>
> FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA
>
> FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
>
> P R I O R I T Y
>
> humanitarian needs of FR Yugoslavia
>
> Belgrade, June 2000
>
> P R I O R I T Y
> humanitarian needs of FR Yugoslavia
>
> 1. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE CURRENT
> HUMANITARIAN SITUATION
>
> 1. The consequences of years-long sanctions, their
> continuation in the form of the so-called outer wall of sanctions and
> unilateral sanctions of particular countries or groups of countries, as
> well as NATO aggression against FR Yugoslavia, have had serious economic
> and social consequences on our country's population, but also on refugees
> and internally displaced persons who have found shelter in it. The
> cumulative "direct and indirect" material damage inflicted by the sanctions
> and NATO bombardment for the 1992-2010 period amounts to US$ 250 billion.
> According to incomplete data, the damage inflicted by NATO bombardment
> amounts to over US$ 100 billion.
>
> The period of 79 days of bombardment has left grave consequences
> in the lives of the population. In NATO aggression, more than 2,000 people
> were killed, more than 6,000 were wounded, and many have become invalids
> forever. Three million children were directly threatened by non-selective
> bombing of housing communities. They account for 30 per cent of all killed
> and 40 per cent of all wounded persons.
>
> The material destruction of economic, transport and housing
> infrastructure, hospitals, health care institutions, school facilities, and
> especially the power utilities system, has brought about a grave
> humanitarian situation in the country. More than 200 towns and villages
> were systematically bombed. As a result of the bombing, 200-250,000 people
> have become jobless.
>
> Especially serious damages have been inflicted in the
> environmental field, with long-term consequences for the health of the
> population. A drastic example was the use of graphite bombs that caused the
> collapse in the electric power distribution system, leaving millions of
> households without electricity and water supply.
>
> 2. In view of the fact that the hardest hit by the bombing
> were income generating industries, namely, our traditional export
> capacities: raw materials, energy, food, FR Yugoslavia appeals for the
> expansion of the notion of humanitarian assistance, so that it may cover
> reconstruction and revitalization of infrastructure for the purpose of
> meeting the basic needs of the population. This implies priority
> restoration and reconstruction of damaged and destroyed railroads, roads,
> bridges, housing facilities, collective refugee centers, schools, health
> care institutions, heating plants and energy transmission systems, as well
> as the provision of direct assistance in energy sources. The difficult
> humanitarian situation cannot be overcome without a considerable assistance
> of international community, especially humanitarian organizations from the
> UN system, but also bilaterally, in the long run.
>
> At the same time, FR Yugoslavia is facing the hitherto unheard of
> political and other forms of pressure, under hypocritical pretext that this
> is being done in the interest of democratization and promotion of human
> rights. This particularly refers to the attempts to replace the current
> system of distribution of humanitarian assistance through UNHCR and state
> authorities with the provision of assistance through some international
> non-governmental organizations, which is unacceptable for us.
> 2. THE SITUATION OF REFUGEES AND DISPLACED PERSON IN FR YUGOSLAVIA
>
> 1. Refugees from Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina also share
> the fate of our population. FR Yugoslavia presently provides care to some
> 700,000 refugees, which makes our country the first by the number of
> refugees in Europe.
>
> The largest number of refugees (about 90%) have been accommodated
> with families and in private homes. Ten percent (10%) of refugees have been
> accommodated in 550 collective accommodation centers. The largest
> concentration of refugees is to be found in Vojvodina and the broader area
> of Belgrade.
>
> Most collective centers (former children's resorts, abandoned
> schools, territorial defense objects, workers' barracks, culture centers,
> cooperative centers and other abandoned facilities) do not have appropriate
> conditions and fall behind the basic hygienic-sanitary living standards.
> During the NATO aggression, serious damages were inflicted on a large
> number of collective centers, necessitating reconstruction and adaptation
> of the existing and opening of new collective centers. The adaptation of
> these facilities would require US$ 250-300 per person, which our country
> will not be able to provide on its own.
>
> At the same time, bearing in mind the difficult economic and
> social situation in the country, there is an obvious continuing pressure
> towards opening new collective accommodation centers. Namely, a growing
> number of refugees have been leaving the impoverished families and private
> accommodation and demand to be accommodated in collective centers. The
> largest amount of funds intended for accommodation of refugees originates
> from the republican and federal budgets. In the past eight years, FR
> Yugoslavia spent more than 5% of its GNP for covering costs of refugees -
> accommodation, food, clothing, footwear, health care and social welfare,
> and education. In the 1991-1999 period, US$ 10.5 billion were spent for
> these purposes. International humanitarian relief covers only 10 per cent
> of the overall refugee subsistence.
>
> The costs of providing care to refugees in collective centers
> (accommodation and food only) for 1999 amounted to about US$ 23 million, in
> which UNHCR accounted for US$ 9 million. For the year 2000, UNHCR has
> envisaged US$ 12 million for these purposes.
>
> Of the total number of the so-called old refugees, 200,000 are
> children under 18. It is necessary to provide funds for the costs of their
> stay in preschool institutions, as well as for their education in
> elementary and secondary schools. Also, considerable funds would need to be
> allocated for medical treatment of refugees, procurement of the necessary
> medicaments and orthopedic aids.
>
> Otherwise, for one month only, it is necessary to provide 1,252
> tons of foods and 275 tons of hygienic items for 950,000 people (refugees
> and internally displaced persons).
>
> 2. An almost negligible number of refugees have thus far
> returned to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia due the failure to implement the
> Dayton Agreement (Annex 7) and the Agreement on Normalization of Relations
> between the FR Yugoslavia and Croatia by these two countries.
>
> The return to Bosnia-Herzegovina has had marginal results. Of
> about 8,000 applications, only about 1,000 have been accepted, of which
> 1,050 persons returned to Bosnia-Herzegovina, with the assistance of UNHCR.
>
> The policy of the return of refugees to Croatia has also failed
> because of the absence of any serious support by the most important
> international factors. As a result, and based on the Protocol on the
> Procedure for Organized Return, signed on April 2, 1998, thus far 24,000
> refugees have submitted applications for return. Of this number, UNHCR
> organized the return of about 5,300 persons to Croatia and 5,400 returned
> on their own, whereas 9,300 persons are still waiting for the response of
> the Croatian side. What is unacceptable for us is the expectation of the
> international community that, in the absence of prerequisites for
> unhindered return to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, this process should be
> replaced by local integration. Yugoslavia is able to accept only a number
> of refugees who will not be able to return to the places from which they
> have been expelled. However, for their local integration, in would be
> necessary to secure funds for permanent accommodation, i.e. construction of
> apartments for accommodating refugees, which the FRY is nor able to provide
> on its own, without a considerable international assistance. At the same
> time, the response of donors for financing these projects is poor.
>
> In order to provide employment to refugees, it is necessary to
> invest in production programs of existing enterprises, as well as to open
> new ones, mostly in small-scale industries. This would require the amount
> of DM 5,000-8,000 per employee. All forms of investments are possible
> (grants, joint venture, share-holding companies, etc.) under the Law on
> Foreign Investments.
>
> 3. After the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1244
> and the deployment of KFOR and UNMIK civil administration, FR Yugoslavia
> has again faced a new exodus of Serb, Montenegrin and other non-Albanians
> from Kosovo and Metohija. According to the most recent data, based on the
> records prepared by UNHCR and the Commissioner for Refugees of the Republic
> of Serbia, 190,000 internally displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija
> have been registered in the territory of the Republic of Serbia. With
> 31,000 registered internally displaced persons staying in the Republic of
> Montenegro, their total number amounts to over 220,000 persons. However, it
> has been observed that a considerable number of persons have not applied
> for registration for various reasons. By May 25, 2000, the Serbia Red Cross
> registered 260,715 internally displaced persons, indicating that their
> total number amounts to about 300,000.
>
> 4. The unsuccessful KFOR mission in the territory of Kosovo
> and Metohija has directly encouraged the implementation of the ethnic
> cleansing policy by Schipetar terrorists. From June 10, 1999 to March 31,
> 2000, more than 8,000 serious offenses were committed against Serbs and
> other non-Albanians, 4,564 of which were most serious crimes, 867 persons
> have been abducted or missing, 936 persons have been killed, and 876
> persons have been wounded. Several thousand Serb houses have been plundered
> or burnt and ethnic Albanian forcibly moved in a large number of them,
> including 250,000 nationals of the state of Albania who settled in Kosovo
> and Metohija. More than 85 monasteries, churches and other sacral objects
> of the Serbian Orthodox Church have been destroyed or damaged.
>
> In the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, more than 27,000 persons
> have been internally displaced. In order to provide care to this
> population, reception centers have been opened in Kosovo Polje and
> Leposavic. Organized assistance is provided to the threatened non-Albanian
> population in Kosovo, soup kitchens are opened and psychosocial support
> program and water supply programs, etc. are implemented.
>
> 5. Yugoslavia requests that the UN Secretary General and the
> SC take all necessary measures and steps in order that KFOR and UNMIK
> consistently meet their obligations stipulated in UN SC Resolution 1244
> concerning preservation of multi-ethnic and multi-confessional character of
> Kosovo and Metohija and guarantees for full security and protection of all
> inhabitants of Kosovo and Metohija, especially non-Albanian.
>
> The international community has shown efficiency when the return
> of ethnic Albanians to Kosovo and Metohija is concerned. In that
> connection, FR Yugoslavia expects the same international community to be
> equally efficient in the creation of security and other conditions for
> unhindered return of internally displaced persons of Serb and Montenegrin
> nationality, as well as other non-Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija.
>
> 3. HUMANITARIAN NEEDS IN THE FIELD OF
> HEALTH CARE
>
> More than 2,000 persons were killed in the NATO aggression and
> over 6,000 persons were wounded, mostly women, children and the elderly.
> About 200 persons have become invalids. During the aggression, 147 medical
> institutions were destroyed or damaged, with all their equipment and
> medicaments. In the coming period, it would be necessary to provide funds
> amounting to US$ 12.6 million for reconstruction of Clinical Hospital
> Center (KBC) "Dragisa Misovic", as well as health centers in Aleksinac and
> Prokuplje. In addition, the Agency for Country Reconstruction is also
> planning the reconstruction of the Gynecology-Obstetrics Clinic (GAK) in
> Belgrade, Clinical-Hospital Center - Gynecology Clinic in Belgrade, Health
> Center in Tutin, Psychiatric Clinic "Laza Lazarevic" in Belgrade,
> Army-Military Academy in Belgrade and Health Center in Kraljevo. For all
> these projects, it would be necessary to provide funds through donations of
> members of the Yugoslav diaspora, from foreign donors and assistance for
> reconstruction.
>
> The situation is further aggravated by extremely difficult
> circumstances regarding the provision of medicaments and medical supplies
> to health care institutions. The pharmaceutical industry in Yugoslavia will
> be able to revitalize its production at the pre-aggression level only if
> all domestic manufacturers are supplied with raw materials, precursors and
> spare parts, amounting to the value of DM 200 million. Considering that
> imported drugs account for 45,18 % of the domestic market, it will be
> necessary to provide more than DM 35 million for six-month needs of health
> care institutions in Serbia, and DM 29 million for dispensable medial
> supplies. There are also priority six-month needs concerning supplying
> laboratories and other diagnostic centers with chemicals, agents, serums
> and other equipment, amounting to US$ 2,000,000.
>
> Health Care Institutions in Serbia are also facing the shortage of
> many most essential medical instruments (500 defibrilators, 220 different
> ultrasonic instruments, 900 different types of EKG equipment, 150
> reanimation kits, 150 tables for reanimation of infants, 200 different
> types of incubators, 400 ambulances, anesthesia equipment, etc.
>
> In addition to the above stated, already noticeable are big
> difficulties or impossibility to provide hemo-dialysis for over 4,500
> patients; internist, surgical and radiological diagnostics and therapy for
> 90,000 cancer patients, diagnostics and therapy for 200,000 diabetes
> patients, 300,000 heart patients, 30,000 psychiatric patients and 600
> hemophilia patients. There has also been a considerable increase in
> respiratory and gastro-intestinal diseases.
>
> Humanitarian assistance arriving from abroad had the character of
> an additional factor in the regular medical supplies. Despite the fact that
> the scope of this assistance was big, its structure did not fully meet the
> needs of the medical services, namely, humanitarian shipments mostly
> contained essential drugs, i.e. drugs for the broadest indication areas.
> Other types of specific drugs, which are most frequently very costly and
> are not manufactured in our country and are necessary in modern farmaco -
> therapy accounted for small quantities.
>
> A big problem in the distribution of humanitarian aid was the
> shortage of finances for procurement of agents and other dispensable
> supplies required for examination and quality control of the drugs and
> medical supplies that arrived. This slowed down the delivery of
> humanitarian assistance to health care institutions.
> 4. PRIORITY HUMANITARIAN NEEDS IN RECONSTRUCTION OF THE ELECTRIC POWER
> SYSTEM OF THE COUNTRY
>
> NATO aggression inflicted enormous direct damages to the electric
> power system of FR Yugoslavia, especially the part of the electric power
> system belonging to the Public Utilities of Serbia "Elektroprivreda Srbije"
> (EPS). It also sharpened all those problems that existed even before the
> aggression, namely, the postponement of most capital overhauls and other
> maintenance works in the previous period, depletion of the fuel reserves,
> intermediaries and spare parts, narrowing down of possibilities of their
> replenishment, the shortage of required finances for these procurements and
> works, etc.
>
> The greatest damage inflicted on the EPS power system affected its
> transmission capacities. The work towards their incapacitation is a
> priority in reconstruction.
>
> After the NATO aggression, EPS prepared a specification of the
> required equipment, which would amount to US$ 120 million.
>
> The arguments towards a high level of humanitarian needs in
> electric power equipment are related to the extremely unfavorable
> humanitarian consequences for the broadest masses of the population in the
> case of insufficient and irregular supply of electricity to consumers.
>
> Also, 81 percent of households and the largest number of
> institutions secure water from the public water supply system, which
> requires electricity as energy source.
>
> Considering the UN energy embargo, which is still in force, it should be
> pointed out that the equipment and material for eliminating the
> consequences of NATO aggression on the electricity transmission system, as
> well as for the overhaul and maintenance of all manufacturing capacities,
> are treated as humanitarian needs, as envisaged by the Resolution on
> Humanitarian Assistance to FR Yugoslavia, adopted by the UN General
> Assembly on December 15, 1999 by consensus.
> 5. PRIORITY HUMANITARIAN NEEDS IN THE AGRICULTURAL-FOOD COMPLEX
>
> Despite the extremely adverse consequences of multi-year economic
> embargo and a large number of refugees and displace persons, the
> agriculture of FR Yugoslavia succeeded in fulfilling its main tasks - to
> provide food for the population. However, direct and indirect consequences
> of NATO aggression caused a shortage of basic raw materials and finished
> products in the agriculture and food sector. Priority humanitarian needs
> include the needs of the primary agricultural production and livestock
> breeding, seed, milk power and basic paper products.
>
> For ensuring primary agricultural production in SR Yugoslavia in
> the year 2000, it is necessary to import the deficient quantity of plant
> protection agents, artificial fertilizers and raw materials for production
> of fertilizers in local plants.
>
> In the first and second quarter of 2000, it is necessary to
> provide 910,000 tons of fertilizers for sowing.
>
> For the procurement of the required quantities of imported
> fertilizers and raw materials for their production, as well as for the
> imports of the missing quantity of plant protection agents, it is necessary
> to provide the total of US$ 111,780,000.
>
> For the needs of livestock breeding, SR Yugoslavia is oriented to
> importation of fishmeal, a basic component in feed production. Veterinary
> drugs, premixes and crushed soy beans, can only be partly found in the
> country, for which reason a part of these products or substances for their
> manufacture need to be continuously imported, amounting to the value of US$
> 59,500,000.
>
> In food production, importation of milk powder has been marked as
> a priority humanitarian need. Annual needs in imported milk powder amount
> to 5,000 tons, or the value of US$ 10,000,000.
>
> For sowing vegetables and fodder crops, it is necessary to provide
> the necessary quantities of quality seed. The annual needs of imported seed
> amount to the value of US$ 8,000,000.
>
> For the needs of packaging and hygiene, it is necessary to provide
> particular types of paper. The annual needs in imported paper products
> amount to US$ 17,900,000.
>
> Priority humanitarian needs in the field of agriculture and food
> industry amount to the total of US$ 207,180,000 per annum.
>
> 6. PRIORITY HUMANITARIAN NEEDS IN THE FIELD
> OF HEALING THE CONSEQUENCES OF NATO
> BOMBING ON THE ENVIRONMENT
>
> The NATO aggression against FR Yugoslavia also had the
> characteristics of an ecological war. NATO bombing posed considerable
> threat to the environment at the local and regional levels. Enormous
> destruction of chemical and energy complexes, as well as the related
> infrastructure, was adversely reflected on the quality of the environment
> and were a violation of the proclaimed human rights on the safe and healthy
> environment.
>
> The gravest consequences for the environment, of both short-term
> and long-term nature, have been observed on the locations of the Southern
> industrial zone of Pancevo, Novi Sad Refinery, "Zastava" in Kragujevac,
> Mining-Smelting Basin (RTB) in Born, and their surroundings. The combustion
> of big quantities of chemicals, or crude oil and its derivatives has caused
> pollution in the surrounding lands, ground but also underground waters,
> threatening to jeopardize some important sources of drinkable water.
>
> The Federal Ministry for Science, Development and the Environment
> assessed that for the needs of recovery in the field of the environment
> (most important short-term and long-term program) it will be necessary to
> provide the minimum of US$ 100,000,000.
>
> 7. PRIORITY HUMANITARIAN NEEDS IN THE
> FIELD OF HOUSING INFRASTRUCTURE AND RECONSTRUCTION OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS
>
> NATO aggression completely destroyed about 500 housing objects and
> 800 public objects and 46 bridges. Also, about 25,000 housing units have
> been damaged, in 59 municipalities and towns in Serbia. The reconstruction
> of severely damaged individual housing objects (533), as well as collective
> housing objects (431) would require about US$ 27,000,000.
>
> Reconstruction of damaged schools would require about US$
> 25,000,000. The Agency for Country Reconstruction plans to reconstruct, in
> the coming period, 10 damaged schools in the municipalities Nova Varos,
> Belgrade, Novi Sad, Cuprija, Boljevac, as well as the building of the
> Engineering Faculty and students' dormitory in Nis.
>

---

NOT A SINGLE NAME MUST BE FORGOTTEN

http://www.emperors-clothes.com/misc/nota.htm

The killing of a math prodigy: SANJA MILENKOVIC

***

"Don't be crazy, mum. Who's going to drop bombs on a small town?"

These were the last words Sanja Milenkovic spoke before she left for a
walk
Sunday, May 30, 1999. No ordinary day. Day 68 of the NATO attack on
Yugoslavia.

It was a sunny, busy shopping day, Pentecost. Young people strolled on
the streets,
some went onto the local bridge they liked so much because it offered a
magnificent
view of the Morava river and surroundings. The roar of warplanes cut
short the life
of the bridge and of those residents including Sanja Milenkovic.

Sanja and her family, whom she loved most in the world besides math,
led a quiet life.
As a gifted child, who had been given many awards, she came from her
native village
of Donji Katun near Varvarin, to the capital, Belgrade, to enroll,
without an entrance
exam, in the Mathematics High School. There were, as publicized in
numerous
interviews, no insolvable math problems for her. She had won many
Yugoslav and
international prizes, and she was preparing for the Mathematics
Olympiad and surely
for another of her trophies of world importance. She could explain
everything logically
or in terms of mathematics. The New York Times and the Washington Post
wrote
about our Sanja, a Serb girl from Varvarin, describing her as the
greatest math talent
of today, killed by NATO bombs.

Sanja was very close to her mother Vesna. Vesna was 21 when she gave
birth to her
first child. At fifteen, Sanja was a pretty and bright girl. "Sanja was
like younger
sister to me; she was also my best friend," says Vesna.

When the NATO aggression against our country started, Sanja traveled
back to
Varvarin to be with her parents. Vesna and Sanja's dad, Zoran, believed
Sanja would
be much safer in a small place in the country where there were no
military
installations. But NATO targetsincluded hospitals, schools,
kindergarten, roads and
bridges. Cynical news of "collateral damage" came out of NATO
headquarters every
day. So Sanja was one of several thousand ordinary Serbian people who
died of
missiles targeting even insignificant bridges in small towns throughout
Yugoslavia.

One of them was the bridge in Varvarin. It led to the local Christian
Orthodox church
and therefore innocent civilians, who happened to be on it that sunny
May day, on the
Christian holiday of Pentecost, were killed. Sanja and two of her
friends were among
the victims.

It was a little past noon. The shopping day attracted more crowds than
usual. The
memorial liturgy was in progress at the Church of the Holy Mother at
that moment.
No one knew that up in the skies there were warplanes that already had
the bridge in
their sights and were ready to rain down death. In the 68 days of the
aggression,
people were used to being bombed by night. So, very few believed that
the 52-year
old bridge that was the town's lifeline and that did not straddle any
of the major
transport routes, would be picked. It is a three-hour drive to Kosovo
and Metohija
from there. It was exactly five minutes past one p.m. Vesna and Zoran
were fixing
lunch for their daughter when they heard a strong blast nearby. Vesna's
mum
immediately picked up the phone to check if it was still working. The
telephone lines
ran across the bridge. The phone was dead. She dashed into the car and
headed for
the bridge. She looked through the window searching for the loved face.

The river bank was deserted. The crowd had rn away fearing another
strike. Vesna
stood alone on the bank, calling out her daughter's name. And then she
saw Sanja.
She lay on a broken slab of the bridge, motionless. It was much later
that she was
told what had happened and how Sanja died. As the first missile hit the
bridge, its
footpath collapsed into the river. Sanja and her friends fell into the
water, as well.
Sanja was unharmed, while one of her friends had her arm broken and the
other a leg.
Like the rest of the pedestrians, Sanja could have reached the bank,
but she chose to
help her friends. Ten minutes after the initial attack, the NATO pilot
came back to
finish his job. The explosion had cut the bridge in half. The religious
service in the
church stopped and everyone rushed to help the wounded. The explosion
stopped
them in the process. Another seven people were killed. Sanja was struck
in the back
by a shrapnel. They put her into an ambulance. Her eyes were open for a
few more
minutes. Her father encouraged her to fight for her breath. A couple of
minutes later
Sanja's eyes closed. "I knew it was for ever," said her dad Zoran, "I
was hopeful,
nevertheless." The fight for Sanja's life went on in hospital, where
she was injected
with adrenaline shots. But death got the upper hand. Sanja lay
motionless in the pink
T-shirt that she had put on that morning. She was 15 and a half. The
following day
Jamie Shea held his regular press conference in faraway Brussels, as he
did every
day .

Sanja Milenkovic will not dream out her dreams. However strongly she
felt about
numerals and the logic of life, there can be no explanation for her
premature death.
Sanja's teachers and peers believe that, if it had been according to
the laws of
mathematics, Sanja's name would have been predestined to become famous
and be
inscribed in international yearbooks of the greatest mathematicians.

Those who died early and whom we were indebted to during their lifetime
oblige us to
remember them always. The name of Sanja Milenkovic will always be in
the minds of
those talented like herself. That was the reason why a Fund, named
after her, was
set up. The Fund serves to award scholarships/fellowships to young
gifted secondary
school students and university undergraduates in the field of math and
technical
sciences. The Fund was established at the initiative of Mr. Zivadin
Jovanovic,
Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of the FR of Yugoslavia, and Mr.
Milutin
Mrkonjic, Director-General of the Country Reconstruction Directorate.

Sanja's granddad, Ljubomir Milenkovic, was appointed an honorary member
of the
Fund.

Twenty young people were awarded scholarships from the Fund on November
5,
1999. In addressing them, Minister Jovanovic said that this Fund was
set up to keep
the memory of Sanja alive and by keeping it alive to demonstrate our
attitude towards
the highest achievements and greatest successes in learning and
studies. The talents
now financed and yet to be financed by the "Sanja Milenkovic" Fund will
keep alive
the memory of a youth cut short prematurely and of wishes and dreams
left unfulfilled.

They will also keep alive the name of Sanja Milenkovic.

[Note from emperors-clothes: A reader in California has asked how
people can
contribute to this fund from outside Yugoslavia. We're making
inquiries.]

---

http://news.beograd.com/english/articles_and_opinion/djurdjevic/000711_nato_coverin_up_losses.html

New World Order
Bob Djurdjevic

11. July, 2000.

New World Order and the Serbs - Part XL
NATO COVERING UP LOSSES

In a story headlined "NATO Covering Up Own Losses," the Russian Agency
of
Political News (APN) reported on Apr. 29 that NATO had lost over 400
troops,
and over 60 aircraft during its 79-day war with Serbia. The estimates
reportedly based on Russian government figures, have been hushed up in
the
West by the New World Order lapdog media.

These are the highest figures so far of NATO's human casualties to
emerge
from the post-war post-mortems. We may believe them or treat them as
propaganda. But only fools would totally disregard them and choose to
believe in the fiction of the NATO "lie and deny" propagandists,
including
Bill Clinton, who declared to the nation last June that NATO had
suffered no
losses in combat.

The Russian article was written by an experienced military
correspondent,
Vladislav Shurygin, who has also reported on the Chechnya war. Shurygin
elaborates on an earlier Russian Defense Ministry report that was first
published in the Foreign Military Review and then by ITAR-TASS, one of
the
two official Russian government agencies.

Shurygin observes that NATO and the Pentagon had lied unabashedly, and
that
they continue to do so. He notes that it may take years for the U.S.
government to admit what it really lost in its war on Serbia. He says,
for
example, that NATO even lied regarding the number of combat sorties it
had
flown, let alone its own casualties. Instead of the claimed 35 000
flights,
the alliance actually flew only about 25 000, he says.

By way of a disclaimer, the APN editors said that Shurygin's piece was
the
"author's personal view" of the subject. But Shurygin is merely one of a
number of sources that have sprung up since the end of NATO's bombing
suggesting that NATO may be covering up significant losses it had
suffered
during its 79-day bombing of Serbia.

The pseudonym "Venik" may be a familiar term to wartime Truth in Media
and
Beograd.com readers. It was Venik who was the first to systematically
analyze and report the NATO losses in April 1999. And this source been
updating that information ever since. Here is Venik's latest
contribution on
the topic of NATO losses:

"According to a March 25, 2000, article published by the ITAR-TASS news
agency, Russian GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate) sources report that
during the Operation "Allied Force" NATO's air forces sustained losses
considerably higher than is officially acknowledged by NATO command.
According to GRU information, NATO lost three F-117A stealth bombers,
and at
least 40 other combat planes, and over 1,000 cruise missiles.

So far, NATO officials acknowledged losing three combat planes (the USAF
F-117A on March 27, the USMC AV-8B Harrier on May 1, and the
F-16CG-40-CF on
May 2), two attack helicopters (AH-64 Apache on April 26 and another
Apache
on May 5), between 30 and 32 unmanned reconnaissance vehicles, including
at
least 16 American, 7 German, and 5 French UAVs. Interestingly enough,
NATO
acknowledged all of the UAV losses mentioned by Yugoslav military
officials - 30 - and, perhaps, even more.

Official NATO reports and statements made by various NATO officials
indicate
that about 10 NATO planes made emergency landings. Two F-117As sustained
extensive damage (the F-117A 86-0837 was damaged on April 21 during
landing;

and another F-117A lost a part of its tail section due to a nearby SA-3
SAM
explosion). An RAF C-130K Hercules transport plane crashed on June 11 in
Albania. The aircraft was delivering a British SAS unit that was trying
to
beat Russian paratroopers to the Slatina base. The US Army OH-58 combat
reconnaissance helicopter crashed on May 26 in Bosnia...

In February British press was discussing a sharp shortage of operational
aircraft experienced by the Royal Air Force. The news first appeared in
the
January 23, 2000, 'Hundreds of Crippled Jets put RAF in Crisis' article
published by the London Observer. In particular, the article, based on
the
Observer's own investigation, outlines the following problems with the
RAF:
"Two out of three of the UK's 186 fleet of Tornado bombers are grounded;
Fewer than 40 per cent of other frontline aircraft, such as Harriers and
Jaguars, are ready to fly at short notice;

The Ministry of Defence has spent almost £1 billion developing a
laser-guided bombing system that does not work properly;

There is shortage of nearly 20 per cent of junior officer fast jet
pilots
and the RAF is having a severe problem in retaining trained pilots."

According to an ITAR-TASS review of the article published by the Foreign
Military Review magazine of the Russian Defense Ministry, Yugoslav
aviation
prevented the use of American AH-64 Apache attack helicopters during the
Kosovo conflict. The "NATO Losses in the War with Yugoslavia" article,
the
Foreign Military Review writes "... the biggest sensation was the number
of
troops lost by NATO. Not just NATO pilots were killed in Yugoslavia, but
also search-and-rescue troops that were tasked with locating downed
pilots.
Yugoslav air defenses have shot down no less than five NATO helicopters,
which (alone) resulted in deaths of about 100 troops of the Alliance."

According to the Foreign Military Review, the reason why Pentagon did
not
use Apaches in Kosovo "...had nothing to do with technical problems with
the
helicopters or insufficient training of their flight crews, as was often
stated by NATO officials. The only reason was the April 26, 1999 attack
carried out by Yugoslav "Galeb" fighters against "Rinas" airport located
near Albania's capital of Tirana, where the Apaches were based. That day
two
groups of these light helicopters were destroyed and over 10 helicopters
were damaged."

A similar operation was carried out by Yugoslav AF on April 18 against
the
airport in Tuzla, Bosnia, used as an emergency landing site for NATO
aircraft. As the result of this attack some 15 NATO aircraft were
destroyed
on the ground.

The Foreign Military Review writes: "Despite the fact that American
aircraft
dominated NATO operations, they weren't the only aircraft shot down by
Yugoslav air defenses. Among the destroyed aircraft were five German
"Tornadoes," several British "Harriers'" two French "Mirages," Belgian,
Dutch, and Canadian aircraft. On June 7 the USAF lost a B-52 strategic
bomber, while on May 20 a B-2A "Spirit" was shot down."

Looking at the eyewitness report listing compiled by aviation
enthusiasts in
Yugoslavia, we can find the following entry (#381) June 7, between 012
and
040, area between Slankamen and Indjija. 'One large bomber (most
probably
B-52) was shot down. Aircraft exploded after a direct SAM hit. Crew
killed'
."

Incredible as it may seem at a first glance to western audiences
accustomed
to lapping up the soap fed to them by the New World Order "lie and deny"
news spinners, the above estimates are not far off the contemporaneous
reports by the Greek media.

On Apr. 7, 1999, for example, the Athinaiki (The Athenian), an Athens
daily,
said in an article that NATO had already lost 88 soldiers. And that was
only
after two weeks of war! If NATO had lost 88 troops at the time when the
intensity of fighting was at a lower level than later on in the war,
then
its human casualties over the 11-week conflict might have been over
1,000,
had the same rate of attrition continued.

Whatever the actual number, it is certainly greater than zero, which is
what
Clinton, NATO and the Pentagon have been alleging. A steady stream of
new
factual information emanating from the Russian media, mostly based on
the
Russian official military sources (who were in a position to track
firsthand
the air and sea battlefields a year ago - Russia had two ships in the
Adriat
ic during the war monitoring the war through electronic surveillance),
serves to discredit such ludicrous claims by NATO and the Clinton
administration.

In fact, it would not surprise us if the Russian government were
engaging
here in a game of political blackmail and brinkmanship with the Clinton
administration, trying to gain some leverage in negotiations of other,
bigger issues, such as the Missile Defense Shield (see my column
"Dangerous
Nuclear Saber-Rattling"). All this, of course, in the hope of gaining
some
leverage before Clinton's visit to Moscow on June 4.

Since both Moscow and Washington know that if Russia were to release a
proof
(electronic surveillance recordings, for example) that back up its
claims
about the NATO losses, this would have a devastating effect on NATO/NWO
public. For, the whole world would then know that a tiny Yugoslav Army
had
whipped the arrogant and omnipotent aggressor, using some fairly
outdated
weaponry, but more than making up for it with cunning and bravery of its
officers and troops.

The only question that remains unanswered, however, is how did the
Clinton
administration manage to keep so many grieving American and other NATO
families silent about the losses of their loved ones? Or more pointedly,
did
it bribe them (pay them off) or intimidate them with threats or worse?

Several Truth in Media readers have come forth with their own
explanations.
We received the following feedback from Fernando (whose last name is
known
to TiM):

"I am an Australian born in Portugal, but have lived most of my life in
Angola (Africa) at a time that country was a Portuguese colony. Well,
there
was a war between the Portuguese and the Angolan freedom fighters(in the
1970s). When a Portuguese soldier died in action, his family were
informed
that he had had an accident! Usually a car accident or something
similar...
They never died in combat :-). Only at the end of the war, many families
knew that their loved ones were in fact killed in action.

So I reckon that the same may be happening with the American soldiers.
Their
families are probably being informed that their sons, brothers or
husbands
had unfortunate accidents. And those families don't usually know each
other,
and therefore can't compare notes. It's not difficult to tell lies to
400
families throughout a country with 260 million people. Most of those
families don't know about the existence of each other and therefore the
lies
can stand."

Another letter came to us from someone in the U.S. armed forces:

"Try this... A friend of mine's husband was an E6 in Delta Force. He was
killed in Somalia. Officially, he was never there and died of an
accident. A
captain I was friends with, was a Lieutenant in Somalia, and he told me
about the number of bodies going out... A lot more then 18 (the official
count).

My supply sergeant was a former Special Forces member, he told me they
lost
almost 50 people from Special Forces in Panama. The official death toll
was
15.

A fraternity brother of mine, who was an officer in the SEALs, died in
Central America, officially from a training accident. His family hired a
private investigator and found out his chopper had been shot down.
Please,
if you think our government doesn't control what you see and hear, you
are a
fool."

In short, what the preceding letter suggest is that Americans have zero
tolerance for losses in overseas expeditions of our neo-colonial
governments
(yes, George Bush's, not only Bill Clinton's). That's good. And that's
bad.

It's good, because most decent people in our country don't want to see
our
armed forces sacrificed in some distant country while occupying it on
behalf
of the New World Order, instead of defending America - the job they have
sworn to do.

It's bad, because so many of our fellow-citizens have become so gullible
through decades of brainwashing and dumbing-down of America. If such
Americans don't see something on TV, it didn't happen. Conversely, if
they
do see it on their screens, the "Wag the Dog"-type scenarios
notwithstanding, they gulp up the government's lies and deceptions as if
they were the Gospel truth.

Which makes it so easy for our Washington leaders and the establishment
media to fool the public. When the TV images of angry Somalies' dragging
the
bodies of dead American soldiers in October 1993 flashed across America'
s
TV screens, Clinton hurriedly ordered our troops out of that country.

But did Clinton stop sending our troops into harm's way? No, Sir. The
two
Clinton administrations continued, and even accelerated the (Bush's)
neo-colonial foreign policy on behalf of the "death merchants" and other
multinational corporations which profit from "perpetual wars for
perpetual
commerce." It's just that they never allowed any American casualties to
be
either reported or shown on our TV screens.

If you can't see them, they didn't happen. Right. If you're one of the
dumbed-down morons of the New World Order. For, only such morons
believed
Bill Clinton when he declared in his "victory speech" on June 10, 1999
that
NATO had suffered "no combat casualties" in its war with Serbia.

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