Informazione
Iraq, Jugoslavia, di nuovo Iraq / 5: THE RENDON GROUP
(The hypertext, with many many links, can be found at
the original URL: http://www.antiwar.com/orig/deliso62.html )
The Interview That Never Happened
When the Masters of Spin Go Silent
by Christopher Deliso in Skopje
December 16, 2002
With the White House seemingly on
an unavoidable collision course with
Saddam Hussein, hawkish policy
planners now face a new challenge:
how to sell the war to an increasingly
unenthusiastic public. All across
America - from Long Island to
Minneapolis, from Boston to Atlanta,
from Sioux Falls to Sacramento to
Seattle - antiwar demonstrations have
been springing up, as even citizens
normally disinterested in foreign affairs
voice concern over the possible
negative effects war would have on the
economy. In addition, there is a
growing unease that war with Iraq
would negatively impact on America's
image abroad, and perhaps incite
further al Qaeda terrorism as a form of
revenge - although, ironically, bin
Laden has no affection for Saddam. The
president, of course, is desperately
hoping he can find the two in cahoots,
somehow.
Keeping in mind that Iraq never
attacked the United States, neither in
1990 or now, the looming war is hard to
justify. That is, unless public relations
can again save the day.
A Paradigm Shift
The Gulf War was the first time
America played the humanitarian card
to justify attacking a much weaker
country. What began with Bush's
"babies in incubators" myth (handled
by PR whiz Hill & Knowlton) was
perfected by Clinton, who almost ten
years later used the all-too-popular
(and all-too-bogus) myth of "ethnic
cleansing" to justify attacking Serbia.
Almost four years on, anti-Serbian bias
still pervades the British and American
media and think-tanks. Anti-Iraq
coverage goes without saying.
After September 11th, the paradigm has
shifted from humanitarian intervention
to terrorism pre-emption. Yet the
White House's self-declared right to
"shoot first and ask questions later"
portrays the administration negatively,
as both cowboy desperado and
confused paranoic. It also begs the
question of whether ulterior motives are
at work here, as John Pilger argues in a
scathing indictment of US energy goals
in Iraq.
Although Americans are much more
clever this time around, after witnessing
a decade of PR propaganda in the
Yugoslav wars, the White House
apparently believes that the average
citizen will still support war, if it is only
spun the right way. The only question
is who will do the spinning.
Enter Rendon?
The last Gulf War was brought to you
partially by a little company in
Washington known as the Rendon
Group. This PR giant has clients
around the world, but none quite so
grand as the United States government.
Rendon was once enlisted to make the
case - subtly and deceptively - for why
America should support a war against
Saddam. And in the end, it worked. But
the worst thing? The PR blitz that
captivated both media and ordinary
citizens alike was paid for by the very
people it was meant to seduce - the
American taxpayers, whose funds
continue to grease the wheels for the
government's war machine. However,
the people ate it up - sadly,
re-affirming the adage that the voters
get the leaders they deserve.
The Unsuccessful Request
I thought, therefore, that an interview
with the Rendon Group about their past
successes and future aspirations would
allow them a chance to give their side
of the story - since most published
reports have been overwhelmingly
critical. However, my requests for an
interview met only with silence. Were
the nuanced masters of eloquent
persuasion really at a loss for words?
Since they apparently are, I have been
forced to conduct an interview with a
respondent who is absent, drawing on
Rendon's publicly-made statements
and independent investigations.
Coming from an aggressively
outspoken PR firm, silence would seem
incrimination enough. Yet as we will
see, even their own statements give
them away.
In the following, the questions I had
prepared come at the headings of each
section.
How Would You Describe Your
Services and Objectives?
"The Rendon Group (TRG) is a
Global Strategic Communications
Consultancy providing products and
services to both public and private
sector clients. TRG's expertise includes
strategic communications consultation,
planning and evaluation; information
strategy and operations; public and
media relations planning and
implementation; crisis management;
news collection and analysis;
information mapping; survey research;
media production; and tactical
communications team deployment. To
date, TRG has worked in eighty (80)
countries, frequently on location in a
conflict environment, and has
considerable experience in establishing
field offices to support program
objectives."
This description - culled directly from
the Rendon Group's website - gives in
"official" language a picture that can
basically be boiled down to two words:
information war. After first
accumulating data, they manipulate it -
and in some cases, sanitize it - to win
either people's emotional support or
their dollars. In this age of civilized
excess, when we are constantly being
bombarded with information, it requires
a careful shaping effort to make that
information meaningful. And, as we
will see below, producing meaningful
information is the first step towards
producing war.
Who Are Your Clients?
PR companies are essentially soulless.
Like mercenaries, they will work for
anyone and everyone who can pay -
with the possible exception of racist or
subversive organizations, as that would
be bad for their own PR.
However, this general lack of values is,
paradoxically, what accounts for their
perceived legitimacy. Working as it has
for innocuous clients like the
Massachusetts Office of Travel and
Tourism, the National Transportation
Safety Board, and the National
Education Association has given the
Rendon Group a veneer of
respectability.
Among the full list of global clients,
however, one finds others whose goals
are ambivalent, or somewhat
suspicious, or even downright
dangerous. In most cases, however, the
connection keeps coming back to
support of US government and big
business interests.
For example, we have the United States
Trade & Development Agency,
Colombian Ministry of Defense, the
Government of Kuwait and Kuwait
Petroleum Corporation.
The USTDA facilitates major
international projects, funding
feasibility studies and development for
US-connected business interests.
Wherever large infrastructure projects
like oil pipelines are being
contemplated, there is the TDA.
Oil is the link to the KPC, a company
run by an assortment of sheiks - most
of them educated in the United States.
The company was founded in 1934 by a
British-American consortium that has
since morphed into BP and Chevron -
two companies with large interests in
the Middle East and Caspian areas. The
government of Kuwait is a no-brainer,
given Rendon's efforts against Saddam
in the Gulf War. And as for Colombia,
the US has for years been selling arms
to expedite the Colombian
government's war on Leftist rebels, and
fuelling an unwinnable "War on Drugs"
at the same time. It is clear that while
the Rendon Group may have some
"independent" clients (like the
Association of Massage Therapists),
the majority lie within a closed circle of
governmental bodies that share
overlapping policies - sadly, often
harmonizing in war.
Which Clients Inhabit the Unknown
Zone?
Then there is the rather odd
assortment of Caribbean clients: the
governments of Haiti, Antigua &
Barbuda, Netherlands Antilles and
Aruba, and neighboring Panama.
Finally there is the St. Lucia Labour
Party. There is little information for
what must be a very interesting
relationship here, as Rendon is silent
about the affairs of its clients. What is
publicly known is that in the
mid-1990's Rendon helped the
embattled Aristide in Haiti (he paid
through a bank account in Washington)
and worked on a CIA contract to aid the
opposition to Manuel Noriega in 1989.
This was emulated soon thereafter in
Iraq.
And Which Clients Should We Be
Afraid Of?
Finally there are the decisively
pro-War clients. There is the Air
Intelligence Agency (AIA), which runs
the Air Force's "information warfare"
center from its base in Lackland,
Texas. In addition to the Defense
Department itself, Rendon has worked
with the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency, or DARPA. This
secretive body is currently involved with
the Bush Administration's grandiose
plans for an all-seeing national
supercomputer. Although it is not
mentioned on the company website, the
CIA is one of the Rendon Group's
longest-standing partners. The final
client is the White House itself, which
of course has the final say over all of
these bodies.
Have You Worked In The Balkans?
The Rendon Group was not so
involved as other companies, notably
Ruder-Finn, in the Yugoslav wars.
However, it did aid Bosnian
privatization and helped set up an
interesting little project paid for by the
US Department of Defense - the
"Balkan Information Exchange." This
sprung up during the Kosovo
bombardment to bolster the
government's position. And if its
relation to previous government
contracts was in any doubt, the fact that
it eventually morphed into the "Balkan
Times" settles the question.
A glossy, slickly-presented slice of the
internet - available in a whopping nine
languages - the Balkan Times is paid
for by the US Department of Defense.
What Were Your Biggest Successes?
Company president John Rendon, a
self-described "information warrior,"
fondly recalled to a military audience
one of his biggest successes of the Gulf
War:
"If any of you either participated in the
liberation of Kuwait City? or if you
watched it on television, you would
have seen hundreds of Kuwaitis waving
small American flags," John Rendon
said in his speech to the NSC. "Did you
ever stop to wonder how the people of
Kuwait City, after being held hostage
for seven long and painful months,
were able to get hand-held American
flags? And for that matter, the flags of
other coalition countries? Well, you
now know the answer. That was one of
my jobs."
The flag shenanigan was so important
because it "proved" to Arabic and other
Muslim television viewers that America
was their friend. People waving
American flags and cheering on the US
of A is a potent tactic anywhere in the
world where jaded viewers need
reassurance. As in Kuwait, such
displays are generally encouraged -
except, however, for times when they
show American policy in contradiction,
as in the mountain wilds of Macedonia.
Have There Been Any Failures?
Although they would be loath to admit
it, there have been several instances of
unprofessionalism from Rendon that
only ended up wasting a lot of money.
Most embarrassing of all was the
anti-Saddam radio hour - conceived
and executed six years ago, by a bunch
of college kids in Boston.
For $3,000 a month - in which he
worked about 8 days total - a Harvard
Arabic student was whisked by limo to
a recording studio rented out by
Rendon. His qualifications? "I was a
good Arabic translator who did a great
Saddam imitation," the student
disclosed anonymously. The student's
job was to mimic Saddam in bogus
speeches and mock the Iraqi leader in
radio broadcasts that would (or so they
thought) strike a chord with the Iraqi
people. However, the conscientious
student quickly found that the
organization and execution of the
project left something to be desired:
"The point was to discredit Saddam,
but the stuff was complete slapstick,"
the student says. "We did skits where
Saddam would get mixed up in his own
lies, or where [Saddam's son] Qusay
would stumble over his own delusions
of grandeur? no one in-house spoke a
word of Arabic," he says. "They
thought I was mocking Saddam, but
for all they knew I could have been
lambasting the US government."
The scripts, he adds, were often ill
conceived. "Who in Iraq is going to
think it's funny to poke fun at
Saddam's mustache," the student
notes, "when the vast majority of Iraqi
men themselves have mustaches?"
Rendon also employed Jordanians and
Egyptians whose accents were barely
intelligible to the average Iraqi. The
result? "The radio broadcasts were a
complete mumble," says the student -
who has since left Rendon out of
frustration at their ineptitude. While
working there, however, he was kept in
the dark about who was behind it all:
"I never got a straight answer on
whether the Iraqi resistance, the CIA or
policy makers on the Hill were actually
the ones calling the shots," says the
student, "but ultimately I realized that
the guys doing spin were very well and
completely cut loose."
This is corroborated a CIA agent who
disparaged the project, charging that
"the scripts were put together by
23-year-olds with connections to the
Democratic National Committee."
Should This Be Upsetting To
American Taxpayers?
The short answer is yes. The clumsy
student radio program was only part of
Rendon's work for the Iraqi National
Congress (INC), a pseudo-diplomatic
proxy used as a puppet by Rendon and
the CIA. The enormous INC fiasco
shows better than anything else how
the hard-earned money of the
American taxpayer has gone directly
down the drain, to fuel a propaganda
war whose prime victims were those
who had unwittingly paid for it.
What Was Rendon's Role in
Propping Up the Iraqi Opposition?
ABC's Peter Jennings disclosed in
1998 that Rendon burned $23 million
dollars in the first year of its contract
with the CIA. It set up and christened
the Iraqi National Congress (INC), as
well as the Iraqi Broadcasting
Corporation (IBC) and Radio Hurriah, a
vehicle for Iraqi opposition propaganda.
The INC, a disparate group of Kurds
and Iraqis opposed to Hussein, was set
up in both northern Iraq and big
Kurdish diaspora areas, notably
London. In 1992 the CIA set up Ahmed
Chalabi, an MIT-educated
mathematician and dissident, to front
the organization. Years later, the "help"
Chalabi received from Rendon would
come back to haunt him. An inside
picture of the PR giant presents it as
not only a puppet of war-mongers, but
also as woefully corrupt and
unaccountable - a double deceiver of
the American people.
Rendon's INC Free-For-All
A former CIA agent who worked with
the INC called Rendon's involvement
details the prolonged scam that cost
American taxpayers up to $150 million:
"The money went to consultants in
Washington - millions, and millions,
and millions of dollars," he said, on
strict condition of anonymity.
"Millions" went to American
consultants in London, as well as to
other consultants posted around the
Middle East, he alleged, who made
small fortunes that were used later to
buy big houses in poshest Washington
neighborhoods.
"There was one woman who was
getting $500,000 a year in salary" to
work on the Iraq campaign in London,
he said. "She was getting per diem
when she was hired, about $400 a day
in London." Then she was put on the
payroll, "but they never stopped the per
diem," he said. "So she was getting a
salary of a hundred [thousand] and
something, and then she moved into an
apartment, so she wasn't paying for a
hotel. And this went on for three years.
And then she said, 'I need some office
space,' and so she went out and rented
this office space. And then she
subleased it. So right there I can
account for a million dollars, siphoned
off.
?At the end of the year we - the CIA's
Iraq Group - had money left over, so
we got instructions from the DO [the
CIA's Directorate of Operations]:
'Well, go and spend it.' So we went out
and bought brand new Jeep Cherokees?
all the cars we had in the Middle East
for the Iraqi program were going to the
wives of the COS's [the chiefs of
station]? It was a $150 million rip-off.
Go up to northwest [Washington, D.C.]
and look at those big houses, and you'll
know how they got paid for."
When the inevitable CIA audit came
years later, however, Ahmad Chalabi
was blamed for the waste; "but
according to the CIA man, "Chalabi got
nothing [illegal] from it."
What Has Rendon Been Working
On Since 9/11?
Shortly after al Qaeda struck in New
York and Washington, the Rendon
Group was enlisted to help pave the
way for an attack on Afghanistan - at
that time, something that was not a
given. The urgency of the task was
indicated by the fact that Rendon was
awarded a contract - on a no-bid basis.
Apparently, the military had no time to
lose in selling a war before cooler heads
could prevail and the window of
opportunity slam shut. The PR effort
was not only meant to win domestic
support - but also "to win over the
hearts and minds of Arabs and Muslims
worldwide." While the former won
general acceptance, the latter did not
succeed, and probably never will.
On 25 October 2001, Pentagon media
officer Lt. Col. Kenneth McClellan
explained why Rendon was chosen:
"We needed a firm that could provide
strategic counsel immediately? we were
interested in someone that we knew
could come in quickly and help us
orient to the challenge of
communicating to a wide range of
groups around the world."
At first, the company was awarded
$400,000 over four months to monitor
media, conduct focus groups and
opinion surveys, and cook up other
ways to counter what the Pentagon saw
as "disinformation" (i.e., any antiwar
dissent). The contract was renewed for
2002.
Earlier this year, the Rendon Group
was asked for some further details
about this (and other) propaganda
campaigns. But just like now, they were
silent:
"A spokeswoman for the company said
she could not reveal what the company
did for the Pentagon on that project,
but a well-informed source who has
worked with Rendon said it went
beyond wooing foreign journalists to
setting up disguised-source, pro-U.S
Web sites in several foreign languages
and blast-faxing foreign media and
search engines with pro-U.S.
information."
Will Rendon Help Spin Gulf War
II?
Other investigators have found that the
Rendon Group is "tight-lipped" about
its involvement with the upcoming
installment of Gulf War II. A current
Rendon Arabic translator commented,
"All I can say is that nothing has
changed - the work is still an expensive
waste of time, mostly with taxpayer
funds." While it would not be surprising
if Rendon is hired to spin the next war,
it will be interesting to see whether the
American people will once again take
the bait.
The verdict therefore seems to be that,
while America clumsily bullies its way
militarily across the Middle East, it will
unleash an equally unprofessional - but
lucrative - public relations campaign,
and probably with the help of the
now-tarnished Rendon Group. But that
is no reason to be upset or surprised:
after all, we get what we pay for.
(The hypertext, with many many links, can be found at
the original URL: http://www.antiwar.com/orig/deliso62.html )
The Interview That Never Happened
When the Masters of Spin Go Silent
by Christopher Deliso in Skopje
December 16, 2002
With the White House seemingly on
an unavoidable collision course with
Saddam Hussein, hawkish policy
planners now face a new challenge:
how to sell the war to an increasingly
unenthusiastic public. All across
America - from Long Island to
Minneapolis, from Boston to Atlanta,
from Sioux Falls to Sacramento to
Seattle - antiwar demonstrations have
been springing up, as even citizens
normally disinterested in foreign affairs
voice concern over the possible
negative effects war would have on the
economy. In addition, there is a
growing unease that war with Iraq
would negatively impact on America's
image abroad, and perhaps incite
further al Qaeda terrorism as a form of
revenge - although, ironically, bin
Laden has no affection for Saddam. The
president, of course, is desperately
hoping he can find the two in cahoots,
somehow.
Keeping in mind that Iraq never
attacked the United States, neither in
1990 or now, the looming war is hard to
justify. That is, unless public relations
can again save the day.
A Paradigm Shift
The Gulf War was the first time
America played the humanitarian card
to justify attacking a much weaker
country. What began with Bush's
"babies in incubators" myth (handled
by PR whiz Hill & Knowlton) was
perfected by Clinton, who almost ten
years later used the all-too-popular
(and all-too-bogus) myth of "ethnic
cleansing" to justify attacking Serbia.
Almost four years on, anti-Serbian bias
still pervades the British and American
media and think-tanks. Anti-Iraq
coverage goes without saying.
After September 11th, the paradigm has
shifted from humanitarian intervention
to terrorism pre-emption. Yet the
White House's self-declared right to
"shoot first and ask questions later"
portrays the administration negatively,
as both cowboy desperado and
confused paranoic. It also begs the
question of whether ulterior motives are
at work here, as John Pilger argues in a
scathing indictment of US energy goals
in Iraq.
Although Americans are much more
clever this time around, after witnessing
a decade of PR propaganda in the
Yugoslav wars, the White House
apparently believes that the average
citizen will still support war, if it is only
spun the right way. The only question
is who will do the spinning.
Enter Rendon?
The last Gulf War was brought to you
partially by a little company in
Washington known as the Rendon
Group. This PR giant has clients
around the world, but none quite so
grand as the United States government.
Rendon was once enlisted to make the
case - subtly and deceptively - for why
America should support a war against
Saddam. And in the end, it worked. But
the worst thing? The PR blitz that
captivated both media and ordinary
citizens alike was paid for by the very
people it was meant to seduce - the
American taxpayers, whose funds
continue to grease the wheels for the
government's war machine. However,
the people ate it up - sadly,
re-affirming the adage that the voters
get the leaders they deserve.
The Unsuccessful Request
I thought, therefore, that an interview
with the Rendon Group about their past
successes and future aspirations would
allow them a chance to give their side
of the story - since most published
reports have been overwhelmingly
critical. However, my requests for an
interview met only with silence. Were
the nuanced masters of eloquent
persuasion really at a loss for words?
Since they apparently are, I have been
forced to conduct an interview with a
respondent who is absent, drawing on
Rendon's publicly-made statements
and independent investigations.
Coming from an aggressively
outspoken PR firm, silence would seem
incrimination enough. Yet as we will
see, even their own statements give
them away.
In the following, the questions I had
prepared come at the headings of each
section.
How Would You Describe Your
Services and Objectives?
"The Rendon Group (TRG) is a
Global Strategic Communications
Consultancy providing products and
services to both public and private
sector clients. TRG's expertise includes
strategic communications consultation,
planning and evaluation; information
strategy and operations; public and
media relations planning and
implementation; crisis management;
news collection and analysis;
information mapping; survey research;
media production; and tactical
communications team deployment. To
date, TRG has worked in eighty (80)
countries, frequently on location in a
conflict environment, and has
considerable experience in establishing
field offices to support program
objectives."
This description - culled directly from
the Rendon Group's website - gives in
"official" language a picture that can
basically be boiled down to two words:
information war. After first
accumulating data, they manipulate it -
and in some cases, sanitize it - to win
either people's emotional support or
their dollars. In this age of civilized
excess, when we are constantly being
bombarded with information, it requires
a careful shaping effort to make that
information meaningful. And, as we
will see below, producing meaningful
information is the first step towards
producing war.
Who Are Your Clients?
PR companies are essentially soulless.
Like mercenaries, they will work for
anyone and everyone who can pay -
with the possible exception of racist or
subversive organizations, as that would
be bad for their own PR.
However, this general lack of values is,
paradoxically, what accounts for their
perceived legitimacy. Working as it has
for innocuous clients like the
Massachusetts Office of Travel and
Tourism, the National Transportation
Safety Board, and the National
Education Association has given the
Rendon Group a veneer of
respectability.
Among the full list of global clients,
however, one finds others whose goals
are ambivalent, or somewhat
suspicious, or even downright
dangerous. In most cases, however, the
connection keeps coming back to
support of US government and big
business interests.
For example, we have the United States
Trade & Development Agency,
Colombian Ministry of Defense, the
Government of Kuwait and Kuwait
Petroleum Corporation.
The USTDA facilitates major
international projects, funding
feasibility studies and development for
US-connected business interests.
Wherever large infrastructure projects
like oil pipelines are being
contemplated, there is the TDA.
Oil is the link to the KPC, a company
run by an assortment of sheiks - most
of them educated in the United States.
The company was founded in 1934 by a
British-American consortium that has
since morphed into BP and Chevron -
two companies with large interests in
the Middle East and Caspian areas. The
government of Kuwait is a no-brainer,
given Rendon's efforts against Saddam
in the Gulf War. And as for Colombia,
the US has for years been selling arms
to expedite the Colombian
government's war on Leftist rebels, and
fuelling an unwinnable "War on Drugs"
at the same time. It is clear that while
the Rendon Group may have some
"independent" clients (like the
Association of Massage Therapists),
the majority lie within a closed circle of
governmental bodies that share
overlapping policies - sadly, often
harmonizing in war.
Which Clients Inhabit the Unknown
Zone?
Then there is the rather odd
assortment of Caribbean clients: the
governments of Haiti, Antigua &
Barbuda, Netherlands Antilles and
Aruba, and neighboring Panama.
Finally there is the St. Lucia Labour
Party. There is little information for
what must be a very interesting
relationship here, as Rendon is silent
about the affairs of its clients. What is
publicly known is that in the
mid-1990's Rendon helped the
embattled Aristide in Haiti (he paid
through a bank account in Washington)
and worked on a CIA contract to aid the
opposition to Manuel Noriega in 1989.
This was emulated soon thereafter in
Iraq.
And Which Clients Should We Be
Afraid Of?
Finally there are the decisively
pro-War clients. There is the Air
Intelligence Agency (AIA), which runs
the Air Force's "information warfare"
center from its base in Lackland,
Texas. In addition to the Defense
Department itself, Rendon has worked
with the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency, or DARPA. This
secretive body is currently involved with
the Bush Administration's grandiose
plans for an all-seeing national
supercomputer. Although it is not
mentioned on the company website, the
CIA is one of the Rendon Group's
longest-standing partners. The final
client is the White House itself, which
of course has the final say over all of
these bodies.
Have You Worked In The Balkans?
The Rendon Group was not so
involved as other companies, notably
Ruder-Finn, in the Yugoslav wars.
However, it did aid Bosnian
privatization and helped set up an
interesting little project paid for by the
US Department of Defense - the
"Balkan Information Exchange." This
sprung up during the Kosovo
bombardment to bolster the
government's position. And if its
relation to previous government
contracts was in any doubt, the fact that
it eventually morphed into the "Balkan
Times" settles the question.
A glossy, slickly-presented slice of the
internet - available in a whopping nine
languages - the Balkan Times is paid
for by the US Department of Defense.
What Were Your Biggest Successes?
Company president John Rendon, a
self-described "information warrior,"
fondly recalled to a military audience
one of his biggest successes of the Gulf
War:
"If any of you either participated in the
liberation of Kuwait City? or if you
watched it on television, you would
have seen hundreds of Kuwaitis waving
small American flags," John Rendon
said in his speech to the NSC. "Did you
ever stop to wonder how the people of
Kuwait City, after being held hostage
for seven long and painful months,
were able to get hand-held American
flags? And for that matter, the flags of
other coalition countries? Well, you
now know the answer. That was one of
my jobs."
The flag shenanigan was so important
because it "proved" to Arabic and other
Muslim television viewers that America
was their friend. People waving
American flags and cheering on the US
of A is a potent tactic anywhere in the
world where jaded viewers need
reassurance. As in Kuwait, such
displays are generally encouraged -
except, however, for times when they
show American policy in contradiction,
as in the mountain wilds of Macedonia.
Have There Been Any Failures?
Although they would be loath to admit
it, there have been several instances of
unprofessionalism from Rendon that
only ended up wasting a lot of money.
Most embarrassing of all was the
anti-Saddam radio hour - conceived
and executed six years ago, by a bunch
of college kids in Boston.
For $3,000 a month - in which he
worked about 8 days total - a Harvard
Arabic student was whisked by limo to
a recording studio rented out by
Rendon. His qualifications? "I was a
good Arabic translator who did a great
Saddam imitation," the student
disclosed anonymously. The student's
job was to mimic Saddam in bogus
speeches and mock the Iraqi leader in
radio broadcasts that would (or so they
thought) strike a chord with the Iraqi
people. However, the conscientious
student quickly found that the
organization and execution of the
project left something to be desired:
"The point was to discredit Saddam,
but the stuff was complete slapstick,"
the student says. "We did skits where
Saddam would get mixed up in his own
lies, or where [Saddam's son] Qusay
would stumble over his own delusions
of grandeur? no one in-house spoke a
word of Arabic," he says. "They
thought I was mocking Saddam, but
for all they knew I could have been
lambasting the US government."
The scripts, he adds, were often ill
conceived. "Who in Iraq is going to
think it's funny to poke fun at
Saddam's mustache," the student
notes, "when the vast majority of Iraqi
men themselves have mustaches?"
Rendon also employed Jordanians and
Egyptians whose accents were barely
intelligible to the average Iraqi. The
result? "The radio broadcasts were a
complete mumble," says the student -
who has since left Rendon out of
frustration at their ineptitude. While
working there, however, he was kept in
the dark about who was behind it all:
"I never got a straight answer on
whether the Iraqi resistance, the CIA or
policy makers on the Hill were actually
the ones calling the shots," says the
student, "but ultimately I realized that
the guys doing spin were very well and
completely cut loose."
This is corroborated a CIA agent who
disparaged the project, charging that
"the scripts were put together by
23-year-olds with connections to the
Democratic National Committee."
Should This Be Upsetting To
American Taxpayers?
The short answer is yes. The clumsy
student radio program was only part of
Rendon's work for the Iraqi National
Congress (INC), a pseudo-diplomatic
proxy used as a puppet by Rendon and
the CIA. The enormous INC fiasco
shows better than anything else how
the hard-earned money of the
American taxpayer has gone directly
down the drain, to fuel a propaganda
war whose prime victims were those
who had unwittingly paid for it.
What Was Rendon's Role in
Propping Up the Iraqi Opposition?
ABC's Peter Jennings disclosed in
1998 that Rendon burned $23 million
dollars in the first year of its contract
with the CIA. It set up and christened
the Iraqi National Congress (INC), as
well as the Iraqi Broadcasting
Corporation (IBC) and Radio Hurriah, a
vehicle for Iraqi opposition propaganda.
The INC, a disparate group of Kurds
and Iraqis opposed to Hussein, was set
up in both northern Iraq and big
Kurdish diaspora areas, notably
London. In 1992 the CIA set up Ahmed
Chalabi, an MIT-educated
mathematician and dissident, to front
the organization. Years later, the "help"
Chalabi received from Rendon would
come back to haunt him. An inside
picture of the PR giant presents it as
not only a puppet of war-mongers, but
also as woefully corrupt and
unaccountable - a double deceiver of
the American people.
Rendon's INC Free-For-All
A former CIA agent who worked with
the INC called Rendon's involvement
details the prolonged scam that cost
American taxpayers up to $150 million:
"The money went to consultants in
Washington - millions, and millions,
and millions of dollars," he said, on
strict condition of anonymity.
"Millions" went to American
consultants in London, as well as to
other consultants posted around the
Middle East, he alleged, who made
small fortunes that were used later to
buy big houses in poshest Washington
neighborhoods.
"There was one woman who was
getting $500,000 a year in salary" to
work on the Iraq campaign in London,
he said. "She was getting per diem
when she was hired, about $400 a day
in London." Then she was put on the
payroll, "but they never stopped the per
diem," he said. "So she was getting a
salary of a hundred [thousand] and
something, and then she moved into an
apartment, so she wasn't paying for a
hotel. And this went on for three years.
And then she said, 'I need some office
space,' and so she went out and rented
this office space. And then she
subleased it. So right there I can
account for a million dollars, siphoned
off.
?At the end of the year we - the CIA's
Iraq Group - had money left over, so
we got instructions from the DO [the
CIA's Directorate of Operations]:
'Well, go and spend it.' So we went out
and bought brand new Jeep Cherokees?
all the cars we had in the Middle East
for the Iraqi program were going to the
wives of the COS's [the chiefs of
station]? It was a $150 million rip-off.
Go up to northwest [Washington, D.C.]
and look at those big houses, and you'll
know how they got paid for."
When the inevitable CIA audit came
years later, however, Ahmad Chalabi
was blamed for the waste; "but
according to the CIA man, "Chalabi got
nothing [illegal] from it."
What Has Rendon Been Working
On Since 9/11?
Shortly after al Qaeda struck in New
York and Washington, the Rendon
Group was enlisted to help pave the
way for an attack on Afghanistan - at
that time, something that was not a
given. The urgency of the task was
indicated by the fact that Rendon was
awarded a contract - on a no-bid basis.
Apparently, the military had no time to
lose in selling a war before cooler heads
could prevail and the window of
opportunity slam shut. The PR effort
was not only meant to win domestic
support - but also "to win over the
hearts and minds of Arabs and Muslims
worldwide." While the former won
general acceptance, the latter did not
succeed, and probably never will.
On 25 October 2001, Pentagon media
officer Lt. Col. Kenneth McClellan
explained why Rendon was chosen:
"We needed a firm that could provide
strategic counsel immediately? we were
interested in someone that we knew
could come in quickly and help us
orient to the challenge of
communicating to a wide range of
groups around the world."
At first, the company was awarded
$400,000 over four months to monitor
media, conduct focus groups and
opinion surveys, and cook up other
ways to counter what the Pentagon saw
as "disinformation" (i.e., any antiwar
dissent). The contract was renewed for
2002.
Earlier this year, the Rendon Group
was asked for some further details
about this (and other) propaganda
campaigns. But just like now, they were
silent:
"A spokeswoman for the company said
she could not reveal what the company
did for the Pentagon on that project,
but a well-informed source who has
worked with Rendon said it went
beyond wooing foreign journalists to
setting up disguised-source, pro-U.S
Web sites in several foreign languages
and blast-faxing foreign media and
search engines with pro-U.S.
information."
Will Rendon Help Spin Gulf War
II?
Other investigators have found that the
Rendon Group is "tight-lipped" about
its involvement with the upcoming
installment of Gulf War II. A current
Rendon Arabic translator commented,
"All I can say is that nothing has
changed - the work is still an expensive
waste of time, mostly with taxpayer
funds." While it would not be surprising
if Rendon is hired to spin the next war,
it will be interesting to see whether the
American people will once again take
the bait.
The verdict therefore seems to be that,
while America clumsily bullies its way
militarily across the Middle East, it will
unleash an equally unprofessional - but
lucrative - public relations campaign,
and probably with the help of the
now-tarnished Rendon Group. But that
is no reason to be upset or surprised:
after all, we get what we pay for.
Montenegro indipendente (1)
1. IL PARTITO DI DJUKANOVIC PROMETTE L'INDIPENDENZA TRA TRE ANNI
La "Nuova Unione" serbomontenegrina, che seppellisce la "Jugoslavia"
secondo la volonta' di Xavier Solana, e' una pura copertura
transitoria. (Tanjug 1-3/2/2003)
2. DJUKANOVIC E LA MAFIA:
* ILLEGITTIMO IL TRESFERIMENTO A GENOVA DELL'INCHIESTA ITALIANA
Ma del processo non parla piu' nessuno (ANSA 20/11/2003)
* STRASCICHI PER LA CONDANNA CONTRO GIORNALISTA SCOMODO
Aveva denunciato i legami tra Djukanovic ed il contrabbando (ANSA
17/12/2003)
* IN BELGIO LE BASI DELLA MAFIA MONTENEGRINO-PUGLIESE
E la rete si e' estesa verso la Grecia ed il Nordafrica (ANSA
15/1/2003)
1. IL PARTITO DI DJUKANOVIC PROMETTE L'INDIPENDENZA TRA TRE ANNI
La "Nuova Unione" serbomontenegrina, che seppellisce la "Jugoslavia"
secondo la volonta' di Xavier Solana, e' una pura copertura
transitoria. (Tanjug 1-3/2/2003)
2. DJUKANOVIC E LA MAFIA:
* ILLEGITTIMO IL TRESFERIMENTO A GENOVA DELL'INCHIESTA ITALIANA
Ma del processo non parla piu' nessuno (ANSA 20/11/2003)
* STRASCICHI PER LA CONDANNA CONTRO GIORNALISTA SCOMODO
Aveva denunciato i legami tra Djukanovic ed il contrabbando (ANSA
17/12/2003)
* IN BELGIO LE BASI DELLA MAFIA MONTENEGRINO-PUGLIESE
E la rete si e' estesa verso la Grecia ed il Nordafrica (ANSA
15/1/2003)
Serbia "libera": miseria, corruzione, indebitamento.
Nel silenzio dei media
(in ordine cronologico:)
1. SERBIA: PRIVATIZZAZIONI, RAFFINERIA DENUNCIA MINISTRO
(ANSA 5/10/2002)
2. DISOCCUPAZIONE AL 30 PER CENTO
(Beta 10/12/2002)
3. LA JUGOSLAVIA E' INDEBITATA PER 8.6 MILIARDI DI DOLLARI
(Beta 10/12/2002)
4. SERBIA: 13.000 OPERAI SETTORE CHIMICO PERDONO LAVORO
(ANSA 30/12/2002)
5. CRESCE LA DISOCCUPAZIONE IN SERBIA
(Beta 31/12/2002)
6. JUGOSLAVIA: FMI RINVIA SESSIONE, NON CHIARO ASSETTO PAESE
(ANSA 30/12/2002)
7. SERBIA: STIME CONTRADDITORIE SU FUTURO ECONOMIA
(ANSA 10/1/2003)
8. JUGOSLAVIA: NUOVO PRESTITO BANCA MONDIALE A FEBBRAIO
(ANSA 21/1/2003)
9. IL NUMERO DEI POVERI E' MOLTO SUPERIORE AI DATI UFFICIALI
(TANJUG 31/1/2003)
=== 1 ===
SERBIA: PRIVATIZZAZIONI, RAFFINERIA DENUNCIA MINISTRO
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 5 OTT - Lo zuccherificio Crvenka, uno dei
maggori del paese, ha presentato una denuncia contro il ministro
dell'agricoltura Dragan Veselinov e il suo vice Petar Muncan
per la cessione del 70% del pacchetto azionario della raffineria alla
compagnia greca 'Hellenic sugar'. I responsabili di Crvenka accusano
il ministro, il suo vice e due componenti della commissione di
privatizzazione degli impianti di appropriazione indebita. Il prezzo
fissato per la vendita, stando all'accusa, e' molto al di sotto del
valore reale degli impianti, la cui produzione e' nettamente aumentata
negli ultimi mesi. (ANSA). OT 05/12/2002 13:18
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/jugoslavia/20021205131832407527.html
=== 2 ===
DISOCCUPAZIONE AL 30 PER CENTO
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN YUGOSLAVIA AMONG HIGHEST IN WORLD
BELGRADE, Dec. 10 (Beta) - The unemployment rate in Yugoslavia is 30
percent and is one of the highest in the world, the latest
data released by the Belgrade Institute for Market Research shows.
Institute expert Tomislav Milisavljevic told journalists on Dec.
10 that 900,000 people in Serbia are unemployed.
According to the Institute's estimates, the projected economic
growth for 2003 of 5 percent is insufficient to provide
such a high number of people with a job. It should be at least 7
percent and continue to grow until it passed the 10 percent mark.
Milisavljevic explained that a 7 percent increase in the GDP could
be achieved with foreign investment amounting to about EUR1
billion in 2003, "which is possible if privatization is accelerated."
In that case, personal spending would grow proportionally to the
growth of the GDP, with an inflation rate possibly exceeding the
forecast 9 percent, but not surpassing 10 percent.
=== 3 ===
LA JUGOSLAVIA E' INDEBITATA PER 8.6 MILIARDI DI DOLLARI
YUGOSLAVIA OWES $8.6 BILLION TO FOREIGN LENDERS
BELGRADE, Dec. 10 (Beta) - Yugoslavia's foreign debt is 8.6
billion dollars, still too heavy a burden on the projected gross
social product of $1314 billion, Yugoslav acting finance minister
Veroljub Dugalic warned on Dec. 10.
"Yugoslavia owes $2.2 billion to the London Club, without its
affiliates. We expect the talks with the London Club of
commercial bank lenders to give us the same treatment we enjoy with
the Paris Club. What we actually hope for is a $1billion write-off,"
Dugalic said at a round table called Financial Relations with Foreign
Countries Situation and Prospects."
The acting finance minister explained that foreign debt included a
clearing debt of $290 million, along with short-term debts
to China, a number of Paris Club members and other countries amounting
to $1.153 billion. Furthermore, foreign debt includes $682 million to
other creditors, a $5.17billion debt rescheduled after 2000, and
a $774m debt accumulated in the past two years.
Dugalic says that Yugoslavia is to shoulder the full foreign debt
burden after 2006, and especially after 2008, when a grace period
Yugoslavia won in the talks with the Paris Club will expire. He said
the annual annuities would be in the neighborhood of $300
million by the year 2006, rising to $700800 million tops afterwards.
=== 4 ===
SERBIA: 13.000 OPERAI SETTORE CHIMICO PERDONO LAVORO
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 30 DIC - Il processo di privatizzazione e di
ristrutturazione dell'industria chimica e non metallurgica in
Serbia e' costata il posto di lavoro a circa 13.000 lavoratori. Ma
secondo il leader del Sindacato indipendente di Serbia, Ljubisav
Obradovic, il numero degli operai licenziati potrebbe salire ancora
nel 2003, fino a riguardare il 30-50% degli attuali 80.000 addetti del
settore. Obradovic ha accusato lo stato di non aver fatto
nulla per rivitalizzare il settore. (ANSA). COR-GV 30/12/2002 17:20
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/jugoslavia/20021230172032428659.html
=== 5 ===
CRESCE LA DISOCCUPAZIONE IN SERBIA
UNEMPLOYMENT UP IN SERBIA
BELGRADE, December 31 (Beta) - A total of 902,310 individuals are
unemployed in Serbia, which is a yearonyear increase of 15.7 percent,
said Svetozar Krstic, general director of the Serbian Employment
Bureau, on Dec. 30. He told a news conference that another 122,000
people were unemployed because of economic restructuring.
Out of the total 526,000 people were firsttime job seekers.
From January to October 2002, according to Krstic, 312,973 people
found jobs, 197,550 of them through the Bureau.
Krstic said he expected a demand for 480,000 new jobs in 2003.
Although an unemployment rate was not given, independent sources
estimate it at around 24 percent.
=== 6 ===
JUGOSLAVIA: FMI RINVIA SESSIONE, NON CHIARO ASSETTO PAESE
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 30 DIC - Tanto il Fondo monetario internazionale
(Fmi) quanto l'Unione europea considerano scarsamente definito
l'attuale assetto istituzionale della Jugoslavia, in particolare il
rapporto fra serbia e Montenegro, ed hanno percio' rinviato iniziative
a favore di Belgrado. L'Fmi ha deciso di rimandare all'inizio di
febbraio una sessione in cui avrebbe dovuto approvare una nuova
tranche di prestito nel quadro di un accordo di massima con il governo
di Belgrado, mentre Bruxelles ha deciso nei giorni scorsi di rinviare
sine die una conferenza di paesi donatori, inizialmente prevista per
la fine del 2002 e gia' rinviata al 2003. A proposito di
quest'ultima, il ministro serbo per i rapporti economici con l'estero,
Goran Pitic, ha dichiarato sulla stampa che la decisione dell'Ue -
che pone come condizione alla Jugoslavia di adottare una carta
costituzionale che stabilisca in modo chiaro i rapporti fra Serbia e
Montenegro, che siano armonizzati i rapporti economici fra le due
entita' e ripresa la collaborazione col Tribunale dell'Aja (Tpi) - non
fara' soffrire troppo la Jugoslavia, in quanto rapporti bilaterali con
Paesi donatori sono gia' stati stabiliti. Pitic prevede per il 2003
che gli aiuti raggiungeranno i 750 milioni di euro circa, piu' o meno
lo stesso dell'anno che si sta chiudendo. Per quanto riguarda il Fmi,
la decisione di rinviare la sessione e' stata presa dal consiglio di
amministrazione dell'istituto, la quale ha suggerito che nella
trattativa per la seconda tranche la Banca nazionale serba assumesse
le vesti di unico agente finanziario, ottenendo il rifiuto della Banca
del Montenegro, che rivendica invece una rappresentanza paritetica con
l'istituto emissione di Belgrado. (ANSA). GV 30/12/2002 17:17
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/jugoslavia/20021230171732428657.html
=== 7 ===
SERBIA: STIME CONTRADDITORIE SU FUTURO ECONOMIA
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 10 GEN - Due prestigiosi organismi economici di
Belgrado, l'Istituto di indagini di mercato e l'Istituto di scienze
economiche, hanno presentante stime contraddittorie sulle tendenze
future dell'economia serba. Secondo un'inchiesta condotta
dall'Istituto di indagini di mercato, gli uomini d'affari serbi non si
attendono grandi risultati economici nel 2003, sottolineano che l'anno
scorso e' stato cattivo e segnalano con preoccupazione che attualmente
ci sono nel paese 900.000 disoccupati (15 per cento in piu' riguardo
all'inizio dell'anno scorso). Da parte sua, l'Istituto di scienze
economiche sostiene che le tendenze politiche negative possono
rallentare le attivita' economiche nel 2003, annullando la raggiunta
stabilita' del paese. (ANSA). COR-MIN 10/01/2003 19:09
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/jugoslavia/20030110190932437954.html
=== 8 ===
IL CAPPIO SI STRINGE.
JUGOSLAVIA: NUOVO PRESTITO BANCA MONDIALE A FEBBRAIO
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 21 GEN - Belgrado e la Banca mondiale
hanno raggiunto un nuovo accordo per un prestito di 140 milioni di
dollari entro fine febbraio, 60 dei quali per le spese sociali e 80 da
destinare allo sviluppo della piccola e media impresa. Lo ha
annunciato il vicepremier jugoslavo Miroljub Labus dopo un incontro
con il vicepresidente della banca Shangman Zhang. Labus e Zhang hanno
fatto il punto sui rapporti fra Belgrado e la Banca mondiale per il
2003 e sui piani di sviluppo fino al 2007. I due esperti hanno anche
affrontato il problema dei rapporti fra la banca e le istituzioni
kosovare, che secondo il vicepremier jugoslavo devono restare in linea
con la risoluzione 1244 dell'Onu in base alla quale la provincia e'
parte integrante della Jugoslavia. (ANSA). OT 21/01/2003 14:01
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/jugoslavia/20030121140132448239.html
=== 9 ===
IL NUMERO DEI POVERI E' MOLTO SUPERIORE AI DATI UFFICIALI
NUMBER OF POOR IN SERBIA BELIEVED TO BE BIGGER THAN OFFICIAL DATA SHOW
BELGRADE, Jan 31 (Tanjug) - Serbian parliament MPs on Friday
backed the presented government strategy for fighting poverty and
proposed a re-examination of the methodology for determining the
so-called poverty line, since they believe the percentage of poor
people in Serbia is much higher than the one officially listed.
According to the poverty line of a monthly salary of 4,489 dinars,
10.6 percent of the Serbian population are poor, with southeastern
Serbia being the poorest, village residents poorer than urban
residents, and families with three or more children being poorer than
others.
"We have already made a series of moves with which we have stoked
poverty - the adoption of the labor law, regulations in health
services and the social policy," MP Milos Todorovic said, claiming
that "over 50 percent of the population in Serbia are poor"
considering the high unemployment rate, 600,000 refugees and displaced
persons, and low salaries.
Explaining the Serbian government strategy whose final version
should be sent to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) by July 2003, the members of the project management team
acquainted MPs with the preliminary results of a poll which measured
the living standard of the population.
Nel silenzio dei media
(in ordine cronologico:)
1. SERBIA: PRIVATIZZAZIONI, RAFFINERIA DENUNCIA MINISTRO
(ANSA 5/10/2002)
2. DISOCCUPAZIONE AL 30 PER CENTO
(Beta 10/12/2002)
3. LA JUGOSLAVIA E' INDEBITATA PER 8.6 MILIARDI DI DOLLARI
(Beta 10/12/2002)
4. SERBIA: 13.000 OPERAI SETTORE CHIMICO PERDONO LAVORO
(ANSA 30/12/2002)
5. CRESCE LA DISOCCUPAZIONE IN SERBIA
(Beta 31/12/2002)
6. JUGOSLAVIA: FMI RINVIA SESSIONE, NON CHIARO ASSETTO PAESE
(ANSA 30/12/2002)
7. SERBIA: STIME CONTRADDITORIE SU FUTURO ECONOMIA
(ANSA 10/1/2003)
8. JUGOSLAVIA: NUOVO PRESTITO BANCA MONDIALE A FEBBRAIO
(ANSA 21/1/2003)
9. IL NUMERO DEI POVERI E' MOLTO SUPERIORE AI DATI UFFICIALI
(TANJUG 31/1/2003)
=== 1 ===
SERBIA: PRIVATIZZAZIONI, RAFFINERIA DENUNCIA MINISTRO
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 5 OTT - Lo zuccherificio Crvenka, uno dei
maggori del paese, ha presentato una denuncia contro il ministro
dell'agricoltura Dragan Veselinov e il suo vice Petar Muncan
per la cessione del 70% del pacchetto azionario della raffineria alla
compagnia greca 'Hellenic sugar'. I responsabili di Crvenka accusano
il ministro, il suo vice e due componenti della commissione di
privatizzazione degli impianti di appropriazione indebita. Il prezzo
fissato per la vendita, stando all'accusa, e' molto al di sotto del
valore reale degli impianti, la cui produzione e' nettamente aumentata
negli ultimi mesi. (ANSA). OT 05/12/2002 13:18
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/jugoslavia/20021205131832407527.html
=== 2 ===
DISOCCUPAZIONE AL 30 PER CENTO
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN YUGOSLAVIA AMONG HIGHEST IN WORLD
BELGRADE, Dec. 10 (Beta) - The unemployment rate in Yugoslavia is 30
percent and is one of the highest in the world, the latest
data released by the Belgrade Institute for Market Research shows.
Institute expert Tomislav Milisavljevic told journalists on Dec.
10 that 900,000 people in Serbia are unemployed.
According to the Institute's estimates, the projected economic
growth for 2003 of 5 percent is insufficient to provide
such a high number of people with a job. It should be at least 7
percent and continue to grow until it passed the 10 percent mark.
Milisavljevic explained that a 7 percent increase in the GDP could
be achieved with foreign investment amounting to about EUR1
billion in 2003, "which is possible if privatization is accelerated."
In that case, personal spending would grow proportionally to the
growth of the GDP, with an inflation rate possibly exceeding the
forecast 9 percent, but not surpassing 10 percent.
=== 3 ===
LA JUGOSLAVIA E' INDEBITATA PER 8.6 MILIARDI DI DOLLARI
YUGOSLAVIA OWES $8.6 BILLION TO FOREIGN LENDERS
BELGRADE, Dec. 10 (Beta) - Yugoslavia's foreign debt is 8.6
billion dollars, still too heavy a burden on the projected gross
social product of $1314 billion, Yugoslav acting finance minister
Veroljub Dugalic warned on Dec. 10.
"Yugoslavia owes $2.2 billion to the London Club, without its
affiliates. We expect the talks with the London Club of
commercial bank lenders to give us the same treatment we enjoy with
the Paris Club. What we actually hope for is a $1billion write-off,"
Dugalic said at a round table called Financial Relations with Foreign
Countries Situation and Prospects."
The acting finance minister explained that foreign debt included a
clearing debt of $290 million, along with short-term debts
to China, a number of Paris Club members and other countries amounting
to $1.153 billion. Furthermore, foreign debt includes $682 million to
other creditors, a $5.17billion debt rescheduled after 2000, and
a $774m debt accumulated in the past two years.
Dugalic says that Yugoslavia is to shoulder the full foreign debt
burden after 2006, and especially after 2008, when a grace period
Yugoslavia won in the talks with the Paris Club will expire. He said
the annual annuities would be in the neighborhood of $300
million by the year 2006, rising to $700800 million tops afterwards.
=== 4 ===
SERBIA: 13.000 OPERAI SETTORE CHIMICO PERDONO LAVORO
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 30 DIC - Il processo di privatizzazione e di
ristrutturazione dell'industria chimica e non metallurgica in
Serbia e' costata il posto di lavoro a circa 13.000 lavoratori. Ma
secondo il leader del Sindacato indipendente di Serbia, Ljubisav
Obradovic, il numero degli operai licenziati potrebbe salire ancora
nel 2003, fino a riguardare il 30-50% degli attuali 80.000 addetti del
settore. Obradovic ha accusato lo stato di non aver fatto
nulla per rivitalizzare il settore. (ANSA). COR-GV 30/12/2002 17:20
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/jugoslavia/20021230172032428659.html
=== 5 ===
CRESCE LA DISOCCUPAZIONE IN SERBIA
UNEMPLOYMENT UP IN SERBIA
BELGRADE, December 31 (Beta) - A total of 902,310 individuals are
unemployed in Serbia, which is a yearonyear increase of 15.7 percent,
said Svetozar Krstic, general director of the Serbian Employment
Bureau, on Dec. 30. He told a news conference that another 122,000
people were unemployed because of economic restructuring.
Out of the total 526,000 people were firsttime job seekers.
From January to October 2002, according to Krstic, 312,973 people
found jobs, 197,550 of them through the Bureau.
Krstic said he expected a demand for 480,000 new jobs in 2003.
Although an unemployment rate was not given, independent sources
estimate it at around 24 percent.
=== 6 ===
JUGOSLAVIA: FMI RINVIA SESSIONE, NON CHIARO ASSETTO PAESE
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 30 DIC - Tanto il Fondo monetario internazionale
(Fmi) quanto l'Unione europea considerano scarsamente definito
l'attuale assetto istituzionale della Jugoslavia, in particolare il
rapporto fra serbia e Montenegro, ed hanno percio' rinviato iniziative
a favore di Belgrado. L'Fmi ha deciso di rimandare all'inizio di
febbraio una sessione in cui avrebbe dovuto approvare una nuova
tranche di prestito nel quadro di un accordo di massima con il governo
di Belgrado, mentre Bruxelles ha deciso nei giorni scorsi di rinviare
sine die una conferenza di paesi donatori, inizialmente prevista per
la fine del 2002 e gia' rinviata al 2003. A proposito di
quest'ultima, il ministro serbo per i rapporti economici con l'estero,
Goran Pitic, ha dichiarato sulla stampa che la decisione dell'Ue -
che pone come condizione alla Jugoslavia di adottare una carta
costituzionale che stabilisca in modo chiaro i rapporti fra Serbia e
Montenegro, che siano armonizzati i rapporti economici fra le due
entita' e ripresa la collaborazione col Tribunale dell'Aja (Tpi) - non
fara' soffrire troppo la Jugoslavia, in quanto rapporti bilaterali con
Paesi donatori sono gia' stati stabiliti. Pitic prevede per il 2003
che gli aiuti raggiungeranno i 750 milioni di euro circa, piu' o meno
lo stesso dell'anno che si sta chiudendo. Per quanto riguarda il Fmi,
la decisione di rinviare la sessione e' stata presa dal consiglio di
amministrazione dell'istituto, la quale ha suggerito che nella
trattativa per la seconda tranche la Banca nazionale serba assumesse
le vesti di unico agente finanziario, ottenendo il rifiuto della Banca
del Montenegro, che rivendica invece una rappresentanza paritetica con
l'istituto emissione di Belgrado. (ANSA). GV 30/12/2002 17:17
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/jugoslavia/20021230171732428657.html
=== 7 ===
SERBIA: STIME CONTRADDITORIE SU FUTURO ECONOMIA
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 10 GEN - Due prestigiosi organismi economici di
Belgrado, l'Istituto di indagini di mercato e l'Istituto di scienze
economiche, hanno presentante stime contraddittorie sulle tendenze
future dell'economia serba. Secondo un'inchiesta condotta
dall'Istituto di indagini di mercato, gli uomini d'affari serbi non si
attendono grandi risultati economici nel 2003, sottolineano che l'anno
scorso e' stato cattivo e segnalano con preoccupazione che attualmente
ci sono nel paese 900.000 disoccupati (15 per cento in piu' riguardo
all'inizio dell'anno scorso). Da parte sua, l'Istituto di scienze
economiche sostiene che le tendenze politiche negative possono
rallentare le attivita' economiche nel 2003, annullando la raggiunta
stabilita' del paese. (ANSA). COR-MIN 10/01/2003 19:09
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/jugoslavia/20030110190932437954.html
=== 8 ===
IL CAPPIO SI STRINGE.
JUGOSLAVIA: NUOVO PRESTITO BANCA MONDIALE A FEBBRAIO
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 21 GEN - Belgrado e la Banca mondiale
hanno raggiunto un nuovo accordo per un prestito di 140 milioni di
dollari entro fine febbraio, 60 dei quali per le spese sociali e 80 da
destinare allo sviluppo della piccola e media impresa. Lo ha
annunciato il vicepremier jugoslavo Miroljub Labus dopo un incontro
con il vicepresidente della banca Shangman Zhang. Labus e Zhang hanno
fatto il punto sui rapporti fra Belgrado e la Banca mondiale per il
2003 e sui piani di sviluppo fino al 2007. I due esperti hanno anche
affrontato il problema dei rapporti fra la banca e le istituzioni
kosovare, che secondo il vicepremier jugoslavo devono restare in linea
con la risoluzione 1244 dell'Onu in base alla quale la provincia e'
parte integrante della Jugoslavia. (ANSA). OT 21/01/2003 14:01
http://www.ansa.it/balcani/jugoslavia/20030121140132448239.html
=== 9 ===
IL NUMERO DEI POVERI E' MOLTO SUPERIORE AI DATI UFFICIALI
NUMBER OF POOR IN SERBIA BELIEVED TO BE BIGGER THAN OFFICIAL DATA SHOW
BELGRADE, Jan 31 (Tanjug) - Serbian parliament MPs on Friday
backed the presented government strategy for fighting poverty and
proposed a re-examination of the methodology for determining the
so-called poverty line, since they believe the percentage of poor
people in Serbia is much higher than the one officially listed.
According to the poverty line of a monthly salary of 4,489 dinars,
10.6 percent of the Serbian population are poor, with southeastern
Serbia being the poorest, village residents poorer than urban
residents, and families with three or more children being poorer than
others.
"We have already made a series of moves with which we have stoked
poverty - the adoption of the labor law, regulations in health
services and the social policy," MP Milos Todorovic said, claiming
that "over 50 percent of the population in Serbia are poor"
considering the high unemployment rate, 600,000 refugees and displaced
persons, and low salaries.
Explaining the Serbian government strategy whose final version
should be sent to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) by July 2003, the members of the project management team
acquainted MPs with the preliminary results of a poll which measured
the living standard of the population.
Foreign military in Macedonia, Macedonians in Afghanistan and Iraq
Truppe straniere in Macedonia, macedoni in Afghanistan ed Iraq
1. European Rapid Reaction Force to deploy in Macedonia
(La Forza Europea di Reazione Rapida sara' stanziata in Macedonia)
WSWS, 1 February 2003
2. FYROM/Germany/USA:
16/12/2003: Macedonia: Mitreva asks Germany to provide further
support to Macedonia
16/12/2003: Macedonia: Germany approves new donation to Macedonia
24/1/2003: Macedonia: Skopje, Tirana and Zagreb agree on
partnership with US
3. MACEDONIANS IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ:
31/12/2003: SUCCESSFUL ARM REPRESENTATION WITHIN ISAF IN KABUL
"The first Macedonian peacekeepers, Captain Zoran Janev
and Lieutenant Marjan Nakov, received highest marks
for their participation in the Turkish contingent of
the peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan (ISAF) from
August to December 2002..."
("I primi peacekeepers macedoni, il capitano Zoran Janev
ed il luogotenente Marjan Nakov, hanno avuto i maggiori riconoscimenti
per la loro partecipazione nelle forze di peacekeeping in Afghanistan
(ISAF), dall'agosto al dicembre 2002, nell'ambito del contingente
turco [SIC]")
15/12/2003: MACEDONIAN HELICOPTERS TRAIN FOR POSSIBLE WAR IN IRAQ
23/1/2003: MACEDONIA TO SEND MILITARY UNIT TO AFGHANISTAN
=== 1 ===
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/feb2003/mace-f01_prn.shtml
World Socialist Web Site www.wsws.org
WSWS : News & Analysis : Europe : The Balkans
European Rapid Reaction Force to deploy in
Macedonia
By Paul Stewart
1 February 2003
Back to screen version | Send this link by email | Email the author
The European Union (EU) is preparing in March to replace NATO's
Amber Fox mission in Macedonia. Javier Solano, EU foreign policy
chief, has said this first military deployment of the EU Rapid
Reaction
Force (EURRF) will put EU-NATO relations "on a different footing."
As his remarks suggest, EU officials aim to use the mission in
Macedonia to prove that Europe can and must develop a military
capability independent of the United States.
The NATO mission in Macedonia was launched in spring 2001 after
Albanian separatists from the National Liberation Army (NLA)
crossed from Kosovo and began an armed insurgency against the
Macedonian government. The NLA had close ties with US forces and
was rescued from Macedonian troops by a US military convoy.
Subsequently the NATO mission has been scaled down from 3,000 to
800 mainly EU troops, assisting observers.
The EURRF will be deployed wearing sky blue EU berets, with EU
insignia stitched onto their national uniforms. After an agreement
signed with NATO last December, headquarters for the operation will
be in NATO facilities at Mons in Southern Belgium, and commanded
by Germany's Admiral Rainer Feist, Deputy NATO Supreme Allied
Commander for Europe.
This first military mission will follow hard on the heels of the
deployment of an EU police force in Bosnia-Herzegovina at the
beginning of January. Five hundred officers, led by a Danish police
commissioner, will train a civilian police force in the protectorate
over
the next three years.
At the inaugural ceremony for the force in Sarajevo, Solano said, "it
was not without emotion that we will see for the first time our
European colours adorn the national uniforms of our police officers in
a
mission on the ground ... a strong symbol of the collective will of
Europeans to act jointly in this key task of consolidating stability
and
security in our continent."
During last December's EU conference in Copenhagen, the president's
summation included a surprise demand that NATO hand over the
entire Bosnia-Herzegovina mission to EU command. In response, a
NATO official declared, "The first we heard of it was in the (EU)
presidency conclusions. The EU has not consulted NATO, SFOR or the
Bosnians. It was a less than optimal way of announcing it." Since the
announcement, Paddy Ashdown, the international representative in
Bosnia, has been summoned to a meeting with Solano to discuss the
proposal.
The EU has missed two previous deadlines for taking control of the
mission in Macedonia. In the first instance they were unable to
assemble a military force due to political divisions between and
within
European governments. Secondly, access to NATO facilities, seen as
crucial to the planning of the mission by a majority of those
involved,
was blocked by Turkey's veto. Turkey demanded that the EU force
should not be used in any dispute between Greece and Turkey over
Cyprus. Also Turkey wanted agreement that they would be considered
for membership of the EU in the next wave of expansion.
During the recent round of EU expansion negotiations, Turkey secured
agreement that the EURRF would not be deployed in any future crisis
over Cyprus. However the EU, led by Germany and France, refused
membership to Turkey, declaring only that its application would be
"reviewed" in 2004. One French diplomat commented in reference to
Turkey's close alliance with the US that if Turkey was admitted it
would be tantamount to granting America membership of the
European Union.
The EU's knock-back angered both the Turkish government and the
Bush administration. US Secretary of State Colin Powell sent a
strongly worded letter attacking the EU's decision.
In a clear attempt to disrupt the formation of the EURRF, last
September US NATO commanders unveiled their proposals for a
NATO Rapid Response Force. This force would be manned by 20,000
mainly European troops consisting of land, sea and air units.
According
to reports from the Euobserver, US officials asserted that the NATO
force would take on missions "unsuited to the European army".
Without consulting with the EU, NATO officials revealed detailed
proposals for the proposed force at December's summit of the alliance
in Prague. As yet, however, no cooperation agreements exist between
the two forces. NATO officials have insisted that its force be given
priority access to NATO facilities, thereby limiting the remit of the
EURRF.
Since 1999 senior French generals have argued, without consideration
for diplomatic protocol, that the EURRF should develop free from
NATO interference. In March 2002, when the EU first publicly
discussed the details of taking over command in Macedonia, French
President Jacque Chirac said, "Europe ought to go into action under
its
own steam, without having to be systematically subject to NATO."
France argued that instead of using NATO facilities, the EU should use
its own non-NATO headquarters. Other European governments at this
point rejected the French proposal out of concern that one European
power may use this to strengthen its position in the command
structures of the new force.
The Bush administration's attempts to disrupt the formation of the
EURRF are giving French arguments greater credibility. As the EU
force is becoming a reality it is forcing political parties and
parliaments
in Europe's capitals to take a political stand, for or against the
development of the EURRF.
Last March an exchange of letters between the British Foreign Office
and the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) revealed serious political
differences within the British establishment. Foreign Secretary Jack
Straw demanded that British troops be despatched to join the EU
mission in Macedonia and expressed the fear that the British could be
excluded in the future. But the MoD opposed Straw's proposal,
insisting that the EU force is incapable of conducting such a mission.
Its officials insisted that the EU force was incapable of such a
mission
and if an already unstable political situation in Macedonia got out of
control it would threaten the stability of the whole Balkan region.
For
the time being the MOD position has won the day.
Senior European military analysts regard this year as "critical" in
the
formation of a European response to the challenge of US military
predominance. On January 1, 2003 Greece took over the rotating EU
presidency and has said its tenure would be judged on the success of
the
Macedonia mission. It also announced that, with French and German
support, the presidency would work toward the creation of a "common
market for defence products" and the formation of an EU arms agency.
It has also been proposed that the new EU constitution, currently
being
drafted, should contain a "solidarity clause" based on Article 5 of
NATO's Charter, specifying that an attack on a member state will be
regarded as an attack on all the EU-effectively establishing a
military
alliance.
All eyes will be on the success or failure of the EU command in
Macedonia. According to a series of Reuters articles the US is
engaging
in measures to delay and disrupt the handover deadline. Germany's
Sueddeutsche Zeitung has reported that the Bush administration had
written to a number of European governments, and to Solano, insisting
the EU can take over the mission in June only after a detailed
discussion on the relationship between the two fledgling forces.
The Macedonia mission is a risky politically motivated adventure by
the
European bourgeoisie. It can be said, with a degree of certainty, that
one casualty of the EURRF's deployment will be the myth of a more
"reasonable and understanding" European foreign policy.
Copyright 1998-2002
World Socialist Web Site
All rights reserved
=== 2 ===
http://www.makfax.com.mk/news1-a.asp?br=26714
Makfax (FYROM)
December 16, 2002
Macedonia: Mitreva asks Germany to provide further
support to Macedonia
Macedonia expects further support from Germany to
accelerate country?s integration to the European Union
structures, said the Macedonian Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Ilinka Mitreva, in an interview with Radio
Deutsche Welle Macedonian-language program.
Macedonian Foreign Minister is in Berlin talks with
the German Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister
Joschka Fischer, the Minister of Defense Peter Struck
and the President of Bundestag Wolfgang Tirze.
?The talks will focus on bilateral co-operation, NATO
enlargement and modalities to boost the regional
co-operation,? sad Mitreva, adding that the main focus
will be put on economic co-operation.
Mitreva underlined the necessity to strengthen the
long-term co-operation and friendship between
Macedonia and Germany, adding that Germany is the
first country of the EU member-states that she visited
after taking up the post. Germany granted today 150
terrain vehicles to the Army of the Republic of
Macedonia. This is a second consecutive donation to
Macedonian Army.
---
http://www.makfax.com.mk/news1-a.asp?br=26711
Makfax
December 16, 2002
Macedonia: Germany approves new donation to Macedonia
Germany will donate 150 terrain vehicles to the
Macedonian Army, Makfax news agency said.
The donation ceremony will take place today at
Skopje?s Barracks Goce Delcev. Macedonian Minister of
Defense Vlado Buckovski will attend the ceremony. Two
years ago, Germany donated 130 armored personnel
carriers. This grant had boosted the mobility of the
Macedonian Army units.
---
http://www.makfax.com.mk/news1-a.asp?br=29536
Makfax (Macedonia)
January 24, 2003
Macedonia: Skopje, Tirana and Zagreb agree on
partnership with US
The State Secretaries of the Foreign Ministries of
Macedonia, Albania and Croatia adjusted today the text
of the Charter on Partnership with the United States.
The partnmership between the United States and the
three countries will contribute to accession of these
three countries in NATO, said Makfax news agency.
"The document wil be wrapped up at the next meeting
between the representatives of the three countries,
scheduled for February in Tirana. This meeting will
focus on wide-ranging program for co-operation, as
well as the necessary activities due to be undertaken
until the next summit of NATO, scheduled for 2004,"
said the State Secretary of the Macedonian Foreign
Ministry Risto Nikovski.
The Foreign Ministers of Macedonia, Albania and
Croatia will meet in March in Croatain city of
Dubrovnik to adopt the Partnership Charter. The
signing ceremony will take place in Washington.
The Director of the Democracise in Transition Project,
Bruce Jackson, attened the meeting of the State
Secretaries of the Foreign Ministries of Macedonia,
Albania and Croatia. He said the signing of the
Charter will take place in Washington in March.
=== 3 ===
http://www.mia.com.mk/ang/glavnavest/
lastvest.asp?vest=\Refresh1\523-3012.htm
Macedonian Information Agency
December 31, 2002
SUCCESSFUL ARM REPRESENTATION WITHIN ISAF IN KABUL
The first Macedonian peacekeepers, Captain Zoran Janev
and Lieutenant Marjan Nakov, received highest marks
for their participation in the Turkish contingent of
the peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan (ISAF) from
August to December 2002.
Janev and Nakov said they managed to represent the
Macedonian Army (ARM) in the best possible manner
before the ISAF member-countries.
Janev and Nakov will share their precious experience
from Kabul with other ARM soldiers, who will be
engaged in peacekeeping missions. They wish to be part
of other similar missions, considering that such
engagements bring Macedonia closer to NATO.
Captan Marjan Ugrev and Lieutenant Vasil Pacemski have
been included in the Turkish contingent of ISAF since
December 20. In late February next year, ARM will
incase the number of its soldiers within ISAF, by
including its infantry department in the German
contingent.
---
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2003/01/4-SEE/see-150103.asp
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
January 15, 2003
MACEDONIAN HELICOPTERS TRAIN FOR POSSIBLE WAR IN IRAQ
Macedonian helicopter crews have begun training for
the possible participation of two Mi8 helicopters in a
conflict in Iraq, dpa reported from Skopje on 14
January, citing the daily "Dnevnik." The report added
that Macedonia feels it has an obligation to support
its allies because it is a member of NATO's
Partnership for Peace. PM
---
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/ct/Qmacedonia-afghanistan.RH6A_DJN.html
Macedonia to send military unit to Afghanistan
SKOPJE, Jan 23 (AFP) - The Macedonian parliament voted
on Thursday to send a unit of 10 soldiers to join an
international security force in Afghanistan.
Macedonian soldiers will be part of German contingent
of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
for a six-month period beginning from February, the
parliamentary press office said in a statement.
Two Macedonian liaison officiers, who served within
Turkish contingent of ISAF, returned in December after
a six-month mission.
Germany and The Netherlands are due to take over the
ISAF leadership from Turkey on February 10 for a
period of six months.
The 4,800-strong force has patrolled Kabul and its
environs since its creation under an Afghan
power-sharing agreement reached in Bonn in 2001.
===
[source of most articles: Ova adresa el. pošte je zaštićena od spambotova. Omogućite JavaScript da biste je videli.; R. Rozoff)
Truppe straniere in Macedonia, macedoni in Afghanistan ed Iraq
1. European Rapid Reaction Force to deploy in Macedonia
(La Forza Europea di Reazione Rapida sara' stanziata in Macedonia)
WSWS, 1 February 2003
2. FYROM/Germany/USA:
16/12/2003: Macedonia: Mitreva asks Germany to provide further
support to Macedonia
16/12/2003: Macedonia: Germany approves new donation to Macedonia
24/1/2003: Macedonia: Skopje, Tirana and Zagreb agree on
partnership with US
3. MACEDONIANS IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ:
31/12/2003: SUCCESSFUL ARM REPRESENTATION WITHIN ISAF IN KABUL
"The first Macedonian peacekeepers, Captain Zoran Janev
and Lieutenant Marjan Nakov, received highest marks
for their participation in the Turkish contingent of
the peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan (ISAF) from
August to December 2002..."
("I primi peacekeepers macedoni, il capitano Zoran Janev
ed il luogotenente Marjan Nakov, hanno avuto i maggiori riconoscimenti
per la loro partecipazione nelle forze di peacekeeping in Afghanistan
(ISAF), dall'agosto al dicembre 2002, nell'ambito del contingente
turco [SIC]")
15/12/2003: MACEDONIAN HELICOPTERS TRAIN FOR POSSIBLE WAR IN IRAQ
23/1/2003: MACEDONIA TO SEND MILITARY UNIT TO AFGHANISTAN
=== 1 ===
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/feb2003/mace-f01_prn.shtml
World Socialist Web Site www.wsws.org
WSWS : News & Analysis : Europe : The Balkans
European Rapid Reaction Force to deploy in
Macedonia
By Paul Stewart
1 February 2003
Back to screen version | Send this link by email | Email the author
The European Union (EU) is preparing in March to replace NATO's
Amber Fox mission in Macedonia. Javier Solano, EU foreign policy
chief, has said this first military deployment of the EU Rapid
Reaction
Force (EURRF) will put EU-NATO relations "on a different footing."
As his remarks suggest, EU officials aim to use the mission in
Macedonia to prove that Europe can and must develop a military
capability independent of the United States.
The NATO mission in Macedonia was launched in spring 2001 after
Albanian separatists from the National Liberation Army (NLA)
crossed from Kosovo and began an armed insurgency against the
Macedonian government. The NLA had close ties with US forces and
was rescued from Macedonian troops by a US military convoy.
Subsequently the NATO mission has been scaled down from 3,000 to
800 mainly EU troops, assisting observers.
The EURRF will be deployed wearing sky blue EU berets, with EU
insignia stitched onto their national uniforms. After an agreement
signed with NATO last December, headquarters for the operation will
be in NATO facilities at Mons in Southern Belgium, and commanded
by Germany's Admiral Rainer Feist, Deputy NATO Supreme Allied
Commander for Europe.
This first military mission will follow hard on the heels of the
deployment of an EU police force in Bosnia-Herzegovina at the
beginning of January. Five hundred officers, led by a Danish police
commissioner, will train a civilian police force in the protectorate
over
the next three years.
At the inaugural ceremony for the force in Sarajevo, Solano said, "it
was not without emotion that we will see for the first time our
European colours adorn the national uniforms of our police officers in
a
mission on the ground ... a strong symbol of the collective will of
Europeans to act jointly in this key task of consolidating stability
and
security in our continent."
During last December's EU conference in Copenhagen, the president's
summation included a surprise demand that NATO hand over the
entire Bosnia-Herzegovina mission to EU command. In response, a
NATO official declared, "The first we heard of it was in the (EU)
presidency conclusions. The EU has not consulted NATO, SFOR or the
Bosnians. It was a less than optimal way of announcing it." Since the
announcement, Paddy Ashdown, the international representative in
Bosnia, has been summoned to a meeting with Solano to discuss the
proposal.
The EU has missed two previous deadlines for taking control of the
mission in Macedonia. In the first instance they were unable to
assemble a military force due to political divisions between and
within
European governments. Secondly, access to NATO facilities, seen as
crucial to the planning of the mission by a majority of those
involved,
was blocked by Turkey's veto. Turkey demanded that the EU force
should not be used in any dispute between Greece and Turkey over
Cyprus. Also Turkey wanted agreement that they would be considered
for membership of the EU in the next wave of expansion.
During the recent round of EU expansion negotiations, Turkey secured
agreement that the EURRF would not be deployed in any future crisis
over Cyprus. However the EU, led by Germany and France, refused
membership to Turkey, declaring only that its application would be
"reviewed" in 2004. One French diplomat commented in reference to
Turkey's close alliance with the US that if Turkey was admitted it
would be tantamount to granting America membership of the
European Union.
The EU's knock-back angered both the Turkish government and the
Bush administration. US Secretary of State Colin Powell sent a
strongly worded letter attacking the EU's decision.
In a clear attempt to disrupt the formation of the EURRF, last
September US NATO commanders unveiled their proposals for a
NATO Rapid Response Force. This force would be manned by 20,000
mainly European troops consisting of land, sea and air units.
According
to reports from the Euobserver, US officials asserted that the NATO
force would take on missions "unsuited to the European army".
Without consulting with the EU, NATO officials revealed detailed
proposals for the proposed force at December's summit of the alliance
in Prague. As yet, however, no cooperation agreements exist between
the two forces. NATO officials have insisted that its force be given
priority access to NATO facilities, thereby limiting the remit of the
EURRF.
Since 1999 senior French generals have argued, without consideration
for diplomatic protocol, that the EURRF should develop free from
NATO interference. In March 2002, when the EU first publicly
discussed the details of taking over command in Macedonia, French
President Jacque Chirac said, "Europe ought to go into action under
its
own steam, without having to be systematically subject to NATO."
France argued that instead of using NATO facilities, the EU should use
its own non-NATO headquarters. Other European governments at this
point rejected the French proposal out of concern that one European
power may use this to strengthen its position in the command
structures of the new force.
The Bush administration's attempts to disrupt the formation of the
EURRF are giving French arguments greater credibility. As the EU
force is becoming a reality it is forcing political parties and
parliaments
in Europe's capitals to take a political stand, for or against the
development of the EURRF.
Last March an exchange of letters between the British Foreign Office
and the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) revealed serious political
differences within the British establishment. Foreign Secretary Jack
Straw demanded that British troops be despatched to join the EU
mission in Macedonia and expressed the fear that the British could be
excluded in the future. But the MoD opposed Straw's proposal,
insisting that the EU force is incapable of conducting such a mission.
Its officials insisted that the EU force was incapable of such a
mission
and if an already unstable political situation in Macedonia got out of
control it would threaten the stability of the whole Balkan region.
For
the time being the MOD position has won the day.
Senior European military analysts regard this year as "critical" in
the
formation of a European response to the challenge of US military
predominance. On January 1, 2003 Greece took over the rotating EU
presidency and has said its tenure would be judged on the success of
the
Macedonia mission. It also announced that, with French and German
support, the presidency would work toward the creation of a "common
market for defence products" and the formation of an EU arms agency.
It has also been proposed that the new EU constitution, currently
being
drafted, should contain a "solidarity clause" based on Article 5 of
NATO's Charter, specifying that an attack on a member state will be
regarded as an attack on all the EU-effectively establishing a
military
alliance.
All eyes will be on the success or failure of the EU command in
Macedonia. According to a series of Reuters articles the US is
engaging
in measures to delay and disrupt the handover deadline. Germany's
Sueddeutsche Zeitung has reported that the Bush administration had
written to a number of European governments, and to Solano, insisting
the EU can take over the mission in June only after a detailed
discussion on the relationship between the two fledgling forces.
The Macedonia mission is a risky politically motivated adventure by
the
European bourgeoisie. It can be said, with a degree of certainty, that
one casualty of the EURRF's deployment will be the myth of a more
"reasonable and understanding" European foreign policy.
Copyright 1998-2002
World Socialist Web Site
All rights reserved
=== 2 ===
http://www.makfax.com.mk/news1-a.asp?br=26714
Makfax (FYROM)
December 16, 2002
Macedonia: Mitreva asks Germany to provide further
support to Macedonia
Macedonia expects further support from Germany to
accelerate country?s integration to the European Union
structures, said the Macedonian Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Ilinka Mitreva, in an interview with Radio
Deutsche Welle Macedonian-language program.
Macedonian Foreign Minister is in Berlin talks with
the German Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister
Joschka Fischer, the Minister of Defense Peter Struck
and the President of Bundestag Wolfgang Tirze.
?The talks will focus on bilateral co-operation, NATO
enlargement and modalities to boost the regional
co-operation,? sad Mitreva, adding that the main focus
will be put on economic co-operation.
Mitreva underlined the necessity to strengthen the
long-term co-operation and friendship between
Macedonia and Germany, adding that Germany is the
first country of the EU member-states that she visited
after taking up the post. Germany granted today 150
terrain vehicles to the Army of the Republic of
Macedonia. This is a second consecutive donation to
Macedonian Army.
---
http://www.makfax.com.mk/news1-a.asp?br=26711
Makfax
December 16, 2002
Macedonia: Germany approves new donation to Macedonia
Germany will donate 150 terrain vehicles to the
Macedonian Army, Makfax news agency said.
The donation ceremony will take place today at
Skopje?s Barracks Goce Delcev. Macedonian Minister of
Defense Vlado Buckovski will attend the ceremony. Two
years ago, Germany donated 130 armored personnel
carriers. This grant had boosted the mobility of the
Macedonian Army units.
---
http://www.makfax.com.mk/news1-a.asp?br=29536
Makfax (Macedonia)
January 24, 2003
Macedonia: Skopje, Tirana and Zagreb agree on
partnership with US
The State Secretaries of the Foreign Ministries of
Macedonia, Albania and Croatia adjusted today the text
of the Charter on Partnership with the United States.
The partnmership between the United States and the
three countries will contribute to accession of these
three countries in NATO, said Makfax news agency.
"The document wil be wrapped up at the next meeting
between the representatives of the three countries,
scheduled for February in Tirana. This meeting will
focus on wide-ranging program for co-operation, as
well as the necessary activities due to be undertaken
until the next summit of NATO, scheduled for 2004,"
said the State Secretary of the Macedonian Foreign
Ministry Risto Nikovski.
The Foreign Ministers of Macedonia, Albania and
Croatia will meet in March in Croatain city of
Dubrovnik to adopt the Partnership Charter. The
signing ceremony will take place in Washington.
The Director of the Democracise in Transition Project,
Bruce Jackson, attened the meeting of the State
Secretaries of the Foreign Ministries of Macedonia,
Albania and Croatia. He said the signing of the
Charter will take place in Washington in March.
=== 3 ===
http://www.mia.com.mk/ang/glavnavest/
lastvest.asp?vest=\Refresh1\523-3012.htm
Macedonian Information Agency
December 31, 2002
SUCCESSFUL ARM REPRESENTATION WITHIN ISAF IN KABUL
The first Macedonian peacekeepers, Captain Zoran Janev
and Lieutenant Marjan Nakov, received highest marks
for their participation in the Turkish contingent of
the peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan (ISAF) from
August to December 2002.
Janev and Nakov said they managed to represent the
Macedonian Army (ARM) in the best possible manner
before the ISAF member-countries.
Janev and Nakov will share their precious experience
from Kabul with other ARM soldiers, who will be
engaged in peacekeeping missions. They wish to be part
of other similar missions, considering that such
engagements bring Macedonia closer to NATO.
Captan Marjan Ugrev and Lieutenant Vasil Pacemski have
been included in the Turkish contingent of ISAF since
December 20. In late February next year, ARM will
incase the number of its soldiers within ISAF, by
including its infantry department in the German
contingent.
---
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2003/01/4-SEE/see-150103.asp
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
January 15, 2003
MACEDONIAN HELICOPTERS TRAIN FOR POSSIBLE WAR IN IRAQ
Macedonian helicopter crews have begun training for
the possible participation of two Mi8 helicopters in a
conflict in Iraq, dpa reported from Skopje on 14
January, citing the daily "Dnevnik." The report added
that Macedonia feels it has an obligation to support
its allies because it is a member of NATO's
Partnership for Peace. PM
---
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/ct/Qmacedonia-afghanistan.RH6A_DJN.html
Macedonia to send military unit to Afghanistan
SKOPJE, Jan 23 (AFP) - The Macedonian parliament voted
on Thursday to send a unit of 10 soldiers to join an
international security force in Afghanistan.
Macedonian soldiers will be part of German contingent
of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
for a six-month period beginning from February, the
parliamentary press office said in a statement.
Two Macedonian liaison officiers, who served within
Turkish contingent of ISAF, returned in December after
a six-month mission.
Germany and The Netherlands are due to take over the
ISAF leadership from Turkey on February 10 for a
period of six months.
The 4,800-strong force has patrolled Kabul and its
environs since its creation under an Afghan
power-sharing agreement reached in Bonn in 2001.
===
[source of most articles: Ova adresa el. pošte je zaštićena od spambotova. Omogućite JavaScript da biste je videli.; R. Rozoff)
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]
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]
Grupa APIS - 28. januar 2003.
Americko-iracki sukob
Jedino pravo protivnika - pravo na kapitulaciju
Milan V. Petkovic
Jos je Sun Cu Vu, oko 250.godine PNE, predvideo da protivniku treba
dopustiti da kapitulira, a Dzingis kan je tu privilegiju nudio kao
prvu mogucnost svakom svom buducem protivniku.
Moderni Mongoli tu privilegiju nude u zamenu za nemilosrdno
unistavanje u ime zastite humanih prava i osiguranja bezbednosti
vlastitih vitalnih interesa.
Rat koji SAD, pomognute Velikom Britanijom i grupom lojalnih
saveznika, vode protiv Iraka vec trinaest godina, u pocetku je kao
razlog imao kaznjavanje Iraka zbog okupacije Kuvajta (1990.godine).
Tada je, u to vreme drzavni sekretar SAD, Dzems Bejker, izjavio: "Nase
snage ce vratiti Irak u predindustrijsko doba."
Od 1991.godine, SAD pocinju svoj peti po redu rat. Najpre je to bio
rat protiv Iraka - 1991. Zatim je doslo do rata protiv Republike
Krajine i Republike Srpske 1994/95, pa protiv Jugoslavije 1999,
Avganistana 2000/01, mada Amerikanci tvrde da ne vode ratove nego
operacije (koje mogu da budu vojne i kompleksne). Ako zapocnu ovaj rat
protiv Iraka (2003.godine), to je u proseku jedan rat na svake dve i
po godine. Ali danasnji ciljevi buduceg rata protiv Iraka nisu vise
samo kaznjavanje za okupaciju strane zemlje, vec su dodatno
precizirani - da se zemlja koja raspolaze drugim po velicini rezervama
u tecnim energentima u svetu stavi pod punu kontrolu SAD, potrebno je
da se, bez obzira na cenu i zrtve, njen aktuelni rezim promeni.
Pripreme za realizaciju tog cilja odvijaju se veoma sracunato i
paralelno na obavestajnom, vojnom, politicko-diplomatskom,
psiholosko-propagandnom i ekonomskom planu. Ne treba zaboraviti
cinjenicu da su SAD danas najveci svetski vojno-naucno-tehnoloski
kompleks, drzava sa vojnim troskovima koji visoko premasuju vojne
troskove svih ostalih najvecih vojnih sila sveta zajedno. One
raspolazu najvecim svetskim arsenalom bakteriolosko-hemijskog oruzja a
da se ne govori o nuklearnom naoruzanju. Sve tri pomenute vrste
spadaju u kategoriju oruzja za masovno unistavanje. To je upravo ona
kategorija oruzja za koju SAD tvrde da njima raspolaze Irak te tako
ugrozava bezbednost samog americkog kontinenta. To je odmah istaknuto
kao najozbiljniji povod za zapocinjanje novog rata i trazi se da Irak
pruzi dokaze da ne raspolaze tim ratnim sredstvima ( ! ! !).
Prema recima uglednog americkog vojnog strucnjaka Vilijema Arkina,
koji je u "Los Andjeles Tajmsu" od 25.januara 2003.godine, objavio
svoju analizu situacije oko Iraka, SAD su spremne da upotrebe cak i
nuklearno oruzje protiv Iraka "za unistavanje podzemnih komandnih
polozaja, kao i protiv irackih snaga koje bi pokusale da upotrebe
oruzje za masovno unistenje" bez obzira na to sto optuzbe da Irak
poseduje to oruzje nisu dokazane.
Posto je osnovni cilj u tom ratu promena rezima u Iraku i instaliranje
politicke garniture koja ce sprovoditi planove SAD, za post-sadamovski
Irak su trenutno definisana dva modela posleratne stabilizacije i
razvoja pod americkim patronatom : (a) nemacki model - iza koga stoje
administracija SAD (Stejt department) i CIA ; (b) japanski model - iza
koga stoje tzv. jastrebovi, odnosno konzervativci iz Pentagona i
Kongresa (ovaj model podrazumeva cak i upotrebu nuklearnog oruzja kao
sredstva za "pacifikaciju" Iraka). Spor izmedju pristalica jednog i
drugog modela predstavlja vise-manje doktrinarnu raspravu jer su i
jedni i drugi saglasni da silu svakako treba upotrebiti posto je to
nuzno jer Irak nece da se preda.
Osnovna poruka rasprave je da niko ne sme da se brani od SAD ukoliko
ta odbrana podrazumeva moguce americke gubitke u ljudstvu. Ona u
sustini predstavlja nametanje sopstvene volje drugima primenom
sredstava visoke tehnoloske superiornosti i drzavnim terorizmom a
ukida pravo na odbranu. Jedino pravo koje se dozvoljava protivniku je
da kapitulira pre pomisli na pruzanje otpora. Ako to nece, bice
razoren i doveden u "predindustrijsku eru".
Hoce li vojne operacije SAD protiv Iraka poceti najkasnije za sezdeset
dana (racunajuci od 1.januara 2003.godine), kao sto to smatra direktor
Instituta Stratfor, ili ce se ceo postupak razvuci do jeseni tekuce
godine, kako to pretpostavljaju analiticari nekih drugih institucija,
pozivajuci se na lokalne klimatske uslove i opste uslove vodjenja rata
u pustinji, ili ce pocetak rata biti pomeren da bio se izbegao gnev
muslimanskog sveta ako rat zapocne dok traje hadz (od 15.februara do
4.marta), ostaje da se vidi. Ono sto je vec sada izvesno jeste
cinjenica da su pripreme za predstojecu ratnu operaciju toliko odmakle
da bi eventualno odustajanje od rata bilo prakticno nemoguce a ako bi
do njega doslo, politicke implikacije za sada vladajuu garnituru u SAD
bile bi katastrofalne. Po svemu sudeci, kako to smatra svetski poznati
pisac, nekadasnji obavestajac i vojni analiticki ekspert Dzon Le Kare,
SAD su, zbog jedne pogresne procene, upale u jedan od svojih perioda
ludosti, kakvi su bili makartizam, propali pokusaj invazije Kube u
Zalivu svinja ili rat u Vijetnamu. Posledice, medjutim, mogu da budu
mnogo dublje i mnogo dugorocnije i po SAD nepovoljnije (treba se samo
prisetiti kako su se te epizode americke novije istorije zavrsile). S
druge strane, na Zapadu mediji dosta spekulisu sa konstatacijom "da je
Sadam Husein lud". Kejt Kil iz Kraljevskog instituta za medjunarodne
odnose u Londonu, medjutim, smatra da je "Sadam Husein grub i
neotesan, da je ambiciozan, snazno motivisan i bez skrupula i da
poseduje kriminalnu psihologiju, ali da nije lud".
U stvari, nagomilavanje americkih trupa u Zalivu je kao olovni teg
koji sputava nove poteze Bele kuce. Ne ustukne li Sadam Husein pred
americkim pretnjama, Dzordz Bus ce morati da reaguje onako kako je
zapretio, a tada? Bice to verovatno rat sastavljen od cudnih
kombinacija zastarelih shvatanja, ideja i koncepcija sa modernim
("kosmickim") tehnologijama i ogromnim masama visoko motivisanih
boraca.
Zbog apsolutne neizvesnosti ishoda takvog jednog rata, cene nafte na
svetskom trzistu su dostigle do sada nezamislive visine. I cena zlata
raste. Trenutno je 360,25 dolara po unci. Vrednost dolara pada a
evropske valute raste. Ali nije jasno ko ce na kraju profitirati. Ko u
takvim uslovima ima prava na kapitulaciju i ko ima prava da diktira
uslove ?? Mocvara Hoveiza koja je bila kraj mnogim iranskim snovima o
prodoru u Irak tokom desetogodisnjeg izracko-iranskog rata, moze igrom
slucaja da postane kraj i americkom snu o dominaciji svetom.
26. januar 2003. godine
Americko-iracki sukob
Jedino pravo protivnika - pravo na kapitulaciju
Milan V. Petkovic
Jos je Sun Cu Vu, oko 250.godine PNE, predvideo da protivniku treba
dopustiti da kapitulira, a Dzingis kan je tu privilegiju nudio kao
prvu mogucnost svakom svom buducem protivniku.
Moderni Mongoli tu privilegiju nude u zamenu za nemilosrdno
unistavanje u ime zastite humanih prava i osiguranja bezbednosti
vlastitih vitalnih interesa.
Rat koji SAD, pomognute Velikom Britanijom i grupom lojalnih
saveznika, vode protiv Iraka vec trinaest godina, u pocetku je kao
razlog imao kaznjavanje Iraka zbog okupacije Kuvajta (1990.godine).
Tada je, u to vreme drzavni sekretar SAD, Dzems Bejker, izjavio: "Nase
snage ce vratiti Irak u predindustrijsko doba."
Od 1991.godine, SAD pocinju svoj peti po redu rat. Najpre je to bio
rat protiv Iraka - 1991. Zatim je doslo do rata protiv Republike
Krajine i Republike Srpske 1994/95, pa protiv Jugoslavije 1999,
Avganistana 2000/01, mada Amerikanci tvrde da ne vode ratove nego
operacije (koje mogu da budu vojne i kompleksne). Ako zapocnu ovaj rat
protiv Iraka (2003.godine), to je u proseku jedan rat na svake dve i
po godine. Ali danasnji ciljevi buduceg rata protiv Iraka nisu vise
samo kaznjavanje za okupaciju strane zemlje, vec su dodatno
precizirani - da se zemlja koja raspolaze drugim po velicini rezervama
u tecnim energentima u svetu stavi pod punu kontrolu SAD, potrebno je
da se, bez obzira na cenu i zrtve, njen aktuelni rezim promeni.
Pripreme za realizaciju tog cilja odvijaju se veoma sracunato i
paralelno na obavestajnom, vojnom, politicko-diplomatskom,
psiholosko-propagandnom i ekonomskom planu. Ne treba zaboraviti
cinjenicu da su SAD danas najveci svetski vojno-naucno-tehnoloski
kompleks, drzava sa vojnim troskovima koji visoko premasuju vojne
troskove svih ostalih najvecih vojnih sila sveta zajedno. One
raspolazu najvecim svetskim arsenalom bakteriolosko-hemijskog oruzja a
da se ne govori o nuklearnom naoruzanju. Sve tri pomenute vrste
spadaju u kategoriju oruzja za masovno unistavanje. To je upravo ona
kategorija oruzja za koju SAD tvrde da njima raspolaze Irak te tako
ugrozava bezbednost samog americkog kontinenta. To je odmah istaknuto
kao najozbiljniji povod za zapocinjanje novog rata i trazi se da Irak
pruzi dokaze da ne raspolaze tim ratnim sredstvima ( ! ! !).
Prema recima uglednog americkog vojnog strucnjaka Vilijema Arkina,
koji je u "Los Andjeles Tajmsu" od 25.januara 2003.godine, objavio
svoju analizu situacije oko Iraka, SAD su spremne da upotrebe cak i
nuklearno oruzje protiv Iraka "za unistavanje podzemnih komandnih
polozaja, kao i protiv irackih snaga koje bi pokusale da upotrebe
oruzje za masovno unistenje" bez obzira na to sto optuzbe da Irak
poseduje to oruzje nisu dokazane.
Posto je osnovni cilj u tom ratu promena rezima u Iraku i instaliranje
politicke garniture koja ce sprovoditi planove SAD, za post-sadamovski
Irak su trenutno definisana dva modela posleratne stabilizacije i
razvoja pod americkim patronatom : (a) nemacki model - iza koga stoje
administracija SAD (Stejt department) i CIA ; (b) japanski model - iza
koga stoje tzv. jastrebovi, odnosno konzervativci iz Pentagona i
Kongresa (ovaj model podrazumeva cak i upotrebu nuklearnog oruzja kao
sredstva za "pacifikaciju" Iraka). Spor izmedju pristalica jednog i
drugog modela predstavlja vise-manje doktrinarnu raspravu jer su i
jedni i drugi saglasni da silu svakako treba upotrebiti posto je to
nuzno jer Irak nece da se preda.
Osnovna poruka rasprave je da niko ne sme da se brani od SAD ukoliko
ta odbrana podrazumeva moguce americke gubitke u ljudstvu. Ona u
sustini predstavlja nametanje sopstvene volje drugima primenom
sredstava visoke tehnoloske superiornosti i drzavnim terorizmom a
ukida pravo na odbranu. Jedino pravo koje se dozvoljava protivniku je
da kapitulira pre pomisli na pruzanje otpora. Ako to nece, bice
razoren i doveden u "predindustrijsku eru".
Hoce li vojne operacije SAD protiv Iraka poceti najkasnije za sezdeset
dana (racunajuci od 1.januara 2003.godine), kao sto to smatra direktor
Instituta Stratfor, ili ce se ceo postupak razvuci do jeseni tekuce
godine, kako to pretpostavljaju analiticari nekih drugih institucija,
pozivajuci se na lokalne klimatske uslove i opste uslove vodjenja rata
u pustinji, ili ce pocetak rata biti pomeren da bio se izbegao gnev
muslimanskog sveta ako rat zapocne dok traje hadz (od 15.februara do
4.marta), ostaje da se vidi. Ono sto je vec sada izvesno jeste
cinjenica da su pripreme za predstojecu ratnu operaciju toliko odmakle
da bi eventualno odustajanje od rata bilo prakticno nemoguce a ako bi
do njega doslo, politicke implikacije za sada vladajuu garnituru u SAD
bile bi katastrofalne. Po svemu sudeci, kako to smatra svetski poznati
pisac, nekadasnji obavestajac i vojni analiticki ekspert Dzon Le Kare,
SAD su, zbog jedne pogresne procene, upale u jedan od svojih perioda
ludosti, kakvi su bili makartizam, propali pokusaj invazije Kube u
Zalivu svinja ili rat u Vijetnamu. Posledice, medjutim, mogu da budu
mnogo dublje i mnogo dugorocnije i po SAD nepovoljnije (treba se samo
prisetiti kako su se te epizode americke novije istorije zavrsile). S
druge strane, na Zapadu mediji dosta spekulisu sa konstatacijom "da je
Sadam Husein lud". Kejt Kil iz Kraljevskog instituta za medjunarodne
odnose u Londonu, medjutim, smatra da je "Sadam Husein grub i
neotesan, da je ambiciozan, snazno motivisan i bez skrupula i da
poseduje kriminalnu psihologiju, ali da nije lud".
U stvari, nagomilavanje americkih trupa u Zalivu je kao olovni teg
koji sputava nove poteze Bele kuce. Ne ustukne li Sadam Husein pred
americkim pretnjama, Dzordz Bus ce morati da reaguje onako kako je
zapretio, a tada? Bice to verovatno rat sastavljen od cudnih
kombinacija zastarelih shvatanja, ideja i koncepcija sa modernim
("kosmickim") tehnologijama i ogromnim masama visoko motivisanih
boraca.
Zbog apsolutne neizvesnosti ishoda takvog jednog rata, cene nafte na
svetskom trzistu su dostigle do sada nezamislive visine. I cena zlata
raste. Trenutno je 360,25 dolara po unci. Vrednost dolara pada a
evropske valute raste. Ali nije jasno ko ce na kraju profitirati. Ko u
takvim uslovima ima prava na kapitulaciju i ko ima prava da diktira
uslove ?? Mocvara Hoveiza koja je bila kraj mnogim iranskim snovima o
prodoru u Irak tokom desetogodisnjeg izracko-iranskog rata, moze igrom
slucaja da postane kraj i americkom snu o dominaciji svetom.
26. januar 2003. godine
House Bill in Support of Kosovo Independance introduced
(Source: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/832530/posts )
---
One Hundred Eighth Congress
Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
January 27, 2003
Support the Independence of Kosova
Dear Colleague:
Today we introduced a resolution (H. Res. 28, which is at the end
of this email) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives
that the United States should declare its support for the
independence of Kosova.
Under the Yugoslav constitution of 1974, Kosova was equivalent
in most ways to Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and
Macedonia . In its position as an ``autonomous province,'' Kosova,
in practice, exercised the same powers as a republic. It had its own
parliament, high courts, central bank, police service, and defense
force. Through its definition in 1968 as a part of the Yugoslav
Federal System, it gained equal representation at the federal level
with Serbia and the other juridical units of the former Yugoslavia.
When Slovenia and Croatia demanded independence, Western
governments made similar arguments against recognizing those
countries. However, eventually the same Western governments did
recognize not only the independence of Slovenia and Croatia, but
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia as well, having discovered
that independence for those nations involved not so much a change
of borders as a change in the status of existing borders. The lines
on the map remained the same, but their status was upgraded from
republican to national. It is fitting that the Kosovars be allowed to
follow the same path towards independence.
Since the cessation of the 1999 conflict with Serbia, during which
the Serbian military and paramilitary forces killed more than ten
thousand Kosovar Albanians and expelled close to a million,
Kosova remains under a United Nations mandate. The Kosovars,
the United Nations, NATO, and the European Union are now
making efforts to rebuild Kosova, revitalize its economy, establish
democratic institutions of self-government, and heal the scars of
war.
It is time for the United States to abide by its recognition that a
right to self-determination exists as a fundamental right of all
people through declaring its support for the independence of
Kosova. To cosponsor H.Res.28, please contact Keith O'Neil at
225-6735 (Lantos) or Greg Galvin (Hyde) at 225-5021.
Sincerely,
TOM LANTOS HENRY HYDE Member of Congress Member of
Congress
H. RES. 28
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the
United States should declare its support for the independence of
Kosova.
Whereas the United States and the international community
recognize that a right to self-determination exists as a
fundamental right of all people;
Whereas Kosova was constitutionally defined as a sovereign
territory in the First National Liberation Conference for Kosova
on January 2, 1944, and this status was confirmed in the
Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
adopted in 1946, and the amended Yugoslav constitution adopted
in 1974 preserved the autonomous status of Kosova as a de facto
republic;
Whereas prior to the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia,
Kosova was a separate political and legal entity with separate and
distinct financial institutions, police force, municipal and national
government, school system, judicial and legal system, hospitals and
other independent organizations;
Whereas Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic rose to power in
1987 on a platform of ultra nationalism and anti-Albanian racism,
advocating violence and hatred against all non-Slavs and
specifically targeting the Albanians of Kosova;
Whereas Slobodan Milosevic subsequently stripped Kosova of its
self-rule, without the consent of the people of Kosova; Whereas
the elected Assembly of Kosova, faced with these intolerable acts,
adopted a Declaration of Independence on July 2, 1990, proclaimed
the Republic of Kosova, and adopted a constitution on September
7, 1990, based on the international legal principles of
self-determination, equality, and sovereignty;
Whereas in recognition of the de facto dissolution of the Yugoslav
federation, the European community established principles for the
recognition of the independence and sovereignty of the republics of
the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Kosova
fully satisfied those principles as a de facto republic within the
federation;
Whereas a popular referendum was held in Kosova from
September 26-30, 1991, in which 87 percent of all eligible voters
cast ballots and 99.87 percent voted in favor of declaring Kosova
independent of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia;
Whereas, from the occupation of Kosova in 1989 until the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military action against the
Milosevic regime in 1999, the Albanians of Kosova were subjected
to the most brutal treatment in the heart of Europe since the Nazi
era, forcing approximately 400,000 Albanians to flee to Western
Europe and the United States;
Whereas in the spring of 1999 almost 1,000,000 Kosovar Albanians
were driven out of Kosova and at least 10,000 were murdered by
the Serbian paramilitary and military;
Whereas Slobodan Milosevic was indicted by the International
War Crimes Tribunal and extradited to The Hague in June 2001 to
stand trial for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide
in Kosova, Bosnia, and Croatia;
Whereas the United Nations established Kosova as a protectorate
under Resolution 1244, ending the decade long Serbian occupation
of Kosova and Milosevic's genocidal war in Kosova;
Whereas Kosovar Albanians, together with representatives of the
Serb, Turkish, Roma, Bosniak, and Ashkali minorities in Kosova,
have held free and fair municipal and general elections in 2000 and
2001 and successfully established a parliament in 2002, which in
turn elected a president and prime minister;
Whereas 50 percent of the population in Kosova is under the age of
25 and the unemployment rate is currently between 60 and 70
percent, increasing the likelihood of young people entering criminal
networks, the source of which lies outside of Kosova, or working
abroad in order to survive unless massive job creation is facilitated
by guaranteeing the security of foreign investments through an
orderly transition to the independence of Kosova;
Whereas the Kosova parliament is committed to developing a
western-style democracy in which all citizens, regardless of
ethnicity, are granted full human and civil rights and are
committed to the return of all noncriminal Serbs who fled Kosova
during and after the war; and
Whereas there is every reason to believe that independence from
Serbia is the only viable option for Kosova, after autonomy has
failed time and time again: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that
the United States should -
(1) publicly support the independence of Kosova and the
establishment of Kosova as a sovereign and democratic state in
which human rights are respected, including the rights of ethnic
and religious minorities, as the only way to lasting peace and
stability in the Balkans;
(2) recognize the danger that delay in the resolution of Kosova's
final status poses for the political and economic viability of Kosova
and the future of Southeast Europe;
(3) work in conjunction with the United Nations, the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization, and other multilateral organizations
to facilitate an orderly transition to the independence of Kosova;
and
(4) provide its share of assistance, trade, and other programs to
support the government of an independent Kosova and to
encourage the further development of democracy and a free market
economic system.
---
Keith O'Neil 202-225-6735 (Lantos)
Greg Galvin 202-225-5021 (Hyde)
(Source: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/832530/posts )
---
One Hundred Eighth Congress
Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
January 27, 2003
Support the Independence of Kosova
Dear Colleague:
Today we introduced a resolution (H. Res. 28, which is at the end
of this email) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives
that the United States should declare its support for the
independence of Kosova.
Under the Yugoslav constitution of 1974, Kosova was equivalent
in most ways to Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and
Macedonia . In its position as an ``autonomous province,'' Kosova,
in practice, exercised the same powers as a republic. It had its own
parliament, high courts, central bank, police service, and defense
force. Through its definition in 1968 as a part of the Yugoslav
Federal System, it gained equal representation at the federal level
with Serbia and the other juridical units of the former Yugoslavia.
When Slovenia and Croatia demanded independence, Western
governments made similar arguments against recognizing those
countries. However, eventually the same Western governments did
recognize not only the independence of Slovenia and Croatia, but
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia as well, having discovered
that independence for those nations involved not so much a change
of borders as a change in the status of existing borders. The lines
on the map remained the same, but their status was upgraded from
republican to national. It is fitting that the Kosovars be allowed to
follow the same path towards independence.
Since the cessation of the 1999 conflict with Serbia, during which
the Serbian military and paramilitary forces killed more than ten
thousand Kosovar Albanians and expelled close to a million,
Kosova remains under a United Nations mandate. The Kosovars,
the United Nations, NATO, and the European Union are now
making efforts to rebuild Kosova, revitalize its economy, establish
democratic institutions of self-government, and heal the scars of
war.
It is time for the United States to abide by its recognition that a
right to self-determination exists as a fundamental right of all
people through declaring its support for the independence of
Kosova. To cosponsor H.Res.28, please contact Keith O'Neil at
225-6735 (Lantos) or Greg Galvin (Hyde) at 225-5021.
Sincerely,
TOM LANTOS HENRY HYDE Member of Congress Member of
Congress
H. RES. 28
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the
United States should declare its support for the independence of
Kosova.
Whereas the United States and the international community
recognize that a right to self-determination exists as a
fundamental right of all people;
Whereas Kosova was constitutionally defined as a sovereign
territory in the First National Liberation Conference for Kosova
on January 2, 1944, and this status was confirmed in the
Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
adopted in 1946, and the amended Yugoslav constitution adopted
in 1974 preserved the autonomous status of Kosova as a de facto
republic;
Whereas prior to the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia,
Kosova was a separate political and legal entity with separate and
distinct financial institutions, police force, municipal and national
government, school system, judicial and legal system, hospitals and
other independent organizations;
Whereas Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic rose to power in
1987 on a platform of ultra nationalism and anti-Albanian racism,
advocating violence and hatred against all non-Slavs and
specifically targeting the Albanians of Kosova;
Whereas Slobodan Milosevic subsequently stripped Kosova of its
self-rule, without the consent of the people of Kosova; Whereas
the elected Assembly of Kosova, faced with these intolerable acts,
adopted a Declaration of Independence on July 2, 1990, proclaimed
the Republic of Kosova, and adopted a constitution on September
7, 1990, based on the international legal principles of
self-determination, equality, and sovereignty;
Whereas in recognition of the de facto dissolution of the Yugoslav
federation, the European community established principles for the
recognition of the independence and sovereignty of the republics of
the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Kosova
fully satisfied those principles as a de facto republic within the
federation;
Whereas a popular referendum was held in Kosova from
September 26-30, 1991, in which 87 percent of all eligible voters
cast ballots and 99.87 percent voted in favor of declaring Kosova
independent of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia;
Whereas, from the occupation of Kosova in 1989 until the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military action against the
Milosevic regime in 1999, the Albanians of Kosova were subjected
to the most brutal treatment in the heart of Europe since the Nazi
era, forcing approximately 400,000 Albanians to flee to Western
Europe and the United States;
Whereas in the spring of 1999 almost 1,000,000 Kosovar Albanians
were driven out of Kosova and at least 10,000 were murdered by
the Serbian paramilitary and military;
Whereas Slobodan Milosevic was indicted by the International
War Crimes Tribunal and extradited to The Hague in June 2001 to
stand trial for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide
in Kosova, Bosnia, and Croatia;
Whereas the United Nations established Kosova as a protectorate
under Resolution 1244, ending the decade long Serbian occupation
of Kosova and Milosevic's genocidal war in Kosova;
Whereas Kosovar Albanians, together with representatives of the
Serb, Turkish, Roma, Bosniak, and Ashkali minorities in Kosova,
have held free and fair municipal and general elections in 2000 and
2001 and successfully established a parliament in 2002, which in
turn elected a president and prime minister;
Whereas 50 percent of the population in Kosova is under the age of
25 and the unemployment rate is currently between 60 and 70
percent, increasing the likelihood of young people entering criminal
networks, the source of which lies outside of Kosova, or working
abroad in order to survive unless massive job creation is facilitated
by guaranteeing the security of foreign investments through an
orderly transition to the independence of Kosova;
Whereas the Kosova parliament is committed to developing a
western-style democracy in which all citizens, regardless of
ethnicity, are granted full human and civil rights and are
committed to the return of all noncriminal Serbs who fled Kosova
during and after the war; and
Whereas there is every reason to believe that independence from
Serbia is the only viable option for Kosova, after autonomy has
failed time and time again: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that
the United States should -
(1) publicly support the independence of Kosova and the
establishment of Kosova as a sovereign and democratic state in
which human rights are respected, including the rights of ethnic
and religious minorities, as the only way to lasting peace and
stability in the Balkans;
(2) recognize the danger that delay in the resolution of Kosova's
final status poses for the political and economic viability of Kosova
and the future of Southeast Europe;
(3) work in conjunction with the United Nations, the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization, and other multilateral organizations
to facilitate an orderly transition to the independence of Kosova;
and
(4) provide its share of assistance, trade, and other programs to
support the government of an independent Kosova and to
encourage the further development of democracy and a free market
economic system.
---
Keith O'Neil 202-225-6735 (Lantos)
Greg Galvin 202-225-5021 (Hyde)
Bosnia-Erzegovina: giovani senza futuro
Il reportage che segue e' stato preparato per il notiziario dell'IWPR,
"agenzia" di informazione sui Balcani sponsorizzata dalle grandi
fondazioni dei paesi occidentali. Le stesse fondazioni, ed altre
analoghe di enorme rilevanza come quelle legate all'immensa lobby di
Soros, attraverso forme di finanziamento precario di vario genere
(borse di studio, stages, eccetera) "arruolano" la gran parte delle
giovani risorse intellettuali dell'Europa centro-orientale, in un
contesto in cui i vari paesi allo sfascio non gestiscono piu' in
nessuna maniera il proprio know-how e potenziale umano.
Nell'articolo che segue, i giovani della Bosnia-Erzegovina mostrano di
avere perso le speranze su di una qualsiasi valorizzazione delle loro
competenze, essendo costretti a scegliere tra l'"arruolamento" coatto
per gli stranieri (di cui sopra) e l'emigrazione. Chi rifiuta questa
scelta va incontro alla disoccupazione o a lavori temporanei e non
qualificati (I.S.)
===
Balkan Crisis Report is supported by the
Department for International
Development, the European Commission,
the Swedish International
Development and Cooperation Agency, The
Netherlands Ministry for Foreign
Affairs, and other funders. IWPR also
acknowledges general support from
the Ford Foundation.
IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, No. 385, November 26, 2002
http://www.iwpr.net
BOSNIA: BRAIN DRAIN GATHERS PACE
The exodus of young and talented people
may seriously undermine the
country's development.
By Nidzara Ahmetasevic and Julie Poucher
Harbin in Sarajevo and Banja Luka
Just like Gerard Depardieu in the
Hollywood movie "Green Card", a 30-year
old Bosnian entered into a marriage of
convenience with his cousin's
girlfriend - an American girl - just to
get legal entry to the United
States. Early this month, he received
his visa and left
Bosnia-Herzegovina - probably for good.
"I just do not know what to do in Bosnia
any more. I tried everything,"
the man told IWPR before he left,
speaking on condition of anonymity. An
economics graduate from Sarajevo
University, he could only find work as a
security guard.
Thousands of school leavers and
university graduates can't find decent
jobs and are rapidly becoming
disillusioned with the failure of their
political leaders to improve their
prospects.
According to research conducted two
years ago by the United Nations
Development Program, UNDP, some 62 per
cent of young Bosnians - who make
up about a quarter of the population -
would leave their country if given
the chance.
The UNDP Human Development Report 2002
estimates that at least 92,000
youngsters left between January 1996 and
the end-March 2001, with tens of
thousands currently waiting for
emigration visas.
"This haemorrhage of the young and
talented poses perhaps the greatest
long-term threat to this country,"
Bosnia's top international mediator,
High Representative Paddy Ashdown
recently warned.
"I can feel that young people are
exhausted and disappointed," said Valida
Repovac, 25, a Liberal Party activist
who works in the ministry for
European integration. But, unlike many
other young Bosnians, she earns
enough to support herself and has no
desire to leave.
Though the brain drain pre-dates the
war, numbers have swollen in the
aftermath of the conflict. A number of
factors have contributed to the
trend.
There's not enough trade and technical
education at secondary school level
for those who are not cut out for
university life. At all of Bosnia's
seven universities, there is still no
system of clinical or
pre-professional education. To make the
situation even worse, none of the
former offer internationally-recognised
degrees.
Once out of the education system, even
well qualified students struggle to
find good jobs. Banja Luka University
law student Dragan Vujanic, 23,
runs a new campus counselling
information centre, funded by city and
international donors. The centre
recently started a job bank to connect
students to jobs and internships in
fields like law, economics, and
information technology. Vujanic told
IWPR the project is to focus on
"brain gain" instead of "brain drain".
Some of those who can't find decent
employment simply choose not to work.
You can find them hanging out all day in
the country's ubiquitous coffee
bars. "The problem with my generation is
that they feel it's better to do
nothing than clean someone's floor, "
said Sasa Madacki, 30, head of
information research at Sarajevo
University library.
Disillusionment with education and the
job market leaves youngsters with a
pretty jaundiced view of politicians and
some feel they're irrelevant
because of the overpowering role of the
international community in Bosnia.
According to the local youth NGO, Youth
Information Agency, OIA, most
eligible youngsters don't vote.
Alexandra Strbac, 28, a psychology
student working with the Banja
Luka-based youth NGO Zdravo Daste and
the Kastel youth house, encourages
Bosnian youth to participate in
elections, though she admits not voting
herself in absence of clear options.
She said that with local political
parties "you still don't know what they
are offering", and prefers
channelling her energy into community
activism.
"The future is depressing, it's true.
But I hope it will get better,"
Dragan Vujanic said. "It's now up to
young people to establish a new
system with their own ideas."
In one hopeful development, a number of
young Bosnians who left over the
past decade are trickling back. Their
job prospects are sometimes better,
especially with international
organisations, as they often speak
foreign
languages and have been educated abroad.
In an attempt to address the brain
drain, the OIA has submitted a
six-point plan to the newly elected
authorities, including a request for
the establishment of government
executive bodies for youth. They have
set
a six-month deadline, after which they
plan to mount street demonstrations
if no action has been taken.
"Young people sometimes do not know or
don't want to know that there are
organisations like us geared to trying
to make their lives better," OIA
spokesperson Merima Zuko said. "The
easiest thing is to go in the front
of some embassy and ask for a visa that
will take you somewhere else!"
Nidzara Ahmetasevic and Julie Poucher
Harbin are freelance journalists
based in Bosnia.
Il reportage che segue e' stato preparato per il notiziario dell'IWPR,
"agenzia" di informazione sui Balcani sponsorizzata dalle grandi
fondazioni dei paesi occidentali. Le stesse fondazioni, ed altre
analoghe di enorme rilevanza come quelle legate all'immensa lobby di
Soros, attraverso forme di finanziamento precario di vario genere
(borse di studio, stages, eccetera) "arruolano" la gran parte delle
giovani risorse intellettuali dell'Europa centro-orientale, in un
contesto in cui i vari paesi allo sfascio non gestiscono piu' in
nessuna maniera il proprio know-how e potenziale umano.
Nell'articolo che segue, i giovani della Bosnia-Erzegovina mostrano di
avere perso le speranze su di una qualsiasi valorizzazione delle loro
competenze, essendo costretti a scegliere tra l'"arruolamento" coatto
per gli stranieri (di cui sopra) e l'emigrazione. Chi rifiuta questa
scelta va incontro alla disoccupazione o a lavori temporanei e non
qualificati (I.S.)
===
Balkan Crisis Report is supported by the
Department for International
Development, the European Commission,
the Swedish International
Development and Cooperation Agency, The
Netherlands Ministry for Foreign
Affairs, and other funders. IWPR also
acknowledges general support from
the Ford Foundation.
IWPR'S BALKAN CRISIS REPORT, No. 385, November 26, 2002
http://www.iwpr.net
BOSNIA: BRAIN DRAIN GATHERS PACE
The exodus of young and talented people
may seriously undermine the
country's development.
By Nidzara Ahmetasevic and Julie Poucher
Harbin in Sarajevo and Banja Luka
Just like Gerard Depardieu in the
Hollywood movie "Green Card", a 30-year
old Bosnian entered into a marriage of
convenience with his cousin's
girlfriend - an American girl - just to
get legal entry to the United
States. Early this month, he received
his visa and left
Bosnia-Herzegovina - probably for good.
"I just do not know what to do in Bosnia
any more. I tried everything,"
the man told IWPR before he left,
speaking on condition of anonymity. An
economics graduate from Sarajevo
University, he could only find work as a
security guard.
Thousands of school leavers and
university graduates can't find decent
jobs and are rapidly becoming
disillusioned with the failure of their
political leaders to improve their
prospects.
According to research conducted two
years ago by the United Nations
Development Program, UNDP, some 62 per
cent of young Bosnians - who make
up about a quarter of the population -
would leave their country if given
the chance.
The UNDP Human Development Report 2002
estimates that at least 92,000
youngsters left between January 1996 and
the end-March 2001, with tens of
thousands currently waiting for
emigration visas.
"This haemorrhage of the young and
talented poses perhaps the greatest
long-term threat to this country,"
Bosnia's top international mediator,
High Representative Paddy Ashdown
recently warned.
"I can feel that young people are
exhausted and disappointed," said Valida
Repovac, 25, a Liberal Party activist
who works in the ministry for
European integration. But, unlike many
other young Bosnians, she earns
enough to support herself and has no
desire to leave.
Though the brain drain pre-dates the
war, numbers have swollen in the
aftermath of the conflict. A number of
factors have contributed to the
trend.
There's not enough trade and technical
education at secondary school level
for those who are not cut out for
university life. At all of Bosnia's
seven universities, there is still no
system of clinical or
pre-professional education. To make the
situation even worse, none of the
former offer internationally-recognised
degrees.
Once out of the education system, even
well qualified students struggle to
find good jobs. Banja Luka University
law student Dragan Vujanic, 23,
runs a new campus counselling
information centre, funded by city and
international donors. The centre
recently started a job bank to connect
students to jobs and internships in
fields like law, economics, and
information technology. Vujanic told
IWPR the project is to focus on
"brain gain" instead of "brain drain".
Some of those who can't find decent
employment simply choose not to work.
You can find them hanging out all day in
the country's ubiquitous coffee
bars. "The problem with my generation is
that they feel it's better to do
nothing than clean someone's floor, "
said Sasa Madacki, 30, head of
information research at Sarajevo
University library.
Disillusionment with education and the
job market leaves youngsters with a
pretty jaundiced view of politicians and
some feel they're irrelevant
because of the overpowering role of the
international community in Bosnia.
According to the local youth NGO, Youth
Information Agency, OIA, most
eligible youngsters don't vote.
Alexandra Strbac, 28, a psychology
student working with the Banja
Luka-based youth NGO Zdravo Daste and
the Kastel youth house, encourages
Bosnian youth to participate in
elections, though she admits not voting
herself in absence of clear options.
She said that with local political
parties "you still don't know what they
are offering", and prefers
channelling her energy into community
activism.
"The future is depressing, it's true.
But I hope it will get better,"
Dragan Vujanic said. "It's now up to
young people to establish a new
system with their own ideas."
In one hopeful development, a number of
young Bosnians who left over the
past decade are trickling back. Their
job prospects are sometimes better,
especially with international
organisations, as they often speak
foreign
languages and have been educated abroad.
In an attempt to address the brain
drain, the OIA has submitted a
six-point plan to the newly elected
authorities, including a request for
the establishment of government
executive bodies for youth. They have
set
a six-month deadline, after which they
plan to mount street demonstrations
if no action has been taken.
"Young people sometimes do not know or
don't want to know that there are
organisations like us geared to trying
to make their lives better," OIA
spokesperson Merima Zuko said. "The
easiest thing is to go in the front
of some embassy and ask for a visa that
will take you somewhere else!"
Nidzara Ahmetasevic and Julie Poucher
Harbin are freelance journalists
based in Bosnia.
Subject: Re:Sull'Iraq
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 14:22:43 +0100
From: Italo Slavetti
To: "a.polito" <a.polito@...>
CC: "s.cappellini" <s.cappellini@...>,
"m.contini" <m.contini@...>,
"f.desposito" <f.desposito@...>, "r.mania"
<r.mania@...>, "c.puca" <c.puca@...>,
"w.ward" <w.ward@...>, "g.teotino"
<g.teotino@...>
Egregio Dott. Polito,
riprovo ad inviarLe questo messaggio sperando stavolta di avere
indovinato l'indirizzo...
L'"anticipazione" che leggo sul vostro sito di oggi mi conforta e mi
rafforza nell'opinione che siamo nel giusto. Ancora un po' di sforzo e
convinceremo i riluttanti. Vincere bisogna! E vinceremo!
I. Slavetti (Roma)
Iraq: arrivano le prove?
Gli Stati Uniti hanno deciso di rendere
pubbliche alcune delle informazioni in loro
possesso sul mancato disarmo iracheno: ma
più che a facilitare il lavoro degli ispettori,
la mossa è destinata a convincere il fronte
dei riluttanti - sia all'estero che all'interno
- della necessità di attaccare Saddam Hussein
---------------------------------------------
Egregio Dott. Polito, stimatissima Redazione,
(...)
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 14:22:43 +0100
From: Italo Slavetti
To: "a.polito" <a.polito@...>
CC: "s.cappellini" <s.cappellini@...>,
"m.contini" <m.contini@...>,
"f.desposito" <f.desposito@...>, "r.mania"
<r.mania@...>, "c.puca" <c.puca@...>,
"w.ward" <w.ward@...>, "g.teotino"
<g.teotino@...>
Egregio Dott. Polito,
riprovo ad inviarLe questo messaggio sperando stavolta di avere
indovinato l'indirizzo...
L'"anticipazione" che leggo sul vostro sito di oggi mi conforta e mi
rafforza nell'opinione che siamo nel giusto. Ancora un po' di sforzo e
convinceremo i riluttanti. Vincere bisogna! E vinceremo!
I. Slavetti (Roma)
Iraq: arrivano le prove?
Gli Stati Uniti hanno deciso di rendere
pubbliche alcune delle informazioni in loro
possesso sul mancato disarmo iracheno: ma
più che a facilitare il lavoro degli ispettori,
la mossa è destinata a convincere il fronte
dei riluttanti - sia all'estero che all'interno
- della necessità di attaccare Saddam Hussein
---------------------------------------------
Egregio Dott. Polito, stimatissima Redazione,
(...)
Subject: Fabricating an Enemy
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 02:43:23 -0500
From: Michel Chossudovsky
It is the Bush Administration, rather than Baghdad,
which is supporting Al Qaeda
FABRICATING AN ENEMY
by Michel Chossudovsky
www.globalresearch.ca , 28 January / janvier 2003
The URL of this article is:
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO301B.html
* * *
Part II of a two part Series. Part I was entitled: War
Propaganda. See:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO301A.html
One of the main objectives of war propaganda is to
«fabricate an enemy» . As anti-war sentiment grows and
the political legitimacy the Bush Administration falters,
doubts regarding the existence of this "outside enemy"
must be dispelled.
As the date of the planned invasion of Iraq approaches, the
Bush Administration and its indefectible British ally have
multiplied the "warnings" of future Al Qaeda terrorist
attacks. The enemy has to appear genuine: thousands of
news stories and editorials linking Al Qaeda to the
Baghdad government are planted in the news chain. Colin
Powell underscored this relationship in his presentation to
the Davos World Economic Forum in January. Iraq is
casually presented in official statements and in the media
as "a haven for and supplier of the terror network":
"Evidence that is still tightly held is accumulating within
the administration that it is not a matter of chance that
terror groups in the al Qaeda universe have made their
weapons of choice the poisons, gases and chemical devices
that are signature arms of the Iraqi regime."1
In this context, propaganda purports to drown the truth,
and kill the evidence on how Osama bin Laden?s Al Qaeda
was fabricated and transformed into "Enemy Number
One".
Meanwhile, "anti-terrorist operations" directed against
Muslims, including arbitrary mass arrests have been
stepped up. In the US, emergency measures are
contemplated in the case of war. The corporate media is
busy preparing public opinion. A «national emergency» is
said to be justified because «America is under attack»:
« the U.S. and Western interests in the Western world
have to be prepared for retaliatory attacks from sleeper
cells the second we launch an attack in Iraq.» 2
Defence of the Homeland
Emergency procedures are already in place. The Secretary
of Homeland Defence -whose mandate is to «safeguard
the nation from terrorist attacks»-- has already been
granted the authority « to take control of a national
emergency», implying the establishment of de facto
military rule. In turn, the newly established Northern
Command would be put in charge of military operations in
the US «war on terrorism » theatre.
The Smallpox Vaccination Program
In the context of these emergency measures, preparations
for compulsory smallpox vaccination are already under
way in response to a presumed threat of a biological
weapons attack on US soil. The vaccination program
which has been the object of intense media propaganda--
would be launched with the sole purpose of creating an
atmosphere of panic among the population:
«A few infected individuals with a stack of plane
tickets--or bus tickets, for that matter--could spread
smallpox infection across the country, touching off a
plague of large proportions ?. It is not inconceivable that a
North Korea or an Iraq could retain smallpox in a hidden
lab and pass the deadly agent on to terrorists.»3
The hidden agenda is crystal clear. How best to discredit
the anti-war movement and maintain the legitimacy of
the State? Create conditions, which instill fear and hatred,
present the rulers as "guardians of the peace", committed
to weeding out terrorism and preserving democracy. In the
words of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, echoing
almost verbatim the US propaganda dispatches:
"?I believe it is inevitable that they will try in some form or
other,? ?I think we can see evidence from the recent arrests
that the terrorist network is here as it is around the rest of
Europe, around the rest of the world? The most frightening
thing about these people is the possible coming together of
fanaticism and the technology capable of delivering mass
destruction.?"4
Mass Arrests
The mass arrests of individuals of Middle Eastern origin
since September 11 2001 on trumped up charges is not
motivated by security considerations. Their main function
is to provide "credibility" to the fear and propaganda
campaign. Each arrest, amply publicised by the corporate
media, repeated day after day "gives a face" to this
invisible enemy. It also serves to drown the fact that Al
Qaeda is a creature of the CIA. "Enemy Number One" is
not an enemy but an instrument.)
In other words, the Propaganda campaign performs two
important functions.
First it must ensure that the enemy is considered a real
threat.
Second, it must distort the truth, --i.e. it must conceal
"the relationship" between this "fabricated enemy" and its
creators within the military-intelligence apparatus.
In other words, the nature and history of Osama bin
Laden?s Al Qaeda and the Islamic brigades since the
Soviet-Afghan war must be suppressed because if it
trickles down to the broader public, the legitimacy of the
so-called "war on terrorism" collapses like a deck of cards.
And in the process, the legitimacy of the main political and
military actors is threatened.
The "9/11 Foreknowledge" Scandal
On 16 May 2002, the New York tabloids revealed that
"President Bush had been warned of possible high jacking
before the terror attacks" and had failed to act.5
The disinformation campaign was visibly stalling in the
face of mounting evidence of CIA-Osama links. For the
first time since 9/11, the mainstream press had hinted to
the possibility of a cover-up at the highest echelons of the
US State apparatus.
FBI Agent Coleen Rowley, who blew the whistle on the
FBI, played a key role in unleashing the crisis. Her
controversial Memo to FBI Director Robert Mueller
pointed to the existence of "deliberate roadblocks" on the
investigation of the September 11 attacks:
"Minutes after the 9/11 attacks the SSA [David Frasca,
Director of the Radical Fundamentalist unit in the FBI]
said ?this was probably all just a coincidence? and we were
to do nothing until we got their permission, because we
might screw up something else going on elsewhere in the
country" 6
In response to an impending political crisis, the fear and
disinformation campaign went into overdrive. The news
chain was all of a sudden inundated with reports and
warnings of "future terrorist attacks". A carefully worded
statement (visibly intended to instill fear) by Vice
President Dick Cheney contributed to setting the stage:
"I think that the prospects of a future attack on the U.S.
are almost a certainty... It could happen tomorrow, it could
happen next week, it could happen next year, but they will
keep trying. And we have to be prepared."7
What Cheney is really telling us is that our "intelligence
asset", which we created, is going to strike again. Now, if
this "CIA creature" were planning new terrorist attacks,
you would expect that the CIA would be first to know
about it. In all likelihood, the CIA also controls the
so-called ?warnings' emanating from CIA sources on
"future terrorist attacks" in the US and around the World.
Propaganda?s Consistent Pattern
Upon careful examination of news reports on actual,
"possible" or "future" terrorist attacks, the propaganda
campaign exhibits a consistent pattern. Similar concepts
appear simultaneously in hundreds of media reports:
they refer to "reliable sources", a growing body of evidence
--e.g. government or intelligence or FBI.
They invariably indicate that the terrorist groups involved
have "ties to bin Laden" or Al Qaeda, or are "sympathetic
to bin Laden",
The reports often points to the possibility of terrorist
attacks, "sooner or later" or "in the next two months".
The reports often raise the issue of so-called "soft targets",
pointing to the likelihood of civilian casualties.
They indicate that future terrorist attacks could take place
in a number of allied countries (including Britain, France,
Germany) in which public opinion is strongly opposed to
the US-led war on terrorism.
They confirm the need by the US and its allies to initiate
"pre-emptive" actions directed against these various
terrorist organizations and/or the foreign governments
which harbour the terrorists.
They often point to the likelihood that these terrorist
groups possess WMD including biological and chemical
weapons (as well as nuclear weapons). The links to Iraq
and "rogue states" (discussed in Part I) is also mentioned.
The warnings also include warnings regarding "attacks on
US soil", attacks against civilians in Western cities.
They point to efforts undertaken by the police authorities
to apprehend the alleged terrorists.
The arrested individuals are in virtually all cases Muslims
and/or of Middle Eastern origin.
The reports are also used to justify the Homeland Security
legislation as well as the "ethnic profiling" and mass
arrests of presumed terrorists.
This pattern of disinformation in the Western media
applies the usual catch phrases and buzz words. (See press
excerpts below. The relevant catch phrases are indicated in
italics):
"Published reports, along with new information obtained
from U.S. intelligence and military sources, point to a
growing body of evidence that terrorists associated with
and/or sympathetic to Osama bin Laden are planning a
significant attack on U.S. soil.
Also targeted are allied countries that have joined the
worldwide hunt for the radical Muslim cells hell-bent on
unleashing new waves of terrorist strikes. ? The U.S.
government's activation of antiterrorist forces comes as the
FBI issued a warning Nov. 14 that a "spectacular" new
terrorist attack may be forthcoming - sooner rather than
later. ...
Elsewhere, the Australian government issued an
unprecedented warning to its citizens that al-Qaeda
terrorists there might launch attacks within the next two
months. 8
Although CIA Director George Tenet said in recent
congressional testimony that "an attempt to conduct
another attack on U.S. soil is certain," a trio of former
senior CIA officials doubted the chance of any
"spectacular" terror attacks on U.S. soil.9
"Germans have been skittish since the terrorist attacks in
the United States, fearing that their country is a ripe target
for terrorism. Several of the hijackers in the Sept. 11
attacks plotted their moves in Hamburg.10
"On Dec. 18, a senior government official, speaking on
condition of anonymity, briefed journalists about the ?high
probability? of a terrorist attack happening ?sooner or
later.? ? he named hotels and shopping centres as potential
?soft targets?? The official also specifically mentioned: a
possible chemical attack in the London subway, the
unleashing of smallpox, the poisoning of the water supply
and strikes against "postcard targets" such as Big Ben and
Canary Warf.
The "sooner or later" alert followed a Home Office
warning at the end of November that said Islamic radicals
might use dirty bombs or poison gas to inflict huge
casualties on British cities. This also made big headlines
but the warning was quickly retracted in fear that it would
cause public panic. 11
The message yesterday was that these terrorists, however
obscure, are trying - and, sooner or later, may break
through London's defences. It is a city where tens of
thousands of souls,? Experts have repeatedly said that the
UK, with its bullish support for the US and its war on
terror, is a genuine and realistic target for terror groups,
including the al- Qaeda network led by 11 September
mastermind Osama bin Laden.12
Quoting Margaret Thatcher: "Only America has the reach
and means to deal with Osama bin Laden or Saddam
Hussein or the other wicked psychopaths who will sooner
or later step into their shoes."13
According to a recent US State Department alert:
"Increased security at official US facilities has led
terrorists to seek softer targets such as residential areas,
clubs, restaurants, places of worship, hotels, schools,
outdoor recreation events, resorts, beaches and planes."14
Actual Terrorist Attacks
To be "effective" the fear and disinformation campaign
cannot solely rely on unsubstantiated "warnings" of future
attacks, it also requires "real" terrorist occurrences or
"incidents", which provide credibility to the
Administration?s war plans. Propaganda endorses the need
to implement "emergency measures" as well as implement
retaliatory military actions.
The triggering of "war pretext incidents" is part of the
Pentagon?s assumptions. In fact it is an integral part of US
military history.15 In fact in 1962, the Joint Chiefs of Staff
had envisaged a secret plan entitled "Operation
Northwoods, to deliberately trigger civilian casualties to
justify the invasion of Cuba:
"We could blow up a U.S. ship in Guantanamo Bay and
blame Cuba," "We could develop a Communist Cuban
terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities
and even in Washington" "casualty lists in U.S.
newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national
indignation." (See the declassified Top Secret 1962
document titled "Justification for U.S. Military
Intervention in Cuba"16 (See Operation Northwoods at
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/NOR111A.html ).
There is no evidence that the Pentagon or the CIA played
a direct role in recent terrorist attacks. The latter were
undertaken by organisations (or cells of these
organisations), which operate quite independently, with a
certain degree of autonomy. This independence is in the
very nature of a covert intelligence operation. The
«intelligence asset» is not in direct contact with its covert
sponsors. It is not necessarily cognizant of the role it plays
on behalf of its intelligence sponsors.
The fundamental question is who is behind them? Through
what sources are they being financed? What is the
underlying network of ties?
A recent (2002) classified outbrief drafted to guide the
Pentagon «calls for the creation of a so-called « Proactive,
Pre-emptive Operations Group » (P2OG), to launch secret
operations aimed at "stimulating reactions" among
terrorists and states possessing weapons of mass
destruction -- that is, for instance, prodding terrorist cells
into action and exposing themselves to "quick-response"
attacks by U.S. forces.» 17
The P2OG initiative is nothing new. It essentially extends
an existing apparatus of covert operations. Amply
documented, the CIA has supported terrorist groups since
the Cold War era. This « prodding of terrorist cells » under
covert intelligence operations often requires the infiltration
and training of the radical groups linked to Al Qaeda.
Covert support by the US military and intelligence
apparatus has been channelled to various Islamic terrorist
organisations through a complex network of intermediaries
and intelligence proxies. Moreover, numerous official
statements, intelligence reports confirm recent links (in the
post Cold War era) between US military-intelligence units
and Al Qaeda operatives, as occurred in Bosnia (mid
1990s), Kosovo (1998-99) and Macedonia (2001).18 The
Republican Party Committee of the US Congress in a 1997
report points to open collaboration between the US
military and Al Qaeda operatives in the civil war in
Bosnia.19 (See US Congress, 16 January 1997,
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/DCH109A.html )
Ties to Al Qaeda and Pakistan?s Military Intelligence
(ISI)
It is indeed revealing that in virtually all post 9/11 terrorist
occurrences, the terrorist organization is said to have "ties
to Osama bin Laden?s Al Qaeda". This in itself is a crucial
piece of information. Of course, the fact that Al Qaeda is a
creature of the CIA is neither mentioned in the press
reports nor is considered relevant.
The ties of these terrorist organizations (particularly those
in Asia) to Pakistan?s military intelligence (ISI) is
acknowledged in a few cases by official sources and press
dispatches. Confirmed by the Council on Foreign Relations
(CFR), some of these groups are said to have links to
Pakistan?s ISI, without identifying the nature of these
links. Needless to say, this information is crucial in
identifying the sponsors of these terrorist attacks. In other
words, the ISI is said to support these terrorist
organizations, while at same time maintaining close ties to
the CIA.
The Bali Bomb Attack (October 2002)
The Bali attack in the Kuta seaside resort resulted in close
to 200 deaths, mainly Australian tourists. The bomb attack
was allegedly perpetrated by Jemaah Islamiah, a group,
which operates in several countries in South East Asia.
Press reports and official statements point to close ties
between Jemaah Islamiah (JI) and Al Qaeda. The JI?s
"operational leader" is Riduan Isamuddin, alias Hambali, a
veteran of the Soviet-Afghan war, who was trained in
Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to a report by UPI:
"The [Soviet-Afghan] war provided opportunities for key
figures of these groups, who went to Afghanistan, to
experience firsthand the glory of jihad. Many of the
radicals detained in Singapore and Malaysia derived their
ideological inspiration from the activities of the
Mujahideen in Afghanistan and Pakistan" 20
What the report fails to mention is that the training of the
Mujahideen in Afghanistan and Pakistan was a CIA
sponsored initiative launched under President Jimmy
Carter in 1979, using Pakistan?s ISI as a go-between.
JI?s links to Indonesia?s Military Intelligence
There are indications, that in addition to its alleged links to
Al Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiah also has links to Indonesia?s
military intelligence, which in turn has links to the CIA
and Australian intelligence.
The links between JI and Indonesia?s Intelligence Agency
(BIN) are acknowledged by the International Crisis Group
(ICG):
"This link [of JI to the BIN] needs to be explored more
fully: it does not necessarily mean that military intelligence
was working with JI, but it does raise a question about the
extent to which it knew or could have found out more
about JI than it has acknowledged." 21 (International
Crisis Group,
http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/showreport.cfm?reportid=845
, 2003)
The ICG, however, fails to mention that Indonesia?s
intelligence apparatus has for more than 30 years been
controlled by the CIA.
In the wake of the October 2002 Bali bombing, a
contradictory report emanating from Indonesia?s top brass,
pointed to the involvement of both the head of Indonesian
intelligence General A. M. Hendropriyono as well as the
CIA:
"The agency and its director, Gen. A. M. Hendropriyono,
are well regarded by the United States and other
governments. But there are still senior intelligence officers
here who believe that the C.I.A. was behind the
bombing."22
In response to these statements, the Bush Administration
demanded that President Megawati Sukarnoputri, publicly
refute the involvement of the U.S in the attacks. No
official retraction was issued. Not only did President.
Megawati remained silent on this matter, she also accused
the US of being:
"a superpower that forced the rest of the world to go along
with it? We see how ambition to conquer other nations has
led to a situation where there is no more peace unless the
whole world is complying with the will of the one with the
power and strength." 23
Meanwhile, the Bush Administration, had used the Bali
attacks to prop up its fear campaign:
"President Bush said Monday that he assumes al-Qaeda
was responsible for the deadly bombing in Indonesia and
that he is worried about fresh attacks on the United
States." 24
The news [regarding the Bali attack] came as US
intelligence officials warned that more attacks like the
Indonesian bombing can be expected in the next few
months, in Europe, the Far East or the US."25
Cover-up
The links of JI to the Indonesian intelligence agency were
never raised in the official Indonesian government
investigation --which was guided behind the scenes by
Australian intelligence and the CIA.
Moreover, shortly after the bombing, Australian Prime
Minister John Howard "admitted that Australian
authorities were warned about possible attacks in Bali but
chose not to issue a warning."26 Also In the wake of the
bombings, the Australian government chose to work with
Indonesia?s Special Forces the Kopassus, in the so-called
"war on terrorism".
Australia: "Useful Wave of Indignation"
Reminiscent of Operation Northwoods, the Bali attack
served to trigger "a useful wave of indignation."27 They
contributed to swaying Australian public opinion in favour
of the US invasion of Iraq, while weakening the anti-war
protest movement. In the wake of the Bali attack, the
Australian government "officially" joined the US-led "war
on terrorism." It has not only used the Bali bombings as a
pretext to fully integrate the US-UK military axis, it has
also adopted drastic police measures including "ethnic
profiling" directed against its own citizens:
Prime Minister John Howard made the extraordinary
declaration recently that he is prepared to make
pre-emptive military strikes against terrorists in
neighbouring Asian countries planning to attack Australia.
Australian intelligence agencies also are very worried
about the likelihood of an al-Qaeda attack using nuclear
weapons.28
The Attacks on the Indian Parliament (December 2001)
The December 2001 terrorist attacks on the Indian
Parliament --which contributed to pushing India and
Pakistan to the brink of war-- were allegedly conducted
by two Pakistan-based rebel groups, Lashkar-e-Taiba
("Army of the Pure") and Jaish-e-Muhammad ("Army of
Mohammed"). The press reports acknowledged the ties of
both groups to Al Qaeda, without however mentioning
that they were directly supported by Pakistan=s ISI. The
Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) confirms in this
regard that:
"through its Interservices Intelligence agency (ISI),
Pakistan has provided funding, arms, training facilities,
and aid in crossing borders to Lashkar and Jaish?Many
were given ideological training in the same madrasas, or
Muslim seminaries, that taught the Taliban and foreign
fighters in Afghanistan. They received military training at
camps in Afghanistan or in villages in Pakistan-controlled
Kashmir. Extremist groups [supported by the ISI] have
recently opened several new madrasas in Azad
Kashmir."29 (Council on Foreign Relations at
http://www.terrorismanswers.com/groups/harakat2.html ,
Washington 2002)
What the CFR fails to mention is the crucial relationship
between the ISI and the CIA and the fact that the ISI
continues to support Lashkar, Jaish and the militant
Jammu and Kashmir Hizbul Mujahideen (JKHM), while
also collaborating with the CIA. Ironically, confirmed by
the writings of Zbigniew Brzezinski (who happens to be a
member of the CFR), the training of these "foreign
fighters" was an initiative of US foreign policy, launched
during the Carter Administration in 1979 at the outset of
the Soviet-Afghan war. Coinciding with the 1989 Geneva
Peace Agreement and the Soviet withdrawal from
Afghanistan, the ISI was instrumental in the creation of
the militant Jammu and Kashmir Hizbul Mujahideen
(JKHM).30 The timely attack on the Indian Parliament,
followed by the ethnic riots in Gujarat in early 2002, were
the culmination of a process initiated in the 1980s,
financed by drug money and abetted by Pakistan?s military
intelligence.
Dismantling the Propaganda Campaign, Building an
Anti-War Consensus
We are at the juncture of the most serious crisis in modern
history, requiring an unprecedented degree of solidarity,
courage and commitment. America's war, which includes
the "first strike" use of nuclear weapons, threatens the
future of humanity.
Much of the justification for waging this war without
borders rests on the legitimacy of the Bush
administration?s anti-terrorist programme. The latter
forms part of the propaganda campaign, which in turn is
used to sway the US population into an unconditional
acceptance of the war agenda.
In the US, and around the world, the anti-war movement
has gained in impetus. While millions of people have joined
hands in opposing the war, the Bush Administration's fear
and disinformation campaign, relayed by the corporate
media, has served to uphold the shaky legitimacy of the
Bush administration.
At this critical crossroads, the anti-war/pro-democracy
movement must necessarily move to a higher plane, which
addresses the main functions of the Administration's
propaganda machine. The main purpose of propaganda is
to sustain the legitimacy of the rulers and ensure that the
rulers remain in power.
Undermining the Bush Administration's « Right to Rule»
In other words, the mobilization of antiwar sentiment in
itself will not reverse the tide of war.
What is needed is to consistently challenge the legitimacy
of the main political and military actors, reveal the true
face of the American Empire and the underlying
criminalisation of foreign policy. Ultimately what is
required is to question and eventually undermine the Bush
Administration's «right to rule».
Revealing the lies behind the Bush Administration is the
basis for destroying the legitimacy of the main political and
military actors.
Even if a majority of the population is against the war, this
in itself will not prevent the war from occurring. The
propaganda campaign?s objective is to sustain the lies
which support the legitimacy of the main political and
military actors, including Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld,
Ashcroft, Tenet, Armitage, Rice, et al. As long as the Bush
Cabinet is considered a «legitimate government» in the
eyes of the people and World public opinion, it will carry
out the Iraqi invasion plan, whether it has public support
or not.
In other words, this legitimacy must be challenged.
Similarly in Britain, where a majority of the population is
against the US-led war, actions must be launched which
ultimately result in the downfall of the Blair Cabinet and
the withdrawal of Britain from the US-led military
coalition.
A necessary condition for bringing down the rulers is to
weaken and eventually dismantle their propaganda
campaign. How best to achieve this objective? By fully
uncovering the lies behind the « war on terrorism» and
revealing the complicity of the Bush administration in the
events of 9/11.
This is a big hoax, it?s the biggest lie in US history. The
war pretext does not stick and the rulers should be
removed.
Moreover, it is important to show that « Enemy Number
One » is fabricated. The terrorist attacks are indeed real,
but who is behind them? The covert operations in support
of terrorist organisations, including the history of Al
Qaeda?s links to the CIA since the Soviet Afghan war,
must be fully revealed because they relate directly to the
wave of terrorist attacks which have occurred since
September 11, all of which are said to have links to Al
Qaeda.
To reverse the tide, the spreading of information at all
levels, which counteracts the propaganda campaign is
required.
The truth undermines and overshadows the lie.
And the truth is that the Bush administration is in fact
supporting international terrorism as a pretext to wage
war on Iraq.
Once this truth becomes fully understood, the legitimacy of
the rulers will collapse like a deck of cards. This is what
has to be achieved. But we can only achieve it, by
effectively counteracting the official propaganda campaign.
The momentum and success of the large anti-war rallies
in the US, the European Union and around the world,
should lay the foundations of a permanent network
composed of tens of thousands of local level anti-war
committees in neighbourhoods, work places, parishes,
schools, universities, etc. It is ultimately through this
network that the legitimacy of those who "rule in our
name will be challenged.
To shunt the Bush Administration's war plans and disable
its propaganda machine, we must, in the months ahead
reach out to our fellow citizens across the land, in the US,
Canada and around the world, to the millions of ordinary
people who have been misled on the causes and
consequences of this war, not to mention the implications
of the Bush Administration's Homeland Security
legislation, which essentially sets in place the building
blocks of a police state.
This initiative requires the spreading of information in an
extensive grassroots network, with a view to weakening
and ultimately disabling the Bush Administration?s
propaganda machine.
When the lies including those concerning September 11
are fully revealed and understood by everybody, the
legitimacy of the Bush Administration will be broken Big
Brother will have no leg to stand on, that is, no more wars
to feed on. While this will not necessarily result in a
fundamental and significant "regime change" in the US, a
new "anti-war consensus" will have emerged, which will
eventually pave the way for a broader struggle against the
New World Order and the American Empire's quest for
global domination.
_______________
NOTES
1. Washington Post, 25 January 2003.
2. Ibid
3 Chicago Sun, 31 December 2002.
4 Reuters, 21 February 2003
5. See Ian Woods, Conspiracy of Silence, McKinney
Vindicated, Global Outlook, No. 2, 2002.
6. Coleen Rowley, Memo To FBI Director Robert Mueller,
quoted in Global Outlook, No. 3, 2003, p. 28.
7. The Boston Globe, 5 June 2002.
8. Insight on the News, 3 February 2003.
9. UPI, 19 December 2002.
10. New York Times, 6 January 2003.
11. Toronto Star, 5 January 2003.
12. The Scotsman, 8 January 2003.
13. UPI, 10 December 2002.
14. AFP, 3 January 2003.
15. See Richard Sanders, War Pretext Incidents, How to
Start a War, Global Outlook, published in two parts, Issues
2 and 3, 2002-2003.
16.Operation Northwoods, declassified top secret document
sent by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Secretary of Defence
Robert McNamara on March 13, 1962,
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/NOR111A.html .
17. William Arkin, The Secret War, The Los Angeles
Times, 27 October 2002.
18. See Michel Chossudovsky, War and Globalisation, The
Truth behind September 11, Global Outlook, 2003, Chapter
3, http://globalresearch.ca/globaloutlook/truth911.html
19. See Clinton-Approved Iranian Arms Transfers Help
Turn Bosnia into Militant Islamic Base, Congressional
Press Release, US Congress, 16 January 1997,
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/DCH109A.html
20. UPI, 6 January 2002.
21. International Crisis Group, Indonesia Backgrounder:
How The Jemaah Islamiyah Terrorist Network Operates,
http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/showreport.cfm?reportid=845
, 2003
22, Raymond Bonner and Jane Perlez, More Attacks on
Westerners Are Expected in Indonesia, New York Times,
25 November 2002
23. Quoted in Raymond Bonner and Jane Perlez, op cit.
24. USA Today, 15 October 2002.
25. Business AM, 15 October 2002.
26. Christchurch Press, 22 November 2002), (Similar
warnings were made by the CIA).
27. Operation Northwoods, op cit.
28. Insight on the News, 3 February 2003.
29. Council on Foreign Relations at:
http://www.terrorismanswers.com/groups/harakat2.html ,
Washington 2002.
30. See K. Subrahmanyam, Pakistan is Pursuing Asian
Goals, India Abroad, 3 November 1995.
-------------------------
ANNEX
Supporting evidence that successive US administrations
have supported Al Qaeda is summarized below (references
are provided to a selected bibliography):
The "Islamic Brigades" are a creation of US foreign policy.
In the post-Cold War era, the CIA continues to support
and use Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda in its covert
operations. In standard CIA jargon, Al Qaeda is
categorized as an "intelligence asset".
The U.S. Congress has documented in detail, the links of
Al Qaeda to agencies of the U.S. government during the
civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as in Kosovo and
Macedonia.
The evidence confirms that Al Qaeda is supported by
Pakistan's military intelligence, the Inter-services
Intelligence (ISI). Amply documented, the ISI, allegedly
played an undercover role in financing the 9/11 attacks.
The ISI has a close working relationship with the CIA.
Pakistan?s ISI has consistently supported various Islamic
terrorist organizations, while also collaborating with the
CIA.
These various terrorist groups supported by Pakistan?s ISI
operate with some degree of autonomy in relation to their
covert sponsors, but ultimately they act in the way which
serves US interests.
The CIA keeps track of its "intelligence assets". Amply
documented, Osama bin Laden's whereabouts are known.
Al Qaeda is infiltrated by the CIA. In other words, there
were no "intelligence failures"! The 9-11 terrorists did not
act on their own volition. The suicide hijackers were
instruments in a carefully planned intelligence operation.
For further details consult: Centre for Research on
Globalization, 9/11 Reader, which constitutes and
extensive bibliography at
http://globalresearch.ca//by-topic/sept11/
See also Michel Chossudovsky, War and Globalisation,
The Truth behind September 11, Global Outlook, 2002
http://globalresearch.ca/globaloutlook/truth911.html
Centre for Research on Globalization, Foreknowledge of
9/11 A Compilation of CRG articles and documents in
support of a 9-11 Investigation,
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CRG204A.html
---
Michel Chossudovsky is author of War and Globalisation,
the Truth behind September 11, for details see
http://globalresearch.ca/globaloutlook/truth911.html
Copyright Michel Chossudovsky, CRG 2002. All rights
reserved. Permission is granted to post this text on
non-commercial community internet sites, provided the
source and the URL are indicated, the essay remains intact
and the copyright note is displayed. To publish this text in
printed and/or other forms, including commercial internet
sites and excerpts, contact the CRG at
editor@...
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 02:43:23 -0500
From: Michel Chossudovsky
It is the Bush Administration, rather than Baghdad,
which is supporting Al Qaeda
FABRICATING AN ENEMY
by Michel Chossudovsky
www.globalresearch.ca , 28 January / janvier 2003
The URL of this article is:
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO301B.html
* * *
Part II of a two part Series. Part I was entitled: War
Propaganda. See:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO301A.html
One of the main objectives of war propaganda is to
«fabricate an enemy» . As anti-war sentiment grows and
the political legitimacy the Bush Administration falters,
doubts regarding the existence of this "outside enemy"
must be dispelled.
As the date of the planned invasion of Iraq approaches, the
Bush Administration and its indefectible British ally have
multiplied the "warnings" of future Al Qaeda terrorist
attacks. The enemy has to appear genuine: thousands of
news stories and editorials linking Al Qaeda to the
Baghdad government are planted in the news chain. Colin
Powell underscored this relationship in his presentation to
the Davos World Economic Forum in January. Iraq is
casually presented in official statements and in the media
as "a haven for and supplier of the terror network":
"Evidence that is still tightly held is accumulating within
the administration that it is not a matter of chance that
terror groups in the al Qaeda universe have made their
weapons of choice the poisons, gases and chemical devices
that are signature arms of the Iraqi regime."1
In this context, propaganda purports to drown the truth,
and kill the evidence on how Osama bin Laden?s Al Qaeda
was fabricated and transformed into "Enemy Number
One".
Meanwhile, "anti-terrorist operations" directed against
Muslims, including arbitrary mass arrests have been
stepped up. In the US, emergency measures are
contemplated in the case of war. The corporate media is
busy preparing public opinion. A «national emergency» is
said to be justified because «America is under attack»:
« the U.S. and Western interests in the Western world
have to be prepared for retaliatory attacks from sleeper
cells the second we launch an attack in Iraq.» 2
Defence of the Homeland
Emergency procedures are already in place. The Secretary
of Homeland Defence -whose mandate is to «safeguard
the nation from terrorist attacks»-- has already been
granted the authority « to take control of a national
emergency», implying the establishment of de facto
military rule. In turn, the newly established Northern
Command would be put in charge of military operations in
the US «war on terrorism » theatre.
The Smallpox Vaccination Program
In the context of these emergency measures, preparations
for compulsory smallpox vaccination are already under
way in response to a presumed threat of a biological
weapons attack on US soil. The vaccination program
which has been the object of intense media propaganda--
would be launched with the sole purpose of creating an
atmosphere of panic among the population:
«A few infected individuals with a stack of plane
tickets--or bus tickets, for that matter--could spread
smallpox infection across the country, touching off a
plague of large proportions ?. It is not inconceivable that a
North Korea or an Iraq could retain smallpox in a hidden
lab and pass the deadly agent on to terrorists.»3
The hidden agenda is crystal clear. How best to discredit
the anti-war movement and maintain the legitimacy of
the State? Create conditions, which instill fear and hatred,
present the rulers as "guardians of the peace", committed
to weeding out terrorism and preserving democracy. In the
words of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, echoing
almost verbatim the US propaganda dispatches:
"?I believe it is inevitable that they will try in some form or
other,? ?I think we can see evidence from the recent arrests
that the terrorist network is here as it is around the rest of
Europe, around the rest of the world? The most frightening
thing about these people is the possible coming together of
fanaticism and the technology capable of delivering mass
destruction.?"4
Mass Arrests
The mass arrests of individuals of Middle Eastern origin
since September 11 2001 on trumped up charges is not
motivated by security considerations. Their main function
is to provide "credibility" to the fear and propaganda
campaign. Each arrest, amply publicised by the corporate
media, repeated day after day "gives a face" to this
invisible enemy. It also serves to drown the fact that Al
Qaeda is a creature of the CIA. "Enemy Number One" is
not an enemy but an instrument.)
In other words, the Propaganda campaign performs two
important functions.
First it must ensure that the enemy is considered a real
threat.
Second, it must distort the truth, --i.e. it must conceal
"the relationship" between this "fabricated enemy" and its
creators within the military-intelligence apparatus.
In other words, the nature and history of Osama bin
Laden?s Al Qaeda and the Islamic brigades since the
Soviet-Afghan war must be suppressed because if it
trickles down to the broader public, the legitimacy of the
so-called "war on terrorism" collapses like a deck of cards.
And in the process, the legitimacy of the main political and
military actors is threatened.
The "9/11 Foreknowledge" Scandal
On 16 May 2002, the New York tabloids revealed that
"President Bush had been warned of possible high jacking
before the terror attacks" and had failed to act.5
The disinformation campaign was visibly stalling in the
face of mounting evidence of CIA-Osama links. For the
first time since 9/11, the mainstream press had hinted to
the possibility of a cover-up at the highest echelons of the
US State apparatus.
FBI Agent Coleen Rowley, who blew the whistle on the
FBI, played a key role in unleashing the crisis. Her
controversial Memo to FBI Director Robert Mueller
pointed to the existence of "deliberate roadblocks" on the
investigation of the September 11 attacks:
"Minutes after the 9/11 attacks the SSA [David Frasca,
Director of the Radical Fundamentalist unit in the FBI]
said ?this was probably all just a coincidence? and we were
to do nothing until we got their permission, because we
might screw up something else going on elsewhere in the
country" 6
In response to an impending political crisis, the fear and
disinformation campaign went into overdrive. The news
chain was all of a sudden inundated with reports and
warnings of "future terrorist attacks". A carefully worded
statement (visibly intended to instill fear) by Vice
President Dick Cheney contributed to setting the stage:
"I think that the prospects of a future attack on the U.S.
are almost a certainty... It could happen tomorrow, it could
happen next week, it could happen next year, but they will
keep trying. And we have to be prepared."7
What Cheney is really telling us is that our "intelligence
asset", which we created, is going to strike again. Now, if
this "CIA creature" were planning new terrorist attacks,
you would expect that the CIA would be first to know
about it. In all likelihood, the CIA also controls the
so-called ?warnings' emanating from CIA sources on
"future terrorist attacks" in the US and around the World.
Propaganda?s Consistent Pattern
Upon careful examination of news reports on actual,
"possible" or "future" terrorist attacks, the propaganda
campaign exhibits a consistent pattern. Similar concepts
appear simultaneously in hundreds of media reports:
they refer to "reliable sources", a growing body of evidence
--e.g. government or intelligence or FBI.
They invariably indicate that the terrorist groups involved
have "ties to bin Laden" or Al Qaeda, or are "sympathetic
to bin Laden",
The reports often points to the possibility of terrorist
attacks, "sooner or later" or "in the next two months".
The reports often raise the issue of so-called "soft targets",
pointing to the likelihood of civilian casualties.
They indicate that future terrorist attacks could take place
in a number of allied countries (including Britain, France,
Germany) in which public opinion is strongly opposed to
the US-led war on terrorism.
They confirm the need by the US and its allies to initiate
"pre-emptive" actions directed against these various
terrorist organizations and/or the foreign governments
which harbour the terrorists.
They often point to the likelihood that these terrorist
groups possess WMD including biological and chemical
weapons (as well as nuclear weapons). The links to Iraq
and "rogue states" (discussed in Part I) is also mentioned.
The warnings also include warnings regarding "attacks on
US soil", attacks against civilians in Western cities.
They point to efforts undertaken by the police authorities
to apprehend the alleged terrorists.
The arrested individuals are in virtually all cases Muslims
and/or of Middle Eastern origin.
The reports are also used to justify the Homeland Security
legislation as well as the "ethnic profiling" and mass
arrests of presumed terrorists.
This pattern of disinformation in the Western media
applies the usual catch phrases and buzz words. (See press
excerpts below. The relevant catch phrases are indicated in
italics):
"Published reports, along with new information obtained
from U.S. intelligence and military sources, point to a
growing body of evidence that terrorists associated with
and/or sympathetic to Osama bin Laden are planning a
significant attack on U.S. soil.
Also targeted are allied countries that have joined the
worldwide hunt for the radical Muslim cells hell-bent on
unleashing new waves of terrorist strikes. ? The U.S.
government's activation of antiterrorist forces comes as the
FBI issued a warning Nov. 14 that a "spectacular" new
terrorist attack may be forthcoming - sooner rather than
later. ...
Elsewhere, the Australian government issued an
unprecedented warning to its citizens that al-Qaeda
terrorists there might launch attacks within the next two
months. 8
Although CIA Director George Tenet said in recent
congressional testimony that "an attempt to conduct
another attack on U.S. soil is certain," a trio of former
senior CIA officials doubted the chance of any
"spectacular" terror attacks on U.S. soil.9
"Germans have been skittish since the terrorist attacks in
the United States, fearing that their country is a ripe target
for terrorism. Several of the hijackers in the Sept. 11
attacks plotted their moves in Hamburg.10
"On Dec. 18, a senior government official, speaking on
condition of anonymity, briefed journalists about the ?high
probability? of a terrorist attack happening ?sooner or
later.? ? he named hotels and shopping centres as potential
?soft targets?? The official also specifically mentioned: a
possible chemical attack in the London subway, the
unleashing of smallpox, the poisoning of the water supply
and strikes against "postcard targets" such as Big Ben and
Canary Warf.
The "sooner or later" alert followed a Home Office
warning at the end of November that said Islamic radicals
might use dirty bombs or poison gas to inflict huge
casualties on British cities. This also made big headlines
but the warning was quickly retracted in fear that it would
cause public panic. 11
The message yesterday was that these terrorists, however
obscure, are trying - and, sooner or later, may break
through London's defences. It is a city where tens of
thousands of souls,? Experts have repeatedly said that the
UK, with its bullish support for the US and its war on
terror, is a genuine and realistic target for terror groups,
including the al- Qaeda network led by 11 September
mastermind Osama bin Laden.12
Quoting Margaret Thatcher: "Only America has the reach
and means to deal with Osama bin Laden or Saddam
Hussein or the other wicked psychopaths who will sooner
or later step into their shoes."13
According to a recent US State Department alert:
"Increased security at official US facilities has led
terrorists to seek softer targets such as residential areas,
clubs, restaurants, places of worship, hotels, schools,
outdoor recreation events, resorts, beaches and planes."14
Actual Terrorist Attacks
To be "effective" the fear and disinformation campaign
cannot solely rely on unsubstantiated "warnings" of future
attacks, it also requires "real" terrorist occurrences or
"incidents", which provide credibility to the
Administration?s war plans. Propaganda endorses the need
to implement "emergency measures" as well as implement
retaliatory military actions.
The triggering of "war pretext incidents" is part of the
Pentagon?s assumptions. In fact it is an integral part of US
military history.15 In fact in 1962, the Joint Chiefs of Staff
had envisaged a secret plan entitled "Operation
Northwoods, to deliberately trigger civilian casualties to
justify the invasion of Cuba:
"We could blow up a U.S. ship in Guantanamo Bay and
blame Cuba," "We could develop a Communist Cuban
terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities
and even in Washington" "casualty lists in U.S.
newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national
indignation." (See the declassified Top Secret 1962
document titled "Justification for U.S. Military
Intervention in Cuba"16 (See Operation Northwoods at
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/NOR111A.html ).
There is no evidence that the Pentagon or the CIA played
a direct role in recent terrorist attacks. The latter were
undertaken by organisations (or cells of these
organisations), which operate quite independently, with a
certain degree of autonomy. This independence is in the
very nature of a covert intelligence operation. The
«intelligence asset» is not in direct contact with its covert
sponsors. It is not necessarily cognizant of the role it plays
on behalf of its intelligence sponsors.
The fundamental question is who is behind them? Through
what sources are they being financed? What is the
underlying network of ties?
A recent (2002) classified outbrief drafted to guide the
Pentagon «calls for the creation of a so-called « Proactive,
Pre-emptive Operations Group » (P2OG), to launch secret
operations aimed at "stimulating reactions" among
terrorists and states possessing weapons of mass
destruction -- that is, for instance, prodding terrorist cells
into action and exposing themselves to "quick-response"
attacks by U.S. forces.» 17
The P2OG initiative is nothing new. It essentially extends
an existing apparatus of covert operations. Amply
documented, the CIA has supported terrorist groups since
the Cold War era. This « prodding of terrorist cells » under
covert intelligence operations often requires the infiltration
and training of the radical groups linked to Al Qaeda.
Covert support by the US military and intelligence
apparatus has been channelled to various Islamic terrorist
organisations through a complex network of intermediaries
and intelligence proxies. Moreover, numerous official
statements, intelligence reports confirm recent links (in the
post Cold War era) between US military-intelligence units
and Al Qaeda operatives, as occurred in Bosnia (mid
1990s), Kosovo (1998-99) and Macedonia (2001).18 The
Republican Party Committee of the US Congress in a 1997
report points to open collaboration between the US
military and Al Qaeda operatives in the civil war in
Bosnia.19 (See US Congress, 16 January 1997,
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/DCH109A.html )
Ties to Al Qaeda and Pakistan?s Military Intelligence
(ISI)
It is indeed revealing that in virtually all post 9/11 terrorist
occurrences, the terrorist organization is said to have "ties
to Osama bin Laden?s Al Qaeda". This in itself is a crucial
piece of information. Of course, the fact that Al Qaeda is a
creature of the CIA is neither mentioned in the press
reports nor is considered relevant.
The ties of these terrorist organizations (particularly those
in Asia) to Pakistan?s military intelligence (ISI) is
acknowledged in a few cases by official sources and press
dispatches. Confirmed by the Council on Foreign Relations
(CFR), some of these groups are said to have links to
Pakistan?s ISI, without identifying the nature of these
links. Needless to say, this information is crucial in
identifying the sponsors of these terrorist attacks. In other
words, the ISI is said to support these terrorist
organizations, while at same time maintaining close ties to
the CIA.
The Bali Bomb Attack (October 2002)
The Bali attack in the Kuta seaside resort resulted in close
to 200 deaths, mainly Australian tourists. The bomb attack
was allegedly perpetrated by Jemaah Islamiah, a group,
which operates in several countries in South East Asia.
Press reports and official statements point to close ties
between Jemaah Islamiah (JI) and Al Qaeda. The JI?s
"operational leader" is Riduan Isamuddin, alias Hambali, a
veteran of the Soviet-Afghan war, who was trained in
Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to a report by UPI:
"The [Soviet-Afghan] war provided opportunities for key
figures of these groups, who went to Afghanistan, to
experience firsthand the glory of jihad. Many of the
radicals detained in Singapore and Malaysia derived their
ideological inspiration from the activities of the
Mujahideen in Afghanistan and Pakistan" 20
What the report fails to mention is that the training of the
Mujahideen in Afghanistan and Pakistan was a CIA
sponsored initiative launched under President Jimmy
Carter in 1979, using Pakistan?s ISI as a go-between.
JI?s links to Indonesia?s Military Intelligence
There are indications, that in addition to its alleged links to
Al Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiah also has links to Indonesia?s
military intelligence, which in turn has links to the CIA
and Australian intelligence.
The links between JI and Indonesia?s Intelligence Agency
(BIN) are acknowledged by the International Crisis Group
(ICG):
"This link [of JI to the BIN] needs to be explored more
fully: it does not necessarily mean that military intelligence
was working with JI, but it does raise a question about the
extent to which it knew or could have found out more
about JI than it has acknowledged." 21 (International
Crisis Group,
http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/showreport.cfm?reportid=845
, 2003)
The ICG, however, fails to mention that Indonesia?s
intelligence apparatus has for more than 30 years been
controlled by the CIA.
In the wake of the October 2002 Bali bombing, a
contradictory report emanating from Indonesia?s top brass,
pointed to the involvement of both the head of Indonesian
intelligence General A. M. Hendropriyono as well as the
CIA:
"The agency and its director, Gen. A. M. Hendropriyono,
are well regarded by the United States and other
governments. But there are still senior intelligence officers
here who believe that the C.I.A. was behind the
bombing."22
In response to these statements, the Bush Administration
demanded that President Megawati Sukarnoputri, publicly
refute the involvement of the U.S in the attacks. No
official retraction was issued. Not only did President.
Megawati remained silent on this matter, she also accused
the US of being:
"a superpower that forced the rest of the world to go along
with it? We see how ambition to conquer other nations has
led to a situation where there is no more peace unless the
whole world is complying with the will of the one with the
power and strength." 23
Meanwhile, the Bush Administration, had used the Bali
attacks to prop up its fear campaign:
"President Bush said Monday that he assumes al-Qaeda
was responsible for the deadly bombing in Indonesia and
that he is worried about fresh attacks on the United
States." 24
The news [regarding the Bali attack] came as US
intelligence officials warned that more attacks like the
Indonesian bombing can be expected in the next few
months, in Europe, the Far East or the US."25
Cover-up
The links of JI to the Indonesian intelligence agency were
never raised in the official Indonesian government
investigation --which was guided behind the scenes by
Australian intelligence and the CIA.
Moreover, shortly after the bombing, Australian Prime
Minister John Howard "admitted that Australian
authorities were warned about possible attacks in Bali but
chose not to issue a warning."26 Also In the wake of the
bombings, the Australian government chose to work with
Indonesia?s Special Forces the Kopassus, in the so-called
"war on terrorism".
Australia: "Useful Wave of Indignation"
Reminiscent of Operation Northwoods, the Bali attack
served to trigger "a useful wave of indignation."27 They
contributed to swaying Australian public opinion in favour
of the US invasion of Iraq, while weakening the anti-war
protest movement. In the wake of the Bali attack, the
Australian government "officially" joined the US-led "war
on terrorism." It has not only used the Bali bombings as a
pretext to fully integrate the US-UK military axis, it has
also adopted drastic police measures including "ethnic
profiling" directed against its own citizens:
Prime Minister John Howard made the extraordinary
declaration recently that he is prepared to make
pre-emptive military strikes against terrorists in
neighbouring Asian countries planning to attack Australia.
Australian intelligence agencies also are very worried
about the likelihood of an al-Qaeda attack using nuclear
weapons.28
The Attacks on the Indian Parliament (December 2001)
The December 2001 terrorist attacks on the Indian
Parliament --which contributed to pushing India and
Pakistan to the brink of war-- were allegedly conducted
by two Pakistan-based rebel groups, Lashkar-e-Taiba
("Army of the Pure") and Jaish-e-Muhammad ("Army of
Mohammed"). The press reports acknowledged the ties of
both groups to Al Qaeda, without however mentioning
that they were directly supported by Pakistan=s ISI. The
Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) confirms in this
regard that:
"through its Interservices Intelligence agency (ISI),
Pakistan has provided funding, arms, training facilities,
and aid in crossing borders to Lashkar and Jaish?Many
were given ideological training in the same madrasas, or
Muslim seminaries, that taught the Taliban and foreign
fighters in Afghanistan. They received military training at
camps in Afghanistan or in villages in Pakistan-controlled
Kashmir. Extremist groups [supported by the ISI] have
recently opened several new madrasas in Azad
Kashmir."29 (Council on Foreign Relations at
http://www.terrorismanswers.com/groups/harakat2.html ,
Washington 2002)
What the CFR fails to mention is the crucial relationship
between the ISI and the CIA and the fact that the ISI
continues to support Lashkar, Jaish and the militant
Jammu and Kashmir Hizbul Mujahideen (JKHM), while
also collaborating with the CIA. Ironically, confirmed by
the writings of Zbigniew Brzezinski (who happens to be a
member of the CFR), the training of these "foreign
fighters" was an initiative of US foreign policy, launched
during the Carter Administration in 1979 at the outset of
the Soviet-Afghan war. Coinciding with the 1989 Geneva
Peace Agreement and the Soviet withdrawal from
Afghanistan, the ISI was instrumental in the creation of
the militant Jammu and Kashmir Hizbul Mujahideen
(JKHM).30 The timely attack on the Indian Parliament,
followed by the ethnic riots in Gujarat in early 2002, were
the culmination of a process initiated in the 1980s,
financed by drug money and abetted by Pakistan?s military
intelligence.
Dismantling the Propaganda Campaign, Building an
Anti-War Consensus
We are at the juncture of the most serious crisis in modern
history, requiring an unprecedented degree of solidarity,
courage and commitment. America's war, which includes
the "first strike" use of nuclear weapons, threatens the
future of humanity.
Much of the justification for waging this war without
borders rests on the legitimacy of the Bush
administration?s anti-terrorist programme. The latter
forms part of the propaganda campaign, which in turn is
used to sway the US population into an unconditional
acceptance of the war agenda.
In the US, and around the world, the anti-war movement
has gained in impetus. While millions of people have joined
hands in opposing the war, the Bush Administration's fear
and disinformation campaign, relayed by the corporate
media, has served to uphold the shaky legitimacy of the
Bush administration.
At this critical crossroads, the anti-war/pro-democracy
movement must necessarily move to a higher plane, which
addresses the main functions of the Administration's
propaganda machine. The main purpose of propaganda is
to sustain the legitimacy of the rulers and ensure that the
rulers remain in power.
Undermining the Bush Administration's « Right to Rule»
In other words, the mobilization of antiwar sentiment in
itself will not reverse the tide of war.
What is needed is to consistently challenge the legitimacy
of the main political and military actors, reveal the true
face of the American Empire and the underlying
criminalisation of foreign policy. Ultimately what is
required is to question and eventually undermine the Bush
Administration's «right to rule».
Revealing the lies behind the Bush Administration is the
basis for destroying the legitimacy of the main political and
military actors.
Even if a majority of the population is against the war, this
in itself will not prevent the war from occurring. The
propaganda campaign?s objective is to sustain the lies
which support the legitimacy of the main political and
military actors, including Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld,
Ashcroft, Tenet, Armitage, Rice, et al. As long as the Bush
Cabinet is considered a «legitimate government» in the
eyes of the people and World public opinion, it will carry
out the Iraqi invasion plan, whether it has public support
or not.
In other words, this legitimacy must be challenged.
Similarly in Britain, where a majority of the population is
against the US-led war, actions must be launched which
ultimately result in the downfall of the Blair Cabinet and
the withdrawal of Britain from the US-led military
coalition.
A necessary condition for bringing down the rulers is to
weaken and eventually dismantle their propaganda
campaign. How best to achieve this objective? By fully
uncovering the lies behind the « war on terrorism» and
revealing the complicity of the Bush administration in the
events of 9/11.
This is a big hoax, it?s the biggest lie in US history. The
war pretext does not stick and the rulers should be
removed.
Moreover, it is important to show that « Enemy Number
One » is fabricated. The terrorist attacks are indeed real,
but who is behind them? The covert operations in support
of terrorist organisations, including the history of Al
Qaeda?s links to the CIA since the Soviet Afghan war,
must be fully revealed because they relate directly to the
wave of terrorist attacks which have occurred since
September 11, all of which are said to have links to Al
Qaeda.
To reverse the tide, the spreading of information at all
levels, which counteracts the propaganda campaign is
required.
The truth undermines and overshadows the lie.
And the truth is that the Bush administration is in fact
supporting international terrorism as a pretext to wage
war on Iraq.
Once this truth becomes fully understood, the legitimacy of
the rulers will collapse like a deck of cards. This is what
has to be achieved. But we can only achieve it, by
effectively counteracting the official propaganda campaign.
The momentum and success of the large anti-war rallies
in the US, the European Union and around the world,
should lay the foundations of a permanent network
composed of tens of thousands of local level anti-war
committees in neighbourhoods, work places, parishes,
schools, universities, etc. It is ultimately through this
network that the legitimacy of those who "rule in our
name will be challenged.
To shunt the Bush Administration's war plans and disable
its propaganda machine, we must, in the months ahead
reach out to our fellow citizens across the land, in the US,
Canada and around the world, to the millions of ordinary
people who have been misled on the causes and
consequences of this war, not to mention the implications
of the Bush Administration's Homeland Security
legislation, which essentially sets in place the building
blocks of a police state.
This initiative requires the spreading of information in an
extensive grassroots network, with a view to weakening
and ultimately disabling the Bush Administration?s
propaganda machine.
When the lies including those concerning September 11
are fully revealed and understood by everybody, the
legitimacy of the Bush Administration will be broken Big
Brother will have no leg to stand on, that is, no more wars
to feed on. While this will not necessarily result in a
fundamental and significant "regime change" in the US, a
new "anti-war consensus" will have emerged, which will
eventually pave the way for a broader struggle against the
New World Order and the American Empire's quest for
global domination.
_______________
NOTES
1. Washington Post, 25 January 2003.
2. Ibid
3 Chicago Sun, 31 December 2002.
4 Reuters, 21 February 2003
5. See Ian Woods, Conspiracy of Silence, McKinney
Vindicated, Global Outlook, No. 2, 2002.
6. Coleen Rowley, Memo To FBI Director Robert Mueller,
quoted in Global Outlook, No. 3, 2003, p. 28.
7. The Boston Globe, 5 June 2002.
8. Insight on the News, 3 February 2003.
9. UPI, 19 December 2002.
10. New York Times, 6 January 2003.
11. Toronto Star, 5 January 2003.
12. The Scotsman, 8 January 2003.
13. UPI, 10 December 2002.
14. AFP, 3 January 2003.
15. See Richard Sanders, War Pretext Incidents, How to
Start a War, Global Outlook, published in two parts, Issues
2 and 3, 2002-2003.
16.Operation Northwoods, declassified top secret document
sent by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Secretary of Defence
Robert McNamara on March 13, 1962,
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/NOR111A.html .
17. William Arkin, The Secret War, The Los Angeles
Times, 27 October 2002.
18. See Michel Chossudovsky, War and Globalisation, The
Truth behind September 11, Global Outlook, 2003, Chapter
3, http://globalresearch.ca/globaloutlook/truth911.html
19. See Clinton-Approved Iranian Arms Transfers Help
Turn Bosnia into Militant Islamic Base, Congressional
Press Release, US Congress, 16 January 1997,
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/DCH109A.html
20. UPI, 6 January 2002.
21. International Crisis Group, Indonesia Backgrounder:
How The Jemaah Islamiyah Terrorist Network Operates,
http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/showreport.cfm?reportid=845
, 2003
22, Raymond Bonner and Jane Perlez, More Attacks on
Westerners Are Expected in Indonesia, New York Times,
25 November 2002
23. Quoted in Raymond Bonner and Jane Perlez, op cit.
24. USA Today, 15 October 2002.
25. Business AM, 15 October 2002.
26. Christchurch Press, 22 November 2002), (Similar
warnings were made by the CIA).
27. Operation Northwoods, op cit.
28. Insight on the News, 3 February 2003.
29. Council on Foreign Relations at:
http://www.terrorismanswers.com/groups/harakat2.html ,
Washington 2002.
30. See K. Subrahmanyam, Pakistan is Pursuing Asian
Goals, India Abroad, 3 November 1995.
-------------------------
ANNEX
Supporting evidence that successive US administrations
have supported Al Qaeda is summarized below (references
are provided to a selected bibliography):
The "Islamic Brigades" are a creation of US foreign policy.
In the post-Cold War era, the CIA continues to support
and use Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda in its covert
operations. In standard CIA jargon, Al Qaeda is
categorized as an "intelligence asset".
The U.S. Congress has documented in detail, the links of
Al Qaeda to agencies of the U.S. government during the
civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as in Kosovo and
Macedonia.
The evidence confirms that Al Qaeda is supported by
Pakistan's military intelligence, the Inter-services
Intelligence (ISI). Amply documented, the ISI, allegedly
played an undercover role in financing the 9/11 attacks.
The ISI has a close working relationship with the CIA.
Pakistan?s ISI has consistently supported various Islamic
terrorist organizations, while also collaborating with the
CIA.
These various terrorist groups supported by Pakistan?s ISI
operate with some degree of autonomy in relation to their
covert sponsors, but ultimately they act in the way which
serves US interests.
The CIA keeps track of its "intelligence assets". Amply
documented, Osama bin Laden's whereabouts are known.
Al Qaeda is infiltrated by the CIA. In other words, there
were no "intelligence failures"! The 9-11 terrorists did not
act on their own volition. The suicide hijackers were
instruments in a carefully planned intelligence operation.
For further details consult: Centre for Research on
Globalization, 9/11 Reader, which constitutes and
extensive bibliography at
http://globalresearch.ca//by-topic/sept11/
See also Michel Chossudovsky, War and Globalisation,
The Truth behind September 11, Global Outlook, 2002
http://globalresearch.ca/globaloutlook/truth911.html
Centre for Research on Globalization, Foreknowledge of
9/11 A Compilation of CRG articles and documents in
support of a 9-11 Investigation,
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CRG204A.html
---
Michel Chossudovsky is author of War and Globalisation,
the Truth behind September 11, for details see
http://globalresearch.ca/globaloutlook/truth911.html
Copyright Michel Chossudovsky, CRG 2002. All rights
reserved. Permission is granted to post this text on
non-commercial community internet sites, provided the
source and the URL are indicated, the essay remains intact
and the copyright note is displayed. To publish this text in
printed and/or other forms, including commercial internet
sites and excerpts, contact the CRG at
editor@...
ventiquattromarzonovantanove (1):
IL PERICOLO-BOMBE A NOVI SAD NON E' FINITO
===
BOMBE DELLA NATO ANCORA IN FONDO AL FIUME
BELGRADO. Secondo un portavoce del governo di Belgrado, ancora
moltissime bombe inesplose della NATO si trovano nel Danubio. La
situazione e' particolarmente difficile a Bogojevo, Backa Palanka,
Novi Sad, Beska, Pancevo, Ivanovo, Smederevo, Kovin e Prahovo.
Nel corso della aggressione alla Serbia, la NATO ha bombardato in
maniera particolarmente dura zone a grande distanza dai territori del
Kosovo-Metohija oggetto del conflitto. Le citta' e localita' sopra
elencate si trovano a piu' di 500 chilometri dai confini tra Serbia ed
Albania e non avevano alcun significato militare nel corso della
guerra. STIMME KOSOVOS
+++NATO-BOMBEN IN DONAU
BELGRAD. Wie ein Sprecher der Regierung in Belgrad
erklärte, befinden sich noch sehr viele
Nichtexplodierte NATO-Bomben in der Donau.
Besonders schwierig ist die Lage in Bogojevo, Backa
Palanka, Novi Sad, Beska, Pancevo, Ivanovo,
Smederevo, Kovin und Prahovo.
Die NATO hat während der Aggression gegen Serbien
besonders schwer die weit von dem tatsächlich
umkämpften Gebieten in der serbischen Provinz
Kosovo und Metochien bombardiert. Die oben
genannten Städte und Ortschaften sind mehr als 500
Kilometer von der serbisch albanischen Grenze
entfernt und hatten keine militärische Rolle
während des Krieges. STIMME KOSOVOS+++
(Aus: Balkan-Telegramm, 29/1/2003 -
http://www.amselfeld.com/ )
===
JUGOSLAVIA: RAID NATO FANNO ANCORA VITTIME DOPO TRE ANNI
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 21 NOV - A oltre tre anni dalla loro conclusione, i
raid della Nato contro la Jugoslavia hanno fatto tre vittime nelle
ultime due settimane: una persona e' morta e due sono rimaste
gravemente ferite dopo essere precipitate in automobile da due
dei ponti distrutti dalle bombe alleate.
Gli incidenti sono avvenuti il 3 novembre a Ostruznica, sul fiume
Sava, e ieri sera a Novi Sad, sul Danubio. Nel primo
caso, un'automobile con a bordo due giovani che non avevano visto la
segnaletica all'ingresso del ponte e' precipitata per trenta metri
schiantandosi sulla sponda. Miracolosamente, i due ragazzi sono
sopravvissuti, e i medici sono riusciti a salvarli. Piu' sfortunata la
terza vittima, Milomir Markovic, che ieri sera ha imboccato l'unico
ponte ancora non ricostruito rimasto a Novi Sad. La sua automobile e'
precipitata su una spiaggia sottostante, e l'uomo e' morto sul colpo.
(ANSA). OT 21/11/2002 18:19
(Fonte: http://www.ansa.it/balcani/ )
IL PERICOLO-BOMBE A NOVI SAD NON E' FINITO
===
BOMBE DELLA NATO ANCORA IN FONDO AL FIUME
BELGRADO. Secondo un portavoce del governo di Belgrado, ancora
moltissime bombe inesplose della NATO si trovano nel Danubio. La
situazione e' particolarmente difficile a Bogojevo, Backa Palanka,
Novi Sad, Beska, Pancevo, Ivanovo, Smederevo, Kovin e Prahovo.
Nel corso della aggressione alla Serbia, la NATO ha bombardato in
maniera particolarmente dura zone a grande distanza dai territori del
Kosovo-Metohija oggetto del conflitto. Le citta' e localita' sopra
elencate si trovano a piu' di 500 chilometri dai confini tra Serbia ed
Albania e non avevano alcun significato militare nel corso della
guerra. STIMME KOSOVOS
+++NATO-BOMBEN IN DONAU
BELGRAD. Wie ein Sprecher der Regierung in Belgrad
erklärte, befinden sich noch sehr viele
Nichtexplodierte NATO-Bomben in der Donau.
Besonders schwierig ist die Lage in Bogojevo, Backa
Palanka, Novi Sad, Beska, Pancevo, Ivanovo,
Smederevo, Kovin und Prahovo.
Die NATO hat während der Aggression gegen Serbien
besonders schwer die weit von dem tatsächlich
umkämpften Gebieten in der serbischen Provinz
Kosovo und Metochien bombardiert. Die oben
genannten Städte und Ortschaften sind mehr als 500
Kilometer von der serbisch albanischen Grenze
entfernt und hatten keine militärische Rolle
während des Krieges. STIMME KOSOVOS+++
(Aus: Balkan-Telegramm, 29/1/2003 -
http://www.amselfeld.com/ )
===
JUGOSLAVIA: RAID NATO FANNO ANCORA VITTIME DOPO TRE ANNI
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 21 NOV - A oltre tre anni dalla loro conclusione, i
raid della Nato contro la Jugoslavia hanno fatto tre vittime nelle
ultime due settimane: una persona e' morta e due sono rimaste
gravemente ferite dopo essere precipitate in automobile da due
dei ponti distrutti dalle bombe alleate.
Gli incidenti sono avvenuti il 3 novembre a Ostruznica, sul fiume
Sava, e ieri sera a Novi Sad, sul Danubio. Nel primo
caso, un'automobile con a bordo due giovani che non avevano visto la
segnaletica all'ingresso del ponte e' precipitata per trenta metri
schiantandosi sulla sponda. Miracolosamente, i due ragazzi sono
sopravvissuti, e i medici sono riusciti a salvarli. Piu' sfortunata la
terza vittima, Milomir Markovic, che ieri sera ha imboccato l'unico
ponte ancora non ricostruito rimasto a Novi Sad. La sua automobile e'
precipitata su una spiaggia sottostante, e l'uomo e' morto sul colpo.
(ANSA). OT 21/11/2002 18:19
(Fonte: http://www.ansa.it/balcani/ )
1. Serbia Approves Deal to Bury Yugoslavia (People's Daily, China)
2. Yugoslavia: New Year, Old Problems (I. Baskakov, PRAVDA.Ru)
=== 1 ===
http://fpeng.peopledaily.com.cn/200301/28/print20030128_110878.html
Serbia Approves Deal to Bury Yugoslavia
Serbia's parliament adopted a Western-backed accord on Monday to ditch
the bloodied Yugoslav federation in favor of a loose union with the
coastal republic of Montenegro.
Serbia and Montenegro -- which would also be the name of the new union
-- are the only two republics remaining in Yugoslavia after the old
six-member socialist federation collapsed in bloodshed during the rule
of Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s.
If the Montenegrin and the federal parliaments follow suit and approve
the agreement, the name Yugoslavia will be consigned to history after
almost 75 years' existence in various forms.
The 250-seat assembly voted with 166 deputies for and 47 against the
deal reshaping the federation into a union of Serbia and Montenegro.
After also backing implementing legislation, the assembly hall erupted
in loud applause.
Montenegro is expected to pass the new union's constitutional charter
when its parliament meets on Tuesday. It will formally become a
reality once it is approved by the federal parliament at a session
which has yet to be called.
Serbian and Montenegrin leaders agreed under European Union pressure
last year to stay together for now in a union leaving most powers in
the hands of the republics, but it took them almost a year of
wrangling to finalize the deal.
Montenegro reluctantly bowed to Western pressure and shelved plans for
breaking away from dominant Serbia for at least three years, when both
sides have the right to go it alone.
Serbia and Montenegro would have a president, to be elected by a
126-strong parliament, as well as a council of ministers including
ministers for the defense and foreign affairs.
Source: Agencies
=== 2 ===
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2003/01/14/42009.html
Read the original in Russian:
http://world.pravda.ru/world/2003/5/14/37/5482_Kosovo.html
2003.01.14/17:36
Ilya Baskakov
Special for PRAVDA.Ru
Translated by Maria Gousseva
Yugoslavia: New Year, Old Problems
Newspaper Glas Janvosti informs, participants of a
conference dedicated to ?a new stage of the Kosovo
retreat? that was held in Belgrade?s media-center,
reached a not comforting conclusion: ?The government has
no strategy for solution of the Kosovo problem.?
Vice-president of the Coordinating Center for Kosovo and
Metohija, the author of the project ?Kosovo Facing
Judgement of History?,
Branislav Krstic said that Albanians had a plan of
actions of their own. They have their plan, like the USA
and the EU countries wishing to reform the Balkans and
to give independence to Kosovo and Metohija on the sly.
Jovan Teokarevic, an analyst from the Institute for
European Studies, mentions that solution of the Kosovo
problem ?is directly connected with reforming of
Yugoslavia and the Balkans on the whole?; he also
emphasized at that there was no immediate solution of
the problem and it couldn?t be expected in the nearest
future either. The analyst is sure that only general
westernization of the region may do away with the
controversy there.
Teokarevic says that while Yugoslav politicians are
beating about the bush, only 60 Serb families got back
to Kosovo and Metohija in 2001 and 72 families in 2002.
If we take the total number of Serb families wishing to
get back home (6 thousand families) and the present-day
rate of the Serbs? return home, we may suppose that the
process will drag on for 60 years at best.
Besides Kosovo, Yugoslavia still has enough pressing
problems in the domestic policy. Belgrade?s radio B-92
recently held an interesting poll on its official
website. Guests of the site were offered to pick out the
most lying promise made by politicians last year. Tanjug
informs that main supporters of westernization, Zoran
Djindjic and Voislav Kostunica were mentioned oftener
than other politicians.
The Serbia prime minister with the hit statement of
March 15 is the leader of the poll: ?by the end of the
year, we will have an effective federal state;
authorities of the state will cost cheap enough and
powers of the leading departments will be clearly
defined.?
How is it possible to save on the governmental spending?
One of the ways out is to sell out former Serb President
Milutinovic, the same way it was done with Slobodan
Milosevic. But in fact no money is asked for the former
Serb president; there is only once condition that the
man must stay free until a trial in the Hague. (By the
way, Americans promise to make next payments to Serbia
for the selling out in March already). The authorities
are being distributed between Serbia and Montenegro so
actively, that the newly appointed foreign minister of
Montenegro declares: within the next three years he will
train diplomats of the republic for ?work under
conditions of an independent state? (he also reported
that this independent state would be undoubtedly
founded).
Yugoslavia President Voislav Kostunica with his
statement of June 15 was rated second: ?running for the
post of Serbian president is essential for me first of
all for the sake of adoption of the Constitutional
Charter.? But the things are right where they started.
So, Yugoslavia entered the new year with the following
results: with Kostunica at head, who may share the fate
of USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, the president
without his state; with Zoran Djindjic kow-towing to
Europe; still without Kosovo and without any promising
prospects at all. No new president of Serbia was
elected. According to the recent information, the former
Serb president may be delivered to the Hague on
Wednesday already.
2. Yugoslavia: New Year, Old Problems (I. Baskakov, PRAVDA.Ru)
=== 1 ===
http://fpeng.peopledaily.com.cn/200301/28/print20030128_110878.html
Serbia Approves Deal to Bury Yugoslavia
Serbia's parliament adopted a Western-backed accord on Monday to ditch
the bloodied Yugoslav federation in favor of a loose union with the
coastal republic of Montenegro.
Serbia and Montenegro -- which would also be the name of the new union
-- are the only two republics remaining in Yugoslavia after the old
six-member socialist federation collapsed in bloodshed during the rule
of Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s.
If the Montenegrin and the federal parliaments follow suit and approve
the agreement, the name Yugoslavia will be consigned to history after
almost 75 years' existence in various forms.
The 250-seat assembly voted with 166 deputies for and 47 against the
deal reshaping the federation into a union of Serbia and Montenegro.
After also backing implementing legislation, the assembly hall erupted
in loud applause.
Montenegro is expected to pass the new union's constitutional charter
when its parliament meets on Tuesday. It will formally become a
reality once it is approved by the federal parliament at a session
which has yet to be called.
Serbian and Montenegrin leaders agreed under European Union pressure
last year to stay together for now in a union leaving most powers in
the hands of the republics, but it took them almost a year of
wrangling to finalize the deal.
Montenegro reluctantly bowed to Western pressure and shelved plans for
breaking away from dominant Serbia for at least three years, when both
sides have the right to go it alone.
Serbia and Montenegro would have a president, to be elected by a
126-strong parliament, as well as a council of ministers including
ministers for the defense and foreign affairs.
Source: Agencies
=== 2 ===
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2003/01/14/42009.html
Read the original in Russian:
http://world.pravda.ru/world/2003/5/14/37/5482_Kosovo.html
2003.01.14/17:36
Ilya Baskakov
Special for PRAVDA.Ru
Translated by Maria Gousseva
Yugoslavia: New Year, Old Problems
Newspaper Glas Janvosti informs, participants of a
conference dedicated to ?a new stage of the Kosovo
retreat? that was held in Belgrade?s media-center,
reached a not comforting conclusion: ?The government has
no strategy for solution of the Kosovo problem.?
Vice-president of the Coordinating Center for Kosovo and
Metohija, the author of the project ?Kosovo Facing
Judgement of History?,
Branislav Krstic said that Albanians had a plan of
actions of their own. They have their plan, like the USA
and the EU countries wishing to reform the Balkans and
to give independence to Kosovo and Metohija on the sly.
Jovan Teokarevic, an analyst from the Institute for
European Studies, mentions that solution of the Kosovo
problem ?is directly connected with reforming of
Yugoslavia and the Balkans on the whole?; he also
emphasized at that there was no immediate solution of
the problem and it couldn?t be expected in the nearest
future either. The analyst is sure that only general
westernization of the region may do away with the
controversy there.
Teokarevic says that while Yugoslav politicians are
beating about the bush, only 60 Serb families got back
to Kosovo and Metohija in 2001 and 72 families in 2002.
If we take the total number of Serb families wishing to
get back home (6 thousand families) and the present-day
rate of the Serbs? return home, we may suppose that the
process will drag on for 60 years at best.
Besides Kosovo, Yugoslavia still has enough pressing
problems in the domestic policy. Belgrade?s radio B-92
recently held an interesting poll on its official
website. Guests of the site were offered to pick out the
most lying promise made by politicians last year. Tanjug
informs that main supporters of westernization, Zoran
Djindjic and Voislav Kostunica were mentioned oftener
than other politicians.
The Serbia prime minister with the hit statement of
March 15 is the leader of the poll: ?by the end of the
year, we will have an effective federal state;
authorities of the state will cost cheap enough and
powers of the leading departments will be clearly
defined.?
How is it possible to save on the governmental spending?
One of the ways out is to sell out former Serb President
Milutinovic, the same way it was done with Slobodan
Milosevic. But in fact no money is asked for the former
Serb president; there is only once condition that the
man must stay free until a trial in the Hague. (By the
way, Americans promise to make next payments to Serbia
for the selling out in March already). The authorities
are being distributed between Serbia and Montenegro so
actively, that the newly appointed foreign minister of
Montenegro declares: within the next three years he will
train diplomats of the republic for ?work under
conditions of an independent state? (he also reported
that this independent state would be undoubtedly
founded).
Yugoslavia President Voislav Kostunica with his
statement of June 15 was rated second: ?running for the
post of Serbian president is essential for me first of
all for the sake of adoption of the Constitutional
Charter.? But the things are right where they started.
So, Yugoslavia entered the new year with the following
results: with Kostunica at head, who may share the fate
of USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev, the president
without his state; with Zoran Djindjic kow-towing to
Europe; still without Kosovo and without any promising
prospects at all. No new president of Serbia was
elected. According to the recent information, the former
Serb president may be delivered to the Hague on
Wednesday already.
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