http://www.antiwar.com/malic/m-col.html

ANTIWAR, Thursday, January 30, 2003

Balkan Express
by Nebojsa Malic
Antiwar.com

Balkanizing the World

What Empire Wants

If there were any hopes in the past few
weeks, what with the rising tide of
antiwar sentiment, that the Empire might
turn back from the brink of
invading Iraq, the Emperor's annual speech
should have dispelled them.
Within a few short weeks, before the
weather window closes, there will be war.

Baghdad via Belgrade

Before attacking Yugoslavia in the spring
of 1999, the Empire bothered to
create a pretext. First its diplomatic
observers - actually intelligence
agents - helped a terrorist group stage a
"massacre," then its top diplomat
proposed a "peace plan" that was in fact a
naked land grab in the language
of unconditional surrender. When the
Belgrade government understandably
refused, U.S. and its satellites unleashed
Hell. But because it lacked any
justification for the attack, the Imperial
Alliance made wild allegations of
"genocide" and "humanitarian disaster."
The ongoing farce in the Hague
Inquisition is an embarrassing reminder of
the lengths to which they have
gone to transform these lies into Official
Truth.

Now the same pattern is used on the eve of
war against Iraq, only some
portions are no longer necessary. The
pretext, for example, which was to be
fabricated by the weapons inspectors, has
failed to materialize. Wild
allegations are flying again, though, and
there has even been a threat of
charging Iraqis with "war crimes," such as
resisting Imperial invasion.

Hopes of the UN somehow stopping the war
are also baseless. Any moral
authority they might have had was
purposefully demolished in Bosnia, and
died when the first bombs hit Belgrade and
NATO got away with the
international-law equivalent of
premeditated murder. After what happened
in the ruins of Yugoslavia, with the entire
world watching, the Empire now
feels it can get away with anything,
anywhere, anytime. Its leaders have
said as much.

Up to Their Old Tricks

While the general public in
Imperial-dominated countries may have already
forgotten 1999, both those running the
Empire and their intended victims
have not. When the implausible proposal of
exile for the Iraqi leader was
floated ten days ago, Saddam Hussein must
have thought of Slobodan
Milosevic. His constant appeasement of
U.S. demands, from Dayton to
Kumanovo, only brought more demands and
new sanctions, which did not stop
even after he was taken to the Hague
Inquisition in chains. Clearly, in
Milosevic's case, trusting the Empire
proved his undoing. Unlike the Serbian
people, Hussein seems to have realized
that. What good that will do him, if
any, remains to be seen.

The 'Serbian Model'

If extracting parallels from the Yugoslav
experience seems a bit
far-fetched, how about this Monday's
Christian Science Monitor, which in a
series of articles openly discusses
upcoming "regime change" in Baghdad in
light of previous such actions,
specifically devoting a major portion to
Yugoslavia?

Apparently, Iraq should end up with a
similar result as the 2000 "October
Revolution" in Belgrade, if through
different, more violent means. Reading
the interviews with pro-Imperial
sycophants and foot-soldiers of the October
coup, it becomes obvious the Empire saw
nothing wrong with corrupting a
country's political process and literally
buying a government it desired.
After all, they've funded the terrorist
KLA, then claimed it fought for
"American values"?

So it is we learn of a "a three-year
[sic!] campaign by the US and other
Western governments to dislodge the
Yugoslav leader by strangling his
country's economy with sanctions and
rocking it with bombs," an admission of
international crime if there ever was any.
Iraq suffered three times as long, though.

Also noted is the role of
"non-governmental" organizations, such as
George Soros's Open Society and various "human
rights" groups, which were basically
fronts for direct action against their
host country.

The Monitor also mentions in passing the
following facts, which have been
known for years yet assiduously ignored by
the mainstream media. Upon
reading them, it is not hard to see why:

* "opposition parties ran all the
country's major towns and cities after
municipal elections in December 1996."

* "Milosevic never resorted to
dictatorial repression of his political
opponents at home."

* "former members of the fractious 18
party "Democratic Opposition of
Serbia" (DOS) [say] US diplomats knocked
their heads together until they
formed a cohesive and united coalition."

* "western money funded the
development of Otpor."

Otpor ("Resistance") was ostensibly a
student movement advocating the
overthrow of government - but only the
Milosevic government. It was
organized and paid by the Empire to do a
job. The Monitor quotes one Otpor leader:

"Eighty-five percent of our funding came
from the United States," through
bodies such as the National Endowment for
Democracy, the International
Republican Institute and the National
Democratic Institute, as well as USAID.

The article ends with Zarko Korac, now
information minister in Zoran
Djindjic's quisling government, claiming
that what brought Milosevic down
was a "death by a thousand cuts."

Well, there's a cheerful picture:
"democracy" as a product of political and
military action based on ancient Chinese
torture. Truth can come from the
mouths of morons! But overall, it is a
chilling admission of how the Empire
is determined to have its way, and -
perhaps more disturbingly - how so many
are prepared to help it.

Caracas Copycats

But before the people of Iraq can dance
with joy at the prospect of a Zoran
Djindjic of their very own, it needs to be
made clear that the rest of the
world can look forward to such wonders as
well. Just last week, Washington's
patsies in Caracas have tried to copy the
Serbian Model, asking foreign
assistance to force early elections and
topple President Hugo Chavez.

Chavez is by no means a paragon of virtue,
and his socialist economic
theories leave a lot to be desired, but
while this describes most world
leaders, he differs by refusing to be
America's busboy. And because
Venezuela supplies over 10% of U.S. oil
imports, his defiance is more than
irksome to the Court of St. Abraham.

Battle Hymn of the Empire

This founder of Imperial Presidency sheds
much light on the belligerence of
today's Washington. Modern-day worshippers
of a president who shredded the
very real Constitution to save the very
abstract "Union" have gone much
further than the man who endorsed total
war against his own people. Lincoln
only claimed total dominion over the
United States of America; they claim
dominion over the entire world. Somehow,
at some point, America was anointed
with World Leadership, they say, and any
and all who resist it are "in
rebellion" against legitimate authority.
Thus, there is no need for
justification of further invasions, as
they represent legitimate suppression
of rebellions by the legitimate overlords
of the World.

Towards a New Liberty

Whosoever accepts this theory should know
that its end result will be like
the ruins of Yugoslavia: a foul, wretched
place, filled with tyranny, chaos
and despair. If this is the choice they
are prepared to live with, so be it.
They have been fairly forewarned. The
rest, one suspects, would rather be free.

Well, it's high time we be about it.


[Note: Antiwar is a conservative internet site based in the USA. CNJ]