Lo scorso sabato 21/10/00 presso la libreria del "Manifesto", a Roma,
si e' tenuta una assemblea-dibattito dal titolo: "Dalle bombe
'umanitarie' della NATO alla rivoluzione 'democratica'", organizzata
dal nostro coordinamento nazionale "La Jugoslavia Vivra'".

Nel corso dell'iniziativa sono intervenuti tra gli altri F. Grimaldi,
che ha presentato il suo nuovo video "Popoli di troppo", A. Bernardini,
docente di diritto internazionale e presente come osservatore alle
elezioni in Jugoslavia, G. Marras, partigiano in Jugoslavia durante la
II Guerra Mondiale. Alla fine del dibattito, che ha preso spunto dalla
ricorrenza della strage nazifascista di Kragujevac
(http://digilander.iol.it/convogliogiorgiana/kragujevac1941.html) ed e'
stato poi incentrato sulla attualita' della situazione nella RF di
Jugoslavia dopo il colpo di mano della destra nazionalista e liberista
del nuovo presidente Kostunica, e' stata approvata la seguente
mozione conclusiva:

---

MOZIONE CONCLUSIVA


I partecipanti alla assemblea-dibattito "Dalla guerra 'umanitaria'
alla rivoluzione 'democratica'", dedicata alla situazione nella RF di
Jugoslavia, svoltasi il giorno 21/10/2000 a Roma,

- ESPRIMONO la loro indignazione e protesta per le continue interferenze
nelle vista politica interna della RF di Jugoslavia da parte dei
governi occidentali, che mirano a proseguire nella opera di
frammentazione del paese e ad instaurarvi regimi succubi dei loro
interessi, nonche' da parte delle organizzazioni economiche
internazionali che attraverso l'imposizione di politiche neoliberiste
e di indebitamento puntano a cancellare le strutture produttive ed il
sistema di protezioni sociali ereditato dal periodo socialista.

- CHIEDONO il rispetto della sovranita' della RF di Jugoslavia e degli
accordi internazionali con essa stipulati, in particolare il rispetto
della Risoluzione ONU 1244 che e' viceversa costantemente disattesa
dalla amministrazione ONU, sia civile che militare, nella provincia
serba di Kosovo e Metohija (Kosmet).

La amministrazione civile (UNMIK) guidata da Bernard Kouchner ha creato
in questi mesi tutti i presupposti per la separazione del Kosmet dalla
RF di Jugoslavia e per la sua integrazione nel progetto della "Grande
Albania". La amministrazione militare (KFOR), che pur sotto copertura
ONU e' guidata dalle forze della NATO gia' responsabili dei crimini
impuniti connessi alla aggressione della primavera del 1999, ha
continuato ad appoggiare il movimento nazionalista secessionista
pan-albanese, prima nelle vesti della organizzazione terroristica UCK e
delle mafie ad essa collegata, poi come "Corpo di Protezione del Kosovo"
(TMK), chiudendo entrambi gli occhi dinanzi alle continue violenze
contro tutte le nazionalita' kosovare non-albanesi e contro gli albanesi
filo-jugoslavi. Per questi motivi

- CHIEDIAMO l'espulsione di tutti i rappresentanti dei paesi NATO dalle
strutture civili e militari della amministrazione straniera in Kosmet.

- CHIEDIAMO altresi' che le truppe dei paesi NATO vengano immediatamente
ritirate dal territorio balcanico, cioe' in primo luogo da tutte le aree
dove sono state dislocate in seguito allo smembramento della Repubblica
Federativa e Socialista di Jugoslavia, smembramento incitato e sancito
dagli stessi paesi che pretendono oggi vergognosamente di svolgere il
ruolo dei pacificatori.

Di fronte all'evidenza di una offensiva imperialista su tutti
i fronti, finalizzata all'eliminazione dei punti di resistenza
costituiti da classi, popoli e Stati da colonizzare, l'assemblea ritiene
inoltre necessario ed improrogabile allargare le tematiche centrate
sulla questione jugoslava all'ambito piu' vasto della lotta contro la
NATO e contro il costituendo esercito europeo, veri e propri bracci
armati della globalizzazione. E' necessario che le realta' organizzate
nate sulla spinta della solidarieta' con specifiche lotte contro
l'imperialismo riuniscano in un orizzonte unitario le varie forme di
resistenza in atto nel mondo: dalla Jugoslavia alla Palestina, alla
cui Intifada esprimiamo piena solidarieta', dall'America Latina al
Medio Oriente, dall'Africa al Sud-Est asiatico. Questo impegno e' reso
tanto piu' urgente dall'interconnessione strategica dell'agire
imperialista, anche nei confronti delle proprie classi lavoratrici,
che esige una speculare interconnessione delle forze antiimperialiste
sia nell'analisi, sia nell'informazione, sia nell'organizzazione delle
mobilitazioni e delle lotte.

Roma, 21/10/2000

---

Bollettino di controinformazione del
Coordinamento Nazionale "La Jugoslavia Vivra'"

> http://digilander.iol.it/lajugoslaviavivra

I documenti distribuiti non rispecchiano necessariamente le
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Per contributi e segnalazioni: jugocoord@...

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LUNEDI' 25 SETTEMBRE

Il programma di Kostunica � quello di un gruppo di economisti jugoslavi
molto di destra, noto col nome di �G 17". Esso prevede:
1. L'introduzione del marco tedesco come moneta nazionale!
2. Una forte riduzione del bilancio per le spese militari, cosa che
priverebbe il paese dei mezzi per difendersi da nuove aggressioni;
3. L'allineamento alle ricette antisociali che il FMI vuole imporre.
Sono le stesse riforme che hanno gi� devastato l'economia di paesi come
la Bulgaria, l'Albania o la Romania. Un osservatore rumeno mi confidava
stamane: "Ci avevano promesso che dopo la caduta di Ceaucescu, il
capitalismo sfrenato ci avrebbe dato la prosperit�. Ma oggi l'economia �
in rovina. Abbiamo accumulato dieci miliardi di dollari di debito, ma
non si vede un solo investimento. Gli edifici in costruzione sotto
Ceaucescu non sono mai stati ultimati�.
Effettivamente bisognerebbe pensarci. Molti jugoslavi hanno votato per
Kostunica, sperando che il cambio di dirigenti li avrebbe liberati
dall'embargo che strangola il paese e li obbliga a vivere in condizioni
difficilissime. Ma la vittoria di Kostunica porter� veramente sollievo e
stabilit�?
Si possono fornire tre elementi per rispondere.
1. Dove andr� il denaro?
2. L'esempio di un precedente come il Nicaragua.
3. Che cosa ha dato fino a questo momento l'Occidente al Kosovo?
Con Kostunica, Djindjic e il FMI, la popolazione avr� qualche sollievo?
1. E' molto probabile che del denaro occidentale finirebbe nelle tasche
di questo paese.
Il vero capo dell'opposizione, Zoran Djindjic - l'uomo che tira i fili
di Kostunica - ha ricevuto milioni di dollari per fare il lavoro di
Washington. E una nuova classe di uomini d'affari si � sviluppata e
pesta i piedi per l'impazienza. Vuole avere completa libert� di metter
fine alle difese sociali e alle condizioni di lavoro regolamentato. Per
poter sfruttare al massimo la manodopera jugoslava. In breve, lavorare
sotto il regno della paura, come nei paesi cosiddetti �avanzati�, dove
gran parte dei lavoratori, sempre pi� stressati, crepano di lavoro,
mentre l'altra si deprime nella disoccupazione. Ecco che cosa avrebbe in
sorte il popolo jugoslavo. Senza considerare che la deregolamentazione
cara al �G-17� permetterebbe loro sicuramente di godere dei vantaggi
come una carne da mucca pazza o imbottita di ormoni e di diossina e
altri elementi inquinanti. I giovani jugoslavi nutrono attualmente una
grande illusione verso le promesse dell'Occidente. Sono essi a crederci
maggiormente. La grande illusione � credere che la popolazione jugoslava
avr� prosperit� se accetta la volont� delle multinazionali e dei
dirigenti occidentali. Ma da dove viene la ricchezza di queste
multinazionali occidentali? Dal fatto che esse praticamente non pagano
le materie prime che sottraggono al terzo mondo. E che in tutti i paesi
del mondo in cui sfruttano i lavoratori, fanno di tutto per mantenere i
salari al livello pi� basso. Del resto, si tratta di una regola
economica che il sistema della concorrenza capitalista li obbliga ad
applicare: se non lo facessero sarebbero battute ed eliminate dai loro
concorrenti. Insomma, se le societ� dei paesi ricchi sono ricche �
perch� in realt� rubano ai paesi poveri. E quando promettono a u paese
povero che, sottomettendosi potr� entrare nel club dei paesi ricchi, �
una menzogna. Questa promessa non potrebbe essere mantenuta, perch� se
non vi sono pi� sfruttati che si fanno derubare, non vi sono pi�
sfruttatori che si arricchiscono. L'unica soluzione � un mondo senza pi�
sfruttati n� sfruttatori, un mondo di autentica cooperazione
internazionale basata sulla solidariet�.

2. E poi, si pu� credere alle promesse degli Stati Uniti?
Ho appena discusso con un osservatore nicaraguegno: �Sono colpito dalla
rassomiglianza tra la situazione in Jugoslavia e quella del Nicaragua
nel 1990. All'epoca, per rovesciare il nostro governo progressista,
quello dei sandinisti, gli USA avevano ugualmente combinato due metodi.
Da un lato, avevano armato delle bande chiamate "contras" che
massacravano e terrorizzavano la popolazione, come l'UCK. D'altro canto,
agitavano l'alternativa elettorale. Ma le promesse non sono state
mantenute e la situazione del popolo nicaraguegno � enormemente
peggiorata. In questo paese di 4 milioni di abitanti, la disoccupazione
� balzata al 40% e con essa la delinquenza, la prostituzione, il
traffico di droga. Ai semafori si affollano bambini mendicanti. La
salute � degradata, si assiste alla riapparizione di malattie che la
rivoluzione aveva eliminate, come la polmonite, � in aumento la
mortalit� (soprattutto infantile). Idem per l'analfabetismo. Ecco cosa
succede quando ci si fida delle promesse degli USA. Ma ho buone speranze
che la sinistra sandinista vinca le prossime elezioni a novembre, i
sondaggi la danno al 43% contro il 23%.

3. Un terzo elemento di risposta per sapere se si pu� fare
affidamento sulle promesse dell'Occidente, � guardare che cosa si �
fatto in Kosovo.
L'Occidente aveva promesso d'instaurarvi la pace, la democrazia e la
tolleranza tra nazionalit�. Ma che � successo? Oltre 5.OOO atti
terroristici in un anno, con l'uccisione di un migliaio di persone.
350.000 Serbi, Rom, Ebrei, Mussulmani e altri membri di minoranze
nazionali sono stati scacciati sotto gli occhi e con l'aiuto della NATO.
Risultato: la mafia albanese ha trasformato questa regione in una testa
di ponte per il traffico di droga, di auto rubate e di prostitute. Un
celebre criminologo dell'universit� di Paris 2, Xavier Rauffer, denuncia
"un enorme traffico di esseri umani, una prostituzione gigantesca qui
adesso invade tutta l'Europa, une prostituzione diretta da protettori
albanesi. Ora, tutta l'Europa occidentale � invasa di eroina proveniente
dai Balcani� (RTBF, 24 marzo 2000). E' noto che alcune grandi banche
europee �lavano� il denaro sporco accumulato con questi traffici. La
NATO trasformer� tuttii Balcani in una "gangocrazia"? I giovani
jugoslavi ed europei saranno sempre pi� in preda a questo flagello della
droga?
Colonizzazione non vuol dire stabilit�. La colonizzazione della
Jugoslavia e dei Balcani da parte dell'Occidente non porter� la
stabilit�. Se aumentano miseria ed ineguaglianze sociali, i popoli
prenderanno coscienza di essere stati ingannati, e si ribelleranno per
riguadagnare la propria indipendenza. Si vedr� allora che le basi
militari della NATO non sono rivolte solo verso gli obiettivi strategici
della Russia, del petrolio del Caucaso e del Medio Oriente, ma hanno
anche il ruolo di reprimere i popoli dei Balcani. Oggi cresce il
malcontento in paesi come la Macedonia o la Romania e gli osservatori di
questi paesi mi hanno confidato che le prossime elezioni potrebbero
vedere un ritorno della sinistra. Anche in Jugoslavia, se Kostunica -
cio� Djindjic � va al potere, al popolo jugoslavo non occorrerebbe
probabilmente molto tempo per capire di essere stato ingannato. Per
spezzare e deviare le rivolte, gli USA e i loro alleati cercherebbero
certamente di suscitare di nuovo degli scontri.
La resistenza � dunque la sola via possibile per assicurare la pace e lo
sviluppo sociale nei Balcani. Milosevic ha dichiarato nel suo ultimo
discorso elettorale: �Se divenissimo una colonia non saremmo mai liberi
dalle sanzioni, perch� essere una colonia � la forma peggiore delle
sanzioni. Se divenissimo una colonia, non avremmo alcuna possibilit� di
sviluppo, n� a breve n� a lungo termine�. Su questo punto non si pu� che
dargli ragione.

---

Bollettino di controinformazione del
Coordinamento Nazionale "La Jugoslavia Vivra'"

> http://digilander.iol.it/lajugoslaviavivra

I documenti distribuiti non rispecchiano necessariamente le
opinioni delle realta' che compongono il Coordinamento, ma vengono
fatti circolare per il loro contenuto informativo al solo scopo di
segnalazione e commento ("for fair use only")

Per contributi e segnalazioni: jugocoord@...

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INVIAMO NUOVAMENTE LA RECENTE INTERVISTA dell'IAC A MIHAJLO
MARKOVIC SULLA SITUAZIONE IN JUGOSLAVIA DOPO IL COLPO
DI MANO DELLE DESTRE NAZIONALISTE E LIBERISTE, CORREDATA
DI UN COMMENTO CRITICO DI JARED ISRAEL.

Ricordiamo che una precedente, interessante intervista a Mihajlo Markovic, effettuata da J. Elsaesser della rivista tedesca KONKRET prima dell'estate, e' disponibile in versione italiana a cura del Coordinamento Romano per la
Jugoslavia: http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/455


---

Interview with Mihajlo Markovic, former vice president of the Socialist
Party of Serbia

'A counter-revolution, and not all that velvety'

Tanja Djurovic, Belgrad
(October 11, 2000-for junge Welt - www.jungewelt.de )

Mihajlo Markovic, member of the Serbian Academy of Science and until
1995
the vice president of the Socialist Party of Serbia, was one of the
ideological leaders of that party. Before 1989 he had a reputation as a
'reformer' and opponent of Tito within the Yugoslav left. Because of his
position in the movement in Yugoslavia, we thought this interview with
him
would be of interest to anyone following the current developments-IAC

- Professor Markovic, following the all-level elections on September 24
in
Yugoslavia, a certain "coup d'etat" took place on the streets of
Belgrade
on October 5, organized by the Democratic opposition of Serbia (DOS).
Some
are already calling this "a velvet revolution." How would you describe
what
happened?

October 5 started out as one of the "rebellions" we've already had an
opportunity to see. On March 9, 1991 to begin with and from then on
there
were several attempts on the street to scare the regime, to make it back
off, to perhaps enter state institutions and take them over by force -
as
was the case elsewhere in the countries of Eastern Europe.

Of course this October 5 protest was not simply a "peaceful" expression
of
civil disobedience and was not even planned to be peaceful, no matter
what
its organizers say. There was a lot of violence in it. A couple of
people
were killed and around 100 injured, material damage was considerable.
...All this shows clearly that this was a counter-revolution, and not at
all that
"velvety," as some are calling it now.

By my definition, a revolution is a social coup, a social
transformation,
which leads to some higher, more progressive form of society. When this
is
not the case, then we're speaking of counter-revolution.

Slobodan Milosevic should have admitted the defeat on presidential
elections immediately. Then the damage would be smaller. But, he made
another in a sequence of mistakes, and decided not to accept
presidential
election-results from September 24. Finally, when a big wave of protests
was initiated, when on October 5 the DOS rallied the people to the
Yugoslav
capital for mass demonstrations, the number of people gathered wasn't
even
important anymore, because Milosevic in the meanwhile already decided to
capitulate. The army didn't react. The police gave more-less symbolic
resistance, and power was simply given up.

- What were the factors to bring this situation about, and put an end
to
the Serbian 10-year-long resistance under Slobodan Milosevic? Why didn't
it
happen before?

Here, in Serbia, the "transition" scenario didn't work out for a long
time,
for several reasons.

One of those reasons is that in Serbia already certain necessary reforms
had been carried out. In year 1989 we had reforms of both the political
and
economic system. Therefore, what was later changed in East European
countries, in Yugoslavia had been reformed and changed already, but of
course the government was firmly in the hands of socialist forces.

Besides, the Serbian nation is very resilient when it comes to attempt
to
impose on it solutions from the outside. It resisted firmly and for a
long
time the attempts coming from reactionary circles from the West - to
impose
"transition" here, as it is called, transit to liberal [unregulated]
capitalism, with "shock-therapy" and all the other catastrophical
consequences for people and for society. So some kind of consciousness
about all this existed, and therefore the resistance.

Nevertheless, the combination of certain factors in last 10 years
brought
about the gradual change in this attitude. First and very crucial, an
enormous pressure from the USA and the West, which directly interfered
in
our internal matters, gave directives to opposition leaders and spent
from
70 to 100 million of dollars on these last Yugoslav elections alone.

On the other hand, an inner weakening in the government itself occurred,
and certain demoralization of Socialist party of Serbia (SPS) cadres
[leading organizers]. And what's worst of all, the people, who found
itself
in a very difficult material situation, almost direct misery, couldn't
take
it anymore.

And then this motto "Change" at any cost, even if it was said that those
changes can be for the worse (as they will be), prevailed. This is how
the
electoral defeat of the leftists occurred. Not total defeat naturally,
in
the Federal Parliament the coalition of left forces still has the
majority -
but on local level it was total indeed, and defeat on the presidential
level, of course.

- You mentioned "inner weaknesses" and "demoralization" in SPS... Apart
from the foreign factor, which is more than obvious, how much did the
Yugoslav leftist government itself contribute to its downfall in these
elections?

In the Socialist Party -- which carried the defense of basic socialist
values -- at the beginning there was certain amount of inner democracy,
and
morale was also at a certain high level. Even now naturally you have a
great number of socialist executives who remained honest and
non-corrupt,
who didn 't abandon their leftist orientation.

But the situation was gradually changed by the fact that inner erosion
took
place. First of all, Slobodan Milosevic himself was very insensitive
towards corruption. Even if he himself remained honest through and
through
until the end, even in his own family he wasn't principled enough to
punish
the behavior of his son and his wife Mirjana Markovic. All that had a
really bad influence on society, on followers, on members and executives
of
the Socialist Party itself.

This played a big role in inner erosion. And creation of Yugoslav Left
(JUL) played a devastating role.

The JUL figures as a left party, but according to the informal admission
of
Milosevic himself, this "left" party was created under sanctions, under
the
blockade. To break through this blockade the Yugoslav government had to
tolerate some forms of gray economy. A certain number of private owners
had
to pay bribe-money to functionaries of European Community and NATO. This
is
how we managed to come by oil, gasoline and all the rest.

But those private owners, through gray economy, gathered a certain
amount
of wealth. Milosevic, when he thought about how those people, who
actually
became capitalists now, as a matter of fact will be the adversaries of
socialists, decided it would be good finding some way to make them
allies.

Eventually, this is how JUL was created, and Milosevic's wife took its
leadership. But, in essence, this was after all a bad idea and no matter
how attractive this seemed at first glance, in the long run the
consequences were bad as we can see.

People in this so-called left party were there just to enrich themselves
further, and to gain perhaps some political position on the top of
everything by which to protect their capital. Of course it had a very
demoralizing effect on Socialist party itself.

And then, Milosevic even made socialists promote the JUL everywhere, be
in
coalition with it, and on elections give a great number of seats to
representatives of the JUL. For years this has been causing increasing
unrest among functionaries of the Socialist Party.

- You are one of the ideologists of SPS...Some say even so called
Serbian
nationalism and its establishing in program of Socialist party
contributed
also to the downfall of the leftists...? - "Serbian nationalism",
nationalism as such and even patriotism, are often confounded with
chauvinism...This is a simply a big defect in thinking, so let me
explain
this.

Nationalism? I have critical attitude towards nationalism, in a sense
that
nationalism always means one-sided approach to a problem, seeing only
national dimension of it. So all is seen in the light of national
relations, national interests. I am critical towards it. But even there,
you have two
kinds of nationalism. You have "benign nationalism" which is, as I said,
just one-sidenesness. But chauvinism, which I would call "malign
nationalism," is an entirely different thing.

Chauvinism is hatred of other nations, non-acceptance of other nations,
and
is something absolutely negative. So people who do not or cannot make a
difference between those two kinds of nationalism, or can't even make a
difference between nationalism and patriotism, are simply not educated
enough. They just don't see the problematic of our times in all its
nuances, but take things superficially. They see only black and white,
where there are shades of gray.

Therefore, this is not the question of "Serbian nationalism," not even
benign one, but of Serbian patriotism. Patriotism is love for its own
people and its own country, and is completely justified. You can't be an
internationalist without being a patriot, and when injustice and
aggression
is done, you have to defend your country in a way you would defend any
other country as well. Patriotism is something entirely positive.
Nationalism could be present in some right parties, Seselj's or
Draskovic's
parties for instance, but in Socialist Party case we can speak only
about
patriotism, accepting other nations but at the same time readiness to
defend interests of own, Serbian nation.

It is entirely unjustified to say SPS was infected with any form of
nationalism, and Milosevic himself can't be called a nationalist. His
famous Gazi Mestan speech in 1989, was a completely anti-nationalist
speech. Some people are calling it nationalistic, even without reading
it.

Or before this, Memorandum of Serbian Academy of Science - in the whole
world it was considered a base of Milosevic politics, and called a
nationalistic document which lead to breaking of old Yugoslavia. Anybody
who had a mind to do that, could read this document and see that in it
is
spoken uniquely and only about equality of all nations.

---

Bollettino di controinformazione del
Coordinamento Nazionale "La Jugoslavia Vivra'"

> http://digilander.iol.it/lajugoslaviavivra

I documenti distribuiti non rispecchiano necessariamente le
opinioni delle realta' che compongono il Coordinamento, ma vengono
fatti circolare per il loro contenuto informativo al solo scopo di
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(follows)

- You spoke of transition scenario. We all know the consequences of
"transition" in East European countries, as well as its outcome. If we
say
that these elections were a choice between "freedom and slavery," is it
possible that Serbian people voted consciously and willingly for its own
slavery?

Of course it didn't! It just couldn't cope with the pressure anymore,
and
here's the reason why. As I said, Serbian people had put up a 10 year
long
and very persistent resistance, and I said why. And according to me it
would have kept on resisting - if each and everyone suffered the
consequences equally...But ordinary people couldn't take the misery and
suffering anymore, watching a certain number of others growing richer
and
richer, and enjoying the luxury. The discrepancy between left parties'
program and practice was too big. This is why we were defeated in the
end,
by DOS.

And this is not the matter of "Serbian nationalism" or DOS "being
better".

But people who engaged themselves in "the change," and voted for it
under
the supposition "it can't be worse than it is already" will soon see
that
it certainly can. And when Serbian people make sure it can be worse and
will be, when they see the layoffs and selling out of people's wealth,
when
they feel the pressure of debts and when they finally see how we become
a
half-colony of foreign capital and the New World Order, of the USA first
of
all, then here again the conditions will be created for socialists and
for
left forces.

- At this moment, situation in the country is far away from being clear
yet. On one side we have leftist forces, with all their past weaknesses
and
advantages. On the other side we have DOS, executing counter-revolution,
even if it's mostly done behind the stage. When the dust is settled, how
will this situation unravel?

Let's take a look first at DOS, this coalition which presently won "on
the
streets"...On one hand we have here our new President Vojislav
Kostunica,
and on the other, one very colorful grouping of politicians who do not
agree on anything else except in their goal to topple Milosevic. This
goal
achieved, the fight among them is imminent, about everything. We all
know
and saw DOS leaders already, they unified somehow under U.S. pressure,
and
managed to find one single man, the only man among them all for whom it
can
be said that he's honest and non-compromised.

One thing should be clear: there's a big difference between Kostunica
and
the rest of his allies. Kostunica is a man who was always what he is -
anti-Communist, patriot, critical towards American foreign policies. He
was
vehemently against bombing of Yugoslavia last year, and he publicly said
he
won't cooperate with Hague Tribunal for war crimes in ex-Yugoslavia,
because
he considers it not a legal, but a political institution. He publicly
said
he won't give Slobodan Milosevic to the Hague.

These are all the reasons why America is already criticizing Kostunica,
but
says it'll accept him as someone who believes in legal state and
democratic
procedures. But out of these statements clearly follows that USA will
accept him only for a while and he won't stay in his position for long.
Unless Kostunica manages to defend himself and his position, considering
he
has a wide support of his citizens. And Kostunica is not a new [Czech
President Vaclav] Havel, no matter what USA might think.

Kostunica is also a legalist, trying to use existing legal forms.

The problem is, the rest of DOS, people around him, are not. They're
already forming some "crisis groups" which are illegal institutions, and
which are for example already pressuring certain politicians, certain
directors of enterprises to submit their resignations, so some other
people
chosen arbitrarily by the DOS can take their places. This is completely
anti-constitutional of course.

According to the constitution, the first thing to be done is to
constitute
the Federal parliament. This process is not finished yet, because the
DOS
is arguing 19 mandates of socialists from Kosovo and Metohija. But when
this is settled, and all mandates verified, by my opinion the situation
will be clear that left is in majority there.

At this point we will see how much president Kostunica is indeed a
legalist, because government should be formed by parliament majority.

Kostunica already accepted giving the place of prime minister to someone
from the Montenegro Socialist party, constitutional again. But we
already
have Zoran Djindjic, saying something which is not true - he's in favor
of
a "government of experts." This is hardly for Djindjic to decide, and
parliament will chose what kind of government it wants.

Now, speaking about Serbian republic government, the situation is still
unraveling and we have to wait for the outcome.

Altogether, considering present "double rule" in the country, it is
certain
that, as in any counter-revolution, the DOS will use their present
advantage, triumph on the streets and support of masses, to win crucial
power. By illegal means if must be. But even so, the DOS leaders will
have
to live with great resistance because of those methods precisely.

- The chances of Yugoslavia and its people for resistance to the
dictates
of USA, its centers of might and globalization are far from being spent
yet...and leftist forces will certainly play a role in this fight in
years
to come. What role will that be, and how significant? What is the
immediate
task of socialist now?

As for the leftist forces themselves, it is obvious that now they must
partly start anew, and a new period must begin for them. A period in
which
socialists will have to organize without Milosevic's leading role. Hope
that socialists of Serbia will regroup after recent defeat, renew and be
a
strong
political force, lies first of all in a fact that inner erosion in SPS
will
be stopped. New people will come, avoiding the mistakes done in the past
and now. And again by East European model, socialists will come to power
once again. Real and true ideas never die.

As for the globalization process, this is not a real and true idea. This
is
precisely why it won't last forever. The power-and-money hungry American
empire will crumble down as a tower of cards, as every empire does in
the
end, cause its foundations are rotten to the core.

The resistance block is already building up - and dreadful experience
with
Yugoslav bombing last year contributed to this significantly. American
politics, until the aggression on Yugoslavia, seemed to have much
success
with its "stick and carrot" policy, and to be able to manage fulfilling
its
goals just fine without wars.

But NATO bombing of Yugoslavia scared the world, showing that NWO in a
lot
of things has the same characteristics as fascism.

Russia, China, India, South American and African countries - they're all
sobered up now, wiser, awakened.

- How much did those countries, and the whole anti-imperialist world
lose
now, with change of power in Yugoslavia?

They lost a lot, this is true. For U.S. and NATO it was imperative to
gain
full control over Balkans, so that they would have unhindered
territorial
approach to Middle Asia, to Caspian basin, to territories rich with oil
and
other precious natural resources. Yugoslavia and Serbia were undoubtedly
a
bastion of resistance there, and on their way. NATO lost 10 years with
Serbia. Now, Slobodan Milosevic is out of their way. Vojislav Kostunica
would wish to continue this kind of resistance, but unfortunately will
not
have the support of his collaborators. This is of course an immense
loss,
first of all for Russia.

Nevertheless, forces of resistance to globalization are getting stronger
in
front of our eyes, from minute to minute, and will keep on getting
stronger. And maybe Yugoslavia will still have its place among them in
the
future.

In view of this, the forces of the New World Order have no chance for
final
success.

Tanja Djurovic is a Junge Welt correspondent from Belgrade.

---

Bollettino di controinformazione del
Coordinamento Nazionale "La Jugoslavia Vivra'"

> http://digilander.iol.it/lajugoslaviavivra

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Per contributi e segnalazioni: jugocoord@...

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From: global reflexion <office@...>

Tuesday, October 17, we have send you the interview 'A counter-revolution,
and not all that velvety', of Junge Welt with Prof. Markovic. We send you
the critic of Jared Israel of Emperors Cloths.

Is Prof. Markovic Applying for a Job?

Prof. Markovic, whose interview was recently posted, is a man with a
mission. He has a grudge against the Yugoslav government in general and the
socialist party leaders in particular. (They expelled him a few years back;
he hasn't forgotten.)

Right now, the most important goal of the West is: turn the huge Socialist
Party into an acceptably loyal opposition, like the Bulgarian socialists,
who share with the (Bulgarian) United Democrats the role of quislings for
NATO: Socialists who administer for the IMF and World Bank, Socialists who
provide the necessary cover while Yugoslavia gets stripped of all its
valuables. A smiling decoy for the big thieves.

To achieve this wall street needs leaders. Now consider this statement
from the interview with Prof. Markovic:

"<< One of those reasons is that in Serbia already certain necessary
reforms had been carried out. In year 1989 we had reforms of both the
political and economic system. Therefore, what was later chan-
ged in East European countries, in Yugoslavia had been reformed and
changed already, but of course the government was firmly in the hands of
socialist forces. >>

This quiet reference to "necessary reforms" both "political and economic"
in 1989 is most important. Markovic is in fact talking about the
devastating World Bank program which liquidated over a thousand Yugoslav
companies and left Yugoslavia with 2 million people out of work and/or not
getting paid.
With the IMF and World Bank rushing to regain control, this former
Socialist Party leader's strong endorsement of such "necessary reforms"
amounts to a job application.

If the forced liquidation of over a thousand Yugoslav businesses was
necessary, why not continue the process? This makes him an acceptable
candidate for Wall Street and his other talk about how Oct. 5 was really a
counter revolution amounts to window dressing, necessary for someone who
aspires to lead a (tamed) Socialist Party. In the same way, it is necessary
for Kostunica, picked by Fisher and Albright to be the frontman for the
destruction of Yugoslav sovereignty (this happened at a meeting back in
January, according to Der Spiegel) - it is necessary for Kostunica to use a
few nationalist phrases while he tells CBS: "The Serbian forces were guilty
for Srebrenica."

This is what the New World Order offers those who resist: Socialists who
support wall street's deadly economic medicine and nationalists who agree
with David Rohde and Amb. Holbrooke.

Brave New World Order.

Jared Israel

PS. This matter of 1989 is not abstract. It is a real issue in
Yugoslavia. An article by Michel Chossudovsky and me was distributed by all
the pro-Government mass media in Yugoslavia for several days before the
coup. It dealt specifically with of the 1989 forced liquidations (sorry
-"reforms") It showed that contrary to what many on the left might believe,
the IMF/World bank are NOT focused on privatizing, they are focused on
destroying local economies (of whatever type) for the benefit of financial
pirates.

Prof. Markovic is making clear where he stands on these issues, which as I
said were raised in a massive way in Yugoslavia, before Western agents took
control of all the government media on Oct. 5.

To read this article see: "The International Monetary Fund and the
Yugoslav Elections" at http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/1.htm

Another article also published in all the Yugoslav papers and read aloud
with photographic illustrations repeatedly on TV is "US Arrogance and
Yugoslav Elections" at http://emperors-clothes.com/engl.htm



---

Bollettino di controinformazione del
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> http://digilander.iol.it/lajugoslaviavivra

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opinioni delle realta' che compongono il Coordinamento, ma vengono
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-------- Original Message --------
Oggetto: Grundsätzliche Überlegungen zum Fall Milosevic'
Data: Sat, 21 Oct 2000 12:25:59 +0200
Da: "RKL" <rkl@...>
A: <rkl@...>

Eine weitere Schlacht verloren, aber den Krieg noch nicht

[Nachstehend veröffentlichen wir einen Teil eines längeren Artikels, der
mit
historischen Rückgriffen die heutige Lage in Jugoslawien untersucht. Der
gesamte Artikel, ein Vorabdruck aus der kommenden Ausgabe Nr. 76 des
Klassenkampfes, kann unter folgender Adresse abgerufen werden:]

www.leninist-current.org/cgi-bin/ilc/news/viewnews.cgi?category=all&id=97212
3176

Die Gründe für den Sturz des antiimperialistischen Regimes

Mehr als ein Jahrzehnt gelang es Milosevic’ SPS nicht nur die Mehrheit
der
Bevölkerung und dabei vor allem die Bauern, die Arbeiter sowie die
ärmsten
Schichten inklusive der nationalen Minderheiten wie den Roma, hinter
sich zu
versammeln, sondern auch die in der JUL organisierte bürokratische
Elite,
die roten Direktoren, die in allen anderen Ländern mit fliegenden Fahnen
zum
Imperialismus übergelaufen waren, an sich zu binden. Hinzu kam eine
geschickte und wechselnde Politik der Bündnisse den mit bürgerlichen
serbisch-nationalistischen Parteien von Draskovic und Seselj, die, um
ihrem
nationalistischen Anspruch gerecht zu werden, sich der nationalen
Verteidigung gegen den Imperialismus zumindest zeitweilig anschließen
mussten.

Der bürgerliche Opposition, die sich offen mit dem Westen und selbst der
Nato verbunden und ihre Geschicke an diese gebunden hatte, gelang es
unter
diesen Umständen nie in den Massen Fuß zu fassen. Sie blieb bis zum
Schluss
auf die Mafiabourgeoisie und einen Teil der Intelligenz beschränkt. Vor
allem die Eskalation in Form des Nato-Krieges im Frühjahr 1999 drängte
die
Nation nochmals hinter Milosevic zusammen und verurteilten die Versuche
ihn
zu stürzen zum Scheitern.

Doch zehn Jahre des wirtschaftlichen Verfalls zermürbten die Masse der
Bevölkerung, auch wenn viele den Zusammenhang mit den Sanktionen und der
imperialistischen Aggression sahen und weiterhin sehen. Dem stetigen und
unaufhaltsamen Absinken des Lebensniveaus, wenn auch über alle Schichten
verhältnismäßig gleichmäßig und immer wieder mit sozialem Ausgleich für
die
Ärmsten, stand die Korruption und die Bereicherung der Elite gegenüber,
die
paradigmatisch in der Figur des Milosevic-Sohnes Marko zum Ausdruck kam.
Der
soziale Unmut, der durch keinerlei Zukunftsperspektive gedämpft werden
konnte, verband sich mit der Auflehnung durch die bürokratische
Machtkontrolle, gegen eine Form der gepanzerten Demokratie.

Indem die bürgerliche Opposition mit dem Placet des Imperialismus sich
des
Stigmas des Bündnisses mit dem Imperialismus und der fünften Kolonne der
Nato entledigte und mittels Kostunica selbst das Banner des serbischen
Nationalismus aufrichtete, gelang es ihr zum ersten Mal nicht nur in den
untersten Schichten des Volkes und selbst in den Kernbereichen der SPS,
den
Arbeitern und Bauern, Unterstützung zu finden und die Mehrheit der
Bevölkerung hinter sich zu versammeln, sondern sogar eine kräftige
Massenbewegung der Jugend gegen das Regime Milosevic’ auf die Straße zu
bringen und eine Streikbewegung in zentralen Sektoren der Industrie
anzuzetteln, die Milosevic schließlich zum Rücktritt zwangen.

Neben den in jeder Hinsicht für den Widerstand gegen die Neue
Weltordnung
ungünstigen internationalen Kräfteverhältnissen, die bei allen
Gestaltungsvarianten gar keine andere Möglichkeit als militärischen
Rückzug
und wirtschaftlichen Niedergang zulassen, ist die bürokratische Form der
Verteidigung gegen den Imperialismus der Hauptgrund der Niederlage. Was
waren nun die wichtigsten Fehler des Milosevic-Regimes:

Die nationale Verteidigung gegen den Imperialismus muss mit einem
Programm
der sozialen Gerechtigkeit für die Volksmassen und gegen die
kapitalistische
Restauration und die neue Bourgeoisie verbunden werden, die mit dem
Imperialismus unter einer Decke steckt. Das konnte und wollte Milosevic
aber
nicht, denn Teile der Bürokratie waren selbst dabei sich in eine
Kapitalistenklasse umzuwandeln. Man konnte die Privilegien und die
Korruption der neuen Bourgeoisie kaum angreifen, wenn man nicht auch
dabei
jene der alten Bürokratie auf das Korn nahm.

Die Massen selbst müssen mobilisiert und politisch organisiert werden um
diesen Kampf zu führen, der sie schließlich an die Macht bringen soll.
Dazu
dürfen sie über die Situation nicht belogen, sondern es muss ihnen
reiner
Wein eingeschenkt werden, so dass sie die politische Lage und die
Kräfteverhältnisse selbst beurteilen können. Das konnte und wollte
Milosevic
nicht, denn das hätte nicht nur seine Macht, sondern auch die
Privilegien
der Bürokratie in Frage gestellt.

Die Wirtschaft kann nur durch strenge planwirtschaftliche Lenkung der
zentralen Industrien, der Banken und des Großhandels kombiniert mit dem
Versuch kontrolliert ausländisches Kapital vorzugsweise aus befreundeten
Ländern hereinzuholen, wieder in Gang gebracht werden. Dazu wäre vor
allem
die Eigeninitiative der Massen notwendig, die das Regime weder willens
noch
in der Lage zu mobilisieren war.

Die nationale Verteidigung Serbiens war angesichts des Abfalls der
anderen
jugoslawischen Teilrepubliken und ihrer Umwandlung zu Instrumenten des
Imperialismus eine absolute Pflicht und das Bündnis mit dem serbischen
Nationalismus daher unumgänglich. Dennoch wäre eine klare Abgrenzung vom
bürgerlichen Nationalismus und vor allem von seinen zweifellos
vorhandenen
chauvinistischen Elementen und die Aufrechterhaltung des Angebots an die
anderen Nationalitäten Jugoslawiens und des Balkans, sich gegen den
Imperialismus zu vereinigen, notwendig gewesen, auch wenn die realen
Voraussetzungen für die Verwirklichung eines solchen Bündnisses dazu
heute
nicht gegeben sind. Nur mit dem klaren Bekenntnis zum multinationalen
Charakter Jugoslawiens und Serbiens, sowie der Propagierung der Idee der
Balkanföderation, können innerhalb der zum Imperialismus übergegangenen
Nationen Risse zwischen den Klassen gefördert und antiimperialistische
Bündnispartner angesprochen werden.

Die nationale Verteidigung gegen die Angriffe hätte offensiv geführt
werden
müssen. Die Geschichte zeigte, dass der Krieg mit dem Imperialismus
unvermeidlich war. Je früher und offensiver er geführt worden wäre,
desto
besser wären die Siegeschancen gestanden. Während bei aller Ablehnung
der
Sezessionswunsch der Slowenen und des mehrheitlich kroatisch besiedelten
Gebietes respektiert werden musste (wie es auch tatsächlich geschah)
musste
Ostslawonien, die Krajina und ganz Bosnien (eventuell mit Ausnahme der
Herzegowina) mit allen militärischen Mitteln offensiv verteidigt werden,
um
es im jugoslawischen Staatsverband zu halten. Der Rückzug aus
Ostslawonien,
der Krajina und der Vertrag von Dayton stellen einen Verrat an den
Imperialismus dar, der das gewünschte Appeacement weder brachte noch
bringen
konnte. Ebenso hätte die UCK rücksichtslos ausgerottet werden müssen,
eventuell auch mittels Präventivschlägen gegen ihre Basen in Albanien.

In letzter Konsequenz kann nur die Verbindung mit der internationalen
antiimperialistischen, revolutionären und kommunistischen Bewegung einen
Ausweg für ein isoliertes und vom Imperialismus angegriffenes Land einen
Ausweg bieten (wenn auch auf langfristige Sicht). Daran hatte aber die
SPS
und die JUL wenig Interesse. Sie war mehr auf kurzfristige Lösungen aus,
die
sich aber als unmöglich erwiesen.


Kostunica ist nicht Jelzin

Jelzin kam mit einem Putsch 1991 an die Macht und festigte diese mit
einem
zweiten Putsch 1993. Er unterdrückte den Widerstand eines isolierten
Teils
des Staatsapparates und tauschte seine Spitze durch imperialistische
Handlanger aus. Zwar konnte er den Staatsapparat nicht völlig
zerschlagen
und durch einen neuen ersetzen, wie das in vielen osteuropäischen
Staaten
der Fall war, doch gelang es ihm den Widerstand zumindest für ein
Jahrzehnt
im Schach halten.

In Jugoslawien stehen die Kräfteverhältnisse anders:

Kostunica ist auf der Basis einer Massenbewegung mit einem starken
nationalistischen Element an die Macht gekommen, das potenziell im
Konflikt
mit dem Imperialismus steht. Es existieren in der Bewegung zwar starke
Illusionen in die kapitalistische Marktwirtschaft, doch sind die
sozialen
Forderungen der Volksmassen und die tief verwurzelte Idee der sozialen
Gerechtigkeit deswegen nicht vergessen. Des weiteren besteht eine auf
Erfahrung (sowohl im eigenen Land als auch in Osteuropa) gebaute Skepsis
nicht nur gegenüber den militärischen Instrumenten des Westens, sondern
auch
gegenüber seinen wirtschaftlichen Institutionen wie dem IWF, der
Weltbank
und der WTO. Die offen reaktionäre und proimperialistische Strömung um
Djindjic ist eine kleine Minderheit.

Die SPS hält eine Verankerung bei mindestens einem Drittel der
Bevölkerung,
auch wenn sich diese vorläufig passiv und defensiv verhält. Daher kann
sie
auch nicht verboten werden, so wie es in Russland der Fall war. Der
reaktionäre Straßenterror der Djindjic-Kräfte, der unmittelbar nach dem
Umsturz anhob, fand nicht nur nicht die Unterstützung der Massen, die
vehement gegen den Bürgerkrieg sind, sondern stieß auch auf die
Ablehnung
von Kostunica. Auch die Armeespitze konnte noch nicht ausgetauscht
werden,
so wie viele andere Positionen im Staatsapparat.

Djindjic strebte einen Putsch nach russischem Vorbild an, doch Kostunica
wusste, das dieser angesichts der andersgearteten Kräfteverhältnisse
nicht
möglich war. Er traf sich mit Milosevic and vereinbarte einen – wenn
auch
temporären und brüchigen – Kompromiss. Der verfassungsmäßige Rahmen
wurde
nicht gesprengt, so wie es Djindjic mit dem Sturz aller von ehemaligen
Regierungsblock kontrollierter Institutionen vorhatte. Allerdings musste
auch die serbische Regierung, die unter der Kontrolle von Milosevic
stand,
zurücktreten. Heute stehen wir vor einer Situation des fragilen
Gleichgewichts, in der die antiimperialistischen Kräfte sich jedoch im
Rückzug befinden.

Die offene Frage der nächsten Wochen und Monate bis zu den serbischen
Parlamentswahlen am 23. Dezember ist, ob die SPS dem Druck standhalten
wird
können oder ob sie sich spalten und ein Teil von ihr kapitulieren wird,
so
wie es ihr montenegrinischer Bündnispartner SNP von Momir Bulatovic
bereits
vorexerziert hat.

Der Imperialismus wird Kostunica vorläufig seine Unterstützung geben.
Doch
auf längere Sicht ist der Konflikt vorprogrammiert, denn Kostunica, der
Milosevic wegen nationalen Verrats angeklagt hat, muss Erfolge bei der
Durchsetzung von nationalen serbischen Interessen vorweisen können, die
Zugeständnisse voraussetzen, die der Imperialismus nicht zu machen
bereit
sein wird.

Angesichts der Heterogenität der bürgerlichen DOS, in der sich neben
serbischen Nationalisten wie Kostunica auch die offenen
proimperialistischen
Kräfte sowie eine Autonomie anstrebende Kräfte aus der Vojvodina und aus
dem
Sandschak befinden, würde diese einen solchen Konflikt nicht überleben.
Die
Frage ist nur, ob sich bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt das Kräftegleichgewicht
mit
der SPS halten kann oder ob deren Widerstand und Opposition
zusammenbricht
und sich die Kräfteverhältnisse abermals zugunsten des Imperialismus
verschieben.

Die wirtschaftliche Öffnung und Unterwerfung unter die neoliberale
Globalisierung wird von Kostunica eingeleitet werden. Da diese in der
ersten
Phase Hilfsgelder und dringend nötige Investitionen ins Land bringen
wird,
ist kein unmittelbarer Widerstand dagegen zu erwarten. Erst in dem Maße,
wie
sich zeigt, dass die IWF-Programme nicht die erhofften Verbesserungen
für
die breite Masse bringen werden, ist eine Opposition dagegen
vorstellbar,
doch das kann eine gewisse Zeit dauern – jedenfalls zu lange um der
Installierung eines offen proimperialistischen Regimes in Serbien etwas
entgegenzusetzen.

Alles hängt nun von den linken, antiimperialistischen Kräften – unter
anderem auch in der Armee – ab. Sie sind es, die den Ausgleich mit dem
Imperialismus verhindern und den Klassenkonflikt anfachen können. Sind
sie
in der Lage ihre Unterstützung durch einen Teil der Massen zu erhalten
und
weiterhin Widerstand gegen die Inthronisierung eines offen
proimperialistischen Regimes zu leisten oder kapitulieren sie und werden
entweder integriert oder hinweggefegt?

Die Installierung eines offen proimperialistischen Regimes ist zwar
keineswegs ausgeschlossen, wird aber sowohl durch die historischen
Unabhängigkeitsbestrebung als auch durch die Traditionen der sozialen
Gerechtigkeit in den serbischen Volksmassen brüchig bleiben. Dennoch,
wenn
ein solches Regime einmal im Sattel sitzt (so wie in Russland), bedarf
es
wesentlich größerer Anstrengungen es wieder zu entfernen.

Daher geht es ummittelbar darum, das Gleichgewicht der Kräfte, das in
gewisser Hinsicht eine Doppelmachtsituation darstellt, und damit die
Positionen in Staatsapparat und Armee zu erhalten, DOS zu spalten und
die
Mittelgruppe um Kostunica zum Lavieren zwischen pro- und
antiimperialistischen Kräften zu zwingen. Es gilt zu verhindern, dass
die
offenen Nato-Schergen wie Djindjic die Macht ergreifen um unter
günstigeren
Umständen wieder in die Offensive gehen zu können.


Antiimperialistische Volksfront

Obwohl die radikale Linke Jugoslawiens bei den vergangenen Wahlen einen
Achtungserfolg erzielte und damit unter Beweis stellte, dass es für sie
eine
Basis gibt, ist sie weder in ihrer titoistischen noch in ihrer
stalinistischen Form in der Lage die wesentlichen Aufgaben dieser
entscheidenden Periode zu erfüllen – weder in organisatorischer noch in
politischer Hinsicht.

Die JUL, die Partei der „roten Direktoren“, der Korruption und der
Privatisierungsgewinner ist nicht nur tot, sie hat den Tod auch
verdient.

Am ehestens ist ein ernsthafter Widerstand vom linken Flügel der SPS
sowie
der Armee zu erwarten, die nicht bereit sind, zehn Jahre
antiimperialistischen Kampf einfach aufzugeben und damit einen
beträchtlichen Teil der Arbeiter, Bauern und vor allem auch Soldaten
repräsentieren.

Um folgendes Programm müssen sich die antiimperialistischen und
kommunistischen Kräfte gruppieren und damit versuchen, den linken Flügel
der
SPS, die titoistischen und stalinistischen Teile der radikalen Linken
sowie
die Volksarmee miteinzubeziehen und mit ihnen eine antiimperialistische
Volksfront zu bilden:

Der Kampf für die soziale Gerechtigkeit und die Interessen der Arbeiter,
Bauern und der ärmsten Teile der Bevölkerung. Mobilisierung gegen die zu
erwartenden IWF-Programme, die verbundene weitere Verarmung der Massen
sowie
die schamlose Bereicherung einer kleinen kapitalistischen Elite. Gegen
die
Privatisierung der zentralen Industrien und deren Verstaatlichung.
Planwirtschaftliche Lenkung dieser durch Machtorgane des Volkes
anknüpfend
an die Tradition der Arbeiterselbstverwaltung. Kontrolle ausländischen
Kapitals durch diese.

Die unversöhnliche Verteidigung der nationalen serbischen und
jugoslawischen
Interessen gegen den Imperialismus. Rückgabe des Kosovo, Anschluss der
Republika Srpska inklusive des Korridors von Brcko, Abzug der Nato aus
dem
Kosovo, aus Bosnien und schließlich vom gesamten Balkan. Die
nationalistischen Phrasen von Kostunica und der Opposition müssen als
Lüge
entlarvt werden. Es muss den Massen vor Augen geführt werden, dass die
nationalen Interessen Serbiens nur gegen den Imperialismus und nicht mit
ihm
durchgesetzt werden können. Wer mit dem Imperialismus wirtschaftlich
unter
einer Decke steckt, kann sich nicht gegen ihn verteidigen. Es ist kein
Zufall, dass Kostunica die Kürzung des Militärbudgets angekündigt hat.

Gegenwehr gegen den Terror der konterrevolutionären Djindjic-Kräfte, die
mit
bewaffneten Banden versuchen Positionen in Industrie und Staat zu
besetzen
und die Vertreter des Milosevic-Regimes zu entfernen.

Die Armee muss unter der Kontrolle des Volkes bleiben. Bildung von
Verbindungskomitees zwischen den Garnisonen und den Betrieben (eventuell
durch Gewerkschaften und Organe der Arbeiterselbstverwaltung) und
Wohnvierteln.

Einberufung eines Volkskongresses zur Verteidigung des Landes und der
Interessen der Arbeiter, Bauern und Soldaten, dessen Beschlüsse sich
alle
staatlichen Funktionäre, Parteien und Institutionen, die die Interessen
des
Volkes zu vertreten vorgeben, unterordnen müssen.

Für ein multinationales Serbien und Jugoslawien. Für eine demokratische,
antiimperialistische Balkanföderation.

Einbindung der antiimperialistischen und kommunistischen Kräfte
Jugoslawiens
und Serbiens in die internationale Bewegung, anknüpfend an die weltweite
Solidaritätsbewegung für den jugoslawischen Widerstand gegen die
imperialistische Aggression.

Mit der Machtübernahme Kostunicas haben die serbischen und
jugoslawischen
Massen ein weiteres Rückzugsgefecht verloren (und deren werden noch
einige
folgen), doch im Gegensatz zu den meisten anderen Ländern Osteuropas hat
der
Widerstand des letzten Jahrzehnts Ergebnisse gezeigt und eine
antiimperialistischen Kraft im Volk entstehen lassen. Daher ist die
letzte
Schlacht noch nicht geschlagen und der Krieg noch nicht verloren!


**************************************
Revolutionär Kommunistische Liga (RKL)
(österr. Sektion der Internationalen Leninistischen Strömung - ILS)
PF 23, A-1040 Wien, Österreich
Tel & Fax +43 1 504 00 10
rkl@...
www.leninist-current.org/rkl
www.antiimperialista.com
Konto PSK 92 125 137 BLZ 60000

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Prof. R.K.Kent:DR. STRANGELOVE  IS ALIVE, WELL
AND "VINDICATED" ( CORRECTED TEXT )
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 23:27:50 -0400
From: "minja m." <minja@...>
Reply-To: minja@...

 
                                ( CORRECTED TEXT )

DR. STRANGELOVE  IS ALIVE, WELL AND "VINDICATED"
How Madeleine got to Bomb the Serbs

           R.K.Kent
 

A most revealing informtion comes out of two sources about the air war
for Kosovo. . Both merit attention and close reading. One is a former
United States Air Attache at London, Alan J. Parrington. The other is
James F. Rubin, Madeleine Albright_s closest State Department associate.

Parrington was on duty in London just before, during and after the
bombings (24 March 1999 through 5th June, officially 10th June 1999). In
his own words:

                     "I saw a war of underlying motives, missed
diplomatic opportunities,
                       misguided military strategies and questionable
outcomes. Worst of
                       all, the war never need happened: Milosevic
conceded major U.S.
                        demands two weeks before the war began."
(Colorado Sorings Gazette,
                        October 12, 2000, reported by Ben Works).

Parrington went on to relate how, on 11th March 1999, he was approached
at a British Diplomatic reception by the Yugoslav  Defense Attache to
the Court of St.James,. The Attache, a Serb Colonel,  told him that
Milosevic is allowing international and even NATO troops into Kosovo but
must "first have a letter from Clinton explaining the benefit Yugoslavia
will receive in exchange." At first, Parrington was taken aback because
the stationing of foreign troops in Kosovo was the "sticking point in
negotiations." The" benefits" expected finally came down to
"three things Yugoslavia must have." Yugoslavia must retain sovereignty
over Kosovo. The Kosovo Liberation Army must be disarmed. The
independence referendum must be "removed."
According  to Parrington this was "apparently too much  for the Clinton
Administration to accept." In the end, after eleven weeks of bombing:

                          "the Administration, running short of
precision weapons and
                          faced with the prospect of a bloody ground
war, abandoned the
                          bombing strategy and asked the Russians to
broker a deal based
                          ON MILOSEVIC’S ANTEBELLUM OFFER" (caps added
for emphasis).

Parrington concluded that the war achieved nothing beyond what Milosevic
had proposed  beforehand and "only inflamed ethnic passions for
generations to come." De jure, Kosovo remains a part of Yugoslavia, no
referendum on independence as such is scheduled but the KLA has been
only marginally disarmed. Parrington quotes a KLA leader speaking to him
personally, "one day, the Serbs will be selling us guns to shoot at
NATO."

Clearly there was no need to go to war and,  just as clearly, what was
unacceptable fourteen weeks earlier became even "useful" after the war
had spent itself. From a purely psychological point of view one could 
say that the war took off  to ratify the prerogative of superior  power
to
 

react punitively and even with vengeance  when its will is thwarted.
While , despite the NATO framework, the "air war" was primarily an
endeavor of the Clinton Administration,   the real driving, dominat
force in it was Madeleine Albright.  It is virtually certain that
without her around a diplomatic solution would have prevailed. Rubin
states that NATO_s  violent advent into the ex-Yugoslav space "had
become a very personal war for Albright." Rubin joined her in this
respect, struggling to persuade "the West"  to halt Serb "genocide" in
Bosnia. Rubin adds that

                              "by  1995, Albright’s views were
vindicated when NATO’s
                               air strikes forced the Serbs to the
bargaining table and a
                                Bosnian peace accord was finally reached
that automn ."

There are two items of disinformation in the quote. NATO’s air strikes
against Bosnian Serb positions did not "bring" the Serbs to the
negotiating table. In fact, they had been asking reapetedly for
negotiations but Alija Izetbegovic refused  until  NATO assured him of
an Air Force for the Bosnian Muslim side. Secondly, it is very easy to
advance"genocide" as a documented sin that cannot be left unpunished.
Its glib use  immediately  evokes the Holocaust (1939-1945)and is meant
to inflame to the point when no furher questions need be asked. A srtict
definition of genocide would exclude forcible expulsions  of groups 
regarded as inimical. What did happen in Bosnia fits "ethnic cleansing"
but not  planned physical exterminations of entire groups of people.
Neither the Serbs nor the Croats palnned to exterminate two million
Bosnian Muslims, nor did the Bosnian Muslims plan to exterminate all of
the Serbs and Croats inside Bosnia since, combined, they accounted for
roughly half of Bosnia’s total population.
 

Be that as it may, Madeleine was hardly "vindicated" (a claim now  being
repeated for the 78 days of bombing Serbia itself). It is not well known
that she was actually  opposed to Holbrooke’s dealing with "Milosevic"
at Dayton. It is even less known that she once threatened all  of  the
U.N. Security Council Ambassadors with the severing of relations with
her U.S. Mission if any of them received a Yugoslav (Serb)  minister of
state invited to come for talks. It would have been humiliating  for the
U.S. had there been an "Ambassadorial  Revolt"  proposing to stop the
Council’s proceeding pending an apology for such an auto da fe but,
fortunately, the French and Chinese Ambassadors  simply disregarded
Madeleine_s ulimatum. To return to Rubin’s account, in order to get her
personal war going, Madeleine had to overcome several hard obstacles.
The first one was Europe’s general reluctance and, in some cases,
outright opposition to bombing Serbia.
 
 

Rubin is very clear on this point. He relates how difficult it was to
"galvanize the West" to act in unison before 1999. While the Clinton
Administration was "deeply divided" within itsself:
 
                              "Nearly all our allies, including the
British, put roadblocks in
                              the way of decisive action prior to the
Rambouillet peace confernce
                             "in 1999. And during Rambouillet, the
French and the
                            Italians acted in ways that could have
derailed the Admini-
                            stration’s effort to unite against the
Belgrade regime."

Some Europeans did not wish to side with the KLA.  In Rubin_s version
the Russian and German foreign ministers regarded the KLA as a terrorist
group. The "rebels were unknown figures raising money illegaly through
smugling, or worse."  Such reservations did not even phase Madeleine
although some people in the State Department did not dismiss them
entirely. The Europeans even made "crude jokes about Albanian immigrants
and criminal gangs." Other European ministers did not wish to break
International Law, requiring prior U.N. Security Council action. They
defended this position on legal advice. Madeleine retorted "change the
laweyrs." It is obvious that she could not care less for International
Law and the U.N. Charter provisions if  these interfered with an ardent
desire to" bomb the Serbs." Some months after the bombing of Serbia,
Secretary Albright claimed formally  in the New York Times that she
honors the U.N. Charter ("which we helped write"). At the time, however,
the Europeans were not sufficiently "motivated" to go to war against
Serbia, espacially not on behalf of the KLA.
 

 What was needed to push them over the point of no return? It should be
recalled  here that the NATO bombing of Bosnian Serbs took place just
hours after the so-called "third marketplace massacre at Sarajevo." A
U.N. Report in situ and quite "fresh" exculpated the Serbs nonetheless.
U.N. Ambassador Albright immediately demanded that this Report be kept
secret as it is to-date. The political value of yet another "massacre,"
this time of "Kosovars" by the"Serb butchers," was hardly out of sight.
It came at a place in Kosovo called Racak,  according to Rubin , on
January 15, 1999,  over the radio. This date is interesting because the
first claim of a "massacre at Racak" came on 16th January 1999 but,
there is no doubt how it was used to "galvanize" the "international
Community" into action. The "Racak massacre" has all the elements of
staging and circumstances that cannot be really explained in any other
way.
 

The first item of circumstantial evidence resides in the quick  ad hoc
posting to Kosovo  of William Walker as the Administration’s  Special
Envoy. One would assume some Balkan diplomatic pedigree here. Instead,
Mr. Walker had headed the U.S.Embassy’s Political Section in Salvador,
1974-1977. He was posted to Honduras (l980-1982) when arms were being
funnelled via Honduras to the Contras in Nicaragua. He spent another
four years (1988-1992} as Ambassador to Salvador just when the local
death squads were liquidating anyone close to humanitarian concern,
including a Roman Catholic Bishop. A French source once described Mr.
Walker as the "control" of  a "government of assassins which used its
last days in power before the end of civil war to _rub out_ all oif its
opponents." Threre can be no doubt that Mr. Walker had close relations
with the CIA. Why he came to Kosovo will become apparent with what
follows.

 
On 16th January 1999, the SERB police INFORMED "Ambassador" Walker that
an attack was being prepared against Racak, a KLA stronghold. Suddenly,
an open-mass grave with 47 bodies came into view as Walker was GUIDED to
it with a host of journalists and a TV crew. "It’s a massacre" said
Walker. It’s a "massacre" repetaed the journalists and the media
throughout the world in minutes and hours. There were no spent cartrages
at the grave site and no one even bothered to ask two key questions.
With an obvious international support for the KLA why  would the Serb
Police inform Walker of their attack on Racak and then massacre what 
looked like civilians? Why would the Serb Police furthermore not try to
hide its would -be crime by re-burying the bodies, practice the Serbs
had been consistenly accused of for some four years before Kosovo? A
week before the start of the "air war," on 17 March 1999, the medical
investigator, Dr. Helena Ranta of Finland, submitted a report (21
kilograms and 3,000 photos)plus a five-page resume yet  unable to 
confirm the instant, ersatz  verdict of William Walker. There is,
however, no doubt in respect to one result. His statement, reproduced 
everywhere fast, "galvanized," as Madeleine Albright put it, the
"International Community."Racak of January  led  to Rambouillet in
February. Rambouillet led, in turn, to the air war in late March
1999.Part One of the "galvanizing process" took place in Washington.
 

During the week of January l7th 1999, Madeleine Albright spent her time
in intensive pursuit of a green light to go to war with the Serbs. Her
working group consisted of Secretary Cohen, National Security Adviser
Sanford Berger, CIA Director George Tenet and General Shelton, Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. A collective decision was made in a few
days and "the speed reflected the meeting of minds that had developed
between Albright and the President"She "worked"  President Clinton by
pounding on his "indecision in Bosnia." With the
"wag-the-dog""possibility in the air(and posterity, no doubt,  watching
his Legacy)the President took Madeleine’s door which allowed, at the
same time, an entry and an exit. Having  thus gotten  his "nod"she used
it then to "pass on" as the President’s "own" inclination to go into
action..Thereafter came "Galvanizing II." as she --in Rubin’s words--
"began to work the Europeans." By February 1999 Rambouillet was on.
 

The talks at Rambouillet were decidedly not going Madeleine’s way. She
expected the Serbs to reject the "Peace Plan."  She even asked all the
NATO Members’ Foreign Ministers, according to Rubin,  "to instruct"
their "ambassadors in Brussels to support air strikes should the Serbs
be responsible for a breakdown in the talks." The Ministers agreed but
"only after securing the pledge to punish the Albanian side in the event
the KLA caused a breakdown."  The  Serbs, who were supposed to reject
the granting of Autonomy to Kosovo and thus give her the pretext to
bomb, actually agreed to restore it, allowing foreign troops under the
U.N. but not yet  under  NATO. But, the KLA political leader Hashim
Thaci, unexpectedly, would not sign the "Peace Plan." He did not want
Autonomy.  He stuck to the demand for Independence instead. Neither
Madeleine’s "charm"  nor threats of  losing U.S. support (an admission
that the U.S. was supporting the KLA in the field as well despite"
denials") could persuade Thachi to  budge form his position. Apparently,
Madeleine mentioned nothing of "pledge" to Thaci despite an added
European demand that the Albanians defer the issue of Independence.
 

The "unity of the Europeans was cracking," as Rubin assessed the
situation. The French proved to be least prone to play according to
Madeleine’s game plan. "We knew the critical  factor for the KLA was the
prospect of air strikes and NATO ground troops. So we had arranged for
NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, General Wesley Clark, to come to the
castle to brief them on NATO military plans and help win them over in
the final hours of the conference." The French woul not alllow the
"formidable figure"  of  General Clark to enter Rambouillet, "arguing
that his NATO role would somehow upset the diplomatic balance with the
Serbs." But, "Albright finally convinced Hubert Vedrine, the (French)
foreign minister to allow four KLA members to leave the castle for a
briefing with Clark at a military airfield."  The formula was the same
as in the NATO air war over Serb Bosnian positions years earlier. Give
the KLA NATO’s planes and misssiles, show them exactly in a secret
military briefing, how you plan to "hit the Serbs." Hint  to them that
the action is worth a "slight postponement" of Independence,  along with
an eventual  support for it,  promise clandestinely that Kosovo will be
turned over to KLA at the exclusion of "moderate" Ibrahim Rugova, and
the result came out just the way Madeleine wanted it. Thaci would sign.
Since the Serbs, however, had just about accepted the major sticking
point of foreign troops, including NATOs,  along with Autonomy for
Kosovo, the final pretext for bombs was still missing. Serbs had to be
MADE to reject the "Peace Plan."
 

The idea was brilliant in its evil banality. Someone recalled the 1914
ten-point ultimatum to Serbia by Austriua in 1914, after the
assassination of Archduke Ferdinand at Sarajevo. Two Appendices added
overnight to the previous text of the "Peace Plan." One of the two,
Appendix B, spelled out in great detail that Serbs must agree to an
immediate occupation of all of Yugoslavia, including Belgrade, by NATO
troops which not only had a total freedom of movement and acrtioin but
which would be a prioro immune from prosecution for any types of crime.
Colonial "Capitulations" come to mind, delivered with supreme arrogance.
When the Serb delegation walked out of Rambouillet, Albright spread the
word. "The SERBS have REJECTED the Peace Plan." She would quip after the
air war, that "we raised (at Rambouillet)the bar so Milosevich could not
jump over it. Yugoslavia needed a little bombing."

By the beginning of June 1999, thanks to the "vindicated" Madeleine
Albright ,  Serbia’s infrastructure was taken out to the tune of over
$100 billion.  Hospitals ,factories,churches (even a Synagogue at Nis),
schools, soccer fields, shopping malls, generators, a TV station, even
the Chinese Embassy, were hit. Some 3,000 Serb civilians were killed
with about three times that many of the wounded, more or less seriously.
Serbia’s (and Kosovo’s) air, soil and water were polluted with chemical
toxins of all kinds, with depleted uranium and graphite, assuring
mutation of genes yet to come. Thousands of the internationally banned
cluster bombs were dropped and
are still killing both Serb and Albaniuan children who find them esily
because of their colors. General Clark certainly knew what he was doing.

 
Before becoming a Vice-Presidential Candidate, Senator Lieberamn
proclaimed that the Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was "fighting
for American values." Vice-President Al Gore has been going around the
country telling the American People about "our" "victory" at Kosovo.
Following the fall of Milosevic, the main scribal media at home went
into overdrive about the "vindication" of Madeleine Albright. General
Wesley Clark went even further. He claimed on Public Television that the
eleven weeks of NATO bombings in Serbia and Kosovo brought Milosevic
down.

Since NATO "liberated Kosovo" from "Serb oppression" unadulterated 
day-to-day realities have turned Senator Lieberman_s  claim into a
tragic joke. At Kosovo, the "ex-KLA" members are engaged in organized
white slavery and prostitution, drug dealing, kidnapping, beatings and
murder. Just recently, KFOR with British Marines arrested an entire KLA
clan involved in such activities. Albanian piecemeal terror, on a daily
basis (and long after the advent of NATO) has "cleansed" some 300,000
non Albanians (mainly Serbs but also half a dozen other minorities).
Actual results reveal that there was  no struggle for "liberation" but
for power, a struggle induced from outside of Kosovo and bankrolled by a
drug cartel seeking a free zone for huge profits. It wanted to replace
the constraints of  State in favor of  an acephalous area  dominated by
Albanian clans engaged  in criminal enterprise. Among thousands of
refugees in the post-NATO era there  are  Albanians who fled to 
Serbia.  The  U.S. deliberately turned Kosovo over to its "air war"
ally, the KLA and its political head Hashim Thachi, dropping support for
of the only true leader of Kosovo_s Albanians, the poet Ibrahim Rugova.
The architect of this stunning success was the "vindicated"  Madeleine
Albright. To get to bomb the Serbs she would have made a pact with the
Devil. Only one major and intriguing question remains.Was her
Serbophobia driven  by some deeply hidden demons or was it merely
grafted on some geopolitical strategies pushed on the makers of foriegn
policy by Madeleine’s mentor, Zbigniew Brzezinski?
 
 

It would appear from all the  gloating  about who did Milosevic in,
about the "Victory at Kosovo,"  that nothing has been learned at the
top. It is very likely that a similar NATO intervention will never come
about in Europe. NATO in present-day Europe is an oxymoron.
It has no one to "defend" or attack on"humanitarian"  grounds unless it
wishes to hit the French over Corsica,   Spaniards over their Basque
problem and the English over their Colonialism in Ireland. Its
peace-keeping mission in Bosnia and Kosovo has not really settled 
anything fundamental.  The .U.S., if not alone, has been a major part of
the bloody problems in ex-Yugoslavia. It killed two viable peace
treaties in 1992 and in 1993. It sided with anyone who was against the
Serbs, arming and training the Croat Army to ethnically cleanse Krajina
of its long-time resident Serbs, some 250,000 of them. It allowed Shiite
Muslim extermists and arms into Bosnia and it has taken the side of
Kosovo’s Muslim  Albanians under entirely false pretexts.
 

Assisted by the main media, the gross and continuous disinformation of
the current U.S. Government, about the realities on the ground in
Kosovo, meant to secure the support of the American People, reveal with
dramatic force that an American Government, claiming to act in the
National Interest, is manipulating our Democracy, silencing informed
criticism, and acting against its own People. Its arrogance abroad, and
especially, against the small Serb people, has taken the Imperial Mask
off the New Uncle Sam’s face. It cannot grasp that the use of its
military might (without loss of a single American soldier), the economic
conquests in the globe and the cultural flooding out of  other
societies, coupled with obvious arrogance ( do read Chalmer Johnston’s
book "Blowback")and propensity to lecture everyone(reflected beautifully
in Al Gore’s public posturing for the election) --that all of this
combined is fanning the latent fires of universal hate against the New
World Order and its Global Master. The Republican Presidential Candidate
has recognized the problem of arrogance and is promoting the need for
"humility." It may already be too late unless the Amewrican People take
foreign policy from the hands of experts, "hawks" out to "punish" and 
"teach" the rest of the world about Democracy while losing it at home.
 
 
 
 
 

The Global Reflexion Foundation contributes, according to her ability,
to
the distribution of information on international issues that in the
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does not recieve proper attention or is presented in a distorted way. We
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******************************************************
Wednesday, October 25, 2000

- Will Moldova be the next Kosovo
- It Turns Out Depleted Uranium Is Bad For NATO Troops In Kosovo [What
About Everyone Else?]
- Activists planned uprising that led to Milosevic's ouster
- "Democracy" will not be for all pockets

*****************************************************

TARGETS, a Dutch monthly publication on international affaires, will
organize a public meeting to discuss the current developments in
Yugoslavia and the role of the Western powers.

The meeting will be adressed by:

· Jürgen Elsässer, editor of the German monthly publication KONKRET and
· Nico Varkevisser, editor-in-chief of TARGETS

Date: Sunday, October 29
Place: Akhnaton, Nieuwezijds Kolk 25, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Time: 15.00h

Jürgen Elsässer will present his new book: 'Kriegsverbrechen'. Die
tötlichen Lügen der Nato und ihre Opfer im Kosovo-Konflikt. (including a
file on Srebrenica)

*************************************************************
Will Moldova be de next Kosovo

NEW ANTI-RUSSIAN NATO MACHINATIONS

by Denis Petrov
On October 2, the U.S. Embassy in Moscow saw fit to deny the existence
of a
secret plan cooked up by American spooks and the Organization for
Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to partition Moldova. Bearing in mind
events in the Balkans in recent years, this denial was enough to
convince
most Russian and Moldovan/Romanian patriots that the plan is already
operational.

The State Department was reacting to a September 23 article in the
influential Izvestiya daily, claiming that talks between Russia and
Moldova
on the fate of the breakaway “Dniester Moldovan Republic”
had
broken down because of a “secret plan” pushed by the West to
annex Moldova to Romania and the Dniester region to Ukraine.

(This self-styled Dniester Republic, sometimes referred to as
Transdnistria, is a predominately Slavic, Russian-speaking region. In
1940
it was fused with the former Romanian province of Bessarabia to form the
Soviet Moldovan Republic in one of Stalin’s notorious land grabs.)

According to Izvestiya, the plan would involve annexation of the
Dniester
region by a nationalist Ukraine. The paper strongly implied that the
West
was backing the resurgent Ukrainian nationalist movement in pro-NATO
Western Ukraine-as a prelude to further NATO expansion. As in Kosovo,
however, the NATO-crats plan on exploiting nationalism only tactically:
the
real aim is to force the unconditional removal of the Russian 14th army
from the Dniester region, making way for an eventual NATO military
presence. Meanwhile, a suitably tamed and re-united Romania -- one that
would be bound by OSCE guidelines on "human rights" not to enforce
recent
laws giving the Romanian language legal predominance -- would be
absorbed
by OSCE/EU structures. The price for eventual integration into the
European
Union would be the negation of a distinct Romanian identity.

Izvestiya further claimed that a delay in Russian-Moldovan talks was
forced
on the Russian delegation, led by former Prime Minister Yevgeniy
Primakov,
as a prelude to scuttling the Russian plan to transform Moldova into a
confederation that would leave the Moldovan state intact while granting
the
Dniester region autonomy. Under the American plan Russia would carry out
a
phased withdrawal of the 14th Army, which the OSCE would pay for.

The Primakov plan, which appears to have suited both the Moldovans and
the
Russians -- at least for now -- was not enough to satisfy the NATOcrats:
Russia would still maintain ties with an autonomous Dniester Republic,
ties
which would probably include a guarantee of Dniester self-determination
should Moldova eventually rejoin Romania. Moreover, the region would
probably seek admittance to the Russian-Belarussian Union under such
circumstances, thereby maintaining Russian influence in the region. The
“secret plan” was devised to pre-empt such eventualities.

On the same day as the Izvestiya article, Kommersant, a
business-oriented
Russian daily, filled in the missing pieces to the diplomatic puzzle.
Kommersant pointed out that the U.S. Congress had recently allocated $45
million for funding "military assistance" to certain former Soviet
republics, including Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and
Moldova.
The aim appears to be to weaken Russian influence in those states by
undermining the Russian-brokered CIS, a commonwealth of former Soviet
republics, and strengthening a Western-influenced GUUAM
(Georgia-Ukraine-Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan-Moldova) counterpart.

The net effect of the NATO/OSCE/EU machinations would be to isolate
Russia
by creating a NATO-dominated buffer zone on the periphery of the former
Soviet empire. This buffer zone would also just so happen to include a
number of states acting as gas and oil transit lines, states whose
importance will only increase as Caspian sea deposits are developed.
It
is small wonder then that an increasing number of Russians view the West
with suspicion and downright hostility: The ultimate objective of
NATO’s version of the Anaconda plan would be to weaken, if not
dismember, Russia.

***************************************
The URL for this article is
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/arbuth/port.htm

It Turns Out Depleted Uranium Is Bad For NATO Troops In Kosovo [What
About
Everyone Else?]

by Felicity Arbuthnot [10-26-2000]

[Felicity Arbuthnot has written a great deal about the Gulf War and
depleted uranium, as well as about the attack on Yugoslavia. An
interview
with Ms. Arbuthnot follows.]

In a week which has seen the French government follow their Italian
counterparts in launching an enquiry into the effects of depleted
uranium
(DU) on their soldiers in Kosovo, the Portugese Defence Minister, Julio
Castro Caldas has informed NATO Headquarters that he is withdrawing
Portugese troops from Kosmet. They were not, he said, going to become
uranium meat.

DU, first used in the 1991 Gulf war, is both chemically toxic and
radioactive and is used as coating, ballast or core for weapons.

Two Italian K-FOR soldiers have been flown to Rome suffering from
cancers
and the Rome Military Attorney has joined his colleagues in Milan,
Turin
and Venice in investigating DU in Kosovo and the Balkans and effects on
Italian troops. Last month the Yugoslav Ambassador to the Czech
Republic,
Djoko Stojicic told media in Prague that K-FOR soldiers in
Kosovo-Metohia
had long been experiencing health problems associated with DU. Quoting
NATO
French Air Force Commander, General Joffret he said the West apparently
wanted to get rid of their nuclear waste, contaminating the region.
Belgium
and Dutch troops are instructed by their governments not to eat local
produce and that clothes must be destroyed on departure and vehicles
decontaminated. K-FOR contingents have drinking water flown in.

Portuguese Defense Minister Julio Castro Caldas said his decision
should
have been made earlier and that Portugese forces should not have
participated in last year's 72 day war in the Balkans. Former
UK Minister of Defence, now NATO Secretary General, George Robertson
was
well aware of the dangers posed by DU, he said.

Portugese soldiers were sent on missions in the area poisoned with
depleted uranium, Pereira wrote in the influential Lisbon journal
'Diario
de Noticias'. NATO confirmed that the area was contaminted by DU and the
UN
representative also confirmed and apologised. Pereira stated that there
was
opposition in the headquarters of other countries performing missions in
poisoned areas. If it is hard to persuade military circles in
Washington,
Paris, London or Berlin to send their troops to the critical areas in
Kosovo, does that mean that the Portugese are to represent uranium
meat?

Earlier this year a seven page document warning of the hazards of DU
was
placed in the mail boxes of all personel working out of the UN building
in
Pristina and the Supreme Headquarters Allied
Command in Europe (SHAPE) issued warnings to United States Commands
urging
the widest possible dissemination to forces of other nations. A recent
meeting of the United Nations Environment
Programme attended by bodies including the International Atomic Energy
Authority and the Swedish Radiation Protection Institute resulted in
ongoing consultations as to how to proceed with a scientific field
assessment of DU sites, according to Director Klaus Toepfer. Previous
assessments had been hampered by NATO's refusal to provide maps of
affected
areas.

This Wednesday, Dr Asav Durakovic and Dr Hari Sharma, world renowned
radiation experts who tested sick Gulf war veterans for the presence of
DU
in their bodies and found up to one hundred
times the safe limit remaining eight years after the Gulf war, will
brief
the Justice and Human Rights Commission at the European Parliament.

If Balkans Syndrome is proven to affect K-FOR and reportedly other
people
working in the region, might not the native population of Kosovo also
suffer the cancers and birth deformities from DU
which as we know have devastated Iraq?

And how does this question figure in the calculations of NATO?

***

Interview with Felicity Arbuthnot

I spoke to Felicity Arbuthnot, author of the above article, in the wee
hours of this morning, October 25th. She told me the following story:
"In
June of 1999, on the day that they announced they were sending ground
troops into Kosovo, I rang the Ministry of Defense and I said, "Are we
now
going to see a wave of Balkans War Syndrome?" And they said, "Absolutely
not! The Minister himself has given strict instructions that no
personnel
must go near anything that might have been hit by depleted uranium
weapons
and if it is unavoidable they must wear full radiological protective
clothing."

Jared Israel: Doesn't that slightly contradict their other positions?
That
Gulf War Syndrome has nothing to do with depleted uranium?

Felicity Arbuthnot: Exactly. So I said, "What about refugees we're
encouraging to return not to mention the people who did not leave, the
Serbs and Roma and so on," and they said, "Oh, that has
nothing to do with us. That's UNHCR [the UN refugee organization]."

So I rang up UNHCR and put the same question to them: "What is going to
happen to these people?" And I said one of the things that the Ministry
person had told me was they had been told not to
disturb the soil lest dust should come up. I said, "How are they going
to
rebuild their homes if you don't disturb the soil?"

Israel: Especially since the homes that had been hit with shells
containing DU would be exactly the ones where you would have to tear
down,
consequently distrubing dangerous soil.

Arbuthnot: That's exactly right. Then UNHCR said to me, "What's DU?" So
I
sent them about three trees worth of material.

Israel: They didn't know what DU was?

Arbuthnot: I sent them piles and piles of stuff and they then said,
"You
know, this is really extremely alarming. Do you think we should pull our
personnel out?" And I said "Well, if you are encouraging the refugees to
go
back and you pull your personnel out and they get sick and I were they
I'd
be reaching for my lawyer." So they went very quiet. And you know, in
the
article I speak of this report which mysteriously appeared in the pigeon
holes of all the personnel that work out of the UN headquarters in
Pristina
warning of the dangers of DU. And you know there are hundreds and
hundreds
of people working out of there. And then, there are the people who live
there as well as those who have been driven out since NATO arrived and
who
should like to come back, aren't there?

www.tenc.net Emperor's Clothes]

******************************************

Activists planned uprising that led to Milosevic's ouster

Special coverage of the unrest in Yugoslavia

By DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press

CACAK, Yugoslavia (October 20, 2000 3:27 p.m. EDT
http://www.nandotimes.com) - The farmhands and factory workers who
surged
through the doors of Yugoslavia's parliament seemed to be acting on
impulse, seizing the moment to oust Slobodan Milosevic.

Truth is, every step was planned.

Activists from this central Yugoslav city had been planning the uprising
long before they drove to the Yugoslav capital on Oct. 5. They brought a
list of targets, 10 days worth of food, a front-end loader and trucks
full
of rocks - ready to do battle with the Milosevic regime.

"People were ready for this," said Dragan Kovacevic, a local coordinator
for pro-democracy forces. "We had had enough of these piecemeal acts. We
needed concrete action."

The Cacak activists had also infiltrated the ranks of Milosevic's feared
police and said they knew in advance how they were likely to react.

The groundwork for the tumultuous events that toppled Milosevic had been
laid as much as four years earlier, when the opposition won elections in
Cacak and Velimir Ilic became mayor.

The job came with a television and radio station, one of many local
media
outlets that dotted the Yugoslav countryside. Considered too small to
worry
about, Milosevic loyalists didn't bother to shut them down when they
muzzled the Belgrade media.

Tensions had been building since the Sept. 24 elections, which the
opposition claimed Vojislav Kostunica had won. A showdown loomed.

Then, Knez, Bozo, Janjo, Vaske and other activists, who spoke on
condition
they only be identified by their first names, heard radio reports that
miners in the nearby town of Kolubara were on strike to pressure
Milosevic
to step down.

Urged on by their mayor, the men, who had lost much of their youth
fighting
wars that kept Milosevic in power, headed to the mine. They joined
thousands of others who had already swept past police blockades.

The events at the Kolubara mine provided a dress rehearsal for the next
day. That's when Kovacevic unleashed the next phase of the plan.

Thousands gathered at 7:30 a.m., along with 230 trucks loaded with
rocks,
farming tools and other equipment, "ready for God knows what," Kovacevic
recalled.

The mood was somber. Most of the crowd knew only that they were going to
"liberate" Belgrade. Details weren't revealed until the convoy was under
way, passed from car to car as it snaked along the 60 miles of twisting
highway.

The first target was the parliament building. Then the state television
station. Finally, the presidential palace.

"Every time I fought, I fought for my countrymen," Knez said. "This was
the
same."

On the road to Belgrade, others joined in, heeding a call by Kostunica's
forces to converge on the capital. The Milosevic regime knew people
would
be coming and had erected roadblocks.

Ilic led the Cacak group, just behind a truck carrying the front-end
loader.

After a brief effort at negotiation, they smashed through two police
barricades, crushing trucks blocking the road, using crowbars, hammers
and
stones.

Some police officers stepped aside after subtle persuasion: Those in the
convoy reminded their neighbors they knew where they lived.

By the time the Cacak convoy arrived in Belgrade, it stretched for 10
miles. People in the capital watched in disbelief as it rolled in.

Participants stopped to smoke and regroup before taking on the
parliament,
the symbolic seat of power.

They stormed its steps, then stopped. Thousands joined the Cacak group.
After nearly two hours, someone in the crowd hit a police officer with a
bottle. Tear gas flew.

The crowd surged into the building. At about this time, the crowd split
in
two, with half staying behind to secure the parliament and the others
moving to the television station, according to plan.

Ilic said the opposition had recruited some of the elite police units
safeguarding the regime's most important asset - its propaganda voice.

"This Belgrade unit, that Milosevic counted most on for special actions,
was completely on our side," Ilic said. "We had an agreement with them
to
do this together, and they supported us fully."

Just in case the police unit changed its mind, the pro-democracy forces
sent along another front-end loader. With little resistance from police,
the station fell quickly. Ringleaders opted not to march to the third
target - Milosevic's palace. They feared their ranks were too depleted.

Back in Cacak, another element of the plan snapped into shape:
Pro-democracy operatives reminded the local police they knew where they
lived and the officers quickly surrendered.

The Kostunica camp seized a transmitter belonging to the
Milosevic-controlled state television network and broadcast news of the
events in the capital to as much as two-thirds of the country.

Soon, everyone learned about front-end loader revolution.

****************************************************

Hungary active in Yugoslav affairs

http://www.centraleurope.com/hungarytoday/news.php3?id=211147

Hungary Lobbying For Amnesty For Yugoslav War "Deserters"

BUDAPEST, Oct 19, 2000 -- (BBC Monitoring) It has been promised to the
Hungarian foreign affairs state secretary [Ivan Baba] in Yugoslavia that
those who have been convicted at home on charges of desertion from the
army
after fleeing from Vojvodina to Hungary will be given amnesty.

[Reporter] The administrative state secretary of the Hungarian Foreign
Ministry has conveyed the Hungarian government's message to the
democratic
forces of Yugoslavia. At a press briefing on his return to Budapest,
Ivan
Baba summed up the key point of this message in the following way:

[Baba] We definitely and unambiguously continue to be interested in the
strengthening of democratic forces and European democratic values in
Yugoslavia and in Yugoslavia becoming a democratic constitutional state
in
the European sense.

[Reporter] The state secretary forwarded an invitation to President
Vojislav Kostunica to take part as a special guest in the summit of the
Central European Initiative in Budapest in November. The Hungarian state
secretary's Yugoslav partners promised that they would help the
restoration
of the
navigability of the Danube as soon as possible, agree to the abolition
of
border crossing duties and deal with the question of amnesty for
Hungarian
and non-Hungarian Yugoslav citizens who had been convicted at home on
charges of desertion for fleeing from Vojvodina to Hungary. According to
Ivan Baba, their number is several thousands.

Ivan Baba repeated to his Serb negotiating partners in Vojvodina that
the
Hungarian government was interested in cross-border cooperation and
supported the autonomy demands of Vojvodina Hungarian organizations.

In Szabadka [Subotica, northern part of Vojvodina], Ivan Baba met Jozsef
Kasza [chairman of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians, SVM], who was
recently elected, for the fifth time, as the mayor of Szabadka. Kasza,
as
other leaders in Yugoslavia, asked for Hungarian fuel and energy aid
before
the winter, which is expected to be hard.

Asked by "Chronicle" [this program], Ivan Baba said that the Yugoslav
side
noted Hungary's request for a Hungarian consulate to be opened in
Szabadka
and a Hungarian trade mission - with diplomatic or non-diplomatic status
-
to be opened in the smaller member republic, Montenegro.

Source: Hungarian Radio, Budapest, in Hungarian 1600 GMT 18 Oct 00

Miroslav Antic
http://www.antic.org/SNN/

*************************************************

"Democracy" will not be for all pockets

IN BELGRADE, OIL JUMPED FROM 15 TO 51 DINARS

"Democracy" will not be for all pockets

In Belgrade, the price of one liter of oil had jumped from 15 to
51dinars,
price of bread from 6 to 14 and of sugar from 6 to 45. "Democratic
prices",
mock the consumers, already disappointed. In
Kragujevac, trade unionists of Zastava are beaten and persecuted. At the
same time, financed western press celebrates "good affairs in sight".
And
finally, one US senator already threatens Kostunica to expand NATO to
Slovenia. What are the connections between these four facts?

Michel Collon

Our Western media do not speak about Yugoslavia anymore. Still,
important
things are happening there. And revealing... Before, government gave
subsidizes for the production of basic food products. So farmers and
merchants still had enough gain, but consumers could buy in spite of
embargo. Nobody was dying of hunger. But the DOS opposition had
announced,
in its "G 17 plus" program, that
"the new government will immediately suspend all the subsidization, with
no
regret or hesitation, because it will be difficult to apply this measure
latter". Indeed, it didn't take them long at all!
Los Angeles Times of 15th writes: "When Kostunica supporters forced out
most managers in state-owned shops and factories and put their own
people
in charge, that system of controls collapsed and prices immediately shot
up. New directors are moving quickly to make their plants more
profitable. "
Problem: consumers are dissatisfied and elections are in two months. So,
director of G 17, Mladjan Dinkic, is accusing...Serbian government,
still
run by SPS socialists, of "wanting to create chaos". But argument is not
holding water: this government is not functioning precisely because of
the
chaos created by DOS, its street-violence and "crisis comittees" which
forcibly took over the control of all institutions.

"We will be able to export to Yugoslavia"

Therefore we see already that the "prosperity" announced in election
promises will not benefit to all the pockets. But who will? Answer of
Italian financial supplement of International Herald Tribune of 10th
(Italy is Yugoslav economic partner No. 2) "Perspectives seem good and
Italian export goods - shoes, textile, food products - will be the first
to
profit the occasion. But privatization in Yugoslavia might also attract
the
interest of foreign investors. Lot of public sectors - counting in
energy
and airports - can be licenses soon and their re-structuring might give
the
space to new foreign capital.
What does it mean to "give space"? At the spot, at the moment of putsch,
a
friend of mine, Radmila, warned me: "Actually, our electricity worked
really well. Foreign companies would want to put its hands on it. But to
invest, they demand significant profits, which means huge tariffs
growths.
People do not understand that this G17 program will ruin them!"

About the export of Italian shoes...Having forgotten my moccasin's back
home, I had to buy a new pair in Belgrade: 1 100 dinars. Tree times
less
than the Italians, which I usually buy. Maybe somewhat less "chick", but
comfortable and solid. What will happen, with new regime? With their
financial power, western multinationals will take the control over
Yugoslav
factories, closing a big part of them, and western products will flood
over
the local market. Europe would be able to get rid of its food-stocks, at
unbeatable prices, because of European Union subsidization (so there! in
this case, it's good to subsidize, isn't it?). "Crazy cows" and other
genetically trafficked food-products can feed the Serbs then, they're
too
numerous anyway, right? But West will throw in some help, they
say..."Help"? Germany wants absolutely to re-open the Danube, so it will
open funds. Gifts? No, loans. To keep Yugoslavia "cooperative" in
extortion
of payment like numerous other countries forced by spiral of debts to
always the biggest concessions.(???) In short, Yugoslavia will pay for
the
bombing damages!
Scandalous. And what will this cleaned Danube serve for? First of all,
to
flood the country with German merchandise, which will eliminate local
products from the market.
In short, instead of promised prosperity, one New York Times editorial
of
15th predicts that "at worst Yugoslavia's economy could follow Russia's
path, to corruption and decline".

Why are syndicate activists beaten?

In Kragujevac, car factory Zastava trade unionists have been
sequestered
and beaten by ex-opposition gangs, people responsible for truck
department
were forced to resign. Progressive Italian daily Manifesto (which rather
supported Kostunica) is appalled:
" Syndicate members have been independent, as much from Milosevic as
from
opposition. They relayed humanitarian operations of Italian syndicates.
But
opposition syndicate activists (formed in Rumania by US experts) are
pressuring the workers, threatening them with massive layoffs. "We
fought
for the workers, without engaging ourselves in politics. This is our
crime!" concluded one of them".
All those facts are linked together. To push through this IMF policy -
high
prices , closing ups, layoffs and gifts to multinationals, every
possibility of syndicate or leftist resistance - must be eliminated. In
Belgrade, one office of New Communist Party has been burned down by
rightist militia.
And if all this is not enough, listen to the threats of American senator
Biden: " If Mr. Kostunica thinks he will be able to continue with one
aggressive nationalist Serbian politics, only under milder appearance,
then
we'll have to talk him out of it. In this case, we should concentrate
our
ex Yugoslavia politics on preparing more democratic and more prosperous
Slovenia, for the next NATO enlargement".
NATO, again? So there, and they kept telling us that Milosevic was the
only
problem over there! And what if the problem was the resistance of
Serbian
people in general, to economical imperialism and military interventions
of
the West? Kostunica - or some other soon - being put in charge to bring
those people up to date. The game is far from being finished in
Yugoslavia.
A lot will depend on the resistance capacity of workers. Some leftist
alternative is indispensable, and resistance is being prepared. We'll be
back there.

******************************************************
Global Reflexion - Amsterdam - The Netherlands

" The "October surprise" that brought a change of power in Belgrade was
actually two events, one superimposed on the other. One was a democratic
election, made in Serbia. The other was a totally undemocratic putsch,
made in the "international community", otherwise known as NATOland. "

---

http://www.zmag.org/johnstonem.htm

11 October 2000
IN A SPIN
by Diana Johnstone

The "October surprise" that brought a change of power in Belgrade was
actually two events, one superimposed on the other. One was a democratic
election, made in Serbia. The other was a totally undemocratic putsch,
made
in the "international community", otherwise known as NATOland.

The democratic election would have been sufficient to oblige Slobodan
Milosevic to retire as Yugoslav President. The majority of Yugoslav
voters
had long wished a change in leadership, and Vojislav Kostunica emerged
as
an acceptable alternative.
But the NATO-backed putschists wanted more. They wanted two things that
the
legal elections could not provide: a dramatic media spectacle that would
fit the Western "spin", and a seizure of power beyond the limited powers
of
the Yugoslav presidency.

The Democratic Election
The Yugoslav elections were called by Milosevic himself. Having been
elected President of Serbia in the country's first multi-party elections
in
1990, the "dictator" had followed the constitutional rules and left the
Serbian presidency at the end of his second term, whereupon he was
elected
by the Yugoslav parliament to the mainly symbolic office of Yugoslav
president. Having sponsored a constitutional change which would allow
him
to be re-elected, but by universal suffrage, he went on to call early
elections, months before his term was to run out in mid-2001.
Milosevic was lured into this move by advisors pointing to deceptive
public
opinion polls indicating that he could win by a margin of 150,000 votes
in
the autumn, before winter hardships turned voters against him. This is
similar to the "joke" played on French president Jacques Chirac, who
called
the early elections that brought his left opposition headed by Lionel
Jospin into office. In Paris, it is even rumored that it was a French
advisor who urged Milosevic to make this fatal error.
In short, Milosevic was not a "dictator" but a calculating politician
trying to stay in office in a multi-party electoral system he had
largely
introduced. Aware that his popularity ratings had long been in decline,
he
counted on several factors to help him get the necessary 50% of the vote
to
be re-elected President of Yugoslavia. These were
· the chronic squabbling of the so-called "democratic" (meaning
bourgeois, as the Swedes call the center right) opposition and the
public
rejection of its main leaders (especially Democratic Party leader Zoran
Djindjic);
· the fact that Montenegrin president Milo Djukanovic was sure to
call for a boycott of the elections as part of his secession strategy,
which would leave only pro-Milosevic voters willing to go to improvised
polling stations;
· the prospect of a couple of hundred thousand solid votes from
Kosovo constituencies (where ethnic Albanians would, as usual, boycott
the
election) and from the armed forces.
Aware of its weakness, the opposition which had first loudly demanded
early
elections then threatened to boycott them, claiming that they would be
rigged by Milosevic. The NATOland chorus joined in, proclaiming that
Yugoslav elections would not be "fair and free" and that Milosevic was
certain to cheat.
In fact, thanks to a normal democratic system of multi-party supervisors
at
polling stations, cheating in Yugoslav elections was nearly impossible
in
Serbia proper, except perhaps for the hundred thousand or so soldiers
who
vote in barracks. Kosovo and Montenegro offered limited opportunities
for
cheating only because of the obstructionism of the separatists. In the
end,
Milosevic was a whopping 700,000 votes short. Official results gave
Kostunica over 48% of the vote in a five-man race. This fell slightly
short
of the 50% required to win, but indicated an almost certain landslide in
the runoff against Milosevic, who trailed by some ten percentage points.
(Yugoslav electoral law calls for a second round if no candidate wins an
absolute majority in the first round.)
Here is where both sides contributed to a confusion that gave an
opportunity to the putschists to move to steal the election. Apparently
in
a state of shock, the government announced the results slowly and
without
complete details. The "Democratic Opposition in Serbia" (DOS) backing
Kostunica demanded recognition of a claimed first round victory and
announced it would boycott the second round. This raised the danger of a
second round that Milosevic could win by default. The prospect of two
winners -- one in the first round, the other in the second -- would have
created a dangerous civil war situation, favorable to NATO intervention.
Kostunica's backers argued that since Milosevic had cheated in the first
round, he would cheat even more in the second -- this was not plausible,
but widely believed anyway, as the demonization of the former leader and
future scapegoat picked up momentum.
The DOS thereby moved the contest from the ballot box into the streets,
where "the people" would demand recognition of Kostunica's election.
This
prepared the way for power -- and property -- to change hands amid
confusion and violence.
Neither the police nor the Army was willing to support Milosevic against
a
patriotic Serb like Kostunica who had won popular support in a legal
election. Their neutrality seems to have been ensured by the influence
of
two key figures dismissed by Milosevic two years ago, former security
chief
Jovica Stanisic and former army chief of staff Momcilo Perisic, who
retained friends and influence in the police and the armed forces
respectively. The rallying of other figures who had been part of the
Milosevic power structure was hastened by Kostunica's reiterated
assurances
that there would be no vengeance. Former Milosevic followers began
flocking
to the side of Kostunica seeking protection from his short-run supporter
and long-term rival, Zoran Djindjic, well known as Germany's man in
Serbia.
Thus Kostunica gained the Yugoslav presidency both because he was _not_
Milosevic and because he was _not_ Djindjic. But Djindjic has been
strikingly active in grabbing the substance of victory away from the
successful DOS candidate.

The Media Spectacle
It is arguable that Kostunica -- considered the most honest of political
leaders -- could have won the presidential election just as easily (more
easily, some supporters claim) if the United States and its NATO allies
had
refrained from pumping millions of dollars and deutschmarks into the
country to support what they called "the democratic opposition". But it
is
far less likely that without all that excess cash, we would have been
treated to the spectacle of the October 5th "democratic revolution",
when a
large crowd stormed the venerable Skupstina, the parliament building in
the
center of Belgrade. That event, presented to the world public as the
most
spontaneous act of self-liberation, was probably the single most planned
act of all. It was staged for the TV cameras which filmed and relayed
the
same scenes over and over again: youths breaking through windows, flags
waving, flames rising, smoke enveloping what some newspapers described
as
"the symbol of the Milosevic regime".
This was utter nonsense. It was like calling Big Ben the "symbol of the
Blair regime" or the Capitol the "symbol of the Clinton regime". But the
Western spinners needed symbols and drama for the latest episode in the
hit
TV fiction series of the 1990s starring the "genocidal dictator",
Slobodan
Milosevic. It wouldn't do for "Europe's last communist dictator" simply
to
lose a democratic election. Something more exalted was needed. So there
was
an attempt to revive a hit drama of a decade earlier, the "fall of
Ceaucescu", which was also contrived and staged. If Milosevic and his
wife
met the same bloody fate as the Rumanian ruling couple, that would be
"proof" enough for the media that they were equivalent to the dictator
couple of Bucharest.
But they weren't and fortunately it didn't happen quite like that. In
Belgrade there was no equivalent of the Securitate (Rumanian secret
police)
to stage the drama. There was only a gang of toughs bussed in from
Cacak,
as the town's mayor later boasted to Western media, who led the mob up
the
Skupstina steps and easily broke into the scarcely guarded building,
which
was systematically vandalized and set on fire, causing considerable
damage
to public property. The liberators then went on to smash shop windows
and
steal property in nearby shopping streets. This failed to provoke the
bloodshed that would have improved the TV show, but the vandals did
their
best.
The fiercely anti-communist mayor of Cacak, Velimir Ilic, told the
French
news agency AFP that his armed "commando" of 2,000 men had set out quite
deliberately on October 5 to "take control of the key institutions of
the
regime, including the parliament and the television".
"Our action had been prepared in advance. Among my men were ex-parachute
troops, former army and police officers as well as men who had fought in
special forces," he told AFP. "A number of us wore bullet-proof vests
and
carried weapons", he added proudly. Ilic said contact was maintained
throughout the action with high police and Interior Ministry officials,
but
that president-elect Kostunica was unaware of what was going on. "We
were
afraid he'd be opposed", said Ilic. And indeed, when he got word of what
was going on, Kostunica by all accounts prevented the commandos from
hunting down Milosevic and giving their spectacle a bloody finale.
Some of these former "special forces" commandos included veterans of the
civil wars in Croatia and Bosnia. The peak of irony lies in the fact
that
such paramilitaries, primarily responsible for giving the Serbian people
the (unjustified) reputation of "ethnic cleansers" and war criminals,
were
instantly promoted by Western media into heroes of an inspiring
"democratic
revolution". But there is a consistency about it: the same tiny group of
men are able to perform for world media as an exaggerated caricature of
"the Serbs", first as villains, later as heroes.
The ordinary citizens of Belgrade deplored the violence of October 5th,
as
they had deplored the violence of the civil wars. And the large crowds
who
gathered in Belgrade squares to support their candidate, Kostunica, were
blissfully unaware of how they were being used as extras in an
international TV production.

Violence Versus Votes
The law-abiding citizens of Belgrade were also unaware of how the
euphoria
in the streets would provide cover for an ongoing campaign of violence
and
intimidation aimed at changing the whole power structure in Serbia,
outside
of any democratic or legal process. The Skupstina that was targeted for
vandalism was not "the symbol of Milosevic's regime" but a parliament
where
the Socialist Party and its allies still had a duly elected majority.
The
"democratic revolution" in the streets did not attack a Bastille prison
to
liberate dissenters, but the seat of the democratically elected
representatives of the people. The mob ransacked and set fire to the
federal Electoral Commission offices inside the Skupstina, reportedly
setting fire to ballots collected there, making it highly unlikely that
the
disputed first round score will ever be satisfactorily clarified.
The spectacle enabled the managers of street violence to claim the
"democratic revolution" as their own, openly attempting to relegate
Kostunica to a figurehead role.
Since then, throughout the country, Socialist Party headquarters have
been
assaulted and demolished, officials have been beaten and expelled from
their functions by gangs of "democrats". The most lucrative enterprises
have been seized. Strange parallel governments called "crisis
headquarters"
have been set up without any democratic mandate to redistribute property
and offices. The "revolutionaries" can be sure the NATO benefactors of
Serbian democracy will not ask for their money back so long as they
target
the left, which is identified only as "the Milosevic regime". The clear
lesson: "democracy" is not defined by elections, but by NATO approval.
Methods don't matter. The end justifies the means.

Franco-German Rivalries
All through the Yugoslav drama of the past decade, not to mention for
well
over a century, internal conflicts have reflected external great power
rivalries. This is still going on.
Among these rival powers, Russia scarcely counts any more. The Russians
have more to lose from the Western absorption of Serbia than the Serbs
have
to gain from the Russians, who have been too weak to do anything to stop
the steady erosion of their influence in the Balkans. As one observer
put
it, "the Serbs have the impression that the Russians only want to share
their poverty, while the Serbs would rather share American wealth".
The rival powers are now all Western. A few years ago, Paris tried to
support Vuk Draskovic against both Milosevic on the one hand and the
German
party (represented by Djindjic) on the other, but Draskovic proved too
unreliable. Today, the implicit rivalry is between Kostunica, supported
by
France, and Djindjic, supported by Germany.
This division is a matter of political principle as well as personality,
and relates to conflicting French and German views of the future of
Europe.
Kostunica, as is constantly repeated is a "nationalist" or, we could
say, a
patriot, who wants to preserve his nation-state, by giving it a new,
modern
democratic constitution. As a scholar of American federalism, he would
base
a political order for the future Yugoslavia on the American 18th century
model.
For Djindjic, this is old-fashioned nonsense, good only for a
transitional
moment toward the dissolution of all the Balkan nations into a modern
European Union where politics will take a backseat to business.
Djindjic,
who studied Germany, believes in "civil society" where the private
sphere
outweighs the _res publica_, and public political life is reduced to
imagery. Business versus politics could sum up the conflict between
these two.
Kostunica plans to stay in office for only a year, just the time to
complete his constitutional reform. Thereupon Djindjic, who could never
have won this election, openly hopes to take over.

The Economy, Stupid
For many years, the alternate currency in Serbia has been the
Deutschmark,
traded on every street corner by men murmuring "_devize, devize_".
During
the weeks leading up to the fall of Milosevic, so many D-marks have
flooded
into the country that the precious currency recently lost half its
value.
Everyone believes that most of this money flows in through Djindjic. It
seems to have been spent less on the election (Yugoslav election
campaigns
are not the expensive affairs run in the United States) than on
preparing
aspects of "the putsch" that followed: the forceful takeover of media by
"independent" (i.e., NATO-approved) journalists, of key businesses and
official positions which has been going on since the October 5 arson of
the
Skupstina.
The European Union has moved quickly to lift some economic sanctions
against Serbia and Madeleine Albright has also proclaimed the need to
give
the Serbian people "some dividends out of democracy" and to help
President
Kostunica. "We want to support him, we want to get assistance to him.
I've
been talking to our European partners. We will be lifting certain
economic
sanctions to make sure that the people can recover and the Danube is
cleared," she declared.
Here the key word is "Danube". NATO bombing destroyed Serb bridges and
blocked the Danube to European shipping, much of it German. The priority
for Germany is to reopen the Danube, and it is for this purpose that
important funds will be provided. To be precise, funds will be _lent_:
Western generosity will take its usual form of the "debt trap", and
Yugoslav public services will have to be cut back for years to come in
order to repay the Western powers for rebuilding the transportation
structure they themselves destroyed. The reconstructed transportation
structure will be used to ship other people's commercial goods through
the
country to other people's markets. The "democratic dividend" will mainly
benefit German business.
But for the moment, the Serbian voters do not want to worry about that.
They have been bombed, isolated, sanctioned, banned from traveling to
other
countries, reduced to poverty and treated as pariahs. Their main "crime"
was to have wanted to preserve multiethnic Yugoslavia and to have been
reluctant to give up all the benefits of self-management socialism in
favor
of the "shock treatment" impoverishing people in Russia and neighboring
Bulgaria. Since Yugoslavia was not part of the Soviet bloc, its people
were
slow to realize that the defeat of the Soviet bloc meant that they too
had
to bow to the dictates of the West. Now they can dream of being "normal"
Europeans again. For a relatively small minority, the dream of
prosperity
will no doubt come true. For others, there will be some unpleasant
surprises. But that doesn't matter now. People have had enough of not
being
paid their wages more than a couple of months out of the year, of having
to
heat only one room, of shortages and travel bans. Young people,
especially,
want to live like other Europeans of their generation
"People in Serbia are not looking for the truth", observed Serbian
writer
Milan Ratkovic, who lives in Paris. "They are looking for comforting
lies."
From being portrayed as monsters, the Serbs are suddenly being
celebrated
by Western media as heroes. They can turn on Western TV and see heroic
images of themselves. "Look," says Ratkovic, "we held out longer than
anybody else in Eastern Europe. Against us, the West had to use all its
weapons and all its tricks." Sometimes the only way to solve a problem
is
to change problems.

La lotta continua

nonostante la sconfitta a Belgrado

11 ottobre



di Sara Flounders e John Catalinotto

Di fronte all'enorme pressione degli Stati Uniti e dei
loro alleati della NATO, a una
manifestazione di 200.000 persone che chiedevano che si
ritirasse e agli attacchi violenti
di unit� paramilitari organizzate, il presidente jugoslavo
Slobodan Milosevic si � dimesso
il 6 ottobre.

Gli avvenimenti pongono due interrogativi di importanza
vitale per la classe operaia e i
movimenti contro la guerra e progressisti in tutto il
mondo.

Il primo �: da che parte state? E' stata una vittoria del
popolo, come proclamano i grandi
mezzi di comunicazione di massa, o una sconfitta per la
classe operaia in Jugoslavia e in
tutto il mondo?

Il secondo interrogativo riguarda l'esito dello scontro in
atto: quale classe avr� il
controllo dello stato, cio� dell'esercito, la polizia, le
leggi e i tribunali? La classe
capitalistica internazionale, che controlla la Banca
Mondiale, il Fondo Monretario
Internazionale, le grandi banche di investimento e le
societ� multinazionali avr� ora il
controllo di tutte le leve della vita economica e politica
anche in Jugoslavia?

Le manifestazioni di massa hanno dato agli avvenimenti le
sembianze di una insurrezione
rivoluzionaria. Ma si tratta di un'apparenza ingannevole,
perch� abbiamo in realt�
assistito a un golpe controrivoluzionario sostenuto dalla
NATO, un golpe ancora
incompleto contro il quale � possibile resistere.

I dirigenti della NATO acclamano Kostunica

L'indicazione pi� ovvia sul carattere degli avvenimenti �
venuta dai dirigenti dei paesi
NATO che l'anno scorso hanno condotto per 11 settimane la
brutale campagna di
bombardamento della Jugoslavia. L'entusiasmo sfrenato del
presidente americano Bill
Clinton, del segretario di stato Madeleine Albright, del
primo ministro britannico Tony
Blair, del cancelliere tedesco Gerhard Schroeder e del suo
ministro degli esteri, il verde
Joshka Fischer, dovrebbe essere sufficiente a chiarire il
significato degli avvenimenti
della settimana scorsa per chi avesse pensato che il voto
per Kostunica o la sommossa a
Belgrado fosse una vittoria della democrazia.

Ebbri del loro apparente successo e ansiosi di
attribuirsene il merito, i politici da
Washington a Berlino vantano ora i loro sforzi organizzati
per rovesciare il governo
Milosevic.

Ecco qualche esempio:

7 ottobre (Reuters) La Germania ha fatto sapere sabato di
aver sostenuto l'opposizione
jugoslava con finanziamenti di milioni di marchi.

Anche la Norvegia ha affermato di aver contribuito a
finanziare la campagna elettorale
che ha portato alla vittoria del candidato
dell'opposizione Vojislav Kostunica e subito
dopo al rovesciamento dell'uomo forte presidente Slobodan
Milosevic.

Il settimanale Der Spiegel parla di circa 30 milioni di
dollari quasi tutti di provenienza
statunitense fatti passare tramite un ufficio a Budapest.

Altri 45 milioni di marchi dalla Germania e da altri paesi
occidentali sono stati pagati alle
amministrazioni locali controllate dall'opposizione. Lo
Spiegel scrive che il ministero
degli esteri ha mandato circa 17 milioni di marchi tramite
16 citt� tedesche che vi hanno
aggiunto il loro contributo.

9 ottobre (Agence France Presse) "Il capo di stato
maggiore USA, generale Henry
Shelton, ha lodato luned� la Bulgaria per il contributo
dato al rovesciamento del
presidente jugoslavo Milosevic"

La loro tattica comprendeva il pompaggio di decine di
milioni di dollari ai partiti di
opposizione, in un'economia ridotta alla fame e distorta
da otto anni di sanzioni. C'erano
poi le minacce militari di utilizzare, in caso di vittoria
di Milosevic, le bombe NATO e le
truppe di stanza nei paesi confinanti e le promesse ben
pubblicizzate di por fine alle
sanzioni e dare inizio a un'era di pace e prosperit� se
fosse stato eletto Kostunica.

Kostunica � un politico anticomunista di basso profilo e
professore di diritto
costituzionale, sostenuto da 18 piccoli partiti divisi su
tutto messi insieme da Washington
con finanziamenti e pressioni brutali per formare la
"Opposizione Democratica Serba"
(DOS). Kostunica si � presentato sulla base del programma
economico del Gruppo dei
17, redatto da economisti jugoslavi che lavorano per il
Fondo Monetario e la Banca
Mondiale. Le "soluzioni" che prospettano per la Jugoslavia
comprendono la fine del
sistema sanitario gratuito e di ogni sussidio per gli
affitti, l'alimentazione e il trasporto.

L'obiettivo � la trasformazione di tutta l'economia con la
rapida privatizzazione della
maggior parte delle industrie e la vendita a basso prezzo
a investitori stranieri di quelle
che garantiscono maggiori profitti. Anche in economie
assai pi� prospere, questo tipo di
terapia choc � sfociato in licenziamenti di massa.

Basta vedere come sono precipitati i tenori di vita dei
lavoratori dei paesi confinanti,
come la Romania e la Bulgaria, quando hanno aperto le loro
economie alle banche
imperialiste e adottato le ricette del FMI.

Ma � proprio questo l'obiettivo che la coalizione di
Kostunica sembra perseguire.
L'agenzia Reuters riferiva il 10 ottobre le parole
dell'economista della DOS Miroljub
Labus, secondo il quale il FMI avrebbe accolto entro il 14
dicembre la Jugoslavia nel suo
ovile se l'opposizione avesse formato in tempi brevi il
suo governo.

Il ruolo del Partito Socialista

Nonostante le molte concessioni e i compromessi, il
Partito Socialista Serbo di Milosevic
ha lottato per mantenere l'indipendenza della Jugoslavia.
Ci� gli ha guadagnato l'ostilit�
della reazione imperialista mondiale. Per 10 anni gli
imperialisti USA e dell'Unione
Europea hanno fatto di tutto per smembrare la Federazione
Socialista Jugoslava e spazzar
via persino la memoria di questo stato multietnico, mentre
il PSS e il partito alleato della
Sinistra Jugoslava resistevano.

I mezzi di comunicazione di massa dell'imperialismo hanno
demonizzato Milosevic
chiamandolo dittatore. Ma Milosevic e il suo partito erano
stati eletti per governare la
Jugoslavia, avevano guadagnato stima e rispetto per aver
guidato l'eroico popolo
jugoslavo nelle 11 settimane di combattimento contro
l'aggressione NATO e avevano
difeso l'economia jugoslava dalla penetrazione
imperialista.

E' vero che il PSS ha perso il sostegno attivo della
classe operaia che era stata la sua base.
Il partito non � riuscito finora a mobilitare le masse per
difendersi dagli attacchi. Tuttavia
Milosevic ha avuto due milioni di voti e il Partito
Socialista ha la maggioranza legale in
organismi importanti, compresi il Parlamento Federale
Jugoslavo e quello della Serbia.

Ma sarebbe sciocco pensare che Washington e i suoi alleati
limitino le loro tattiche al
terreno della legalit� parlamentare.

Lotta per il potere

In un periodo di competizione pacifica e di discussione, i
18 partiti della DOS che
sostengono Kostunica si dividerebbero subito. Kostunica �
un monarchico e nazionalista
serbo, mentre altre formazioni della coalizione sono
antimonarchiche e si battono per
l'indipendenza delle province della Voivodina e del
Sangiaccato dalla Serbia.

Inoltre un congruo periodo di pacifica dialettica politica
dimostrerebbe che il programma
economico di Kostunica rappresenta per i lavoratori
jugoslavi un disastro peggiore delle
sanzioni e l'inevitabile svendita della sovranit�
jugoslava e serba offenderebbe molti dei
suoi attuali sostenitori.

Ecco perch� Washington e i suoi agenti sono passati subito
a metodi extralegali per
impadronirsi di tutto l'apparato dello stato e hanno preso
di mira i ministeri chiave e in
particolare gli apparati di sicurezza, la polizia, il
sistema bancario e tutto l'apparato
mediatico e attaccato violentemente il PS e gli altri
partiti di sinistra.

Nelle elezioni il Partito Socialista e la Sinistra
Jugoslava hanno conquistato la
maggioranza in tutte e due le Camere del Parlamento
Federale. Secondo la costituzione
jugoslava, il Parlamento � pi� importante giuridicamente
della presidenza, che ha compiti
di rappresentanza. Ancora maggiore � l'influenza del
Parlamento Serbo dove la sinistra �
in posizione dominante e che su pressione del DOS ha
convocato per dicembre nuove
elezioni.

Gli strateghi imperialisti spingono in direzione del
rapido controllo dell'intero apparato
statale, il che significa epurare i dirigenti della
polizia e distruggere l'esercito jugoslavo
che ha le sue radici nella rivoluzione socialista del 1945
e nella lotta partigiana contro i
nazisti.

Privato di un apparato armato che lo difenda, il popolo e
in particolare la classe operaia
jugoslava sar� alla merc� dei banchieri e degli
imprenditori imperialisti che hanno le
forze NATO nel Kosovo e nei paesi limitrofi e i loro
agenti a Belgrado.

Le bande extralegali dell'imperialismo

Le bande anti-Milosevic hano attaccato i partiti di
sinistra e i centri del governo. Velimir
Ilic, sindaco di Cacac, nonch� un disertore che aveva
rifiutato di cooperare con l'esercito
jugoslavo durante la resistenza contro la NATO dell'anno
scorso, si � vantato sul New
York Times di aver organizzato commandos anti-Milosevic.
Dice Ilic: "Abbiamo
organizzato una squadra di giovani professionisti, par�
dell'esercito jugoslavo e giovani
poliziotti e ci siamo coordinati con le unit� di elite
della polizia del ministero degli interni
a Belgrado. A noi si sono uniti esperti di arti marziali e
boxeurs professionisti. Avevamo
anche poliziotti in abiti cvili per il coordinamento con
le citt� vicine".

Ilic ha dichiarato alla Agence France Presse che disponeva
di 2000 uomini e che una
parte era armata. "Un certo numero dei nostri aveva
giubbotti antiproiettile e armi: Il
nostro obiettivo era molto chiaro: assumere il controllo
delle istituzioni chiave del
regime, compreso il Parlamento e la televisione". Non ha
detto se fossero pagati e da chi,
ma si � vantato che le sue forze, con divise della
polizia, avevano aperto il Parlamento e
seminato confusione tra i ranghi dei poliziotti. Dentro,
aveva presentato la banda a Zoran
Djindjic, l'organizzatore della campagna di Kostunica.

Secondo Michel Collon, corrispondente del settimanale
belga Solidaire da Belgrado,
Djindjic aveva coordinato gli attacchi al Parlamento e
alla Televisione serba e aveva fatto
uso di pressioni e minacce contro i giornalisti per
prender possesso della pi� importante
televisione pubblica, della radio e della stampa, compreso
il quotidiano Politika.

Gli squadristi di Djindjic, subito dopo la presa del
Parlamento, avevano messo a
soqquadro anche la sede del PS di Belgrado e quella del
piccolo Nuovo Partito
Comunista Jugoslavo. A Belgrado e dintorni sono state
incendiate inoltre le case di
attivisti del Partito Socialista e fatti anche pi� gravi
sono accaduti in provincia.

La lotta continua

Il 10 ottobre i dirigenti della DOS hannno raggiunto un
accordo con il Partito Popolare
Socialista del Montenegro per nominare il dirigente di
quel partito, Pedrag Bulatovic,
nuovo primo ministro nel Parlamento Federale Jugoslavo.
Bulatovic ha dichiarato che il
suo partito, che era allineato con il Partito Socialista
di Milosevic, intendeva formare un
governo con la DOS "per bilanciare le forze politiche nel
Parlamento Federale".

Ci vorrebbe molto pi� spazio per spiegare tutte le
possibili manovre parlamentari. Ma
questo � davvero secondario. Washington e i suoi agenti
impiegheranno pressioni di ogni
tipo contro gli individui, i partiti politici e la
popolazione nel suo complesso per impedire
che la dialettica politica pacifica sbarri la strada alla
controrivoluzione.

Collon e altri corrispondenti da Belgrado hanno notato che
la popolazione era disgustata
dall'incendio del Parlamento e dalle altre violenze. Anche
i sostenitori di Kostunica
dicono di aver votato per una vita migliore, non per le
vendette. Ma se la polizia e
l'esercito evitano di impegnarsi a mantenere l'ordine,
solo l'organizzazione attiva della
sinistra potr� difendere le sue posizioni.

Il ministro della difesa jugoslavo generale Dragoljub
Ojdanic ha rivolto un appello
pressante al Partito Socialista perch� mobiliti le sue
forze. In una lettera aperta, Ojdanic
mette in guardia i Serbi dal pericolo di estinguersi come
popolo. "La divisione tra i Serbi,
dice il generale, favorisce i piani dei nostri nemici
dichiarati" per occupare il paese. Il
generale fa riferimento ai legami della DOS con la NATO.

Qui negli Stati Uniti � importante in primo luogo che la
sinistra comprenda che gli
avvenimenti del 5-6 ottobre rappresentano un duro colpo
per i lavoratori e per la
sovranit� della Jugoslavia. Serve la solidariet� attiva
con coloro che in Jugoslavia
continuano a resistere allo sviluppo della
controrivoluzione, siano essi nel Partito
Socialista, negli altri partiti di sinistra, nei
sindacati, o nella polizia e nell'esercito.

L'imperialismo � riuscito a strappare con le sue grinfie
una posizione di considerevole
potere in Jugoslavia oggi. Ma la lotta continua.

Gli autori di questo articolo hanno organizzato il 10
giugno scorso a New York il
Tribunale Internazionale che ha condannato i crimini
commessi dalla NATO nei 78
giorni di bombardamento della Jugoslavia.


(Traduzione italiana a cura del
TRIBUNALE ITALIANO
CONTRO I CRIMINI DELLA NATO
e-mail: tribunaleclark@...
fax. 068174010
tel : 0338-7963539)


---

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Per contributi e segnalazioni: jugocoord@...

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GIORNALE DI BELGRADO - LUNEDI' 9 OTTOBRE.


MICHEL COLLON


Le violenze di cui non si parla. Verso una nuova prova di forza?


Si va senza dubbio verso una nuova manifestazione di piazza, senza dubbio pi� piccola. Il parlamento di Serbia si riunisce oggi e l'opposizione del DOS ha lanciato un ultimatum: se la legge sulle Universit� non sar� abolita (una legge che mirava ad impedire l'organizzazione delle attivit� d'opposizione utilizzando l'Universit�), allora ci sar� una manifestazione ed il parlamento potrebbe essere di nuovo occupato, in tutti i casi circondato e bloccato.


Ma il vero scopo � un altro. Il DOS ha ottenuto il presidente, ma nessun governo. N� quello della Jugoslavia dove ci si aspetta un governo dei socialisti serbi (Milosevic) e montenegrini (Bulatovic), n� quello di Serbia che � in carica da qualche anno ed ha davanti a s� ancora un anno in teoria, e che riflette i vecchi rapporti di forza elettorali.


Quale maggioranza nel parlamento serbo? L'imbroglio totale.


Nel parlamento serbo, il partito pi� forte (83 seggi su 255), sono i radicali (la destra nazionalista) di Seselj alleato di Milosevic. Ma questo partito � stato ridimensionato alle ultime elezioni, ha rischiato di scomparire ed i suoi dirigenti cercano disperatamente di salvarlo. Per mantenere l'alleanza attuale, hanno formulato una serie di richieste giudicate non realiste da un dirigente del SPS che io ho incontrato. Per esempio, la legge elettorale dovrebbe essere rivista per fare del paese una sola grande circoscrizione, cosa che assicurerebbe ai radicali delle possibilit� maggiori di essere rieletti. Da questo governo il SPO di Draskovic (anche lui in via di sparizione) si � ritirato e non vuole pi� sostenerlo. In realt�, questi due partiti sono obbligati: visto come il DOS li ha sostituiti nelle preferenze dell'elettorato, sarebbero definitivamente liquidati in caso di elezioni. Allora, il SPO ed i radicali sono tentati di formare insieme un governo serbo - senza nuove elezioni e senza i socialisti - che potrebbe durare un anno.


Ma d'altra parte, questi due partiti avanzano le loro pretese soprattutto per far crescere il loro prezzo nelle negoziazioni con il DOS e con il SPS. Senza nessun principio, cercano solamente di ottenere il potere, in un modo o nell'altro.


Le grandi manovre politiche ruotano anche intorno al nuovo governo federale. Il partner indispensabile e fortemente corteggiato � il partito socialista montenegrino. Il DOS gli ha immediatamente fatto delle proposte. Solo che entro un anno avranno luogo le elezioni nella repubblica del Montenegro che in questo paese sono ancora pi� importanti in termini di competenze e di budget. I socialisti montenegrini hanno il vento in poppa e potrebbero vincere contro la destra filoamericana di Djukanovic. Ma se andassero con la destra serba del DOS, che ha esattamente lo stesso programma stile-FMI di Djukanovic, la loro immagine sarebbe deteriorata. Ecco perch� essi hanno scelto piuttosto il SPS di Milosevic come alleato. Tutto � stato frutto di negoziati. Non rimane che un ostacolo. Messo fuori gioco, il DOS ha cominciato a contestare il mandato di 18 deputati socialisti.


Lontano dalle telecamere, le violenze di Djindjic


E' forse proprio per questo che il DOS mantiene la pressione. Quali sono i metodi impiegati? Minacce di manifestazioni e di blocchi delle istituzioni legali, violenze fisiche e minacce contro i membri del partito socialista e di diverse istituzioni dello Stato, messa sotto controllo con la forza di alcune imprese pubbliche. Dietro la figura simbolica di Kostunica che occupa la scena, � Zoran Djindjic che organizza tutto. Venduto da tempo agli interessi tedeschi, in seguito americani, come ognuno qui sa bene, Djindjic, fortemente disprezzato, si � servito di Kostunica per battere Milosevic ed ora si avventa sul potere reale. Con la violenza. La sede belgradese del partito socialista � stata completamente distrutta. Kostunica ha inviato un fotografo sul posto, che si � mostrato indignato. Alcune case di membri del SPS sono state date alle fiamme. Numerose imprese, ad es. la fabbrica di tabacco DIN - sono state prese di forza da uomini di Djindjic. In questo momento il DOS sta espellendo con la forza il direttore dell'ospedale dei bambini, Scepanovic, molto competente, ma colpevole di essere membro del partito socialista. Altri eventi di questo genere non possono ancora essere pubblicizzati perch� le vittime hanno troppa paura. Ma i fatti sono stati riportati e se accadesse qualcosa, sarebbero diffusi. Ed in provincia le aggressioni terroristiche sono ancora pi� gravi che a Belgrado dove bisogna conservare un'immagine presentabile.


Non � evidentemente per questo che il popolo ha votato. Ha votato per vivere meglio e per il fatto che la maggioranza aveva perso la fiducia in Milosevic. E per impedire che questi fatti siano conosciuti dall'opinione pubblica, tutti i media sono stati messi sin dall'inizio sotto controllo del DOS, pi� precisamente di Djindjic. E' il DOS e l'Occidente che hanno instaurato il controllo sui mezzi d'informazione! E' Djindjic, non Kostunica, ad aver organizzato molto efficacemente l'occupazione dei media pubblici: RTS, l'agenzia di stampa Tanjug, il quotidiano Politika. Con la complicit� di alcuni responsabili di questi media, ed escludendo di forza gli altri giornalisti o sottoponendoli a fortissime pressioni.


Risultato: quando oggi accendete la TV, vedrete la stessa cosa dappertutto: Kostunica ed il DOS, oppure il DOS e Kostunica. Nient'altro. Mai un punto di vista dell'altro schieramento. Era quello che si rimproverava prima a Milosevic. Ma, sotto Milosevic, anche se vi sono state delle sospensioni in certi periodi, l'opposizione aveva tre volte pi� mezzi di informazione del potere e cinque volte di pi� a livello di comunicazione elettronica. Ed anche le proprie televisioni. La popolazione riceveva costantemente quelle opinioni che l'hanno del resto fortemente influenzata. Adesso tutta l'informazione � controllata da un solo partito, e questa la chiamano "democrazia".


Con metodi psicologico-mediatici modernissimi, da cui si vede che sono stati preparati da tempo. I dollari di Washington (vedere i nostri precedenti articoli) sono stati investiti per preparare questi media moderni.


Cosa accadr�? Il DOS cercher� di mantenere la pressione per impedire il funzionamento di governi che non controllerebbe. Sia con delle manifestazioni e con degli scontri, ma la maggior parte delle persone qui desiderano la fine delle violenze ed il ritorno alla calma. Sia con delle ostruzioni istituzionali come quelle descritte precedentemente. Pi� il tempo passa , meno potranno usare la forza. O almeno � quello che molti sperano. Traduzione a cura del
Bollettino d'Informazione Antimperialista http://www.bollettino.it Per contatti: bollettino@t...




GIORNALE DI BELGRADO - MARTEDI' 10 OTTOBRE.


MICHEL COLLON


Nuove elezioni il 19 dicembre. Le istituzioni sono ancora paralizzate dalle violenze e le minacce
In simili momenti storici, gli eventi si susseguono di ora in ora, e la verit� della mattina � gi� superata nel pomeriggio. Sotto la pressione dell'opposizione e delle violenze che si svolgono qui, con uno Stato e delle istituzioni completamente paralizzati, il Parlamento serbo si � appena autodisciolto. Le prossime elezioni avranno luogo il 19 dicembre.
Con un nuovo sistema elettorale: proporzionale, ed una sola circoscrizione per tutto il paese. Ci� che dovrebbe favorire i radicali del DOS, ma anche i socialisti di Milosevic. Non si sa ancora se anche il presidente serbo Milutinovic dar� le dimissioni.


Gli stessi risultati? Una situazione di doppio potere? Quali potrebbero essere i risultati tra due mesi? Probabilmente gli stessi, non avendo la gente ancora avuto l'esperienza di ci� che significher� concretamente un governo DOS per l'occupazione ed i loro stipendi. Certamente, le violenze e le attivit� mafiose perseguite da Djindjic hanno colpito persino una parte dei sostenitori di Kostunica. Ma l'euforia per la vittoria e la persistenza delle illusioni "si vivr� meglio, si guadagneranno 5.000 dollari come ci ha promesso l'opposizione", questi fattori ed anche la perdita di prestigio dell'uomo forte Milosevic, cos� come l'indebolimento del suo partito, tutti questi elementi prefigurano un risultato favorevole del DOS. I partiti di Seselj e di Draskovic - che hanno entrambi violentemente criticato le violenze mafiose - potrebbero riprendere un po' di fiato, ma non � del tutto certo. Allora ci si trover�, nei prossimi anni, in una situazione di "doppio potere" con un governo jugoslavo sotto il controllo di Milosevic ed un governo serbo sotto l'autorit� di Djindjic e dell'Occidente? Sarebbe una situazione storica assai originale ed esplosiva. Ma non � sicuro. Il DOS fa pressione per le sue soluzioni: o un governo minoritario del DOS, o un governo cosiddetto "tecnico" di esperti, o un'alleanza DOS-SNP montenegrino. Si dice anche che il SPS- attualmente sotto una pressione terribile - potrebbe accettare di far entrare il DOS nel governo jugoslavo; si avrebbe allora un governo d'unit� nazionale SPS-DOS-Radicali-SPO (Draskovic). In ogni caso, le schermaglie dovrebbero continuare. Una divisione dei poteri non � mai soltanto una soluzione temporanea, e gli appetiti attuali sono troppo forti.


La partita non � conclusa, ma il margine d'azione � ristretto. In ogni caso, per i progressisti del mondo intero, sar� importante seguire questa situazione attentamente ed aprire gli occhi su questi partiti jugoslavi cosiddetti "democratici" ma il cui programma � effettivamente quello del FMI. I mesi a venire saranno di grande importanza, e la situazione non � ancora completamente definita. Come abbiamo gi� detto, una buona parte degli elettori di Kostunica resta anti-Nato: "Sono contento che Milosevic � caduto, mi ha detto Darko, giurista. Perch� non ha condotto fino in fondo la battaglia per difendere i serbi in Croazia, poi in Bosnia. Ed ha trascurato tutti quei giovani che furono vittime di queste guerre. Ma con questo nuovo regime, avremo un problema ancora pi� grave. E' la NATO che sta arrivando qui. Non dovremo permetterglielo."


Le cinque ragioni della disfatta


Come spiegare la vittoria di Kostunica? Con un insieme di fattori di cui la maggior parte � stata trattata negli articoli precedenti. 1. La violenza della NATO. 2. Dieci anni di privazioni con lo strangolamento economico del paese. 3. Il denaro della CIA che � piovuto a fiotti e che ha causato ovviamente delle defezioni. 4. Una campagna mediatico-psicologica intelligente attorno all'uomo nuovo e credibile Kostunica. 5. Gli errori del regime di Milosevic.


D'accordo, fondamentalmente, � una vittoria della Nato, una vittoria della violenza. Nella primavera del '99, durante i pi� intensi bombardamenti contro gli obiettivi civili (installazioni elettriche, depositi di benzina, strade, ponti...), il generale USA Michael Short dichiarava: "Sono convinto che se la gente non ha la corrente per far funzionare i frigoriferi, il gas per la cucina, se non possono andare al lavoro perch� i ponti sono distrutti e se non smettono di pensare alle bombe che possono cadere in ogni momento, arriveranno i tempi in cui vorranno veder finire tutto questo". Tutto questo, era il regime di Belgrado. Ecco quello che la Nato chiama "elezioni democratiche". Proprio come la signora Carla Del Ponte, sedicente magistrato internazionale imparziale, in realt� semplice arma di Washington nello stesso modo che un Tomahawk o un volgare spione della CIA. Questa tizia ha dichiarato: "E' giusto da parte mia esprimere il mio stupore davanti agli avvenimenti drammatici che si svolgono a Belgrado, io auguro loro (al DOS ndr) un successo pieno con tutta la loro nuova democrazia." (Comunicato del 6 ottobre) Curioso magistrato, curioso tribunale, quelli che chiudono gli occhi sul regno di terrore e di mafia in Kosovo e osano applaudire la "democrazia", tutto continuando dedicarsi al loro lavoro sporco di satanizzazione dei Serbi!


Al momento, noi non svilupperemo qui gli altri fattori della disfatta (trattati precedentemente), ma arriviamo al quinto fattore, sul quale ci poniamo molte domande. "Perch� non ci sono state contromanifestazioni nelle strade?" "Che pensano i lavoratori?" "Perch� l'esercito non si � mosso?"


Perch� il regime ha perso il suo sostegno


Ieri, ho incontrato dei sindacalisti di provincia, venuti a trovarmi per parlare del mio libro "La Nato alla conquista del mondo" ed invitarmi tenere una conferenza davanti ai loro militanti ed affiliati. La loro organizzazione - che si definisce "indipendente" ma che � molto vicina al partito socialista - conta 35.000 membri. Io li ho ovviamente interrogati sulla situazione attuale. Ho ascoltato le loro risposte veramente vaghe e confuse. Penoso. Finalmente, uno dei responsabili mi ha detto: "Io ho attaccato tutti i manifesti di Milosevic che ho ricevuto, ma ho votato Kostunica." Eccoci di fronte ad un chiaro esempio di perdita Domenica, sono andato a Novi Sad come osservatore al secondo turno delle elezioni regionali della Vojvodina. In un intervista (da pubblicare) il segretario del partito socialista della regione Dusan Bajatovic mi ha detto: "Noi siamo un partito molto grande, con un gran numero di quadri, e dieci anni al potere, � molto. Cosa che ha provocato uno scontro tra i quadri. Molta gente non si trovava nel nostro partito per ragioni serie, ma per interesse. Ed in un paese povero, essere in un partito stimola gli appetiti. Il popolo ha visto gente arricchirsi dall'oggi al domani e senza valide ragioni. Ci sono molti casi. Da dove veniva questo denaro? E la gente ha pensato che era la posizione del SPS che provocava questi privilegi. La grande maggioranza dei membri sono tuttavia onesti e devoti al loro paese, e loro stessi giudicano severamente questi casi. Ci sono state anche delle false accuse contro i dirigenti del SPS e dello Stato, ma in queste condizioni, i suoi membri non hanno potuto rispondere adeguatamente a questi attacchi." Confessione interessante. Resta evidentemente da sapere perch� questi arricchimenti e questi privilegi non sono stati combattuti. Perch� i beneficiari erano in posti troppo in alto?


"Non resta che il SPS, mi spiega Branko, ingegnere. Anche il partito della YUL, che si dichiara di posizioni ancora pi� a sinistra del SPS, ha perso la sua credibilit�. Questo contava nelle sue fila su numerosi padroni molto ricchi. Non si pu� avere una teoria di sinistra ed una pratica di destra." Ma aggiunge: "Non � per questo che bisogna buttarsi tra le braccia della destra. Sono passati dieci anni, le stesse promesse occidentali sono state fatte ai rumeni. Ma io conosco questo paese, poich� il mio lavoro mi ci porta spesso. Oggi, la situazione in questo paese � talmente catastrofica che voi potete trovare persino dei lavoratori rumeni occupati nei campi, qui, in Jugoslavia, a Pojurevac! E loro non hanno delle sanzioni." Un altro intellettuale progressista, Darko, pensa lo stesso e aggiunge: "Milosevic dovrebbe fare come Castro. Quello l� lo si vede sempre a discutere con la gente semplice, con i contadini, per capire come va, quello che pensano, i loro problemi. Cuba anche � sotto attacco, ma si difende bene."


Quando si prova a valutare il peso rispettivo di questi diversi elementi, bisogna mostrarsi prudenti. I fatti che abbiamo esaminato sono molto importanti e ci torneremo sopra. Ma non sono una novit�, la gente ne era a conoscenza da molto tempo. E nessuno ha grande fiducia nell'onest� dell'opposizione sul piano della corruzione. Bisogna comprendere che a queste elezioni, in effetti, il SPS ha sfruttato un poco l'onda delle elezioni precedenti. Il fattore nuovo, � l'affermazione del DOS. Anche su questo ci torneremo sopra.

Traduzione a cura del
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