstina.htm
=== 4 ===
Da: "Vladimir Krsljanin"
Data: Mar 30 Set 2003 02:18:24 Europe/Rome
Oggetto: Legal arguments against the legal violence: The Statement of
ICDSM Québec and Canada
THREE MONTHS TO PREPARE THE DEFENCE IN THE "TRIAL OF THE CENTURY": AN
ATTEMPT TO SILENCE THE TRUTH
The Québec and Canada sections of the International Committee for the
Defence of Slobodan Milosevic (ICDSM) wish to register our outrage at
the decision of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia (ICTY) to grant President Slobodan Milosevic only three
months' preparation
time for the presentation of his defence against a "case" built only on
the cynical distortion of the ten most turbulent years of Yugoslavia's
history.
This decision is yet another illustration of the ICTY's contempt for
the most basic international norms of jurisprudence and prisoners'
rights. This decision is also a clear signal that this institution,
born of political pressure from the US administration - which has
institutionalized legal impunity for its own, ongoing crimes - was not
designed for and does not intend to conduct a trial. This process
merely seeks to divert scrutiny from the West's responsibility for the
destruction of a nation. Faced with
President Milosevic's refusal to accept the political manipulations of
The Hague, his principled defence of his people and their history, and
successful courtroom performance, the ICTY is now attempting to prevent
him
from presenting his case.
This is, as the renowned Canadian criminal lawyer Edward Greenspan put
it, a lynching.
Imposition of counsel?
On April 4th 2003, the ICTY acknowledged Slobodan Milosevic's right to
defend himself in person, and denied a Prosecution motion to impose
counsel against his will. This fundamental right to self-representation
without the imposition of counsel over the will of an accused is
paramount. The United States Supreme Court has held that imposition of
counsel on an unwilling accused is unprecedented with the exception of
the Star Chamber, which carried out political trials. The Prosecutor
now seeks to revisit this issue, and will petition for the imposition
of counsel against President Milosevic's wishes, despite the fact that
this very applicartion betrays the
political nature of this process.
The ICTY's decision to permit Slobodan Milosevic to represent himself
held, in reference to Article 21 of the ICTY Statute, that it "has
indeed an obligation to ensure that a trial is fair and expeditious;
moreover, where the health of the Accused is in issue, that obligation
takes on special significance." Article 21 states that the Chamber
must exercise this obligation "with full respect for the rights of the
accused."
More expeditious than fair!
The Chamber's decision to grant Mr. Milosevic three months to prepare
his defence flies completely in the face of its stated concern to
ensure a fair trial and respect for the rights of the accused. It is a
wholly unrealistic preparation time for a trial of this magnitude,
especially so since Mr. Milosevic is defending himself while detained.
The Chamber has visited an additional hardship upon Mr. Milosevic by
ordering him to provide, within six weeks of the close of the
Prosecution's case, a detailed list of witnesses he intends to call,
including a summary of the facts on which each witness will testify,
and an indication of whether the witness will testify in person or by
way of written statement or use of a transcript of testimony from other
proceedings before the Tribunal. He must also list the exhibits he
intends to offer in his case, and serve the Prosecutor copies of same.
The Chamber cannot even guarantee that Mr. Milosevic will have
"permission" to call any witness he chooses, as the decision states it
will hold a "Pre-Defence Conference" to review the witness list for
approval and determine the time allowed to him to present his case.
Equality of arms?
Numerous international conventions affirm the right of anyone accused
of a criminal offence to adequate time and facilities to prepare their
defence.
This right is an important aspect of the fundamental principle of
"equality of arms," which holds that the defence and the prosecution
must be treated in a manner that ensures that both parties have an
equal opportunity to prepare and present their case during the course
of the proceedings. The Tribunal has claimed recognition of this
principle in its Statute which states that the accused has the right to
"examine the witnesses against him or her and to obtain the attendance
and examination of witnesses on his or her behalf under the same
conditions as witnesses against him or her."
The Tribunal's stated respect for "equality of arms" is belied by the
absence of any restraints on the Prosecution remotely analogous to
those operating on Mr. Milosevic, who has had to face almost 300
witnesses over 250 days of trial proceedings during the presentation of
the Prosecution's case, and received over 500,000 pages of disclosure
to review. Just the burden of preparing the cross-examination of so
many witnesses every night in a jail cell is mind-boggling. And now
he has a mere three months to review this mass of testimony and
documentation, and review transcripts generated so far. He has six
weeks to identify, meet, and interview defence
witnesses, as well as to select and tender key defence documents.
Taking just for example the half-million pages of disclosure to review,
and assuming each page is read only once, at a rate of one page a
minute, it would take 347 24-hour days to read it all. That's over ten
months, not three. By contrast, the ICTY filed its "Kosovo indictment"
four and half
years ago, and enjoyed a two-year preparation period for their
additional indictments in 2001 related to the Croatian and Bosnian
conflicts. The Prosecutor has had eight years to collect evidence on
Srebrenica.
President Milosevic's life is in danger!
The decision to permit only three months' preparation, and only six
weeks to produce a list of witnesses along with a summary of their
statements fails to take into account President Milosevic's health.
The court as been obliged to acknowledge, again and again, by
adjourning the proceedings, that the UN doctors were right when they
reported that President Milosevic's life was at risk because of the
intensity of the proceedings. Affording three months increases his
stress and could lead to increased blood pressure, leading to stroke,
or death.
In November of last year, the ICDSM requested standing before the
Chamber to argue that Slobodan Milosevic's medical condition required
immediate specialized medical attention, and that his state of health
required he be released from custody, given adequate time for his
convalescence, and be allowed to prepare his defence in a non-custodial
setting. The ICTY has not granted this request, nor has it denied it.
The "Tribunal" has simply ignored it.
Appalling conditions
In addition to having only three months to prepare his defence, Mr.
Milosevic must do so from a jail cell under appalling limitations. At
the present time, Mr. Milosevic cannot meet with his wife and family.
His closest associates and friends are inaccessible, as the Registrar
has banned him from contact with members of his party, the SPS, and
"associated entities". Sloboda, the leading association in defence of
President
Milosevic has been listed as a banned group. The Registrar applied
this measure based on the suspicion that two SPS members had spoken to
the press.
President Milosevic's preparation of his defence requires that he meet
witnesses and resource persons, many of whom are now unable to meet
with him because they are banned. "Associated entities" could be
anyone, it is for the Registrar's discretion. Sloboda has challenged
the ban on legal grounds. It has yet to hear from the ICTY.
In addition to having severely curtailed President Milosevic's contact
with his closest advisors, and the Registrar has provided inadequate
facilities to prepare his defence. He has been permitted a controlled
access to a few basic rudiments of electronic and print communication
(phone, fax, a computer in his cell, a VCR for reviewing trial
footage), but the frequency
and duration of his visits with his legal associates are tightly
circumscribed, usually amounting to no more than a few hours a week if
at all, and effectively limited to days when the trial finishes early.
Again, it is telling to contrast these conditions and facilities
"permitted" a man who is defending himself alone against the most
serious charges known to humanity in what has been called the "trial of
the century," with the vast resources available to the Office of the
Prosecutor, and the unlimited
prerogatives the Prosecution enjoys for meeting with its investigators,
assistants, researchers and various other members of its much larger
team.
The Prosecutor's spokeswoman attends joint press conferences with the
ICTY spokesman, while Slobodan Milosevic cannot meet with members of
his party, Sloboda, or undefined "associated entities" because two
individuals are
suspected of having spoken to the media about meeting with him.
A public trial?
Article 11 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms the
presumption of innocence and the right of the accused to a public trial.
But the "trial" of Slobodan Milosevic is often not public, and shielded
from international public scrutiny. Security concerns are
systematically invoked to justify the numerous closed sessions,
pseudonym witnesses, and ex parte motions filed by the Prosecutor,
motions whose content Mr. Milosevic is not
entitled to review. In the past six months, the Chamber has handed
down seven decisions following ex parte motions. Another fundamental
right is to be present for one's own trial. If Mr. Milosevic cannot
read Prosecution submissions to the judges, let alone respond to them,
can it be said that he is actually present at his trial?
Release President Milosevic!
These developments bespeak a process which is much more expeditious
than it is fair, and compel the Québec and Canada Sections of the ICDSM
to reiterate the ICDSM's call for a two-year recess in the trial in
order for Slobodan Milosevic to prepare his defence, to end the ban on
his visitation rights,
and to have his medical condition treated by a medical professional of
his choice. He must be released from custody. To proceed otherwise is
only to continue the shameful mockery of justice at The Hague. Indeed,
the most enduring remedy to this judicial circus - and one which we
support - is the complete disbandment of this incurably politicized
"court" and the release of all its prisoners.
---
SLOBODA urgently needs your donation.
Please find the detailed instructions at:
http://www.sloboda.org.yu/pomoc.htm
To join or help this struggle, visit:
http://www.sloboda.org.yu/ (Sloboda/Freedom association)
http://www.icdsm.org/ (the international committee to defend Slobodan
Milosevic)
http://www.free-slobo.de/ (German section of ICDSM)
http://www.icdsmireland.org/ (ICDSM Ireland)
http://www.wpc-in.org/ (world peace council)
http://www.geocities.com/b_antinato/ (Balkan antiNATO center)
[in english:
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2822
en francais:
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2811 ]
Wesley Clark farà domani il contrario di ciò che ha fatto ieri?
America latina, Jugoslavia, Cina e qualche altro obiettivo
Di Michel Collon
Wesley Clark, una speranza di fronte ad un "Bush bis"? Vedremo in
seguito perché alcuni gruppi dirigenti negli stati uniti progettano di
"cambiare cavallo". Ma perché, innanzi tutto, non si dice nulla del suo
passato? Sì, si può votare per Wesley Clark, a condizione di
dimenticare che...
America Latina (96/97)
Installatosi a Panama per comandare l'US Southern Command, cioè le
operazioni in america latina, Clark fornì numerosi "consiglieri"
militari e mercenari USA a diversi regimi che praticavano il terrore.
Durante questo periodo, le violazioni dei diritti dell'uomo conoscevano
un’escalation impressionante; ad esempio in Colombia: 2.400 assassini
politici (senza contare i numerosi desaparecidos) commessi dai gruppi
militari e paramilitari armati, addestrati e aiutati da Wesley Clark.
Obiettivo: sulla linea delle aggressioni a Cuba, Cile e altri paesi, si
trattava di combattere selvaggiamente i movimenti di liberazione in
Colombia, Perù, Guatemala, Messico e Bolivia. Sempre per mantenere il
dominio economico delle multinazionali USA sull'america Latina. Che
queste guerre si siano svolte piuttosto lontano dalle telecamere, non
riduce le responsabilità di Clark.
[http://www.law.northwestern.edu/depts/clinic/ihr/
display_details.cfm?ID=120&document_type=commentary]
[http://www.nato.int/cv/saceur/clark.htm%5d
Jugoslavia 1999:
La guerra contro la Jugoslavia? Alcuni ci vedono una operazione
umanitaria dove i fini reali corrispondono ai fini proclamati. Per
altri, al contrario, fu una operazione ipocrita, mirante a mettere le
mani sulle vie balcaniche del petrolio e sulle ricchezze del paese,
eliminando l'autogestione e le conquiste sociali del “modello
socialista Jugoslavo”. Sembra che lo stesso Clark abbia risposto ad
alcune questioni tirando il seguente bilancio, alla fine del suo
mandato: "i nemici potenziali dovranno riconoscere che le nazioni
occidentali sono pienamente capaci, a livello militare, diplomatico ed
industriale, di condurre operazioni di combattimento di alta intensità
includenti l'utilizzo di forze terrestri, quando sono in gioco i loro
interessi vitali, e anche quando sono implicati interessi meno vitali".
Nessun riferimento a pretesti umanitari, ampiamente invocati prima e
dopo la guerra.
(Intervista IHT, 3 Maggio 2000)
Ciò che ne deriva, i crimini commessi durante questa guerra dalla Nato,
sotto il comando di Wesley Clark, è innegabile. Tuttavia questi fatti
non saranno mai giudicati, perché la giustizia internazionale non
esiste contro i potenti.
Quali crimini? Se ha colpito un numero ridicolo di carri armati
Jugoslavi, Clark ha bombardato un edificio della TV (16 giornalisti e
tecnici uccisi), fabbriche, complessi petrolchimici (da cui l'esplodere
di cancro e altre malattie), infrastrutture civili (centrali
elettriche), un convoglio di profughi albanesi che tornavano in Kosovo
(70 vittime), un treno viaggiatori... E, last but non least,
l'ambasciata cinese (tre vittime) a titolo di avvertimento perché
Pechino sosteneva l'indipendenza della Jugoslavia. E ancora l'uso di
bombe a frammentazione, mortali per molto tempo per i bambini; e quello
dei proiettili all'uranio impoverito, che inquinerà la regione per
tantissimo tempo. Il capitano spagnolo Martin de la Hoz ha protestato
apertamente contro il bombardamento deliberato di obiettivi civili.
(Articulo 20, Madrid, 14 Giugno 1999)
Lungi dall'essere un semplice "soldato obbediente", Clark è descritto
da tutti come il "Super falco" che, in particolare, voleva bombardare
tutti i ponti di Belgrado per intimidire la popolazione. E questo si
vede anche dal suo comportamento subito dopo la guerra: quando le
truppe russe muovono verso Pristina per provare a proteggere le
minoranze serbe, Wesley Clark, straordinariamente in collera, pretende
che il generale Jackson blocchi l'aeroporto di Pristina per impedire ai
russi di atterrare. Risposta di Jackson: "Signore, io non voglio
scatenare la terza guerra mondiale per voi!". In seguito, Clark aiuterà
le milizie terroriste dell'UCK a sfuggire alla smilitarizzazione, se
pur prevista dalla risoluzione dell'ONU. Oggi, ancora queste milizie
mafiose fanno regnare il terrore tra tutte le comunità nazionali e
anche in una gran parte della popolazione albanese.
Oggi che Bush s'imbottiglia di fronte alla resistenza del popolo
iracheno, Wesley Clark fa lo spaccone: "L'avevo detto". E, per calcolo
elettorale, cerca anche di darsi un’immagine "anti-guerra". Ma cosa
affermava prima della guerra? "Sono categoricamente certo che Saddam
possiede armi di distruzione di massa" (CNN, 18 Febbraio 2001).
E cosa scriveva esattamente il dieci aprile seguente? Ebbene, egli
salutava l'aggressione contro l'Irak, motivata, secondo lui, da "forti
convinzioni; Bush e Blair possono essere fieri della loro
determinazione". Giudicando che "nulla poteva essere più commovente"
della "liberazione" di Baghdad e che occorreva sbrigarsi a "completare
questa grande vittoria". Applaudiva anche il generale Tommy Franks: un
criminale di guerra colpevole di aver ordinato o coperto bombardamenti
sui civili, attacchi contro ospedali e ambulanze, contro giornalisti...
E domani la Cina e...?
Perché viene fuori Clark ? Perchè gli smacchi del metodo Bush
cominciano ad inquietare una parte dei gruppi dirigenti negli Stati
Uniti. Essi hanno paura che mettendosi contro tutti gli alleati,
diverrà sempre più difficile e costoso condurre le varie guerre
d'aggressione in preparazione. Infatti, le diverse fazioni della
borghesia statunitense sono sicuramente d'accordo su un piano di
ricolonizzazione totale del mondo per salvare le multinazionali USA
dalla crisi. Ma queste fazioni divergono tuttavia sui metodi: spartirsi
il bottino con glia alleati europei o no? Rispettare o no una sembianza
di legalità internazionale? Se Bush cadrà in discredito per le
resistenze, per le menzogne, per gli scandali, e per il fallimento
della sua politica economica, allora sarà necessario un uomo di
ricambio per portare avanti la stessa politica ma in modo più abile.
L'episodio di Clark mostra che la superpotenza USA ha i suoi punti
deboli. E' a causa della resistenza nel mondo che i gruppi dirigenti
degli stati Uniti sono in imbarazzo. E allo stesso tempo, l’episodio
mostra anche che le "soluzioni" di questo sistema consistono nel
rimpiazzare un criminale di guerra con un altro.
Tutti i suoi precedenti stati di servizio lo provano: Clark sarà anche
lui l'uomo delle multinazionali USA e dei loro pericolosi progetti.
Tenendo conto che la Cina è sempre più indicata come l'obiettivo
principale degli Stati Uniti in vista del 2015, è interessante
ricordarsi una recente intervista passata inosservata. Wesley Clark,
intervistato su Saddam, risponde che gli USA farebbero meglio ad
interessarsi della Cina: "Durante la rivoluzione culturale, c'era il
cannibalismo in Cina" (sic). E la gente che ha schiacciato gli studenti
alla Tienamen, è ancora al potere. (Magazine Fortune, citato in
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2003/9/21/102656.shtml)
Il generale Jackson non sembra avesse torto affermando che Wesley Clark
era la strada verso la terza guerra mondiale... La via Progressista non
consiste nello scegliere, nella disperazione della causa, un pescecane
che sembra meno pericoloso di quello al potere. La via progressista non
potrà essere altro che l'eliminazione del sistema dei pescecani.
23 Settembre 2003
Traduzione 28 Settembre 2003
a cura di Francesco Bachis, che ringraziamo.
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2822
en francais:
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/group/crj-mailinglist/message/2811 ]
Wesley Clark farà domani il contrario di ciò che ha fatto ieri?
America latina, Jugoslavia, Cina e qualche altro obiettivo
Di Michel Collon
Wesley Clark, una speranza di fronte ad un "Bush bis"? Vedremo in
seguito perché alcuni gruppi dirigenti negli stati uniti progettano di
"cambiare cavallo". Ma perché, innanzi tutto, non si dice nulla del suo
passato? Sì, si può votare per Wesley Clark, a condizione di
dimenticare che...
America Latina (96/97)
Installatosi a Panama per comandare l'US Southern Command, cioè le
operazioni in america latina, Clark fornì numerosi "consiglieri"
militari e mercenari USA a diversi regimi che praticavano il terrore.
Durante questo periodo, le violazioni dei diritti dell'uomo conoscevano
un’escalation impressionante; ad esempio in Colombia: 2.400 assassini
politici (senza contare i numerosi desaparecidos) commessi dai gruppi
militari e paramilitari armati, addestrati e aiutati da Wesley Clark.
Obiettivo: sulla linea delle aggressioni a Cuba, Cile e altri paesi, si
trattava di combattere selvaggiamente i movimenti di liberazione in
Colombia, Perù, Guatemala, Messico e Bolivia. Sempre per mantenere il
dominio economico delle multinazionali USA sull'america Latina. Che
queste guerre si siano svolte piuttosto lontano dalle telecamere, non
riduce le responsabilità di Clark.
[http://www.law.northwestern.edu/depts/clinic/ihr/
display_details.cfm?ID=120&document_type=commentary]
[http://www.nato.int/cv/saceur/clark.htm%5d
Jugoslavia 1999:
La guerra contro la Jugoslavia? Alcuni ci vedono una operazione
umanitaria dove i fini reali corrispondono ai fini proclamati. Per
altri, al contrario, fu una operazione ipocrita, mirante a mettere le
mani sulle vie balcaniche del petrolio e sulle ricchezze del paese,
eliminando l'autogestione e le conquiste sociali del “modello
socialista Jugoslavo”. Sembra che lo stesso Clark abbia risposto ad
alcune questioni tirando il seguente bilancio, alla fine del suo
mandato: "i nemici potenziali dovranno riconoscere che le nazioni
occidentali sono pienamente capaci, a livello militare, diplomatico ed
industriale, di condurre operazioni di combattimento di alta intensità
includenti l'utilizzo di forze terrestri, quando sono in gioco i loro
interessi vitali, e anche quando sono implicati interessi meno vitali".
Nessun riferimento a pretesti umanitari, ampiamente invocati prima e
dopo la guerra.
(Intervista IHT, 3 Maggio 2000)
Ciò che ne deriva, i crimini commessi durante questa guerra dalla Nato,
sotto il comando di Wesley Clark, è innegabile. Tuttavia questi fatti
non saranno mai giudicati, perché la giustizia internazionale non
esiste contro i potenti.
Quali crimini? Se ha colpito un numero ridicolo di carri armati
Jugoslavi, Clark ha bombardato un edificio della TV (16 giornalisti e
tecnici uccisi), fabbriche, complessi petrolchimici (da cui l'esplodere
di cancro e altre malattie), infrastrutture civili (centrali
elettriche), un convoglio di profughi albanesi che tornavano in Kosovo
(70 vittime), un treno viaggiatori... E, last but non least,
l'ambasciata cinese (tre vittime) a titolo di avvertimento perché
Pechino sosteneva l'indipendenza della Jugoslavia. E ancora l'uso di
bombe a frammentazione, mortali per molto tempo per i bambini; e quello
dei proiettili all'uranio impoverito, che inquinerà la regione per
tantissimo tempo. Il capitano spagnolo Martin de la Hoz ha protestato
apertamente contro il bombardamento deliberato di obiettivi civili.
(Articulo 20, Madrid, 14 Giugno 1999)
Lungi dall'essere un semplice "soldato obbediente", Clark è descritto
da tutti come il "Super falco" che, in particolare, voleva bombardare
tutti i ponti di Belgrado per intimidire la popolazione. E questo si
vede anche dal suo comportamento subito dopo la guerra: quando le
truppe russe muovono verso Pristina per provare a proteggere le
minoranze serbe, Wesley Clark, straordinariamente in collera, pretende
che il generale Jackson blocchi l'aeroporto di Pristina per impedire ai
russi di atterrare. Risposta di Jackson: "Signore, io non voglio
scatenare la terza guerra mondiale per voi!". In seguito, Clark aiuterà
le milizie terroriste dell'UCK a sfuggire alla smilitarizzazione, se
pur prevista dalla risoluzione dell'ONU. Oggi, ancora queste milizie
mafiose fanno regnare il terrore tra tutte le comunità nazionali e
anche in una gran parte della popolazione albanese.
Oggi che Bush s'imbottiglia di fronte alla resistenza del popolo
iracheno, Wesley Clark fa lo spaccone: "L'avevo detto". E, per calcolo
elettorale, cerca anche di darsi un’immagine "anti-guerra". Ma cosa
affermava prima della guerra? "Sono categoricamente certo che Saddam
possiede armi di distruzione di massa" (CNN, 18 Febbraio 2001).
E cosa scriveva esattamente il dieci aprile seguente? Ebbene, egli
salutava l'aggressione contro l'Irak, motivata, secondo lui, da "forti
convinzioni; Bush e Blair possono essere fieri della loro
determinazione". Giudicando che "nulla poteva essere più commovente"
della "liberazione" di Baghdad e che occorreva sbrigarsi a "completare
questa grande vittoria". Applaudiva anche il generale Tommy Franks: un
criminale di guerra colpevole di aver ordinato o coperto bombardamenti
sui civili, attacchi contro ospedali e ambulanze, contro giornalisti...
E domani la Cina e...?
Perché viene fuori Clark ? Perchè gli smacchi del metodo Bush
cominciano ad inquietare una parte dei gruppi dirigenti negli Stati
Uniti. Essi hanno paura che mettendosi contro tutti gli alleati,
diverrà sempre più difficile e costoso condurre le varie guerre
d'aggressione in preparazione. Infatti, le diverse fazioni della
borghesia statunitense sono sicuramente d'accordo su un piano di
ricolonizzazione totale del mondo per salvare le multinazionali USA
dalla crisi. Ma queste fazioni divergono tuttavia sui metodi: spartirsi
il bottino con glia alleati europei o no? Rispettare o no una sembianza
di legalità internazionale? Se Bush cadrà in discredito per le
resistenze, per le menzogne, per gli scandali, e per il fallimento
della sua politica economica, allora sarà necessario un uomo di
ricambio per portare avanti la stessa politica ma in modo più abile.
L'episodio di Clark mostra che la superpotenza USA ha i suoi punti
deboli. E' a causa della resistenza nel mondo che i gruppi dirigenti
degli stati Uniti sono in imbarazzo. E allo stesso tempo, l’episodio
mostra anche che le "soluzioni" di questo sistema consistono nel
rimpiazzare un criminale di guerra con un altro.
Tutti i suoi precedenti stati di servizio lo provano: Clark sarà anche
lui l'uomo delle multinazionali USA e dei loro pericolosi progetti.
Tenendo conto che la Cina è sempre più indicata come l'obiettivo
principale degli Stati Uniti in vista del 2015, è interessante
ricordarsi una recente intervista passata inosservata. Wesley Clark,
intervistato su Saddam, risponde che gli USA farebbero meglio ad
interessarsi della Cina: "Durante la rivoluzione culturale, c'era il
cannibalismo in Cina" (sic). E la gente che ha schiacciato gli studenti
alla Tienamen, è ancora al potere. (Magazine Fortune, citato in
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2003/9/21/102656.shtml)
Il generale Jackson non sembra avesse torto affermando che Wesley Clark
era la strada verso la terza guerra mondiale... La via Progressista non
consiste nello scegliere, nella disperazione della causa, un pescecane
che sembra meno pericoloso di quello al potere. La via progressista non
potrà essere altro che l'eliminazione del sistema dei pescecani.
23 Settembre 2003
Traduzione 28 Settembre 2003
a cura di Francesco Bachis, che ringraziamo.
