Informazione
* Brogli elettorali? Si, ma nella FYROM! (Italo Slavo)
* Impede the civil war which is being instigated by Kostunica and the
West (International Leninist Current)
* U.S./NATO STEAL YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS (International Action Center)
* Early Election Results: Big Defeat for U.S. Fifth Column Tactics
(Jared Israel)
* NATO Game-Plan: Destabilize Yugoslavia (George Szamuely)
* Pristina: Despite all, many stay true to Milosevic (L. Kleveman)
GRAVE IMBARAZZO NELLA NATO PER IL DOPO-ELEZIONI: KOSTUNICA E' PIU'
NAZIONALISTA DI MILOSEVIC, SE VINCE PER DAVVERO COME FACCIAMO A SPACCARE
LA FEDERAZIONE?
* Yugoslavia After Milosevic (LORD DAVID OWEN)
* KOSTUNICA NOT CLINTON ADMINISTRATION MAN (MARTIN SIEFF, UPI)
---
I BROGLI ELETTORALI VERI SONNO AVVENUTI NELLA
REPUBBLICA EX-JUGOSLAVIA DI MACEDONIA (FYROM),
ED INFATTI NESSUN GIORNALE NE PARLA.
La scorsa domenica 24/9, mentre nella vicina RF di Jugoslavia si
tenevano le elezioni, nella FYROM si sono nuovamente svolte le
consultazioni amministrative. Gia' contestate per la maniera in cui si
erano svolte due settimane prima, nella loro seconda tornata queste
consultazioni sono state nuovamente viziate da irregolarita' e brogli
evidenti, denunciati anche dagli osservatori dell'OSCE che pure hanno
dichiarato che l'atmosfera e' stata "un po' migliore" di quella
dell'occasione precedente, perche' stavolta non ci sarebbero stati
episodi di violenza...
Notoriamente pero' i mezzi di dis/informazione dei paesi occidentali
e la NATO in particolare non prestano attenzione ai brogli, alle
violenze, alle intimidazioni ed alle irregolarita' reali, preferendo
concentrarsi su quelle presunte che, a detta loro, avverrebbero in certi
paesi, ostili alle magnifiche sorti e progressive della globalizzazione
imperialista. Tra questi paesi c'e' anche la Repubblica Federale di
Jugoslavia, che UE e NATO non sono ancora riusciti a comprare, e cercano
allora di distruggere squartandola nelle sue residue componenti: Kosovo,
Montenegro, Vojvodina.
Pertanto, le nostre democraticissime anime belle non levano ne'
leveranno mai alcuna voce critica sul modo in cui le destre di governo
della FYROM - nazionalisti filobulgari, che controllano soprattutto la
parte orientale del paese, e mafiosi irredentisti pan-albanesi, che
controllano la parte occidentale -, ampiamente foraggiate proprio dalla
NATO, e gia' responsabili di brogli alle ultime elezioni politiche e
presidenziali, stanno devastando ogni prerogativa di democrazia nel
paese. D'altronde, l'attuale presidente Boris Trajkovski, anche in
qualita' di capo delle Forze armate, ha dichiarato il suo appoggio alla
entrata del paese nella NATO: il "Programma nazionale " del governo
macedone affermerebbe espicitamente le stesse intenzioni ("PROGRAM FOR
NATO MEMBERSHIP-CONFIRMATION OF MACEDONIA'S DETERMINATION", Fonte:
Macedonian Information Agency, 26.9.00).
Ecco perche' la NATO non solo non parla dei brogli nella FYROM, ma
viceversa li sollecita e li sostiene, cosi' come ha gia' fatto in
precedenza in Bosnia (nel 1996 i votanti hanno ampiamente superato il
100% degli aventi diritto), in Albania (per consentire l'ascesa di
Berisha al potere), in Montenegro (in occasione della elezione di
Djukanovic), In Ucraina (per le presidenziali all'inizio del 2000),
insomma in tutti i paesi dell'Europa centro-orientale che hanno bisogno
di una "spintarella" verso la svolta liberista ed atlantista. Non a caso
tali svolte sono sempre attuate dalle classi politiche piu'
nazionaliste, reazionarie, e sempre legate alla criminalita' mafiosa.
Italo Slavo
---
Subject: Impede the civil war which is being instigated by
Kostunica and the West
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 02:59:42 +0200
From: "ILC" <ilc@...>
The election campaign in Yugoslavia was accompanied by massive
interferences
of the West. They not only supported the opposition with a tremendous
amount
of money, promised the lifting of the vicious sanctions in case their
candidate will win, conducted a powerful media campaign around the globe
but
also exercised military threats against Yugoslavia by holding manoeuvres
in
Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria as well a deploying their navy to the
Adriatic
sea – let alone the political, economic and military aggression of the
past
ten years with the aim to destroy the resistance of the Yugoslavian and
Serbian people. In this sense and under these condition no free and fair
democratic election could be carried out.
We are not able to verify the correctness of the announced electoral
results, but what we indeed know is, that imperialism is manipulating
elections and organising frauds all around the world in order to keep
its
puppets in power. With its media machine they use to whitewash also the
most
notorious dictatorships like that of Fujimori in Peru. Therefore there
is no
reason to believe in the truth of their cries of fraud even more as
monitors
from all around the world (except the Nato aggressor counties) reported
the
elections to have been carried out without major irregularities.
The very fact that Kostunica and the bourgeois opposition is not willing
to
go to the second round of elections prove their fear of loosing them.
With
the support of their Western masters they have chosen to attack
boycotting
the elections, calling for a mass movement in the streets and for a
general
strike to bring down Milosevic. In this way they try to precipitate the
exhausted people into a bloody and fratricide civil war. Further
weakening
the country and its ability to resist to the New World Order a civil war
would be in the sole interest of imperialism and its local bourgeois
agents.
This shows the complicity of Kostunica with imperialism and Nato which
he
had been hiding behind a nationalist façade claiming to have been
against
the Nato war and in favour of the Serbian recuperation of Kosovo.
However,
his opposition block is composed of the most open and notorious Nato
puppets
like Djindjic. The real character of Kostunica has not only be
highlighted
by the paramount flow of finances for him but also by his advocacy and
support of the so-called G17 proposals that are nothing else than a
blueprint of the IMF, WTO and WB programme which will suck out the
country
in the same semi-colonial way as it is already taking place in Bulgaria
or
Russia. But even if Serbia will obey to the dictate of the New Order as
Kostunica is planning it this will not bring any help or relieve to the
Yugoslav masses shaken by the impact of the Western aggression. The goal
of
imperialism is to destroy Yugoslavia and Serbia as the main strategic
obstacle for their rule over and penetration into the Balkans.
It is true that Milosevic has led the country into a crisis. This is
expressed in the Dayton agreements (conceding big parts of Bosnia to
imperialism with the vane hope to therewith avoid a confrontation), in
the
corruption of the leading strata, in its enrichment by privatisations
and
last but not least in the dangerous confrontation of today: The
constitutional change in favour of a presidentialist system was a big
mistake and had to provoke the clash that could have been avoided by a
president elected by parliament. However, the social block in power
could
preserve Yugoslavia as an independent state opposed to the imperialist
New
World Order as well as some important social gains of the peasants,
workers
and the popular masses in general and the multinational character of the
society.
The clash between the bourgeois opposition and the governmental block of
SPS
is therefore at the same time both a confrontation between imperialism
and
an oppressed people as well as a class conflict. It is a continuation of
an
imperialist aggression already lasting for tens years but which could
not
reach its goal of the complete subjugation and destruction of Yugoslavia
and
Serbia – even not by the war of last year. The fact that Milosevic has
led
the struggle of the Yugoslav and Serbian masses into an impasse does not
change the progressive and anti-imperialist character of the popular
block
led by him.
The anti-imperialist, revolutionary and communist forces in Yugoslavia
and
around the world have to support those who:
· Impede the civil war being instigated by the Kostunica, the opposition
and
the West
· Defend the resistance and independence of Yugoslavia and Serbia
against
the Nato and its New World Order and strive for the full implementation
of
UN resolution 1244 and later the recuperation of Kosovo by Yugoslavia
· Stand for social justice and equality refusing the neo-liberal recipes
of
IMF, WTO and WB
· Secure the multinational character of Yugoslavia
while creating on this very base an independent popular movement.
Executive Committee of the ILC
Vienna, September 27, 2000
***************************************
International Leninist Current (ILC)
Corriente Leninista Internacional (CLI)
PF 23, A-1040 Wien, Austria
Tel & Fax +43 1 504 00 10
ilc@...
www.comports.com/ilc
www.antiimperialista.com
---
Subject: U.S./NATO STEAL YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 22:39:27 -0400
From: iacenter@...
U.S./NATO STEAL YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS--
Soft Money and Hard Threats
By Sara Flounders, Co-Director, International Action Center
September 27, 2000
On Sept. 26 the State Election Commission in Yugoslavia announced the
results of the Sept. 24 elections. The candidate backed by the U.S.
government and the European Union, Vojislav Kostunica, received 48
percent of the vote to President Slobodan Milosevic’s 40 percent.
Since neither candidate received more than 50 percent, a run-off
election has
been set for Oct. 8.
Kostunica’s immediate reaction was to reject participation in a run-off
election and demand that Milosevic concede defeat. Bill Clinton,
Britain’s
Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and other NATO leaders who bombed
Yugoslavia in 1999 also demanded Milosevic concede.
The first point for the whole international movement that opposed NATO
war against Yugoslavia to keep in mind is that the Yugoslav elections
were
not “free and fair.” Imperialism stole the election through its blatant
pressure,
bribery and interference.
The elections raise a vital question. Will Yugoslavia be turned over to
the
Western banks and corporations? Will the assets of industrial
enterprises be
broken up and sold off, as they have been in every other country in
Eastern
Europe, Russia and the former Soviet Republics? Will the majority of the
population be relegated to living below the poverty line?
The Sept. 24 elections involved three layers of voting. Besides the
presidential vote, there were also municipal elections, in which the
U.S.-
backed opposition won many cities and towns.
There was also an election for the Yugoslav Federal Parliament. The
coalition
of the United Left, the Socialist Party and the SP’s sister party in
Montenegro won a strong majority of both houses. In Montenegro it was
unopposed, as the pro-Western government abstained from the election.
Under Yugoslav law, Parliament has more rights than the president and
directs the government, electing the prime minister.
But a setback for Milosevic in the presidential election puts more at
risk than
the future of one individual. He was the main target of the war carried
out by
U.S. and NATO—the imperialist world powers—and because of that he has
come to symbolize Yugoslav resistance. In addition, he was at the center
of
the coalition of forces that led Yugoslavia during the 78 days of
bombing.
All the social gains of an independent country that had broken free of
imperialist enslavement and held out during years of encirclement and
war
are now endangered.
WESTERN INTERFERENCE DISTORTED ELECTION
In this election the U.S. and European Union governments used every
possible dirty trick, corrupt practice and payoff, and then bragged
about
them. Threats of bombing, promises to end nine years of sanctions,
intimidation and military maneuvers heightened the tension.
On election day the Pentagon and Croatia held their largest joint
military
exercises ever--a joint landing on an island in the Adriatic near
Montenegro,
part of Yugoslavia, to simulate an invasion. Fifteen British war ships
have
now moved into the Mediterranean. A U.S. aircraft carrier in the
Adriatic Sea
has moved closer to Montenegro.
The major media here—the New York Times on Sept. 20 and the Washington
Post on Sept. 19--have described in detail the exact amounts funneled
into
the opposition parties, radio and TV stations and newspapers. The U.S.
Congress publicly voted on $77 million in open interference. Then on
Sept.
25, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to send another $105
million to aid anti-Milosevic forces in Serbia and Montenegro.
These articles describe suitcases of cash handed over at the border,
endless
supplies of computers, fax machines, cell phones and the trainers to use
them. These goods have been passed to the opposition through front
organizations, NGOs and media outlets.
Weeks before the election, Western-funded polling organizations
announced
that Kostunica would win a sweeping victory. For the West’s media
monopoly beaming into Yugoslavia, there were only two options. Either
Milosevic would lose or there would be massive fraud.
The U.S. State Department announced that even if Milosevic won by
overwhelming odds, Washington would refuse to accept the results.
HOW SHOULD MOVEMENT EVALUATE THESE EVENTS?
Those who opposed NATO bombing in 1999 and all the militant activists
who have taken on the International Monetary Fund, World Bank,
globalization and sweatshops have a stake in what happens next in
Yugoslavia.
Are they ready to stand in solidarity with whatever steps are necessary
to
keep another country from being forced under the boot of the IMF and
World Bank?
Washington, London, Paris and Berlin have openly intervened and bragged
of it. In the face of these admissions, those in office in Yugoslavia
have
every right to void the elections and disqualify the opposition.
In the United States, France, Britain or Germany, would such an election
have
been allowed to continue? In the United States no political organization
is
permitted to accept funds from another government for political purposes
unless it publicly registers as an agent of a foreign power. The U.S.
ruling
class is determined that only it should control the electoral process.
Any U.S. politician found accepting contributions, bribes or payments of
any
kind from a foreign government is disgraced, attacked and could face
criminal
indictment.
Just the allegation that the Clinton administration accepted a
contribution
from an ethnically Chinese businessperson who might have had contact
with
China sent every politician running for cover.
CORRUPTION AND TREASON
It is important to recognize that the Yugoslav government has the moral
right
to nullify this election on the basis of outrageous outside
interference. It has
every right to refuse to proceed with further elections under conditions
of
war, sanctions and occupation.
The Parliament has every right to establish a criminal inquiry into the
funding
sources of the opposition. Government prosecutors have every right to
indict and jail the politicians and publications that have corrupted the
election process.
The masses have every right to go into the streets and denounce the
opposition parties and publications as agents of a foreign power.
Kostunica, until now a minor politician considered a Serb nationalist
with a
long history of anti-Communism, consistently maintains that he has not
accepted any money from the West. He has even criticized the NATO
bombing and sanctions. No Yugoslav politician could win significant
votes if
seen as a NATO stooge.
It may be true that he personally has not pocketed any money. But
Kostunica has surrounded himself with political parties and
organizations
that are toadies to the NATO countries. His whole campaign has been
publicized by radio and television stations and newspapers wholly and
openly financed by grants from Washington and Berlin.
He is supported by the U.S. and European imperialist powers because his
political program, even if it criticizes NATO, embraces the very
policies that
NATO is demanding. He is the easiest of the politicians to make into a
pawn
because he has no personal base. He is the candidate of a bloc of 18
small
feuding political parties that have no common interests or ideology.
They are
united only by opposition to the government and their willingness to
accept
foreign funds.
U.S. ENGINEERED COUPS AND COUNTERREVOLUTIONS
The big U.S. monopolies and banks and Washington itself have never
accepted an election as “free and fair” if it put their class interests
in danger
or brought the masses onto the scene. Since the end of World War II the
U.S. has organized the overthrow of more than 50 governments.
In Chile in 1973 the CIA organized a military coup to drown the
progressive
legally elected government in blood. It did the same in Iran in 1953 and
in
Guatemala in 1954.
In 1990 the U.S. orchestrated the overthrow of the Sandinistas in
Nicaragua.
Washington had cobbled together a 20-party coalition whose only aim was
to overthrow the government and restore the old propertied class. It
promised to end the “Contra” war and sanctions and provide massive aid
if
the popular Sandinistas were defeated.
In this situation, much like the one today in Yugoslavia, Washington
succeeded in manipulating the election to drive out the Sandinistas. But
the
U.S. never came through with the aid, and now some of the lowest-paid
sweatshops in the world operate in the “Free Trade Zones” of Nicaragua.
‘FREE ELECTIONS’ IN A COUNTRY UNDER SIEGE?
Yugoslavia, like Nicaragua, illustrates the dangers of holding an
election in
the midst of an unrelenting war, sanctions and occupation of part of the
country by foreign armies. With their dominance of the world media, the
lure
of material goods, the bribes and the threat of further punishment,
these
powers were able to reach right into the country.
President Milosevic was trying to get a mandate by calling a vote when
the
opposition seemed divided, weak, discredited. But the imperialists
quickly
strengthened them using tactics refined over decades of interventions.
Yugoslavia, a small, beleaguered country maneuvering to survive, has
allowed dozens of openly pro-imperialist parties to maintain offices,
staff,
publish newspapers, organize and to participate in elections. These
concessions have only further emboldened the enemies of the Yugoslav
workers.
Even though the imperialists complained that they were not allowed to
monitor the elections, hundreds of foreigners did come in as election
observers and certified that they were “free and fair”--that the
government
honestly and legally abided by all election procedures. But this shifted
attention from the actual fraud taking place: the massive intervention
and
intimidation by imperialism.
The political opposition was allowed to engage in practically
unrestrained
acceptance of foreign assistance, advice and media hype. The whole
process
was corrupted by an army of Western advisors and pollsters.
WILL U.S./NATO FORCES SUCCEED?
Reports from election observers and even the big-business media show
there
is a hard core of working-class support for Milosevic from those who see
him
as a defender of the country against NATO. Even among those who naively
voted for Kostunica out of anger against Milosevic, there are many who
want to resist Western imperialism.
The question facing the Yugoslav masses now is will the Western
multinationals, on the basis of this election distorted by intervention,
be able
to capture the state apparatus and open the door to super-exploitation?
Will the enemy that failed to break Yugoslavia’s resistance with 78 days
of
bombing be able to take over by manipulation of an election--or will the
government be able to resist?
If the left organizations and patriotic parties in Yugoslavia resist,
will the
progressive and working-class and anti-war movements in the West defend
them against an inevitable propaganda blitz from the West and a possible
new military campaign?
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
One contribution to this effort could be a Commission of Inquiry to
examine
the corrupting role that the U.S. government, the European Union, their
NATO military arm and their international financial organizations played
in
the Yugoslav election.
This Inquiry could gather and publicize information on these
institutions’
efforts to subvert and overthrow the Yugoslav government. It could also
gather information on the open and secret funding of political parties,
organizations and publications by U.S. government agencies.
The Inquiry could deepen international understanding of Yugoslavia’s
problem by incorporating testimony and reports on U.S. intervention in
the
internal affairs of other governments. This would include the overthrow
of
other popular governments in Guatemala, Panama, Chile, Iran and
Indonesia
and also intervention in elections in Italy, Haiti, Nicaragua, Guyana
and
others.
Activists in other NATO countries could organize their own Commissions
of
Inquiry and public hearings to examine how this latest intervention
violated
their laws. Similar information came to light earlier when hearings and
tribunals in many countries put U.S. and NATO leaders on trial for war
crimes
against Yugoslavia.
The importance of international solidarity should never be
underestimated.
Yugoslavia must not stand alone.
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: iacenter@...
web: www.iacenter.org
CHECK OUT THE NEW SITE www.mumia2000.org
phone: 212 633-6646
fax: 212 633-2889
---
Early Election Results: Big Defeat for U.S. Fifth Column Tactics
by Jared Israel (9-26-2000)
Below we have reprinted the preliminary Election Commission returns, as
posted by Tanjug, the Yugoslav news agency. The amazing thing is that
despite every sort of meddling, the U.S. has failed to bring down the
Yugoslav government. Indeed, the government coalition now has a majority
in
both houses of Parliament, which governYugoslavia.
This election has been quite something. Everyone admits that the
"democratic" opposition is massively funded by US government agencies.
The
only difference between this funding and what the CIA used to do in the
1950s, 1960s and 1970s is that in this case some of the funding is
open.
But some of it is not so open, with money smuggled into Yugoslavia in
suitcases full of cash.(1)
The U.S. has subjected the Yugoslav people to the most extreme kind of
intimidation. The 6th fleet is off the shore of Croatia conducting
"maneuvers". Remember, Yugoslavia has been subjected to attacks by the
U.S. and its allies and proxy forces for ten years, including 78 days of
bombing. So the people have reason to be concerned about the 6th fleet.
While holding this military stick over Yugoslav heads, the West has
promised to lift sanctions and embrace Yugoslavia, if only the Yugoslavs
get rid of Milosevich. This is a false promise. Several recent articles
on
Emperor's Clothes ( www.tenc.net ) deal with the punitive treatment
Yugoslavia could expect if the US government gets its local agents in
power.
Today, the US House of Representatives voted to give the "independent
democratic" opposition $105 MILLION to continue what the U.S. press is
now
calling its "populist" struggle. Not bad. They get to be populists plus
millions of dollars to line their pockets because note that this money
is
not going to solve the problems of ordinary Yugoslavs, it is going to
reward "democratic" opposition organizations and individuals. It is
bribe
money. The U.S. Establishment likes to get something for its bribes, in
this case political control.
$105 million is a lot of money in Yugoslavia. First of all, it's a
small
country with 1/25th of the U.S. population. And it is very poor,
compared
to the U.S. $150 (US) a month is an OK salary in Yugoslavia; you can
live
on $150 about as well as someone making about $2000 in the U.S.
So to get an idea of the effect of $105 million in U.S. terms, multiply
by
25 (for population) and 13.333 (for salary.) This means that in
equivalent
US dollars, Congress just voted to pay $35 BILLION to the "independent"
opposition.
So the U.S. government is holding out a big (though entirely deceptive)
carrot and a big stick. What a spirit of resistance, that under these
circumstances the Yugoslavs would give a majority of seats in both
houses
of Parliament to the parties the U.S .wants them to dump. This spirit of
resistance is what the U.S. and Germany have been trying to destroy for
ten
long years. Indeed, Germany has been trying to break the Serbian spirit
for
a hundred years, if not more.
Parliamentary Returns
The most important elections are those for the two houses of
Parliament.
There, the Government Coalition of the Socialist Party, the JUL and
Montenegrin SNP have gained an absolute majority in Parliament.
Presidential Returns Give Kostunica a Plurality, Requiring a Runoff
Election
In the Presidential race, the Election Commission returns give both
Milosevich and Kostunica under 40 and 48% respectively. Since both are
under 50%, a run-off is required.
But a run-off would be bad for the DOS. Milosevich will most likely
fare
better in a run-off than he did in round one. Why? For one thing, he
will
get most of the Radical Party vote. More important, many of the more
nationalist Serbs didn't vote in round one because they didn't want to
vote
for Milosevich, but they will vote for him in round two because they see
Kostunica's coalition as tied to the U.S. Kostunica's absolute numbers
may
go up, but his percentlocas of the total could well go down.
The U.S. has a problem. Even if Kostunica were to win the Presidential
vote, the government is controlled by Parliament, and Parliament is
solidly
in the hands of the Governing coalition. Therefore the US is using its
"democratic" opposition to try and destabilize the situation and bring
the
government down.
Djindjic Attacks Official Returns, Followed by Kostunica
At approximately 3:00 Eastern U.S. time Democratic Party leader Zoran
Djindjic publicly attacked the Election Commission returns, claiming
they
were false. He provided no evidence. This is consistent, of course.
Prior
to the elections, Djindjic and the State Department and Robin Cook and
every Western newsman assured us that Milosevich would "steal" the
elections, but never indicated how, so why provide evidence now that
"the
deed has been done"?
Djindjic said his coalition would demand to see the official returns
and
"compare them with ours, one by one if necessary" and that they would
reject a runoff because "we will respect the result that was registered
on
September 24." ('Reuters, 9-26-2000, 3.08 PM)
An hour later, the official candidate of the "democratic" coalition
spoke
up. Vojislav Kostunica followed Djindjic's lead, echoing the charges of
fraud and the refusal to participate in the runoff. ('Reuters,
9-26-2000,
4.10 PM)
Kostunica was picked to be the "democratic" coalition's candidate
because
he had not been discredited (like Mr. Djindjic) as an agent of the U.S.
government. But as we have pointed out, (2) Kostunica's character is not
the issue because Kostunica is not the master of his fate. He relies on
the
DOS coalition and various "democratic" organizations, like the Group of
17
economists. They in turn rely on the U.S. government. How can Kostunica
buck these forces? They have the U.S. money; they have the
organizations;
and they have the media. He has Kostunica and a tiny political party.
The Golden Rule: He Who Has the Gold Makes The Rules
The U.S. has given tens of millions of dollars to the "democratic"
opposition. Kostunica says he has taken none of this money. If this is
true, then Zoran Djindjic and the other "independent" democrats are
getting
it all. Djindjic has an organization able to smuggle cash across the
border
("in suitcases" according to the N.Y. Times) (1) And the G-17
economists, a
leading component of the US-funded opposition, has the ties to the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
So Zoran Djindjic speaks at 3pm and Vojislav Kostunica echoes him at 4.
There you have it: a small example but one that reflects the true
relation
of forces. Whatever Mr. Kostunica really is, whatever he really wants,
whatever he has convinced himself he is doing, he is only the tail. The
dog
is Zoran Djindjic, the G-17 economists, Vesna Pesic, Radio B292 and the
rest of the independent democratic civil society peace activist
opposition,
and they all work for the USA
(1) Here is the quote from the 'NY Times' on how "democratic"
opposition
money gets into Yugoslavia:
"The money from the West is going to most of the institutions
that the government attacks for receiving it - sometimes in
direct aid, sometimes in indirect aid like computers and
broadcasting equipment, and sometimes in suitcases of cash
carried across the border between Yugoslavia and Hungary
or Serbia and Montenegro. Most of those organizations and
news media could not exist without foreign aid."
('N.Y. Times', 9-20-2000.
For the complete 'N.Y. Times' story and a commentary from Emperor's
Clothes, see "'NY Times' Confirms Charge: U.S. Gov't Meddles in
Yugoslavia"
at http://emperors-clothes.com/news/erlang.htm
(2) See 'US ARROGANCE AND YUGSOLASV ELECTIONS' at
http://emperors-clothes.com/engl.htm
---
NATO Game-Plan: Destabilize Yugoslavia
by George Szamuely (9-27-2000)
It is entirely appropriate that US policymakers, their British parrots,
and
assorted NATO toadies are already debating the future course of
Yugoslavia.
Having first denounced last Sunday's elections as totally meaningless
since
they would inevitably be "stolen" by President Slobodan Milosevic, they
then turned around and decided, before any results had been announced,
that
Vojislav Kostunica had won outright on the first ballot. So much then
for
Milosevic's chicanery. NATO's high-fives at the election results are
reminiscent of the inane rejoicing that followed the end of the Kosovo
bombing last year. It had taken 11 weeks to defeat a tiny power like
Yugoslavia. And even then it was NATO that had to make the concessions,
not
Milosevic. Yet the Brits and the Americans celebrated, as if it were
VE-Day
all over again. The election results show a far from convincing win in
the
first round of voting for Kostunica, as well as a victory for the
Government coalition in the Yugoslav parliament. NATO claims
vindication.
But if it has indeed "won"-and this is by no means clear-then it is only
after a massive and unprecedented effort at
intimidation. The Serbs were first bribed to vote the "right" way-thus
the
proverbial "carrot". And if that failed to do the trick, there was the
threat of military action-the "stick".
It is hard to take any elections seriously under such circumstances.
How
can you cast a vote for the candidate of your choice if there is a
chance
of cruise missiles blowing up your home if you vote the "wrong" way? The
best NATO can boast is that it avoided total humiliation. Incidentally,
it
is meaningless to talk of NATO any longer-today it is nothing more than
an
echo chamber for yapping Pentagon and State Department officials, and
their
fierce little pups in London. Here is the glorious record of NATO
heroism:
$75 million from Washington to bankroll the Yugoslav opposition.
Millions
more to aid municipalities deemed not under Milosevic's control.
Millions
to line Montenegrin President Milo Djuakonovic's pockets. US and EU
promises to lift sanctions if Milosevic is voted out. Then there are the
threats: Any result other than a defeat for Milosevic will be considered
by
Washington to be the product of fraud. The US reserves the right to
intervene to prevent such a calamity.
Today, the United States is demanding that Milosevic steps down, even
though the Yugoslav Federal Electoral Commission is saying that
Kostunica
did not receive 50 percent of the vote. The US Government is accepting
without question the claims of the Democratic Opposition that Kostunica
won
55 percent to Milosevic's 35 percent. Yet these figures are not based on
any vote count, but on the reports of opposition poll watchers-hardly a
disinterested bunch of observers. There were no American observers at
the
polls. The Russians were there. They claim they witnessed no election
irregularities. Clearly, the orders emanating from Washington, and
relayed
through Budapest, is that the "opposition" take to the streets and
demand
Milosevic's resignation. Such protests could well elicit a violent
response. This, in turn, could be seized on by the United States as a
threat to the region, justifying military intervention. Alternatively,
the
"opposition" may be encouraged to boycott a run-off and establish a
Government in exile-perhaps in Podgorica. Such a Government would enjoy
diplomatic recognition and would in due course, act as a NATO stooge
urging
an invasion of Yugoslavia to remove the "illegitimate" Government in
Belgrade.
In the meantime, military threats are increasing. "We...need to make
sure
that Milosevic understands there is very substantial capacity in the
region"-thus British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook Britain has 15
warships
in the Mediterranean near Yugoslavia operating in two training groups.
They
are manned by 5,000 sailors, Royal Marines and aircrew. They include the
aircraft carrier Invincible, which carries Harrier jump-jet fighters,
the
destroyer HMS Liverpool, helicopter assault ship HMS Ocean, the
amphibious
assault ship HMS Fearless and 10 more ships including minesweepers, a
tanker, a store ship and Northumberland, a type-23 frigate. US and Croat
forces are holding joint naval exercises 150 miles northwest of
Montenegro.
They include a simulated Marine landing on an island in the Adriatic
Sea.
On September 28, Romania and Bulgaria are planning a joint exercise at
the
Romanian Danube port of Turnu Magurele. The plan includes the
construction
of a pontoon bridge across the Danube and the evacuation of the local
population.
On Monday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill authorizing
$500
million in financial aid for opposition groups in Yugoslavia. $500
million
is a huge amount of money in a country as small, impoverished and as
burdened by economic sanctions as Yugoslavia. Funds of this magnitude
cannot but corrupt the most virtuous of nations. Remember, this is a
Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which normally protests
foreign aid, debt relief, and handouts in general.
It is not hard to imagine what the future holds in store for
Yugoslavia.
Suppose the United States gets what it wants. Slobodan Milosevic steps
aside and Kostunica takes over. There is a peaceful transition, and both
the United States and the European Union lift sanctions as promised. In
no
time at all, the United States will demand the surrender of Milosevic to
The Hague. Indeed, it will be an election issue, with George W. Bush
baiting the Clinton Administration for being insufficiently zealous in
its
pursuit of Milosevic. Kostunica will probably refuse these demands. Soon
the media will fall into lockstep parroting the line that as long as
Milosevic is residing in Belgrade, he is the one who is really running
the
show. Every day journalists will be informing us that Kostunica is
nothing
more than Milosevic's puppet. Congress will then vote to cut off all
further funds to Yugoslavia. The EU will follow suit. At that point,
US-financed demonstrations will take place in Belgrade and other major
cities. The protesters will demand that Milosevic be handed over to the
Tribunal. If the US gets lucky, there will be some violence. At that
point,
Washington will summon Kostunica and tell him that he is jeopardizing
Balkan stability. If he wants to stay in power, he will have to play
ball
with the United States. Milosevic must be handed over. The Rambouillet
Accords will be put back on the table, along with Appendix B and the
referendum on Kosovo independence. And while we are at it, Vojvodina
will
have to be offered a "special" status.
One thing is for sure, the United States will not simply permit
Yugoslavia
to walk away and happily enjoy the prestige that comes from having
defied
the world's greatest powers for over 10 years. Yugoslavia will be made
to
pay.
www.tenc.net [Emperor's Clothes]
---
Despite all, many stay true to Milosevic
By LUTZ KLEVEMAN
PRISTINA, YUGOSLAVIA
Wednesday 27 September 2000
The many bars and cafes along the main road in Mitrovica, a drab
industrial
town in the north of Kosovo, were packed on Monday night with bearded
Serbs
watching the evening news from Belgrade. Many nodded in sombre
satisfaction
when the newsreader on RTS state television reported "a clear lead" for
President Slobodan Milosevic midway through the vote-counting. Mr
Milosevic may have sent their sons into four deadly wars, impoverished
them, beaten them and taken them hostage in an isolated pariah state,
but
that is not how millions of Serbs see his 13-year rule. Random exit
polls
in the "other" Serbia outside the opposition stronghold, Belgrade,
showed
widespread support for the Serb strongman, casting doubts on Western
beliefs that put Mr Milosevic's popularity down solely to propaganda and
fear.
"Of course I voted for Milosevic because he defends the freedom of our
country," said one voter leaving a polling station. The villain in the
people's mind is NATO, not Mr Milosevic. While the nationalist frenzy of
the early 1990s might be abating, Serbs are still deeply divided between
Western-oriented, mostly urban, democratic reformers and strong Slavic
do-it-alone patriots.
Members of the first camp feel that by bombing the country and imposing
economic sanctions, the West has not made life easier for them. "Nothing
has helped Milosevic and hurt the chances for democracy in Serbia more
than
the bombing," said Milan Samardzic, a student activist. Alexander Mitic,
a
Belgrade-based journalist, explained: "The experiences of the last 10
years, the wars and the poverty, have made Serbs a very fearful people.
They cling on to whatever seems a certainty - including Milosevic."
Serbs have become obsessed with even the most outlandish conspiracy
theories. A front-page story in one tabloid blamed Yugoslavia's
unusually
hot summer on NATO planes blowing away clouds with laser rays to torture
the population. The issue was sold out within hours. Even most Serbs in
Kosovo, who have felt the disastrous consequences of Mr Milosevic's
policies most painfully, still support him. Father Sava Janjic of the
Gracanica Monastery recalled: "He appeared like a savior to the Serbs in
Kosovo - and he still does, despite all."
-TELEGRAPH- Copyright © The Age Company Ltd 2000
******************************************************************
"The hardest problem to resolve may be Kosovo.
Mr. Kostunica will not find it easy to get his fellow Serbs to
accept independence for Kosovo -- yet the Albanians will settle
for nothing else. The key is to offer the Serbs territorial
compensation for the loss of Kosovo, and that means looking in a
wider Balkan context at the international borders that have not
won acceptance, and negotiating territorial adjustments to
achieve Balkan-wide stability."
September 26, 2000 - The Wall Street Journal
Yugoslavia After Milosevic
By David Owen.
The wisest course for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries
to
take in the immediate aftermath of the Yugoslav presidential elections
would be to refrain from pontificating and gesturing. If past form
serves
as a guide, such actions only make it more difficult for the Serbian
people
to bring about an end to the Milosevic regime. Instead, the West should
allow Vojislav Kostunica, the undoubted winner, to guide them on his
post-election strategy.
In Mr. Kostunica, at long last, we have a credible Serb leader. He is
too
nationalistic, inevitably, but was fortunately never a Communist. We
must
givehim the political leeway he needs to heal political wounds and bind
Serbia together.
Early today, the Milosevic government will go through the charade of
announcing the election
results, and the West will be certain to condemnthe inevitable rigging
of
the ballot. But the reactions of the Serbian people, and the strategies
they adoptin their struggle to oust Mr. Milosevic, are likely to be less
predictable.
The key, in the next few days and weeks, will be the loyaltiesof the
armed
forces, which could be broken by prolonged peaceful demonstrations. But
the
police force, which has been turned into a paramilitary body by Mr.
Milosevic, is unlikely to bend to demonstrators. They have been singled
out
by Mr. Milosevic for special treatment for more than a decade, and are
relatively well-paid and well-equipped. I would expect them to stay
loyal
to Mr. Milosevic. I fear they will, as usual, try to engender panic by
savagely attacking some demonstrators. A lot will depend on whether they
show more restraint than has hitherto been their wont.
Two months ago, Mr. Milosevic changed the constitution to have direct
elections for the Yugoslav presidency, scrapping the previous system of
indirect elections by the federal parliament.
He expected the opposition to remain divided. But he miscalculated, and
the
17 opposition parties came together to support Mr. Kostunica. The
Montenegrin government decided to boycott the election, leaving the
result
to be determined by Serbs, whether in Montenegro or in Serbia itself. In
United Nations-administered Kosovo, polling stations for the election
were
open, but there were few Serbs left to vote. The truth inYugoslavia for
many years has been that it doesn't matter who votes, but rather, who
counts the votes.
Why did the Milosevic regime highlight the constitutional provision that
a
new president would only take office next summer? It is almost certain
that
Mr. Milosevic considered the possibility that he might be defeated by
such
a large margin that even he would not be able to escape its message. In
such circumstances, it would be typical of him to aim to stay on for
another nine months in the belief that he could broker a graceful exit.
Mr. Milosevic is at his most inventive when cornered. He is, after all,
the
man who went to war with NATO well aware that all he could expect to do
was
to negotiate after a period of fighting. He knew the Yugoslav forces
could
not win, but he also knew that the Serb parliament would never have
accepted the terms of the Rambouillet accord.
The fact that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright advised President
Clinton that Mr. Milosevic would fold after a few days of bombing was a
testament to how little she understood Serbian intransigence. After 98
days
of bombing, Mr. Clinton negotiated a settlement with Russian involvement
under which -- in contrast to Rambouillet -- the U.N., not NATO,
administered Kosovo. Furthermore, NATO troops did not enter Kosovo
through
Serbia, and the provisions on returning indicted war criminals were
toned
down. Many of the Serb tank commanders rolled out of Kosovo still eager
to
have a go at NATO, but Mr. Milosevic judged it was better to keep his
armed
forces virtually intact. We in NATO were spared any casualties.
Apart from former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, I have probably spent
more hours negotiating with Mr. Milosevic than any other Western
politician. Everything is negotiable, but he will provoke a civil war
rather than end up facing trial for war crimes in The Hague.
I suspect that it will take all of Mr. Clinton's renowned political
instincts to script an exit for Mr. Milosevic, one in which a civil war
is
avoided in Montenegro, or in Serbia itself. The Serb president will
cling
to office like a limpet. Mr. Clinton would be well advised to consult
closely with Vladimir Putin. Moscow knows the Serb mindset far better
than
Washington.
The outlines of a settlement are not hard to discern. Mr. Milosevic has
to
accept that Mr. Kostunica has won the election, and that the latter must
become president soon. Mr. Kostunica has already said he will not send
Mr.
Milosevic to The Hague, and the West should have enough common sense not
to
push him on this point.
That does not require the Hague court to grant an amnesty, but it would
mean that NATO countries would refrain from applying sanctions against
the
Kostunica government if it were to allow Mr. Milosevic to stay on
Yugoslav
territory without being arrested. Perhaps the best solution would be for
Mr. Milosevic to be sent as Ambassador to the Yugoslav embassy in
Beijing.
China would not object.
In view of the massacre at Srebrenica, for which he bears personal
responsibility, I cannot see how the West can avoid demanding that Gen.
Ratko Mladic be sent to The Hague. Gen. Mladic, a hero of the Serbian
armed
forces, lives quite openly in Belgrade, and has been seen attending
soccer
matches in the city. His extradition would prove deeply unpopular with
the
army, so we may have to acquiesce in the existing head of the Yugoslav
armed forces, Gen. Nebojsa Pavkovic, being spared an international
trial.
Loud objections will be heard, of course, which assert that any
settlement
that does not involve Mr. Milosevic's head would be a sell-out. Yet the
price of peace in the Balkans may well be that high, though like most
people, it sticks in my gullet that Mr. Milosevic might escape trial.
Recovery could be quite quick in a new Yugoslavia, provided the West
really
does help in its reconstruction and that Mr. Milosevic does not
destabilize
the country. The hardest problem to resolve may be Kosovo. Mr. Kostunica
will not find it easy to get his fellow Serbs to accept independence for
Kosovo - yet the Albanians will settle for nothing else. The key is to
offer the Serbs territorial compensation for the loss of Kosovo, and
that
means looking in a wider Balkan context at the international borders
that
have not won acceptance, and negotiating territorial adjustments to
achieve
Balkan-wide stability.
(Lord Owen has served as Britain's foreign secretary and as the European
Union's peace envoy to Yugoslavia.)
---
"From the Clinton administration's point of view, the trouble
with Kostunica is precisely that he does appear to accurately
express the democratic aspirations of the Serbian people.
The only trouble is that they are not the aspirations that the
Clinton administration would like them to be."
Is that the reason Clinton Administration is doing everything to
save http://www.egroups.com/message/sorabia/8800 it's silent
partner who lost elections?
Or because Mr. Kostunica translated "The Federalist Papers"
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/federal/fed.htm into Serbian?
-----------------------------------------------------------
September 25, 2000
Analysis:
KOSTUNICA NOT CLINTON ADMINISTRATION MAN
By MARTIN SIEFF, UPI senior news analyst
UPI ANALYSIS Vojislav Kostunica's claimed success in the first
Round of the Yugoslav presidential election Sunday was an unpleasant
shock to both incumbent Slobodan Milosevic and the Clinton
administration, which is trying to topple him.
Kostunica's alliance of 18 opposition parties claimed Monday that he
was leading Milosevic - Serbia's ruler for the past 13 years - by a
landslide margin of 17 percent, 53 percent to 36 percent, across the
mountainous nation of 23 million people. Even his rivals, the
ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party, put him ahead by almost the
same margin, 53.5 percent to 37.9 percent.
Kostunica is the joker in the pack of Balkan politics. He is the far
from charismatic, unfashionable candidate whom neither Milosevic nor
the U.S. government took seriously at first and whose popularity
neither of them was prepared for.Milosevic was convinced that the
democratic opposition fostered by the U.S. government was so fractious,
disorganized and argumentative that no one in his country would take
them seriously. He was right.Milosevic also calculated that the
opposition activists favored by the Clinton administration would be
seen by most of the Serbian people as either traitors or nave puppets
of Washington who would sell their country into the hands of
the United States and its allies. These countries, in Serb eyes,
had showed their true colors by bombing Yugoslavia into submission last
year, Milosevic believed. He was right about that, too.
But what Milosevic never counted on was the challenge of an opponent
who would demand an end to confrontation with the West but also
condemn the NATO bombing of his country last year and the subsequent
occupation of Kosovo province by NATO forces to Milosevic's
ethnic-cleansing forces there.
Kostunica, a 56-year-old law professor at Belgrade University, did
All of that. And in so doing, he removed the only trump card Milosevic
had left to attract any genuine popular support -- the argument that he
and only he stood between the people of Serbia and the dissolution of
their state.
But Kostunica's rise has proven to be far from welcome to the Clinton
administration, especially to Secretary of State Madeleine K.
Albright.Albright has spearheaded the efforts to make an example of
Milosevic by having him handed over to the International Court of
Justice in The Hague, capital of the Netherlands, and tried there as a
war criminal. But Kostunica implacably opposes having Milosevic or any
other prominent Serb tried as a war criminal, no matter how terrible was
their conduct during the last nine years of conflict in the Fragmented
former communist federal state. He also regularly denounces the NATO
bombing of Yugoslavia last year as "criminal." And he flatly opposes
granting Kosovo province, with its more than 90 percent Albanian Muslim
majority, any independence from Orthodox Christian Serbia.
In many respects, if Kostunica does win, he will present the Clinton
administration - or its successor, whether Vice President Al Gore or
Texas Gov. George W Bush - with a far trickier problem than
Milosevic does.
U.S. leaders - Republican and Democrat alike - are now used to
attacking Milosevic as, if not a Hitler, then at least a Saddam
Hussein figure. They have made clear they hope that a pro-American
opposition candidate will eventually succeed him and agreed to
U.S.-mediated solutions to Bosnia and Kosovo.
But Kostunica is not pro-American.* He is as virulent a critic of
recent U.S. policies as Milosevic himself. And he has said he is
determined to not to give an inch on the Kosovo issue. Yet he had
nothing to do with Serbian ethnic-cleansing activities in Kosovo or
any previous acts of aggression, mass murder or ethnic-cleansing in
the 1991-95 Bosnia conflict.
He even opposes the operation of the ICJ in The Hague that U.S.
officials now believe is essential to serve as a deterrent to any
future European leaders who might contemplate such massive state
crimes.
>From Washington's point of view, a Kostunica victory would leave
Serbia under the control of a tough, implacable nationalist for
another political cycle and many more years to come.
It would derail U.S. hopes of negotiating a broad settlement to
Yugoslav issues on Washington's terms. And it would even remove
whatever optimism remained before that Milosevic was the only
obstacle to the desired U.S. outcome because he was standing in
the way of the democratic aspirations of his own people.
>From the Clinton administration's point of view, the trouble with
Kostunica is precisely that he does appear to accurately express the
democratic aspirations of the Serbian people.
The only trouble is that they are not the aspirations that the
Clinton administration would like them to be.
/fair use only/
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
* Impede the civil war which is being instigated by Kostunica and the
West (International Leninist Current)
* U.S./NATO STEAL YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS (International Action Center)
* Early Election Results: Big Defeat for U.S. Fifth Column Tactics
(Jared Israel)
* NATO Game-Plan: Destabilize Yugoslavia (George Szamuely)
* Pristina: Despite all, many stay true to Milosevic (L. Kleveman)
GRAVE IMBARAZZO NELLA NATO PER IL DOPO-ELEZIONI: KOSTUNICA E' PIU'
NAZIONALISTA DI MILOSEVIC, SE VINCE PER DAVVERO COME FACCIAMO A SPACCARE
LA FEDERAZIONE?
* Yugoslavia After Milosevic (LORD DAVID OWEN)
* KOSTUNICA NOT CLINTON ADMINISTRATION MAN (MARTIN SIEFF, UPI)
---
I BROGLI ELETTORALI VERI SONNO AVVENUTI NELLA
REPUBBLICA EX-JUGOSLAVIA DI MACEDONIA (FYROM),
ED INFATTI NESSUN GIORNALE NE PARLA.
La scorsa domenica 24/9, mentre nella vicina RF di Jugoslavia si
tenevano le elezioni, nella FYROM si sono nuovamente svolte le
consultazioni amministrative. Gia' contestate per la maniera in cui si
erano svolte due settimane prima, nella loro seconda tornata queste
consultazioni sono state nuovamente viziate da irregolarita' e brogli
evidenti, denunciati anche dagli osservatori dell'OSCE che pure hanno
dichiarato che l'atmosfera e' stata "un po' migliore" di quella
dell'occasione precedente, perche' stavolta non ci sarebbero stati
episodi di violenza...
Notoriamente pero' i mezzi di dis/informazione dei paesi occidentali
e la NATO in particolare non prestano attenzione ai brogli, alle
violenze, alle intimidazioni ed alle irregolarita' reali, preferendo
concentrarsi su quelle presunte che, a detta loro, avverrebbero in certi
paesi, ostili alle magnifiche sorti e progressive della globalizzazione
imperialista. Tra questi paesi c'e' anche la Repubblica Federale di
Jugoslavia, che UE e NATO non sono ancora riusciti a comprare, e cercano
allora di distruggere squartandola nelle sue residue componenti: Kosovo,
Montenegro, Vojvodina.
Pertanto, le nostre democraticissime anime belle non levano ne'
leveranno mai alcuna voce critica sul modo in cui le destre di governo
della FYROM - nazionalisti filobulgari, che controllano soprattutto la
parte orientale del paese, e mafiosi irredentisti pan-albanesi, che
controllano la parte occidentale -, ampiamente foraggiate proprio dalla
NATO, e gia' responsabili di brogli alle ultime elezioni politiche e
presidenziali, stanno devastando ogni prerogativa di democrazia nel
paese. D'altronde, l'attuale presidente Boris Trajkovski, anche in
qualita' di capo delle Forze armate, ha dichiarato il suo appoggio alla
entrata del paese nella NATO: il "Programma nazionale " del governo
macedone affermerebbe espicitamente le stesse intenzioni ("PROGRAM FOR
NATO MEMBERSHIP-CONFIRMATION OF MACEDONIA'S DETERMINATION", Fonte:
Macedonian Information Agency, 26.9.00).
Ecco perche' la NATO non solo non parla dei brogli nella FYROM, ma
viceversa li sollecita e li sostiene, cosi' come ha gia' fatto in
precedenza in Bosnia (nel 1996 i votanti hanno ampiamente superato il
100% degli aventi diritto), in Albania (per consentire l'ascesa di
Berisha al potere), in Montenegro (in occasione della elezione di
Djukanovic), In Ucraina (per le presidenziali all'inizio del 2000),
insomma in tutti i paesi dell'Europa centro-orientale che hanno bisogno
di una "spintarella" verso la svolta liberista ed atlantista. Non a caso
tali svolte sono sempre attuate dalle classi politiche piu'
nazionaliste, reazionarie, e sempre legate alla criminalita' mafiosa.
Italo Slavo
---
Subject: Impede the civil war which is being instigated by
Kostunica and the West
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 02:59:42 +0200
From: "ILC" <ilc@...>
The election campaign in Yugoslavia was accompanied by massive
interferences
of the West. They not only supported the opposition with a tremendous
amount
of money, promised the lifting of the vicious sanctions in case their
candidate will win, conducted a powerful media campaign around the globe
but
also exercised military threats against Yugoslavia by holding manoeuvres
in
Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria as well a deploying their navy to the
Adriatic
sea – let alone the political, economic and military aggression of the
past
ten years with the aim to destroy the resistance of the Yugoslavian and
Serbian people. In this sense and under these condition no free and fair
democratic election could be carried out.
We are not able to verify the correctness of the announced electoral
results, but what we indeed know is, that imperialism is manipulating
elections and organising frauds all around the world in order to keep
its
puppets in power. With its media machine they use to whitewash also the
most
notorious dictatorships like that of Fujimori in Peru. Therefore there
is no
reason to believe in the truth of their cries of fraud even more as
monitors
from all around the world (except the Nato aggressor counties) reported
the
elections to have been carried out without major irregularities.
The very fact that Kostunica and the bourgeois opposition is not willing
to
go to the second round of elections prove their fear of loosing them.
With
the support of their Western masters they have chosen to attack
boycotting
the elections, calling for a mass movement in the streets and for a
general
strike to bring down Milosevic. In this way they try to precipitate the
exhausted people into a bloody and fratricide civil war. Further
weakening
the country and its ability to resist to the New World Order a civil war
would be in the sole interest of imperialism and its local bourgeois
agents.
This shows the complicity of Kostunica with imperialism and Nato which
he
had been hiding behind a nationalist façade claiming to have been
against
the Nato war and in favour of the Serbian recuperation of Kosovo.
However,
his opposition block is composed of the most open and notorious Nato
puppets
like Djindjic. The real character of Kostunica has not only be
highlighted
by the paramount flow of finances for him but also by his advocacy and
support of the so-called G17 proposals that are nothing else than a
blueprint of the IMF, WTO and WB programme which will suck out the
country
in the same semi-colonial way as it is already taking place in Bulgaria
or
Russia. But even if Serbia will obey to the dictate of the New Order as
Kostunica is planning it this will not bring any help or relieve to the
Yugoslav masses shaken by the impact of the Western aggression. The goal
of
imperialism is to destroy Yugoslavia and Serbia as the main strategic
obstacle for their rule over and penetration into the Balkans.
It is true that Milosevic has led the country into a crisis. This is
expressed in the Dayton agreements (conceding big parts of Bosnia to
imperialism with the vane hope to therewith avoid a confrontation), in
the
corruption of the leading strata, in its enrichment by privatisations
and
last but not least in the dangerous confrontation of today: The
constitutional change in favour of a presidentialist system was a big
mistake and had to provoke the clash that could have been avoided by a
president elected by parliament. However, the social block in power
could
preserve Yugoslavia as an independent state opposed to the imperialist
New
World Order as well as some important social gains of the peasants,
workers
and the popular masses in general and the multinational character of the
society.
The clash between the bourgeois opposition and the governmental block of
SPS
is therefore at the same time both a confrontation between imperialism
and
an oppressed people as well as a class conflict. It is a continuation of
an
imperialist aggression already lasting for tens years but which could
not
reach its goal of the complete subjugation and destruction of Yugoslavia
and
Serbia – even not by the war of last year. The fact that Milosevic has
led
the struggle of the Yugoslav and Serbian masses into an impasse does not
change the progressive and anti-imperialist character of the popular
block
led by him.
The anti-imperialist, revolutionary and communist forces in Yugoslavia
and
around the world have to support those who:
· Impede the civil war being instigated by the Kostunica, the opposition
and
the West
· Defend the resistance and independence of Yugoslavia and Serbia
against
the Nato and its New World Order and strive for the full implementation
of
UN resolution 1244 and later the recuperation of Kosovo by Yugoslavia
· Stand for social justice and equality refusing the neo-liberal recipes
of
IMF, WTO and WB
· Secure the multinational character of Yugoslavia
while creating on this very base an independent popular movement.
Executive Committee of the ILC
Vienna, September 27, 2000
***************************************
International Leninist Current (ILC)
Corriente Leninista Internacional (CLI)
PF 23, A-1040 Wien, Austria
Tel & Fax +43 1 504 00 10
ilc@...
www.comports.com/ilc
www.antiimperialista.com
---
Subject: U.S./NATO STEAL YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 22:39:27 -0400
From: iacenter@...
U.S./NATO STEAL YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS--
Soft Money and Hard Threats
By Sara Flounders, Co-Director, International Action Center
September 27, 2000
On Sept. 26 the State Election Commission in Yugoslavia announced the
results of the Sept. 24 elections. The candidate backed by the U.S.
government and the European Union, Vojislav Kostunica, received 48
percent of the vote to President Slobodan Milosevic’s 40 percent.
Since neither candidate received more than 50 percent, a run-off
election has
been set for Oct. 8.
Kostunica’s immediate reaction was to reject participation in a run-off
election and demand that Milosevic concede defeat. Bill Clinton,
Britain’s
Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and other NATO leaders who bombed
Yugoslavia in 1999 also demanded Milosevic concede.
The first point for the whole international movement that opposed NATO
war against Yugoslavia to keep in mind is that the Yugoslav elections
were
not “free and fair.” Imperialism stole the election through its blatant
pressure,
bribery and interference.
The elections raise a vital question. Will Yugoslavia be turned over to
the
Western banks and corporations? Will the assets of industrial
enterprises be
broken up and sold off, as they have been in every other country in
Eastern
Europe, Russia and the former Soviet Republics? Will the majority of the
population be relegated to living below the poverty line?
The Sept. 24 elections involved three layers of voting. Besides the
presidential vote, there were also municipal elections, in which the
U.S.-
backed opposition won many cities and towns.
There was also an election for the Yugoslav Federal Parliament. The
coalition
of the United Left, the Socialist Party and the SP’s sister party in
Montenegro won a strong majority of both houses. In Montenegro it was
unopposed, as the pro-Western government abstained from the election.
Under Yugoslav law, Parliament has more rights than the president and
directs the government, electing the prime minister.
But a setback for Milosevic in the presidential election puts more at
risk than
the future of one individual. He was the main target of the war carried
out by
U.S. and NATO—the imperialist world powers—and because of that he has
come to symbolize Yugoslav resistance. In addition, he was at the center
of
the coalition of forces that led Yugoslavia during the 78 days of
bombing.
All the social gains of an independent country that had broken free of
imperialist enslavement and held out during years of encirclement and
war
are now endangered.
WESTERN INTERFERENCE DISTORTED ELECTION
In this election the U.S. and European Union governments used every
possible dirty trick, corrupt practice and payoff, and then bragged
about
them. Threats of bombing, promises to end nine years of sanctions,
intimidation and military maneuvers heightened the tension.
On election day the Pentagon and Croatia held their largest joint
military
exercises ever--a joint landing on an island in the Adriatic near
Montenegro,
part of Yugoslavia, to simulate an invasion. Fifteen British war ships
have
now moved into the Mediterranean. A U.S. aircraft carrier in the
Adriatic Sea
has moved closer to Montenegro.
The major media here—the New York Times on Sept. 20 and the Washington
Post on Sept. 19--have described in detail the exact amounts funneled
into
the opposition parties, radio and TV stations and newspapers. The U.S.
Congress publicly voted on $77 million in open interference. Then on
Sept.
25, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to send another $105
million to aid anti-Milosevic forces in Serbia and Montenegro.
These articles describe suitcases of cash handed over at the border,
endless
supplies of computers, fax machines, cell phones and the trainers to use
them. These goods have been passed to the opposition through front
organizations, NGOs and media outlets.
Weeks before the election, Western-funded polling organizations
announced
that Kostunica would win a sweeping victory. For the West’s media
monopoly beaming into Yugoslavia, there were only two options. Either
Milosevic would lose or there would be massive fraud.
The U.S. State Department announced that even if Milosevic won by
overwhelming odds, Washington would refuse to accept the results.
HOW SHOULD MOVEMENT EVALUATE THESE EVENTS?
Those who opposed NATO bombing in 1999 and all the militant activists
who have taken on the International Monetary Fund, World Bank,
globalization and sweatshops have a stake in what happens next in
Yugoslavia.
Are they ready to stand in solidarity with whatever steps are necessary
to
keep another country from being forced under the boot of the IMF and
World Bank?
Washington, London, Paris and Berlin have openly intervened and bragged
of it. In the face of these admissions, those in office in Yugoslavia
have
every right to void the elections and disqualify the opposition.
In the United States, France, Britain or Germany, would such an election
have
been allowed to continue? In the United States no political organization
is
permitted to accept funds from another government for political purposes
unless it publicly registers as an agent of a foreign power. The U.S.
ruling
class is determined that only it should control the electoral process.
Any U.S. politician found accepting contributions, bribes or payments of
any
kind from a foreign government is disgraced, attacked and could face
criminal
indictment.
Just the allegation that the Clinton administration accepted a
contribution
from an ethnically Chinese businessperson who might have had contact
with
China sent every politician running for cover.
CORRUPTION AND TREASON
It is important to recognize that the Yugoslav government has the moral
right
to nullify this election on the basis of outrageous outside
interference. It has
every right to refuse to proceed with further elections under conditions
of
war, sanctions and occupation.
The Parliament has every right to establish a criminal inquiry into the
funding
sources of the opposition. Government prosecutors have every right to
indict and jail the politicians and publications that have corrupted the
election process.
The masses have every right to go into the streets and denounce the
opposition parties and publications as agents of a foreign power.
Kostunica, until now a minor politician considered a Serb nationalist
with a
long history of anti-Communism, consistently maintains that he has not
accepted any money from the West. He has even criticized the NATO
bombing and sanctions. No Yugoslav politician could win significant
votes if
seen as a NATO stooge.
It may be true that he personally has not pocketed any money. But
Kostunica has surrounded himself with political parties and
organizations
that are toadies to the NATO countries. His whole campaign has been
publicized by radio and television stations and newspapers wholly and
openly financed by grants from Washington and Berlin.
He is supported by the U.S. and European imperialist powers because his
political program, even if it criticizes NATO, embraces the very
policies that
NATO is demanding. He is the easiest of the politicians to make into a
pawn
because he has no personal base. He is the candidate of a bloc of 18
small
feuding political parties that have no common interests or ideology.
They are
united only by opposition to the government and their willingness to
accept
foreign funds.
U.S. ENGINEERED COUPS AND COUNTERREVOLUTIONS
The big U.S. monopolies and banks and Washington itself have never
accepted an election as “free and fair” if it put their class interests
in danger
or brought the masses onto the scene. Since the end of World War II the
U.S. has organized the overthrow of more than 50 governments.
In Chile in 1973 the CIA organized a military coup to drown the
progressive
legally elected government in blood. It did the same in Iran in 1953 and
in
Guatemala in 1954.
In 1990 the U.S. orchestrated the overthrow of the Sandinistas in
Nicaragua.
Washington had cobbled together a 20-party coalition whose only aim was
to overthrow the government and restore the old propertied class. It
promised to end the “Contra” war and sanctions and provide massive aid
if
the popular Sandinistas were defeated.
In this situation, much like the one today in Yugoslavia, Washington
succeeded in manipulating the election to drive out the Sandinistas. But
the
U.S. never came through with the aid, and now some of the lowest-paid
sweatshops in the world operate in the “Free Trade Zones” of Nicaragua.
‘FREE ELECTIONS’ IN A COUNTRY UNDER SIEGE?
Yugoslavia, like Nicaragua, illustrates the dangers of holding an
election in
the midst of an unrelenting war, sanctions and occupation of part of the
country by foreign armies. With their dominance of the world media, the
lure
of material goods, the bribes and the threat of further punishment,
these
powers were able to reach right into the country.
President Milosevic was trying to get a mandate by calling a vote when
the
opposition seemed divided, weak, discredited. But the imperialists
quickly
strengthened them using tactics refined over decades of interventions.
Yugoslavia, a small, beleaguered country maneuvering to survive, has
allowed dozens of openly pro-imperialist parties to maintain offices,
staff,
publish newspapers, organize and to participate in elections. These
concessions have only further emboldened the enemies of the Yugoslav
workers.
Even though the imperialists complained that they were not allowed to
monitor the elections, hundreds of foreigners did come in as election
observers and certified that they were “free and fair”--that the
government
honestly and legally abided by all election procedures. But this shifted
attention from the actual fraud taking place: the massive intervention
and
intimidation by imperialism.
The political opposition was allowed to engage in practically
unrestrained
acceptance of foreign assistance, advice and media hype. The whole
process
was corrupted by an army of Western advisors and pollsters.
WILL U.S./NATO FORCES SUCCEED?
Reports from election observers and even the big-business media show
there
is a hard core of working-class support for Milosevic from those who see
him
as a defender of the country against NATO. Even among those who naively
voted for Kostunica out of anger against Milosevic, there are many who
want to resist Western imperialism.
The question facing the Yugoslav masses now is will the Western
multinationals, on the basis of this election distorted by intervention,
be able
to capture the state apparatus and open the door to super-exploitation?
Will the enemy that failed to break Yugoslavia’s resistance with 78 days
of
bombing be able to take over by manipulation of an election--or will the
government be able to resist?
If the left organizations and patriotic parties in Yugoslavia resist,
will the
progressive and working-class and anti-war movements in the West defend
them against an inevitable propaganda blitz from the West and a possible
new military campaign?
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
One contribution to this effort could be a Commission of Inquiry to
examine
the corrupting role that the U.S. government, the European Union, their
NATO military arm and their international financial organizations played
in
the Yugoslav election.
This Inquiry could gather and publicize information on these
institutions’
efforts to subvert and overthrow the Yugoslav government. It could also
gather information on the open and secret funding of political parties,
organizations and publications by U.S. government agencies.
The Inquiry could deepen international understanding of Yugoslavia’s
problem by incorporating testimony and reports on U.S. intervention in
the
internal affairs of other governments. This would include the overthrow
of
other popular governments in Guatemala, Panama, Chile, Iran and
Indonesia
and also intervention in elections in Italy, Haiti, Nicaragua, Guyana
and
others.
Activists in other NATO countries could organize their own Commissions
of
Inquiry and public hearings to examine how this latest intervention
violated
their laws. Similar information came to light earlier when hearings and
tribunals in many countries put U.S. and NATO leaders on trial for war
crimes
against Yugoslavia.
The importance of international solidarity should never be
underestimated.
Yugoslavia must not stand alone.
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: iacenter@...
web: www.iacenter.org
CHECK OUT THE NEW SITE www.mumia2000.org
phone: 212 633-6646
fax: 212 633-2889
---
Early Election Results: Big Defeat for U.S. Fifth Column Tactics
by Jared Israel (9-26-2000)
Below we have reprinted the preliminary Election Commission returns, as
posted by Tanjug, the Yugoslav news agency. The amazing thing is that
despite every sort of meddling, the U.S. has failed to bring down the
Yugoslav government. Indeed, the government coalition now has a majority
in
both houses of Parliament, which governYugoslavia.
This election has been quite something. Everyone admits that the
"democratic" opposition is massively funded by US government agencies.
The
only difference between this funding and what the CIA used to do in the
1950s, 1960s and 1970s is that in this case some of the funding is
open.
But some of it is not so open, with money smuggled into Yugoslavia in
suitcases full of cash.(1)
The U.S. has subjected the Yugoslav people to the most extreme kind of
intimidation. The 6th fleet is off the shore of Croatia conducting
"maneuvers". Remember, Yugoslavia has been subjected to attacks by the
U.S. and its allies and proxy forces for ten years, including 78 days of
bombing. So the people have reason to be concerned about the 6th fleet.
While holding this military stick over Yugoslav heads, the West has
promised to lift sanctions and embrace Yugoslavia, if only the Yugoslavs
get rid of Milosevich. This is a false promise. Several recent articles
on
Emperor's Clothes ( www.tenc.net ) deal with the punitive treatment
Yugoslavia could expect if the US government gets its local agents in
power.
Today, the US House of Representatives voted to give the "independent
democratic" opposition $105 MILLION to continue what the U.S. press is
now
calling its "populist" struggle. Not bad. They get to be populists plus
millions of dollars to line their pockets because note that this money
is
not going to solve the problems of ordinary Yugoslavs, it is going to
reward "democratic" opposition organizations and individuals. It is
bribe
money. The U.S. Establishment likes to get something for its bribes, in
this case political control.
$105 million is a lot of money in Yugoslavia. First of all, it's a
small
country with 1/25th of the U.S. population. And it is very poor,
compared
to the U.S. $150 (US) a month is an OK salary in Yugoslavia; you can
live
on $150 about as well as someone making about $2000 in the U.S.
So to get an idea of the effect of $105 million in U.S. terms, multiply
by
25 (for population) and 13.333 (for salary.) This means that in
equivalent
US dollars, Congress just voted to pay $35 BILLION to the "independent"
opposition.
So the U.S. government is holding out a big (though entirely deceptive)
carrot and a big stick. What a spirit of resistance, that under these
circumstances the Yugoslavs would give a majority of seats in both
houses
of Parliament to the parties the U.S .wants them to dump. This spirit of
resistance is what the U.S. and Germany have been trying to destroy for
ten
long years. Indeed, Germany has been trying to break the Serbian spirit
for
a hundred years, if not more.
Parliamentary Returns
The most important elections are those for the two houses of
Parliament.
There, the Government Coalition of the Socialist Party, the JUL and
Montenegrin SNP have gained an absolute majority in Parliament.
Presidential Returns Give Kostunica a Plurality, Requiring a Runoff
Election
In the Presidential race, the Election Commission returns give both
Milosevich and Kostunica under 40 and 48% respectively. Since both are
under 50%, a run-off is required.
But a run-off would be bad for the DOS. Milosevich will most likely
fare
better in a run-off than he did in round one. Why? For one thing, he
will
get most of the Radical Party vote. More important, many of the more
nationalist Serbs didn't vote in round one because they didn't want to
vote
for Milosevich, but they will vote for him in round two because they see
Kostunica's coalition as tied to the U.S. Kostunica's absolute numbers
may
go up, but his percentlocas of the total could well go down.
The U.S. has a problem. Even if Kostunica were to win the Presidential
vote, the government is controlled by Parliament, and Parliament is
solidly
in the hands of the Governing coalition. Therefore the US is using its
"democratic" opposition to try and destabilize the situation and bring
the
government down.
Djindjic Attacks Official Returns, Followed by Kostunica
At approximately 3:00 Eastern U.S. time Democratic Party leader Zoran
Djindjic publicly attacked the Election Commission returns, claiming
they
were false. He provided no evidence. This is consistent, of course.
Prior
to the elections, Djindjic and the State Department and Robin Cook and
every Western newsman assured us that Milosevich would "steal" the
elections, but never indicated how, so why provide evidence now that
"the
deed has been done"?
Djindjic said his coalition would demand to see the official returns
and
"compare them with ours, one by one if necessary" and that they would
reject a runoff because "we will respect the result that was registered
on
September 24." ('Reuters, 9-26-2000, 3.08 PM)
An hour later, the official candidate of the "democratic" coalition
spoke
up. Vojislav Kostunica followed Djindjic's lead, echoing the charges of
fraud and the refusal to participate in the runoff. ('Reuters,
9-26-2000,
4.10 PM)
Kostunica was picked to be the "democratic" coalition's candidate
because
he had not been discredited (like Mr. Djindjic) as an agent of the U.S.
government. But as we have pointed out, (2) Kostunica's character is not
the issue because Kostunica is not the master of his fate. He relies on
the
DOS coalition and various "democratic" organizations, like the Group of
17
economists. They in turn rely on the U.S. government. How can Kostunica
buck these forces? They have the U.S. money; they have the
organizations;
and they have the media. He has Kostunica and a tiny political party.
The Golden Rule: He Who Has the Gold Makes The Rules
The U.S. has given tens of millions of dollars to the "democratic"
opposition. Kostunica says he has taken none of this money. If this is
true, then Zoran Djindjic and the other "independent" democrats are
getting
it all. Djindjic has an organization able to smuggle cash across the
border
("in suitcases" according to the N.Y. Times) (1) And the G-17
economists, a
leading component of the US-funded opposition, has the ties to the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
So Zoran Djindjic speaks at 3pm and Vojislav Kostunica echoes him at 4.
There you have it: a small example but one that reflects the true
relation
of forces. Whatever Mr. Kostunica really is, whatever he really wants,
whatever he has convinced himself he is doing, he is only the tail. The
dog
is Zoran Djindjic, the G-17 economists, Vesna Pesic, Radio B292 and the
rest of the independent democratic civil society peace activist
opposition,
and they all work for the USA
(1) Here is the quote from the 'NY Times' on how "democratic"
opposition
money gets into Yugoslavia:
"The money from the West is going to most of the institutions
that the government attacks for receiving it - sometimes in
direct aid, sometimes in indirect aid like computers and
broadcasting equipment, and sometimes in suitcases of cash
carried across the border between Yugoslavia and Hungary
or Serbia and Montenegro. Most of those organizations and
news media could not exist without foreign aid."
('N.Y. Times', 9-20-2000.
For the complete 'N.Y. Times' story and a commentary from Emperor's
Clothes, see "'NY Times' Confirms Charge: U.S. Gov't Meddles in
Yugoslavia"
at http://emperors-clothes.com/news/erlang.htm
(2) See 'US ARROGANCE AND YUGSOLASV ELECTIONS' at
http://emperors-clothes.com/engl.htm
---
NATO Game-Plan: Destabilize Yugoslavia
by George Szamuely (9-27-2000)
It is entirely appropriate that US policymakers, their British parrots,
and
assorted NATO toadies are already debating the future course of
Yugoslavia.
Having first denounced last Sunday's elections as totally meaningless
since
they would inevitably be "stolen" by President Slobodan Milosevic, they
then turned around and decided, before any results had been announced,
that
Vojislav Kostunica had won outright on the first ballot. So much then
for
Milosevic's chicanery. NATO's high-fives at the election results are
reminiscent of the inane rejoicing that followed the end of the Kosovo
bombing last year. It had taken 11 weeks to defeat a tiny power like
Yugoslavia. And even then it was NATO that had to make the concessions,
not
Milosevic. Yet the Brits and the Americans celebrated, as if it were
VE-Day
all over again. The election results show a far from convincing win in
the
first round of voting for Kostunica, as well as a victory for the
Government coalition in the Yugoslav parliament. NATO claims
vindication.
But if it has indeed "won"-and this is by no means clear-then it is only
after a massive and unprecedented effort at
intimidation. The Serbs were first bribed to vote the "right" way-thus
the
proverbial "carrot". And if that failed to do the trick, there was the
threat of military action-the "stick".
It is hard to take any elections seriously under such circumstances.
How
can you cast a vote for the candidate of your choice if there is a
chance
of cruise missiles blowing up your home if you vote the "wrong" way? The
best NATO can boast is that it avoided total humiliation. Incidentally,
it
is meaningless to talk of NATO any longer-today it is nothing more than
an
echo chamber for yapping Pentagon and State Department officials, and
their
fierce little pups in London. Here is the glorious record of NATO
heroism:
$75 million from Washington to bankroll the Yugoslav opposition.
Millions
more to aid municipalities deemed not under Milosevic's control.
Millions
to line Montenegrin President Milo Djuakonovic's pockets. US and EU
promises to lift sanctions if Milosevic is voted out. Then there are the
threats: Any result other than a defeat for Milosevic will be considered
by
Washington to be the product of fraud. The US reserves the right to
intervene to prevent such a calamity.
Today, the United States is demanding that Milosevic steps down, even
though the Yugoslav Federal Electoral Commission is saying that
Kostunica
did not receive 50 percent of the vote. The US Government is accepting
without question the claims of the Democratic Opposition that Kostunica
won
55 percent to Milosevic's 35 percent. Yet these figures are not based on
any vote count, but on the reports of opposition poll watchers-hardly a
disinterested bunch of observers. There were no American observers at
the
polls. The Russians were there. They claim they witnessed no election
irregularities. Clearly, the orders emanating from Washington, and
relayed
through Budapest, is that the "opposition" take to the streets and
demand
Milosevic's resignation. Such protests could well elicit a violent
response. This, in turn, could be seized on by the United States as a
threat to the region, justifying military intervention. Alternatively,
the
"opposition" may be encouraged to boycott a run-off and establish a
Government in exile-perhaps in Podgorica. Such a Government would enjoy
diplomatic recognition and would in due course, act as a NATO stooge
urging
an invasion of Yugoslavia to remove the "illegitimate" Government in
Belgrade.
In the meantime, military threats are increasing. "We...need to make
sure
that Milosevic understands there is very substantial capacity in the
region"-thus British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook Britain has 15
warships
in the Mediterranean near Yugoslavia operating in two training groups.
They
are manned by 5,000 sailors, Royal Marines and aircrew. They include the
aircraft carrier Invincible, which carries Harrier jump-jet fighters,
the
destroyer HMS Liverpool, helicopter assault ship HMS Ocean, the
amphibious
assault ship HMS Fearless and 10 more ships including minesweepers, a
tanker, a store ship and Northumberland, a type-23 frigate. US and Croat
forces are holding joint naval exercises 150 miles northwest of
Montenegro.
They include a simulated Marine landing on an island in the Adriatic
Sea.
On September 28, Romania and Bulgaria are planning a joint exercise at
the
Romanian Danube port of Turnu Magurele. The plan includes the
construction
of a pontoon bridge across the Danube and the evacuation of the local
population.
On Monday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill authorizing
$500
million in financial aid for opposition groups in Yugoslavia. $500
million
is a huge amount of money in a country as small, impoverished and as
burdened by economic sanctions as Yugoslavia. Funds of this magnitude
cannot but corrupt the most virtuous of nations. Remember, this is a
Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which normally protests
foreign aid, debt relief, and handouts in general.
It is not hard to imagine what the future holds in store for
Yugoslavia.
Suppose the United States gets what it wants. Slobodan Milosevic steps
aside and Kostunica takes over. There is a peaceful transition, and both
the United States and the European Union lift sanctions as promised. In
no
time at all, the United States will demand the surrender of Milosevic to
The Hague. Indeed, it will be an election issue, with George W. Bush
baiting the Clinton Administration for being insufficiently zealous in
its
pursuit of Milosevic. Kostunica will probably refuse these demands. Soon
the media will fall into lockstep parroting the line that as long as
Milosevic is residing in Belgrade, he is the one who is really running
the
show. Every day journalists will be informing us that Kostunica is
nothing
more than Milosevic's puppet. Congress will then vote to cut off all
further funds to Yugoslavia. The EU will follow suit. At that point,
US-financed demonstrations will take place in Belgrade and other major
cities. The protesters will demand that Milosevic be handed over to the
Tribunal. If the US gets lucky, there will be some violence. At that
point,
Washington will summon Kostunica and tell him that he is jeopardizing
Balkan stability. If he wants to stay in power, he will have to play
ball
with the United States. Milosevic must be handed over. The Rambouillet
Accords will be put back on the table, along with Appendix B and the
referendum on Kosovo independence. And while we are at it, Vojvodina
will
have to be offered a "special" status.
One thing is for sure, the United States will not simply permit
Yugoslavia
to walk away and happily enjoy the prestige that comes from having
defied
the world's greatest powers for over 10 years. Yugoslavia will be made
to
pay.
www.tenc.net [Emperor's Clothes]
---
Despite all, many stay true to Milosevic
By LUTZ KLEVEMAN
PRISTINA, YUGOSLAVIA
Wednesday 27 September 2000
The many bars and cafes along the main road in Mitrovica, a drab
industrial
town in the north of Kosovo, were packed on Monday night with bearded
Serbs
watching the evening news from Belgrade. Many nodded in sombre
satisfaction
when the newsreader on RTS state television reported "a clear lead" for
President Slobodan Milosevic midway through the vote-counting. Mr
Milosevic may have sent their sons into four deadly wars, impoverished
them, beaten them and taken them hostage in an isolated pariah state,
but
that is not how millions of Serbs see his 13-year rule. Random exit
polls
in the "other" Serbia outside the opposition stronghold, Belgrade,
showed
widespread support for the Serb strongman, casting doubts on Western
beliefs that put Mr Milosevic's popularity down solely to propaganda and
fear.
"Of course I voted for Milosevic because he defends the freedom of our
country," said one voter leaving a polling station. The villain in the
people's mind is NATO, not Mr Milosevic. While the nationalist frenzy of
the early 1990s might be abating, Serbs are still deeply divided between
Western-oriented, mostly urban, democratic reformers and strong Slavic
do-it-alone patriots.
Members of the first camp feel that by bombing the country and imposing
economic sanctions, the West has not made life easier for them. "Nothing
has helped Milosevic and hurt the chances for democracy in Serbia more
than
the bombing," said Milan Samardzic, a student activist. Alexander Mitic,
a
Belgrade-based journalist, explained: "The experiences of the last 10
years, the wars and the poverty, have made Serbs a very fearful people.
They cling on to whatever seems a certainty - including Milosevic."
Serbs have become obsessed with even the most outlandish conspiracy
theories. A front-page story in one tabloid blamed Yugoslavia's
unusually
hot summer on NATO planes blowing away clouds with laser rays to torture
the population. The issue was sold out within hours. Even most Serbs in
Kosovo, who have felt the disastrous consequences of Mr Milosevic's
policies most painfully, still support him. Father Sava Janjic of the
Gracanica Monastery recalled: "He appeared like a savior to the Serbs in
Kosovo - and he still does, despite all."
-TELEGRAPH- Copyright © The Age Company Ltd 2000
******************************************************************
"The hardest problem to resolve may be Kosovo.
Mr. Kostunica will not find it easy to get his fellow Serbs to
accept independence for Kosovo -- yet the Albanians will settle
for nothing else. The key is to offer the Serbs territorial
compensation for the loss of Kosovo, and that means looking in a
wider Balkan context at the international borders that have not
won acceptance, and negotiating territorial adjustments to
achieve Balkan-wide stability."
September 26, 2000 - The Wall Street Journal
Yugoslavia After Milosevic
By David Owen.
The wisest course for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries
to
take in the immediate aftermath of the Yugoslav presidential elections
would be to refrain from pontificating and gesturing. If past form
serves
as a guide, such actions only make it more difficult for the Serbian
people
to bring about an end to the Milosevic regime. Instead, the West should
allow Vojislav Kostunica, the undoubted winner, to guide them on his
post-election strategy.
In Mr. Kostunica, at long last, we have a credible Serb leader. He is
too
nationalistic, inevitably, but was fortunately never a Communist. We
must
givehim the political leeway he needs to heal political wounds and bind
Serbia together.
Early today, the Milosevic government will go through the charade of
announcing the election
results, and the West will be certain to condemnthe inevitable rigging
of
the ballot. But the reactions of the Serbian people, and the strategies
they adoptin their struggle to oust Mr. Milosevic, are likely to be less
predictable.
The key, in the next few days and weeks, will be the loyaltiesof the
armed
forces, which could be broken by prolonged peaceful demonstrations. But
the
police force, which has been turned into a paramilitary body by Mr.
Milosevic, is unlikely to bend to demonstrators. They have been singled
out
by Mr. Milosevic for special treatment for more than a decade, and are
relatively well-paid and well-equipped. I would expect them to stay
loyal
to Mr. Milosevic. I fear they will, as usual, try to engender panic by
savagely attacking some demonstrators. A lot will depend on whether they
show more restraint than has hitherto been their wont.
Two months ago, Mr. Milosevic changed the constitution to have direct
elections for the Yugoslav presidency, scrapping the previous system of
indirect elections by the federal parliament.
He expected the opposition to remain divided. But he miscalculated, and
the
17 opposition parties came together to support Mr. Kostunica. The
Montenegrin government decided to boycott the election, leaving the
result
to be determined by Serbs, whether in Montenegro or in Serbia itself. In
United Nations-administered Kosovo, polling stations for the election
were
open, but there were few Serbs left to vote. The truth inYugoslavia for
many years has been that it doesn't matter who votes, but rather, who
counts the votes.
Why did the Milosevic regime highlight the constitutional provision that
a
new president would only take office next summer? It is almost certain
that
Mr. Milosevic considered the possibility that he might be defeated by
such
a large margin that even he would not be able to escape its message. In
such circumstances, it would be typical of him to aim to stay on for
another nine months in the belief that he could broker a graceful exit.
Mr. Milosevic is at his most inventive when cornered. He is, after all,
the
man who went to war with NATO well aware that all he could expect to do
was
to negotiate after a period of fighting. He knew the Yugoslav forces
could
not win, but he also knew that the Serb parliament would never have
accepted the terms of the Rambouillet accord.
The fact that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright advised President
Clinton that Mr. Milosevic would fold after a few days of bombing was a
testament to how little she understood Serbian intransigence. After 98
days
of bombing, Mr. Clinton negotiated a settlement with Russian involvement
under which -- in contrast to Rambouillet -- the U.N., not NATO,
administered Kosovo. Furthermore, NATO troops did not enter Kosovo
through
Serbia, and the provisions on returning indicted war criminals were
toned
down. Many of the Serb tank commanders rolled out of Kosovo still eager
to
have a go at NATO, but Mr. Milosevic judged it was better to keep his
armed
forces virtually intact. We in NATO were spared any casualties.
Apart from former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, I have probably spent
more hours negotiating with Mr. Milosevic than any other Western
politician. Everything is negotiable, but he will provoke a civil war
rather than end up facing trial for war crimes in The Hague.
I suspect that it will take all of Mr. Clinton's renowned political
instincts to script an exit for Mr. Milosevic, one in which a civil war
is
avoided in Montenegro, or in Serbia itself. The Serb president will
cling
to office like a limpet. Mr. Clinton would be well advised to consult
closely with Vladimir Putin. Moscow knows the Serb mindset far better
than
Washington.
The outlines of a settlement are not hard to discern. Mr. Milosevic has
to
accept that Mr. Kostunica has won the election, and that the latter must
become president soon. Mr. Kostunica has already said he will not send
Mr.
Milosevic to The Hague, and the West should have enough common sense not
to
push him on this point.
That does not require the Hague court to grant an amnesty, but it would
mean that NATO countries would refrain from applying sanctions against
the
Kostunica government if it were to allow Mr. Milosevic to stay on
Yugoslav
territory without being arrested. Perhaps the best solution would be for
Mr. Milosevic to be sent as Ambassador to the Yugoslav embassy in
Beijing.
China would not object.
In view of the massacre at Srebrenica, for which he bears personal
responsibility, I cannot see how the West can avoid demanding that Gen.
Ratko Mladic be sent to The Hague. Gen. Mladic, a hero of the Serbian
armed
forces, lives quite openly in Belgrade, and has been seen attending
soccer
matches in the city. His extradition would prove deeply unpopular with
the
army, so we may have to acquiesce in the existing head of the Yugoslav
armed forces, Gen. Nebojsa Pavkovic, being spared an international
trial.
Loud objections will be heard, of course, which assert that any
settlement
that does not involve Mr. Milosevic's head would be a sell-out. Yet the
price of peace in the Balkans may well be that high, though like most
people, it sticks in my gullet that Mr. Milosevic might escape trial.
Recovery could be quite quick in a new Yugoslavia, provided the West
really
does help in its reconstruction and that Mr. Milosevic does not
destabilize
the country. The hardest problem to resolve may be Kosovo. Mr. Kostunica
will not find it easy to get his fellow Serbs to accept independence for
Kosovo - yet the Albanians will settle for nothing else. The key is to
offer the Serbs territorial compensation for the loss of Kosovo, and
that
means looking in a wider Balkan context at the international borders
that
have not won acceptance, and negotiating territorial adjustments to
achieve
Balkan-wide stability.
(Lord Owen has served as Britain's foreign secretary and as the European
Union's peace envoy to Yugoslavia.)
---
"From the Clinton administration's point of view, the trouble
with Kostunica is precisely that he does appear to accurately
express the democratic aspirations of the Serbian people.
The only trouble is that they are not the aspirations that the
Clinton administration would like them to be."
Is that the reason Clinton Administration is doing everything to
save http://www.egroups.com/message/sorabia/8800 it's silent
partner who lost elections?
Or because Mr. Kostunica translated "The Federalist Papers"
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/federal/fed.htm into Serbian?
-----------------------------------------------------------
September 25, 2000
Analysis:
KOSTUNICA NOT CLINTON ADMINISTRATION MAN
By MARTIN SIEFF, UPI senior news analyst
UPI ANALYSIS Vojislav Kostunica's claimed success in the first
Round of the Yugoslav presidential election Sunday was an unpleasant
shock to both incumbent Slobodan Milosevic and the Clinton
administration, which is trying to topple him.
Kostunica's alliance of 18 opposition parties claimed Monday that he
was leading Milosevic - Serbia's ruler for the past 13 years - by a
landslide margin of 17 percent, 53 percent to 36 percent, across the
mountainous nation of 23 million people. Even his rivals, the
ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party, put him ahead by almost the
same margin, 53.5 percent to 37.9 percent.
Kostunica is the joker in the pack of Balkan politics. He is the far
from charismatic, unfashionable candidate whom neither Milosevic nor
the U.S. government took seriously at first and whose popularity
neither of them was prepared for.Milosevic was convinced that the
democratic opposition fostered by the U.S. government was so fractious,
disorganized and argumentative that no one in his country would take
them seriously. He was right.Milosevic also calculated that the
opposition activists favored by the Clinton administration would be
seen by most of the Serbian people as either traitors or nave puppets
of Washington who would sell their country into the hands of
the United States and its allies. These countries, in Serb eyes,
had showed their true colors by bombing Yugoslavia into submission last
year, Milosevic believed. He was right about that, too.
But what Milosevic never counted on was the challenge of an opponent
who would demand an end to confrontation with the West but also
condemn the NATO bombing of his country last year and the subsequent
occupation of Kosovo province by NATO forces to Milosevic's
ethnic-cleansing forces there.
Kostunica, a 56-year-old law professor at Belgrade University, did
All of that. And in so doing, he removed the only trump card Milosevic
had left to attract any genuine popular support -- the argument that he
and only he stood between the people of Serbia and the dissolution of
their state.
But Kostunica's rise has proven to be far from welcome to the Clinton
administration, especially to Secretary of State Madeleine K.
Albright.Albright has spearheaded the efforts to make an example of
Milosevic by having him handed over to the International Court of
Justice in The Hague, capital of the Netherlands, and tried there as a
war criminal. But Kostunica implacably opposes having Milosevic or any
other prominent Serb tried as a war criminal, no matter how terrible was
their conduct during the last nine years of conflict in the Fragmented
former communist federal state. He also regularly denounces the NATO
bombing of Yugoslavia last year as "criminal." And he flatly opposes
granting Kosovo province, with its more than 90 percent Albanian Muslim
majority, any independence from Orthodox Christian Serbia.
In many respects, if Kostunica does win, he will present the Clinton
administration - or its successor, whether Vice President Al Gore or
Texas Gov. George W Bush - with a far trickier problem than
Milosevic does.
U.S. leaders - Republican and Democrat alike - are now used to
attacking Milosevic as, if not a Hitler, then at least a Saddam
Hussein figure. They have made clear they hope that a pro-American
opposition candidate will eventually succeed him and agreed to
U.S.-mediated solutions to Bosnia and Kosovo.
But Kostunica is not pro-American.* He is as virulent a critic of
recent U.S. policies as Milosevic himself. And he has said he is
determined to not to give an inch on the Kosovo issue. Yet he had
nothing to do with Serbian ethnic-cleansing activities in Kosovo or
any previous acts of aggression, mass murder or ethnic-cleansing in
the 1991-95 Bosnia conflict.
He even opposes the operation of the ICJ in The Hague that U.S.
officials now believe is essential to serve as a deterrent to any
future European leaders who might contemplate such massive state
crimes.
>From Washington's point of view, a Kostunica victory would leave
Serbia under the control of a tough, implacable nationalist for
another political cycle and many more years to come.
It would derail U.S. hopes of negotiating a broad settlement to
Yugoslav issues on Washington's terms. And it would even remove
whatever optimism remained before that Milosevic was the only
obstacle to the desired U.S. outcome because he was standing in
the way of the democratic aspirations of his own people.
>From the Clinton administration's point of view, the trouble with
Kostunica is precisely that he does appear to accurately express the
democratic aspirations of the Serbian people.
The only trouble is that they are not the aspirations that the
Clinton administration would like them to be.
/fair use only/
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
UN DITTATORE REGOLARMENTE ELETTO
Secondo Edward Luttwak, consigliere strategico alla Casa Bianca e
rappresentante ufficiale di quest'ultima presso i mezzi di informazione
italiani, Milosevic e' "un dittatore regolarmente eletto".
Con questo ossimoro imbecille - da aggiungere a "guerra umanitaria" ed
altre scemenze - l'alto esponente statunitense riconosce che la RF di
Jugoslavia e' un paese democratico, anche se con l'avvento di Kostunica
lo sara' "un pochino di piu'", poiche' notoriamente una elezione e'
tanto piu' democratica quanto siamo noi a vincerla, ed un paese e'
veramente democratico solo se e' servo nostro.
(Fonte: intervento di Luttwak ad un convegno a Gorizia il 27/9/2000,
citato su "Il Piccolo" del 28/9/2000)
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Secondo Edward Luttwak, consigliere strategico alla Casa Bianca e
rappresentante ufficiale di quest'ultima presso i mezzi di informazione
italiani, Milosevic e' "un dittatore regolarmente eletto".
Con questo ossimoro imbecille - da aggiungere a "guerra umanitaria" ed
altre scemenze - l'alto esponente statunitense riconosce che la RF di
Jugoslavia e' un paese democratico, anche se con l'avvento di Kostunica
lo sara' "un pochino di piu'", poiche' notoriamente una elezione e'
tanto piu' democratica quanto siamo noi a vincerla, ed un paese e'
veramente democratico solo se e' servo nostro.
(Fonte: intervento di Luttwak ad un convegno a Gorizia il 27/9/2000,
citato su "Il Piccolo" del 28/9/2000)
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
ADESSO SI CHE IN SERBIA SI RESPIRA!
Nell'edizione odierna (28/9/2000) i giornali riportano piccole foto
della manifestazione della opposizione "democratica" a Belgrado la notte
scorsa, nelle quali si intravvedono personaggi con cappelletti e barboni
cetnici salutare con il segno del nazionalismo serbo (le "tre dita") la
vittoria del candidato Kostunica. Contemporaneamente, ad esempio su
"Repubblica", vengono riportate le dichiarazioni del nazionalista
albanese Ibrahim Rugova e del mafioso montenegrino Milo Djukanovic,
secondo le quali dopo la vittoria di Kostunica si avvicina il momento
della secessione dei rispettivi territori.
PS. Kostunica ringrazia i giornali della sinistra italiana, in
particolare "Il Manifesto", nonche' "Liberazione" e l'ARCI (si vedano le
manchettes pubblicitarie "Via Milosevic! Milosevic sei finito!"), per la
cortese campagna elettorale gratuitamente offerta presso il loro
pubblico.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Nell'edizione odierna (28/9/2000) i giornali riportano piccole foto
della manifestazione della opposizione "democratica" a Belgrado la notte
scorsa, nelle quali si intravvedono personaggi con cappelletti e barboni
cetnici salutare con il segno del nazionalismo serbo (le "tre dita") la
vittoria del candidato Kostunica. Contemporaneamente, ad esempio su
"Repubblica", vengono riportate le dichiarazioni del nazionalista
albanese Ibrahim Rugova e del mafioso montenegrino Milo Djukanovic,
secondo le quali dopo la vittoria di Kostunica si avvicina il momento
della secessione dei rispettivi territori.
PS. Kostunica ringrazia i giornali della sinistra italiana, in
particolare "Il Manifesto", nonche' "Liberazione" e l'ARCI (si vedano le
manchettes pubblicitarie "Via Milosevic! Milosevic sei finito!"), per la
cortese campagna elettorale gratuitamente offerta presso il loro
pubblico.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
RISULTATI UFFICIALI PARZIALI DELLA COMMISSIONE ELETTORALE
composta da rappresentanti di tutti i candidati alle elezioni
> http://www.gov.yu/e2000/index.html
THE FEDERAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION STATEMENT
September 26. 2000.
At today's meeting of The Federal Elections
Commission, over which Borivoje Vukicevic
presided, it was concluded that
according to the processed votes until
this moment, we are able to announce the
first preliminary results of the presidential
elections held in the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia.
From a total of 7,848,818 voters on the polling list,
5,036,478 or 64.16% of the total voted. Each of
the presidential candidate receive the
following number of votes:
- Miroljub Vidojkovic 40,765 (0.80%)
- Vojislav Ko?tunica 2,428,714 (48.22%)
- Slobodan Milo?evic 2,026,478 (40.23%)
- Vojislav Mihajlovic 130,598 (2.59%)
- Tomislav Nikolic 256,876 (5.10%)
3% of the ballots slips
were invalid.
Taking this into account, it maybe concluded that
there will be a second round in the presidential
election.
Also, the first preliminary results of
the elections for deputies in the Chamber
of Citizens and the Chamber of Republics of
the Federal Assembly, are as follows:
Chamber of Citizens:
- DOS: 59 seats
- SPS-JUL: 44 seats
- SNP: 28 seats
Chamber of Republics:
- SNP: 19 seats
- DOS: 10 seats
- SPS-JUL: 7 seats
- SRS: 2 seats
- SPO: 1 seat
- SNS: 1 seat
Federal Elections Commission will
announce the final official results of the
presidential and parliamentary elections
in due time in accordance with the Law.
ALTRI RISULTATI E COMMENTI SU:
> http://www.tanjug.co.yu/Arhiva/2000/Sep%20-%2000/27-09e04.html
TANJUG NEWS 27/9/2000
===
JUGOSLAVIA: CROAZIA; MANOVRE CROATO-USA, SBARCO ISOLA ZIRJE
(ANSA-REUTERS-AFP) - A BORDO DELLA PORTAEREI USA AUSTIN, 26 SET - Forze
militari di Zagabria e navi della sesta flotta Usa hanno compiuto oggi
un
assalto all'isola di Zirje, al largo di Sebenico (sud della costa
adriatica
croata) nell'ambito delle manovre croato-americane iniziate ieri, e
mentre
l'occidente sta in guardia aspettando gli sviluppi delle elezioni
jugoslave. L'attacco, sferrato con mezzi anfibi, navi da guerra,
elicotteri
e caccia, e con un migliaio di soldati 700 dei quali americani, ha
costituito una delle maggiori manovre previste delle esercitazioni, che
si
concluderanno il 29 settembre. Tali esercitazioni, hanno ribadito oggi
funzionari della difesa croata e americani, non hanno nulla a che vedere
con le elezioni in Jugoslavia, i cui risultati ancora non ufficialmente
espressi, e le cui conseguenze possibili tengono il paese balcanico ma
anche il resto del mondo col fiato sospeso. Le manovre erano state
previste
per giugno, hanno detto oggi funzionari croati e americani sulla
portaerei
Austin, e poi posposte su richiesta di Zagabria, preoccupata delle
ricadute
negative che esse avrebbero potuto avere sul turismo, in estate.
MITSOTAKIS SULLA REGOLARITA' DELLE ELEZIONI
Secondo un dispaccio del Athen's News Agency(Agenzia di informazione
greca) del
26/9/2000 delle ore 14.03:
l'ex Primo Ministro greco, ed uno dei massimi dirigenti del partito
moderato di centro destra
"Nuova Democrazia",Costantinos Mitsotakis ha dichiarato che" le elezioni
in
Yugoslavia,come risulta da tutte le informazioni,si sono svolte
regolarmente"ed ha
sottolineato che " il popolo serbo deve essere lasciato indisturbato a
risolvere i suoi
problemi interni.Inoltre si deve porre fine all'embargo e alla politica
della persecuzione a
senso unico per i crimini di guerra."
Agenzia raccolta da Giorgio Apostolou e-mail:ApoGL@...
JUGOSLAVIA: CON OPPOSIZIONE NON CAMBIA NULLA,RUSSO SELEZNIOV
(ANSA) - MOSCA, 26 SET - Anche in caso di vittoria dell'opposizione,
''alla
guida della Jugoslavia ci sara' una persona che non permettera' alla
Nato
di spadroneggiare nei Balcani''. Lo ha dichiarato oggi il presidente
della
duma russa Ghennadi Selezniov che ha definito ''vane'' le speranze
dell'occidente di condizionare la Jugoslavia con l'uscita di scena del
presidente Slobodan Milosevic. Lo riferisce l'agenzia Itar-Tass. ''Non
penso che in caso di vittoria del candidato dell'opposizione questi
spalanchera' le porte alla Nato'', ha proseguito Selezniov aggiungendo
che
Vojislav Kostunica potrebbe essere ''piu' complicato per l'Occidente
dello
stesso Milosevic''. (ANSA).
ANCORA DICHIARAZIONI AUTOCONTRADDITTORIE DALLE UE
STRASBURGO - Anche in caso di vittoria di Milosevic al ballottaggio le
sanzioni nei confronti della Jugoslavia verranno revocate. Lo ha
confermato
il segretario generale del Consiglio d'Europa Walter Schwimmer che si è
detto favorevole alla "rapida revoca" delle sanzioni.
("La Repubblica", 27/9/2000)
MINISTRY: INCORRECT REPORTS BY FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS FROM YUGOSLAVIA
BELGRADE, Sept 26 (Tanjug) The Yugoslav Ministry of
Information
said on Tuesday that it has been observed that certain foreign
correspondents from Yugoslavia report statements made by Yugoslav
citizens
incorrectly and deliberately altered.
"Translations which are presented to the foreign public have
the
completely opposite meaning and stand than that presented by the
citizens,"
the statement said, pointing out that this was obviously abuse of
reporter's credentials.
The Ministry said all the necessary conditions for unhindered
work
by foreign reporters had been secured. It warned that it would be forced
to
suspend credentials for further work if certain correspondents continued
their present practice.
MOSCOW URGES INSTANT LIFTING OF SANCTIONS AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA
MOSCOW, Sept 26 (Tanjug) According to preliminary results, the
first round of presidential elections in Yugoslavia may be considered
valid, the Russian foreign ministry said on Tuesday, and urged instant
lifting of sanctions against Yugoslavia.
The sanctions should be lifted immediately, regardless of the
outcome of the elections, the ministry's statement said.
According to the statement, the first round of presidential
elections revealed Yugoslavia's significant democratic potential.
Speaking about the elections on Monday, Foreign Minister Igor
Ivanov urged the Western countries to lift the sanctions without delay,
and
end their isolation of Yugoslavia.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry also said the 70percent turnout
in
the Yugoslav presidential and parliamentary elections reflected the
political responsibility of the Yugoslav people and major political
parties.
The ministry's spokesman refused to comment on preliminary
election results, explaining that officials results were not available
yet.
DEPUTY DUMA SPEAKER CRITICIZES EU OVER YUGOSLAVIA
MOSCOW, Sep 25 (Tanjug). Russian State Duma Deputy Speaker
Vladimir Lukin criticized Monday the European Union for its wrong and
unfarsighted decisions which have worsened the situation in Yugoslavia.
The EU accusations against Yugoslav president for alleged
election
fraud, made in advance, have contributed to making the situation in
Yugoslavia tense, Lukin said.
He asked all principal parties on Yugoslavia's political scene
to
start a dialogue and thus avoid further tensions.
According to Lukin, Russia's role regarding the current
situation
in Yugoslavia is very delicate. Russia should direct its endeavors
towards
a dialogue between concerned parties in Yugoslavia in order to see an
objective picture of election outcome, he said.
YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS CONDUCTED IN BEST ORDER, BEZBORODOV SAYS
MOSCOW, Sept 26 (Tanjug) Russian State Duma defense committee
deputychairman Nikolai Bezborodov said Monday evening to Russian
television
that Sunday's elections in Yugoslavia had passed in the best order.
Bezborodov, who monitored Yugoslav elections, said in a news
program of All Russian Television (ORT) that his opinion was shared by
other 200 observers from 52 countries.
"All participants in the Yugoslav elections think the same,"
said
Bezborodov, adding that despite such an unified opinion, the West
deliberately destorts the facts and conducts a poisonous campaign aimed
at
discrediting the elections and creating a crisis situation.
CHINA RESPECTS YUGOSLAV PEOPLE'S CHOICE
BEIJING, Sept 26 (Tanjug) The Yugoslav elections are its
internal
affair, said Chinese Foreign Ministry official Sun Yuxi, stressing
China's
consistent attitude about inadmissible interference in internal affairs
of
other countries.
Sun said at a press conference that China "respects the choice
of
the Yugoslav people." He also voiced hope that Yugoslavia will preserve
its
political stability and achieve economic and state prosperity," and that
Yugoslav and Chinese ties will develop.
The Chinese press criticized ahead of the elections the
interference of the United States and the West in the free will of the
Yugoslav people, and NATO's attempts to put pressure on Yugoslav voters.
Chinese media reported Tuesday about the preliminary election
results announced at the leftparty press conference held on Monday. The
leading Chinese paper Renmin Ribao said that according to those results
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was leading by 45 percent, as
compared to the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) candidate Vojislav
Kostunica who obtained 40 percent of the total number of votes.
JUGOSLAVIA: CAMERA USA STANZIA FONDI PER OPPOSIZIONE
(ANSA) - WASHINGTON, 25 SET - Nel tentativo di aumentare la
pressione sul presidente jugoslavo Slobodan Milosevic, la Camera
dei rappresentanti Usa ha varato uno stanziamento per l'
opposizione jugoslava in Serbia e Montenegro.
Approvato ieri con una maggioranza di due terzi, lo
stanziamento offre 500 milioni di dollari (oltre 1.100 miliardi
di lire) alle opposizioni anti-Milosevic, tra cui 50 milioni
volti a finanziare gruppi pro-democrazia e dissidenti.
''La legge autorizza assistenza democratica a coloro che
lottano per il cambiamento in Serbia, se Milosevic non lascera'
il potere. Al tempo stesso, ci da' la flessibilita' per reagire
in fretta ai risultati elettorali, se saranno positivi. Prevede
anche l'allentamento delle sanzioni'', ha detto il deputato
repubblicano Christopher Smith.
Il provvedimento chiede che vengano mantenute le sanzioni
contro la Serbia finche' non sia iniziata la trasformazione
democratica, e esprime sostegno agli sforzi del Tribunale penale
internazionale dell'Aja (Tpi) per processare Milosevic per
crimini di guerra. Una legge simile e' gia' stata passata dal
Senato. (ANSA). 26/09/2000 01:42
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
composta da rappresentanti di tutti i candidati alle elezioni
> http://www.gov.yu/e2000/index.html
THE FEDERAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION STATEMENT
September 26. 2000.
At today's meeting of The Federal Elections
Commission, over which Borivoje Vukicevic
presided, it was concluded that
according to the processed votes until
this moment, we are able to announce the
first preliminary results of the presidential
elections held in the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia.
From a total of 7,848,818 voters on the polling list,
5,036,478 or 64.16% of the total voted. Each of
the presidential candidate receive the
following number of votes:
- Miroljub Vidojkovic 40,765 (0.80%)
- Vojislav Ko?tunica 2,428,714 (48.22%)
- Slobodan Milo?evic 2,026,478 (40.23%)
- Vojislav Mihajlovic 130,598 (2.59%)
- Tomislav Nikolic 256,876 (5.10%)
3% of the ballots slips
were invalid.
Taking this into account, it maybe concluded that
there will be a second round in the presidential
election.
Also, the first preliminary results of
the elections for deputies in the Chamber
of Citizens and the Chamber of Republics of
the Federal Assembly, are as follows:
Chamber of Citizens:
- DOS: 59 seats
- SPS-JUL: 44 seats
- SNP: 28 seats
Chamber of Republics:
- SNP: 19 seats
- DOS: 10 seats
- SPS-JUL: 7 seats
- SRS: 2 seats
- SPO: 1 seat
- SNS: 1 seat
Federal Elections Commission will
announce the final official results of the
presidential and parliamentary elections
in due time in accordance with the Law.
ALTRI RISULTATI E COMMENTI SU:
> http://www.tanjug.co.yu/Arhiva/2000/Sep%20-%2000/27-09e04.html
TANJUG NEWS 27/9/2000
===
JUGOSLAVIA: CROAZIA; MANOVRE CROATO-USA, SBARCO ISOLA ZIRJE
(ANSA-REUTERS-AFP) - A BORDO DELLA PORTAEREI USA AUSTIN, 26 SET - Forze
militari di Zagabria e navi della sesta flotta Usa hanno compiuto oggi
un
assalto all'isola di Zirje, al largo di Sebenico (sud della costa
adriatica
croata) nell'ambito delle manovre croato-americane iniziate ieri, e
mentre
l'occidente sta in guardia aspettando gli sviluppi delle elezioni
jugoslave. L'attacco, sferrato con mezzi anfibi, navi da guerra,
elicotteri
e caccia, e con un migliaio di soldati 700 dei quali americani, ha
costituito una delle maggiori manovre previste delle esercitazioni, che
si
concluderanno il 29 settembre. Tali esercitazioni, hanno ribadito oggi
funzionari della difesa croata e americani, non hanno nulla a che vedere
con le elezioni in Jugoslavia, i cui risultati ancora non ufficialmente
espressi, e le cui conseguenze possibili tengono il paese balcanico ma
anche il resto del mondo col fiato sospeso. Le manovre erano state
previste
per giugno, hanno detto oggi funzionari croati e americani sulla
portaerei
Austin, e poi posposte su richiesta di Zagabria, preoccupata delle
ricadute
negative che esse avrebbero potuto avere sul turismo, in estate.
MITSOTAKIS SULLA REGOLARITA' DELLE ELEZIONI
Secondo un dispaccio del Athen's News Agency(Agenzia di informazione
greca) del
26/9/2000 delle ore 14.03:
l'ex Primo Ministro greco, ed uno dei massimi dirigenti del partito
moderato di centro destra
"Nuova Democrazia",Costantinos Mitsotakis ha dichiarato che" le elezioni
in
Yugoslavia,come risulta da tutte le informazioni,si sono svolte
regolarmente"ed ha
sottolineato che " il popolo serbo deve essere lasciato indisturbato a
risolvere i suoi
problemi interni.Inoltre si deve porre fine all'embargo e alla politica
della persecuzione a
senso unico per i crimini di guerra."
Agenzia raccolta da Giorgio Apostolou e-mail:ApoGL@...
JUGOSLAVIA: CON OPPOSIZIONE NON CAMBIA NULLA,RUSSO SELEZNIOV
(ANSA) - MOSCA, 26 SET - Anche in caso di vittoria dell'opposizione,
''alla
guida della Jugoslavia ci sara' una persona che non permettera' alla
Nato
di spadroneggiare nei Balcani''. Lo ha dichiarato oggi il presidente
della
duma russa Ghennadi Selezniov che ha definito ''vane'' le speranze
dell'occidente di condizionare la Jugoslavia con l'uscita di scena del
presidente Slobodan Milosevic. Lo riferisce l'agenzia Itar-Tass. ''Non
penso che in caso di vittoria del candidato dell'opposizione questi
spalanchera' le porte alla Nato'', ha proseguito Selezniov aggiungendo
che
Vojislav Kostunica potrebbe essere ''piu' complicato per l'Occidente
dello
stesso Milosevic''. (ANSA).
ANCORA DICHIARAZIONI AUTOCONTRADDITTORIE DALLE UE
STRASBURGO - Anche in caso di vittoria di Milosevic al ballottaggio le
sanzioni nei confronti della Jugoslavia verranno revocate. Lo ha
confermato
il segretario generale del Consiglio d'Europa Walter Schwimmer che si è
detto favorevole alla "rapida revoca" delle sanzioni.
("La Repubblica", 27/9/2000)
MINISTRY: INCORRECT REPORTS BY FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS FROM YUGOSLAVIA
BELGRADE, Sept 26 (Tanjug) The Yugoslav Ministry of
Information
said on Tuesday that it has been observed that certain foreign
correspondents from Yugoslavia report statements made by Yugoslav
citizens
incorrectly and deliberately altered.
"Translations which are presented to the foreign public have
the
completely opposite meaning and stand than that presented by the
citizens,"
the statement said, pointing out that this was obviously abuse of
reporter's credentials.
The Ministry said all the necessary conditions for unhindered
work
by foreign reporters had been secured. It warned that it would be forced
to
suspend credentials for further work if certain correspondents continued
their present practice.
MOSCOW URGES INSTANT LIFTING OF SANCTIONS AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA
MOSCOW, Sept 26 (Tanjug) According to preliminary results, the
first round of presidential elections in Yugoslavia may be considered
valid, the Russian foreign ministry said on Tuesday, and urged instant
lifting of sanctions against Yugoslavia.
The sanctions should be lifted immediately, regardless of the
outcome of the elections, the ministry's statement said.
According to the statement, the first round of presidential
elections revealed Yugoslavia's significant democratic potential.
Speaking about the elections on Monday, Foreign Minister Igor
Ivanov urged the Western countries to lift the sanctions without delay,
and
end their isolation of Yugoslavia.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry also said the 70percent turnout
in
the Yugoslav presidential and parliamentary elections reflected the
political responsibility of the Yugoslav people and major political
parties.
The ministry's spokesman refused to comment on preliminary
election results, explaining that officials results were not available
yet.
DEPUTY DUMA SPEAKER CRITICIZES EU OVER YUGOSLAVIA
MOSCOW, Sep 25 (Tanjug). Russian State Duma Deputy Speaker
Vladimir Lukin criticized Monday the European Union for its wrong and
unfarsighted decisions which have worsened the situation in Yugoslavia.
The EU accusations against Yugoslav president for alleged
election
fraud, made in advance, have contributed to making the situation in
Yugoslavia tense, Lukin said.
He asked all principal parties on Yugoslavia's political scene
to
start a dialogue and thus avoid further tensions.
According to Lukin, Russia's role regarding the current
situation
in Yugoslavia is very delicate. Russia should direct its endeavors
towards
a dialogue between concerned parties in Yugoslavia in order to see an
objective picture of election outcome, he said.
YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS CONDUCTED IN BEST ORDER, BEZBORODOV SAYS
MOSCOW, Sept 26 (Tanjug) Russian State Duma defense committee
deputychairman Nikolai Bezborodov said Monday evening to Russian
television
that Sunday's elections in Yugoslavia had passed in the best order.
Bezborodov, who monitored Yugoslav elections, said in a news
program of All Russian Television (ORT) that his opinion was shared by
other 200 observers from 52 countries.
"All participants in the Yugoslav elections think the same,"
said
Bezborodov, adding that despite such an unified opinion, the West
deliberately destorts the facts and conducts a poisonous campaign aimed
at
discrediting the elections and creating a crisis situation.
CHINA RESPECTS YUGOSLAV PEOPLE'S CHOICE
BEIJING, Sept 26 (Tanjug) The Yugoslav elections are its
internal
affair, said Chinese Foreign Ministry official Sun Yuxi, stressing
China's
consistent attitude about inadmissible interference in internal affairs
of
other countries.
Sun said at a press conference that China "respects the choice
of
the Yugoslav people." He also voiced hope that Yugoslavia will preserve
its
political stability and achieve economic and state prosperity," and that
Yugoslav and Chinese ties will develop.
The Chinese press criticized ahead of the elections the
interference of the United States and the West in the free will of the
Yugoslav people, and NATO's attempts to put pressure on Yugoslav voters.
Chinese media reported Tuesday about the preliminary election
results announced at the leftparty press conference held on Monday. The
leading Chinese paper Renmin Ribao said that according to those results
Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was leading by 45 percent, as
compared to the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) candidate Vojislav
Kostunica who obtained 40 percent of the total number of votes.
JUGOSLAVIA: CAMERA USA STANZIA FONDI PER OPPOSIZIONE
(ANSA) - WASHINGTON, 25 SET - Nel tentativo di aumentare la
pressione sul presidente jugoslavo Slobodan Milosevic, la Camera
dei rappresentanti Usa ha varato uno stanziamento per l'
opposizione jugoslava in Serbia e Montenegro.
Approvato ieri con una maggioranza di due terzi, lo
stanziamento offre 500 milioni di dollari (oltre 1.100 miliardi
di lire) alle opposizioni anti-Milosevic, tra cui 50 milioni
volti a finanziare gruppi pro-democrazia e dissidenti.
''La legge autorizza assistenza democratica a coloro che
lottano per il cambiamento in Serbia, se Milosevic non lascera'
il potere. Al tempo stesso, ci da' la flessibilita' per reagire
in fretta ai risultati elettorali, se saranno positivi. Prevede
anche l'allentamento delle sanzioni'', ha detto il deputato
repubblicano Christopher Smith.
Il provvedimento chiede che vengano mantenute le sanzioni
contro la Serbia finche' non sia iniziata la trasformazione
democratica, e esprime sostegno agli sforzi del Tribunale penale
internazionale dell'Aja (Tpi) per processare Milosevic per
crimini di guerra. Una legge simile e' gia' stata passata dal
Senato. (ANSA). 26/09/2000 01:42
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/472
Yugoslavia Amid the Maelstrom (G. Elich)
Lungo reportage da un viaggio in Jugoslavia - in inglese
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/473
NATO Must Be Abolished (J. Catalinotto)
Analisi della strategia NATO per lo squartamento della RFSJ e della RFJ
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/469
The Economist: The next Balkan War
> http://forum.asiaco.com/philippines/91.shtml
Backing up Globalization with Military Might
by Karen Talbot
> http://www.starfarm.it/casd/home/html/body_a75-eng.htm
Italian Interests and Policies in Central-Eastern Europe and in the
Balkans (Carlo Jean)
> http://www.iacenter.org/bosnia/elich_strike.htm oppure
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/425
NATO PREPARING NEW MILITARY STRIKE IN BALKANS (G. Elich)
> http://brook.edu/comm/transcripts/19990406b.htm
A New NATO For a New Century - A Brookings National Issues Forum
> http://ns.cnlcontact.com/delorca/engram/chomsky.htm
Rambouillet of activists and radical intellectuals
Debate about Chomsky and Milosevic
> http://ns.cnlcontact.com/delorca/french/homef.htm
RESISTANCE
Géographie des Injustices et Ethique de la Résistance
Informations alternatives: Yougoslavie
> http://www.marx2001.org/nuovaunita/nu6_00/6-kosovo.htm
[n]uova [u]nita' n.6/2000 - Speciale Kosovo
L'AGGRESSIONE ALLA YUGOSLAVIA AD UN ANNO DALLA FINE DEI BOMBARDAMENTI
di Enrico Vigna
> http://www.transnational.org/new/index.html
TFF's site - broad scope, dynamic and committed to peace
NEW: Sept 25: 1242 letters & signatures. THANKS to you ALL
> http://www.suc.org/news/duga/tema.html
POGLED IZ DIPLOMATSKE LOZE
VELJKO KNEZEVIC, BIVSI JUGOSLOVENSKI AMBASADOR U HRVATSKOJ O
VREMENU U KOME JE TUDJMAN BRZO ZABORAVLJEN
ISTINA O KLAVIRU TEREZE KESOVIJE
(Duga avgust 11 2000)
> http://blair.library.rhodes.edu/ishtmls/russia.html
Links a fonti di informazione sull'Europa orientale ed i Balcani
===
> http://www.inaffairs.org.yu
JUGOSLAV INTERNATIONAL POLICY
PERIODICAL AVAILABLE ON INTERNET
International Action Center paper included —"NATO must be abolished"
11 Jul 2000
On June 10, the editorial office of the Yugoslav periodical
"International
Policy," marked the prestigious magazine’s 50th anniversary by
presenting
a new issue that was entirely devoted to the causes and consequences of
NATO's aggression (March-June 1999) on Yugoslavia.
A presentation entitled "NATO Must Be Abolished," made at a March 24-27
Institute of International Politics and Economics symposium in Belgrade
by
International Action Center representative John Catalinotto, is included
among the contributions to the latest issue of "International Policy."
This contribution is reproduced below.
Along with analytical articles of more than ten authors from the world
and
country the periodical gives an insight into developments that preceded
the aggression, the genocide over Serbs conducted by the largest
military
machinery in the world, and the devastating results of the international
security presence in Kosovo and Metohija.
The periodical has over 5,000 subscribers in the world, and the director
and editor-in-chief, Prof. Jelica Stefanovic-Stambuk, informed
journalists
that as of this issue, International Policy editions in Serbian and in
English will be available on the Internet (http://www.inaffairs.org.yu).
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/473
NATO Must Be Abolished (J. Catalinotto)
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Yugoslavia Amid the Maelstrom (G. Elich)
Lungo reportage da un viaggio in Jugoslavia - in inglese
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/473
NATO Must Be Abolished (J. Catalinotto)
Analisi della strategia NATO per lo squartamento della RFSJ e della RFJ
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/469
The Economist: The next Balkan War
> http://forum.asiaco.com/philippines/91.shtml
Backing up Globalization with Military Might
by Karen Talbot
> http://www.starfarm.it/casd/home/html/body_a75-eng.htm
Italian Interests and Policies in Central-Eastern Europe and in the
Balkans (Carlo Jean)
> http://www.iacenter.org/bosnia/elich_strike.htm oppure
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/425
NATO PREPARING NEW MILITARY STRIKE IN BALKANS (G. Elich)
> http://brook.edu/comm/transcripts/19990406b.htm
A New NATO For a New Century - A Brookings National Issues Forum
> http://ns.cnlcontact.com/delorca/engram/chomsky.htm
Rambouillet of activists and radical intellectuals
Debate about Chomsky and Milosevic
> http://ns.cnlcontact.com/delorca/french/homef.htm
RESISTANCE
Géographie des Injustices et Ethique de la Résistance
Informations alternatives: Yougoslavie
> http://www.marx2001.org/nuovaunita/nu6_00/6-kosovo.htm
[n]uova [u]nita' n.6/2000 - Speciale Kosovo
L'AGGRESSIONE ALLA YUGOSLAVIA AD UN ANNO DALLA FINE DEI BOMBARDAMENTI
di Enrico Vigna
> http://www.transnational.org/new/index.html
TFF's site - broad scope, dynamic and committed to peace
NEW: Sept 25: 1242 letters & signatures. THANKS to you ALL
> http://www.suc.org/news/duga/tema.html
POGLED IZ DIPLOMATSKE LOZE
VELJKO KNEZEVIC, BIVSI JUGOSLOVENSKI AMBASADOR U HRVATSKOJ O
VREMENU U KOME JE TUDJMAN BRZO ZABORAVLJEN
ISTINA O KLAVIRU TEREZE KESOVIJE
(Duga avgust 11 2000)
> http://blair.library.rhodes.edu/ishtmls/russia.html
Links a fonti di informazione sull'Europa orientale ed i Balcani
===
> http://www.inaffairs.org.yu
JUGOSLAV INTERNATIONAL POLICY
PERIODICAL AVAILABLE ON INTERNET
International Action Center paper included —"NATO must be abolished"
11 Jul 2000
On June 10, the editorial office of the Yugoslav periodical
"International
Policy," marked the prestigious magazine’s 50th anniversary by
presenting
a new issue that was entirely devoted to the causes and consequences of
NATO's aggression (March-June 1999) on Yugoslavia.
A presentation entitled "NATO Must Be Abolished," made at a March 24-27
Institute of International Politics and Economics symposium in Belgrade
by
International Action Center representative John Catalinotto, is included
among the contributions to the latest issue of "International Policy."
This contribution is reproduced below.
Along with analytical articles of more than ten authors from the world
and
country the periodical gives an insight into developments that preceded
the aggression, the genocide over Serbs conducted by the largest
military
machinery in the world, and the devastating results of the international
security presence in Kosovo and Metohija.
The periodical has over 5,000 subscribers in the world, and the director
and editor-in-chief, Prof. Jelica Stefanovic-Stambuk, informed
journalists
that as of this issue, International Policy editions in Serbian and in
English will be available on the Internet (http://www.inaffairs.org.yu).
> http://www.egroups.com/message/crj-mailinglist/473
NATO Must Be Abolished (J. Catalinotto)
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
VIVA LA FACCIA
http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi_bin/view_details.cgi?date=06271980&airline=Itavia
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi_bin/view_details.cgi?date=06271980&airline=Itavia
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
GUERRA PSICOLOGICA: "SE NON ABBIAMO VINTO NOI ALLORA NON VALE"
> http://www.tanjug.co.yu/Arhiva/2000/Sep%20-%2000/25-09e04.html
TANJUG NEWS 25/9/2000
> http://www.gov.yu/e2000/index.html
ELECTIONS 2000:
Offical Schedulings of Elections
Instructions for Foreign Observers
Info
Results of Elections
Federal Elections Committee (STATEMENT 24/9/2000)
> http://www.ansa.it/fattidelgiorno/20000926134057783/20000926134057783.shtml
Dispacci ANSA
===
Monday, September 25, 2000 11:06 PM
Subject: En direct de Belgrade: Kostunica, Djindjic et Washington
tiendraient-ils leurs
promesses?
Belgrade, 25 septembre 2000, 15h.
Kostunica, Djindjic et Washington tiendraient-ils leurs
promesses?
Analyse d'un observateur belge des elections en Yougoslavie
MICHEL COLLON
(Avec mes excuses pour les fautes de frappe dues a l'utilisation d'un
clavier serbe sans accent)
BELGRADE - LUNDI, 15 HEURES. Selon un scenario que nous avions annonce,
tous les medias
occidentaux se sont precipites pour annoncer que Kostunica, le candidat
de l'opposition, avait
gagne l'election presidentielle. Il etait pourtant evident que les
chiffres etaient encore minimes et
que ceci faisait partie d'une bataille psychologique. Actuellement,
chaque parti revendique la
victoire, mais en se basant sur 37% des votes, la coalition Milosevic
revendique 45% contre 40%
a Ko
Des elections tout a fait regulieres
En tout cas, ceci devrait mettre un terme a toute la campagne mediatique
assez hysterique
declenchee depuis des semaines aux Etats Unis et en Occident, selon
laquelle Milosevic allait
manipuler inevitablement les elections qui ne pourraient etre que
frauduleuses.
J'etais invite a controler la regularite de ces elections en compagnie
de deux cents personnalites
internationales venues de plus de cinquante pays. Nous avons pu nous
rendre partout ou nous
voulions, dans tout le pays. Nous avons visite des centaines de bureaux
de vote, interroge des
electeurs et les membres des bureaux de vote, nous avons pu constater
que les operations s'y
deroulaient comme dans bien d'autres pays. Chaque vote etant controle
par les representants des
divers partis, opposition comprise
Tous nous ont confirme que les operations etaient parfaitement
regulieres. A Vranje, une
representante de l'opposition et militante du mouvement etudiant Otpor
(soutenu par les
Etats-Unis) est venue nous trouver au bureau central pour se plaindre
d'irregularites graves au
bureau 19. Nous nous y sommes rendus avec une equipe d'une dizaine
d'observateurs. Mais
toutes les personnes presentes nous ont dit au contraire qu'il n'y avait
aucun probleme.
A Subotica, un representant du parti hongrois est aussi venu se
plaindre, mais mon collegue
observateur hongrois est alle verifier et ses plaintes n'etaient pas
fondees. Il a eu comme moi
l'impression que ces fausses plaintes faisaient partie d'une tactique
coordonnee pour jeter le
discredit si Milosevic gagnait.
Le camp de la fierte et le camp de la soumission
Il reste indeniable que Kostunica a obtenu beaucoup de voix, et qu'on a
de grandes chances
d'assister a un deuxieme tour. D'ou l'importance d'eclairer l'enjeu.
En quoi s'opposent les deux camps? Milosevic incarne la resistance a
l'Otan, il a obtenu un
soutien enorme durant la guerre et aussi un certain prestige avec la
reconstruction rapide des
ponts, des routes et d'une partie des usines detruites. Les dirigeants
classiques de l'opposition
(Draskovic et Djindjic) auraient certainement perdu s'ils s'etaient
presentes contre lui car ils
s'etaient compromis du cote de l'Otan et la grande majorite des
Yougoslaves reste farouchement
attachee a l'independance du pays
La Yougoslavie va-t-elle devenir un pays d'esclaves, une colonie? Je le
crains si les dirigeants
des partis d'opposition peuvent appliquer leur programme. Certes,
Monsieur Kostunica a multiplie
les declarations "critiques" a l'egard des Etats-Unis et de l'Otan; il
devait le faire s'il voulait
garder ses chances dans un pays comme celui-ci. Seulement, bien qu'il
reste tres vague sur son
programme economique et social, il convient justement d'examiner ce
programme de pres...
Le programme de Kostunica est celui d'un groupe d'economistes
yougoslaves tres a droite, connu
sous le nom de "G 17". Il prevoit:
1. L'introduction du deutsche mark comme monnaie nationale!
2. Une forte reduction du budget militaire, ce qui priverait lepays des
moyens de se defendre
contre de nouvelles agressions.
3. L'alignement sur les recettes anti-sociales que veut imposer le Fonds
Monetaire International.
Apres une annee de 'sursis'.
Ce sont les memes reformes qui ont deja devaste l'economie de pays comme
la Bulgarie, l'Albanie
ou la Roumanie. Un observateur roumain me confiait ce matin: "On nous a
promis qu'apres la
chute de Ceaucescu, le capitalisme sans freins apporterait la
prosperite. Mais, aujourdhui,
l'economie est en ruines. Nous avons ramasse dix milliards de dollars de
dettes, mais on ne voit
pas un seul investissement. Les batiments en cours de construction sous
Ceaucescu ne sont
toujours pas acheves"
Effectivement, il y a lieu de reflechir. Beaucoup de Yougoslaves ont
vote Kostunica, esperant
qu'en changeant de dirigeants, ils seraient debarrasses des sanctions
internationales qui
etranglent leur pays et les obligent a vivre tres difficilement. Mais la
victoire de Kostunica
va-t-elle reellement leur apporter un soulagement et la stabilite?
On peut apporter trois elements de reponse:
1. Ou ira l'argent?
2. L'exemple d'un precedent comme le Nicaragua.
3. Qu'a apporte l'Ouest, d'ores et deja, au Kosovo?
Avec Kostunica, Djindjic et le FMI, la population serait-elle soulagee?
1. Sans doute de l'argent occidental irait dans certaines poches de ce
pays. Le vrai chef de
l'opposition, Zoran Djindjic - l'homme qui tire les ficelles de
Kostunica - a recu des millions de
dollars pour faire le travail de Washington. Et une nouvelle classe
d'hommes d'affaires s'est
developpee et elle trepigne d'impatience. Elle veut recevoir toutes
libertes de mettre fin aux
protections sociales et aux conditions de travail reglementees. Afin de
pouvoir exploiter au
maximum la main d'oeuvre yougoslave.
Bref, travailler sous le regne de la peur, comme dans les pays dits
'avances' ou une grande partie
des travailleurs se creve au boulot, de plus en plus stresses tandis que
l'autre partie deprime au
chomage. Voila le sort qui attendrait le peuple yougoslave. Sans compter
que la dereglementation
chere au 'G-17' leur permettrait surement de jouir des avantages comme
une viande atteinte de la
maladie de la vache folle ou bien bourree d'hormones et de dioxine, et
autres pollutions...
Une grande illusion domine actuellement la jeunesse yougoslave, car
c'est elle surtout qui nourrit
le plus d'illusions envers les promesses de l'Occident. La grande
illusion, c'est de croire qu'en
acceptant les volontes des multinationales et des dirigeants
occidentaux, la prosperite viendra
recompenser la population yougoslave.
Mais d'ou provient la richesse de ces multinationales occidentales? Du
fait qu'elles ne paient
pratiquement pas les matieres premieres qu'elles enlevent au tiers
monde. Et que dans tous les
pays du monde ou elles exploitent des travailleurs, elles font tout pour
maintenir les salaires de
ceux-ci au plus bas. C'est d'ailleurs une regle economique que le
systeme de la concurrence
capitaliste les oblige a appliquer: si elles ne le faisaient pas, elles
seraient battues et eliminees
par leurs concurrents.
Bref, si les societes des pays riches sont riches, c'est parce qu'elles
volent en realite les pays
pauvres. Aussi quand elles promettent a un pays pauvre qu'en se
soumettant, il pourra rejoindre le
club des pays riches, c'est un mensonge. Cette promesse ne saurait etre
tenue car, s'il n'y a plus
d'exploites qui se font voler, il n'y aura plus d'exploiteurs qui
s'enrichissent. La seule solution est
un monde sans exploiteurs et sans exploites, un monde de reelle
cooperation internationale basee
sur la solidarite.
2. Ensuite, peut-on croire les promesses des Etats-Unis? Je viens de
discuter avec un
observateur nicaraguayen: "Je suis frappe par la ressemblance entre la
situation de la Yougoslavie
aujourd'hui et celle du Nicaragua en 1990. A l'epoque, pour renverser
notre gouvernement
progressiste, celui des sandinistes, les Etats-Unis avaient egalement
combine deux methodes.
D'un cote, ils avaient arme des bandes appelees "contras" qui
massacraient et terrorisaient la
population, comme l'UCK. De l'autre cote, ils agitaient l'alternative
électorale. Mais les
promesses n'ont pas ete tenues et aujourd'hui, la situation du peuple
nicaraguayen a enormement
empire. Dans ce pays de quatre millions d'habitants, le chomage a grimpe
a 40%, et avec lui la
delinquance, la prostitution, le trafic de drogue. Aux feux rouges, vous
rencontrez plein d'enfants
qui mendient. La sante s'est degradee, on assiste au retour de maladies
que la revolution avait
eliminees, comme la pneunomie; la mortalite (surtout infantile)
augmente. Idem pour
l'analphabetisme. Voila ce qui arrive quand on fait confiance aux
promesses des Etats-Unis.
Mais j'ai bonne confiance que la gauche sandiniste gagnera les
prochaines elections en novembre;
les sondages lui accordent 42% contre 23%."
3. Un troisieme element de reponse pour savoir si on peut faire
confiance aux promesses de
l'Occident, c'est de regarder ce qui a été fait au Kosovo.
L'Ouest avait promis d'y instaurer la paix, la democratie et la
tolerance entre nationalites. Ou en
est-on? Plus de 5.OOO actes terroristes ont ete commis en un an, tuant
un millier de personnes.
350.000 Serbes, Juifs, Roms, Musulmans et autres membres de minorites
nationales ont ete
chasses sous les yeux et avec l'aide de l'Otan. Resultat: la maffia
albanaise a transforme cette
region en une tete de pont pour le trafic de drogue, de voitures volees
et de prostituees. Un celebre
criminologue de l'universite de Paris 2, Xavier Rauffer, denonce "un
enorme trafic d'etres
humains, une prostitution gigantesque qui maintenant envahit toute
l'Europe, une prostitution
dirigee par des proxenetes albanais. On assiste a l'heure actuelle a une
inondation de toute
l'Europe occidentale d'heroine qui vient des Balkans." (RTBF, 24 mars
2000). On sait que de
grosses banques europeennes blanchissent secretement les fortunes
accumulees par ces trafics.
L'Otan reussira-t-elle a transformer tous les Balkans en une
"gangocratie"? La jeunesse
yougoslave et europeenne se verra-t-elle livree de plus en plus a ce
fleau de la drogue?
Colonisation ne signifie pas stabilite
La colonisation de la Yougoslavie et des Balkans par l'Ouest
n'apporterait pas la stabilite. Si les
inegalites sociales et la misere augmentent, les peuples prendront
conscience qu'ils ont ete
trompes, ils se revolteront afin de regagner leur independance. On verra
alors que les bases
militaires de l'Otan ont pour fonction non seulement des objectifs
strategiques a l'encontre de la
Russie, du petrole du Caucase et du Moyen-Orient, mais aussi le role de
reprimer les peuples des
Balkans.
Aujourd'hui, le mecontentement augmente dans des pays comme la Macedoine
ou la Roumanie et
les observateurs de ces pays m'ont confie que les prochaines elections
pourraient voir un retour
de la gauche. En Yougoslavie aussi, si Kostunica - c'est-a-dire Djindjic
- venait au pouvoir, il ne
faudrait sans doute pas tres longtemps au peuple yougoslave pour
comprendre qu'il a ete trompe.
Pour briser et detourner les revoltes, les Etats-Unis et leurs amis
essayeraient certainement a
nouveau d'exciter des affrontements.
La resistance est donc la seule voie possible pour assurer la paix et le
developpement social dans
les Balkans. Milosevic a declare dans son dernier grand discours
electoral: "Si nous devenions
une colonie, nous ne serions jamais liberes des sanctions (l'embargo),
car etre une colonie c'est
la pire forme de sanctions. Si nous devenions une colonie, nous
n'aurions aucune chance de
developpement, ni a court, ni a long terme."
Sur ce point, on ne peut que lui donner raison.
La responsabilite des jeunes du monde
A l'heure actuelle, il est impossible de predire ce qui va se passer
ici. Plusieurs elections se
deroulaient simultanement et on manque encore de chiffres suffisants. En
outre, il s'agissait
d'elections parlementaires au niveau de la federation Serbie-Montenegro.
Les elections pour le
parlement serbe se derouleront dans un an.
D'ici la, les pressions et ingerences des Etats-Unis ne manqueront pas
mais aussi, le debat
politique. Et la resistance des secteurs progressistes qui aspirent a
une autre societe que le
capitalisme feroce a l'assaut du monde. Et beaucoup de retournements
peuvent encore se
produire.
Dans ce debat, la jeunesse progressiste des pays "riches" et celle des
pays exploites de l'Est et
du tiers monde ont un role tres important a jouer. Faire prendre
conscience que le monde n'est pas
ce que pretendent la TV et la pub, qu'il n'est pas possible que tous les
peuples du monde
recoivent en cadeau leur ticket pour entrer dans le club des voleurs,
que seule la solidarite - et
non la colonisation - permettra le developpement. Pour vivre et se
developper dans la dignite, on
ne peut compter sur les promesses.
A propos des 77 millions de dollars
pour "imposer la democratie"
Plus vous etes "independant", plus Washington vous paie.
Que veut donc dire ce mot "independant"?
MICHEL COLLON
Que diriez-vous si Moscou offrait deux ou trois milliards a un parti
belge pour acheter des
dirigeants de partis politiques et les aider a remporter les elections?
Vous parleriez de corruption
et vous auriez raison.
Eh bien, c'est ce qui se passe ici. Les Etats-Unis ont verse 77 millions
de dollars a l'opposition.
Est-cela le critere de la democratie? Plus on verse de dollars, plus les
elections sont "libres"?
===
Unser Kandidat hat gewonnen oder es gibt Krieg
(von Rainer Rupp)
Wolfgang Gehrke, verantwortlich für Außenpolitik in der
PDS-Bundestagsfraktion des Bundestags, hatte kürzlich im "Neuen
Deutschland" der NATO und der EU vorgeworfen, auf Grund ihrer
offensichtlichen Einmischung in die inneren Angelegenheiten Jugoslawiens
vor den Wahlen am 24. September überhaupt nicht an einem Frieden auf dem
Balkan interessiert zu sein. In der Tat drohen EU und NATO sogar mit
einem neuen Krieg, nur damit ihre Kandidaten auf jeden Fall die Wahl in
Jugoslawien gewinnen.
Schon vor Ende der Wahl schrieen NATO und EU gemeinsam mit der von
ihnen teuer bezahlten jugoslawischen Opposition "Wahlbetrug". Denn wenn
der NATO-Kandidat Kostunica verlieren sollte, dann war die Wahl von
Milosevic manipuliert und sie kann folglich von EU und NATO nicht
anerkannt werden. Um dies auch durchzusetzen, - so die Überlegung der
westlichen Wertegemeinschaft, die sich in der Welt moralisch selbst am
höchsten stellt - musste die NATO erneut ihre humanitäre Kriegsmaschine
rund um Jugoslawien konzentrieren und in Alarmbereitschaft versetzen.
Der französische Außenminister ließ Sonntag Nacht noch über Radio Monte
Carlo wissen, dass seine EU-Amtskollegen noch spät in einer
Telephonkonferenz beraten hätten, wie zu reagieren sei, "falls Präsident
Milosevic die Wahlen mit unfairen Mitteln gewinnen sollte." Wobei
natürlich jedem der Beteiligten von vorn herein klar war, dass Milosevic
mit nichts anderem als nur mit unfairen Mitteln gewinnen konnte,
schließlich hatten EU und USA nicht umsonst mindestens $75 Millionen
Wahlhilfe an die korrupte Opposition gezahlt und noch größere
Versprechungen gemacht, wenn die Jugoslawen sich in der Wahl für den von
der NATO ausgewählten Kandidaten entscheiden.
Dass die militärischen Friedensintervention gegen Belgrad jederzeit
wieder aufgenommen werden kann, das macht die NATO mit ihrem
beeindruckenden Zusammenzug militärischer Mittel rund um Jugoslawien
deutlich. Damit in Belgrad die Friedensbotschaft der westlichen
humanitären Krieger nicht missverstanden wird, hat NATO Generalsekretär
Lord Robertson einer Reutersmeldung vom Sonntag zufolge Präsident
Milosevic bereits mit militärischen Aktionen gedroht, "falls er bei den
Wahlen betrügt". Er warnte, dass die "Truppen der westlichen Allianz auf
dem Balkan sich in Alarmbereitschaft befinden". ("EU leaders in
consultation over Yugoslav election", Paris, Reuters 24.9.00)
Zu diesem Zweck hatte die NATO rechtzeitig zur Wahl die größte Seearmada
seit ihrem ersten Angriff auf Jugoslawien im Mittelmeer zusammen
gezogen. Der britische Premier Toni Blair, der sich mit seinem
militaristischen Humangesülze längst einen festen Platz im Himmel der
Neuen Weltordnung gesichert hat, hat als "Botschaft an Präsident
Slobodan Milosevic" den britischen Flugzeugträger "Invincible" und den
Hubschrauberträger "Ocean" ins Mittelmeer geschickt, wo sie auf eine
amerikanische Schlachtgruppe stoßen werden.
Am Montag berichtete die britische Tageszeitung "The Independent", dass
unlängst während einer Beratung einer britischen Luftlandebrigade, die
Teil der Schnellen Eingriffstruppe der NATO ist, darum ging, die Chancen
für eine militärische Operation in Montenegro zu erörtern, wozu auch die
Einnahme von Flugplätzen und anderen strategisch wichtigen Punkten ging.
"Nato sends strong message to Milosevic", By Vesna Peric Zimonjik in
Belgrade, Kim Sengupta in London and Steve Crawshaw in Podgorica, The
Independent, 25 September 2000).
In den nächsten Tagen soll außerdem ein gemeinsames
kroatisch-amerikanisches Seemanöver vor der montenegrinisch-kroatischen
Küste stattfinden, bei dem die US-Marines auch amphibische Landungen
üben sollen. Weitere Manöver sind für französische und holländische
Schiffe geplant. Zugleich halten sich hartnäckig aus Bulgarien kommende
Gerüchte im Internet, dass die USA im Rahmen des groß angelegten
NATO-Manövers "Trans-Carpathia 2000" unter Beteiligung der
NATO-Verbündeten Ungarn und Poland und neun weiterer "NATO
Partnerländer" einschließlich Kroatiens und Rumänien von bulgarischem
Territorium aus Angriffe auf Südserbien planen, um von dort aus zu den
im südöstlichen Kosovo stationierten US-Einheiten durch zu stoßen.
"Trans-Carpathia 2000" begann am 20. 9. und soll bis 29. 9. dauern.
Mit diesen beindruckenden militärischen Drohgebärde wollen die
westlichen Vorkämpfer des Friedens ihrer Opposition in Belgrad unbedingt
an die Macht verhelfen. Dafür scheinen die NATO-Humanisten nicht einmal
vor einem neuen Krieg auf dem Balkan zurück zu schrecken.
Saarburg den 25.9.00
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
> http://www.tanjug.co.yu/Arhiva/2000/Sep%20-%2000/25-09e04.html
TANJUG NEWS 25/9/2000
> http://www.gov.yu/e2000/index.html
ELECTIONS 2000:
Offical Schedulings of Elections
Instructions for Foreign Observers
Info
Results of Elections
Federal Elections Committee (STATEMENT 24/9/2000)
> http://www.ansa.it/fattidelgiorno/20000926134057783/20000926134057783.shtml
Dispacci ANSA
===
Monday, September 25, 2000 11:06 PM
Subject: En direct de Belgrade: Kostunica, Djindjic et Washington
tiendraient-ils leurs
promesses?
Belgrade, 25 septembre 2000, 15h.
Kostunica, Djindjic et Washington tiendraient-ils leurs
promesses?
Analyse d'un observateur belge des elections en Yougoslavie
MICHEL COLLON
(Avec mes excuses pour les fautes de frappe dues a l'utilisation d'un
clavier serbe sans accent)
BELGRADE - LUNDI, 15 HEURES. Selon un scenario que nous avions annonce,
tous les medias
occidentaux se sont precipites pour annoncer que Kostunica, le candidat
de l'opposition, avait
gagne l'election presidentielle. Il etait pourtant evident que les
chiffres etaient encore minimes et
que ceci faisait partie d'une bataille psychologique. Actuellement,
chaque parti revendique la
victoire, mais en se basant sur 37% des votes, la coalition Milosevic
revendique 45% contre 40%
a Ko
Des elections tout a fait regulieres
En tout cas, ceci devrait mettre un terme a toute la campagne mediatique
assez hysterique
declenchee depuis des semaines aux Etats Unis et en Occident, selon
laquelle Milosevic allait
manipuler inevitablement les elections qui ne pourraient etre que
frauduleuses.
J'etais invite a controler la regularite de ces elections en compagnie
de deux cents personnalites
internationales venues de plus de cinquante pays. Nous avons pu nous
rendre partout ou nous
voulions, dans tout le pays. Nous avons visite des centaines de bureaux
de vote, interroge des
electeurs et les membres des bureaux de vote, nous avons pu constater
que les operations s'y
deroulaient comme dans bien d'autres pays. Chaque vote etant controle
par les representants des
divers partis, opposition comprise
Tous nous ont confirme que les operations etaient parfaitement
regulieres. A Vranje, une
representante de l'opposition et militante du mouvement etudiant Otpor
(soutenu par les
Etats-Unis) est venue nous trouver au bureau central pour se plaindre
d'irregularites graves au
bureau 19. Nous nous y sommes rendus avec une equipe d'une dizaine
d'observateurs. Mais
toutes les personnes presentes nous ont dit au contraire qu'il n'y avait
aucun probleme.
A Subotica, un representant du parti hongrois est aussi venu se
plaindre, mais mon collegue
observateur hongrois est alle verifier et ses plaintes n'etaient pas
fondees. Il a eu comme moi
l'impression que ces fausses plaintes faisaient partie d'une tactique
coordonnee pour jeter le
discredit si Milosevic gagnait.
Le camp de la fierte et le camp de la soumission
Il reste indeniable que Kostunica a obtenu beaucoup de voix, et qu'on a
de grandes chances
d'assister a un deuxieme tour. D'ou l'importance d'eclairer l'enjeu.
En quoi s'opposent les deux camps? Milosevic incarne la resistance a
l'Otan, il a obtenu un
soutien enorme durant la guerre et aussi un certain prestige avec la
reconstruction rapide des
ponts, des routes et d'une partie des usines detruites. Les dirigeants
classiques de l'opposition
(Draskovic et Djindjic) auraient certainement perdu s'ils s'etaient
presentes contre lui car ils
s'etaient compromis du cote de l'Otan et la grande majorite des
Yougoslaves reste farouchement
attachee a l'independance du pays
La Yougoslavie va-t-elle devenir un pays d'esclaves, une colonie? Je le
crains si les dirigeants
des partis d'opposition peuvent appliquer leur programme. Certes,
Monsieur Kostunica a multiplie
les declarations "critiques" a l'egard des Etats-Unis et de l'Otan; il
devait le faire s'il voulait
garder ses chances dans un pays comme celui-ci. Seulement, bien qu'il
reste tres vague sur son
programme economique et social, il convient justement d'examiner ce
programme de pres...
Le programme de Kostunica est celui d'un groupe d'economistes
yougoslaves tres a droite, connu
sous le nom de "G 17". Il prevoit:
1. L'introduction du deutsche mark comme monnaie nationale!
2. Une forte reduction du budget militaire, ce qui priverait lepays des
moyens de se defendre
contre de nouvelles agressions.
3. L'alignement sur les recettes anti-sociales que veut imposer le Fonds
Monetaire International.
Apres une annee de 'sursis'.
Ce sont les memes reformes qui ont deja devaste l'economie de pays comme
la Bulgarie, l'Albanie
ou la Roumanie. Un observateur roumain me confiait ce matin: "On nous a
promis qu'apres la
chute de Ceaucescu, le capitalisme sans freins apporterait la
prosperite. Mais, aujourdhui,
l'economie est en ruines. Nous avons ramasse dix milliards de dollars de
dettes, mais on ne voit
pas un seul investissement. Les batiments en cours de construction sous
Ceaucescu ne sont
toujours pas acheves"
Effectivement, il y a lieu de reflechir. Beaucoup de Yougoslaves ont
vote Kostunica, esperant
qu'en changeant de dirigeants, ils seraient debarrasses des sanctions
internationales qui
etranglent leur pays et les obligent a vivre tres difficilement. Mais la
victoire de Kostunica
va-t-elle reellement leur apporter un soulagement et la stabilite?
On peut apporter trois elements de reponse:
1. Ou ira l'argent?
2. L'exemple d'un precedent comme le Nicaragua.
3. Qu'a apporte l'Ouest, d'ores et deja, au Kosovo?
Avec Kostunica, Djindjic et le FMI, la population serait-elle soulagee?
1. Sans doute de l'argent occidental irait dans certaines poches de ce
pays. Le vrai chef de
l'opposition, Zoran Djindjic - l'homme qui tire les ficelles de
Kostunica - a recu des millions de
dollars pour faire le travail de Washington. Et une nouvelle classe
d'hommes d'affaires s'est
developpee et elle trepigne d'impatience. Elle veut recevoir toutes
libertes de mettre fin aux
protections sociales et aux conditions de travail reglementees. Afin de
pouvoir exploiter au
maximum la main d'oeuvre yougoslave.
Bref, travailler sous le regne de la peur, comme dans les pays dits
'avances' ou une grande partie
des travailleurs se creve au boulot, de plus en plus stresses tandis que
l'autre partie deprime au
chomage. Voila le sort qui attendrait le peuple yougoslave. Sans compter
que la dereglementation
chere au 'G-17' leur permettrait surement de jouir des avantages comme
une viande atteinte de la
maladie de la vache folle ou bien bourree d'hormones et de dioxine, et
autres pollutions...
Une grande illusion domine actuellement la jeunesse yougoslave, car
c'est elle surtout qui nourrit
le plus d'illusions envers les promesses de l'Occident. La grande
illusion, c'est de croire qu'en
acceptant les volontes des multinationales et des dirigeants
occidentaux, la prosperite viendra
recompenser la population yougoslave.
Mais d'ou provient la richesse de ces multinationales occidentales? Du
fait qu'elles ne paient
pratiquement pas les matieres premieres qu'elles enlevent au tiers
monde. Et que dans tous les
pays du monde ou elles exploitent des travailleurs, elles font tout pour
maintenir les salaires de
ceux-ci au plus bas. C'est d'ailleurs une regle economique que le
systeme de la concurrence
capitaliste les oblige a appliquer: si elles ne le faisaient pas, elles
seraient battues et eliminees
par leurs concurrents.
Bref, si les societes des pays riches sont riches, c'est parce qu'elles
volent en realite les pays
pauvres. Aussi quand elles promettent a un pays pauvre qu'en se
soumettant, il pourra rejoindre le
club des pays riches, c'est un mensonge. Cette promesse ne saurait etre
tenue car, s'il n'y a plus
d'exploites qui se font voler, il n'y aura plus d'exploiteurs qui
s'enrichissent. La seule solution est
un monde sans exploiteurs et sans exploites, un monde de reelle
cooperation internationale basee
sur la solidarite.
2. Ensuite, peut-on croire les promesses des Etats-Unis? Je viens de
discuter avec un
observateur nicaraguayen: "Je suis frappe par la ressemblance entre la
situation de la Yougoslavie
aujourd'hui et celle du Nicaragua en 1990. A l'epoque, pour renverser
notre gouvernement
progressiste, celui des sandinistes, les Etats-Unis avaient egalement
combine deux methodes.
D'un cote, ils avaient arme des bandes appelees "contras" qui
massacraient et terrorisaient la
population, comme l'UCK. De l'autre cote, ils agitaient l'alternative
électorale. Mais les
promesses n'ont pas ete tenues et aujourd'hui, la situation du peuple
nicaraguayen a enormement
empire. Dans ce pays de quatre millions d'habitants, le chomage a grimpe
a 40%, et avec lui la
delinquance, la prostitution, le trafic de drogue. Aux feux rouges, vous
rencontrez plein d'enfants
qui mendient. La sante s'est degradee, on assiste au retour de maladies
que la revolution avait
eliminees, comme la pneunomie; la mortalite (surtout infantile)
augmente. Idem pour
l'analphabetisme. Voila ce qui arrive quand on fait confiance aux
promesses des Etats-Unis.
Mais j'ai bonne confiance que la gauche sandiniste gagnera les
prochaines elections en novembre;
les sondages lui accordent 42% contre 23%."
3. Un troisieme element de reponse pour savoir si on peut faire
confiance aux promesses de
l'Occident, c'est de regarder ce qui a été fait au Kosovo.
L'Ouest avait promis d'y instaurer la paix, la democratie et la
tolerance entre nationalites. Ou en
est-on? Plus de 5.OOO actes terroristes ont ete commis en un an, tuant
un millier de personnes.
350.000 Serbes, Juifs, Roms, Musulmans et autres membres de minorites
nationales ont ete
chasses sous les yeux et avec l'aide de l'Otan. Resultat: la maffia
albanaise a transforme cette
region en une tete de pont pour le trafic de drogue, de voitures volees
et de prostituees. Un celebre
criminologue de l'universite de Paris 2, Xavier Rauffer, denonce "un
enorme trafic d'etres
humains, une prostitution gigantesque qui maintenant envahit toute
l'Europe, une prostitution
dirigee par des proxenetes albanais. On assiste a l'heure actuelle a une
inondation de toute
l'Europe occidentale d'heroine qui vient des Balkans." (RTBF, 24 mars
2000). On sait que de
grosses banques europeennes blanchissent secretement les fortunes
accumulees par ces trafics.
L'Otan reussira-t-elle a transformer tous les Balkans en une
"gangocratie"? La jeunesse
yougoslave et europeenne se verra-t-elle livree de plus en plus a ce
fleau de la drogue?
Colonisation ne signifie pas stabilite
La colonisation de la Yougoslavie et des Balkans par l'Ouest
n'apporterait pas la stabilite. Si les
inegalites sociales et la misere augmentent, les peuples prendront
conscience qu'ils ont ete
trompes, ils se revolteront afin de regagner leur independance. On verra
alors que les bases
militaires de l'Otan ont pour fonction non seulement des objectifs
strategiques a l'encontre de la
Russie, du petrole du Caucase et du Moyen-Orient, mais aussi le role de
reprimer les peuples des
Balkans.
Aujourd'hui, le mecontentement augmente dans des pays comme la Macedoine
ou la Roumanie et
les observateurs de ces pays m'ont confie que les prochaines elections
pourraient voir un retour
de la gauche. En Yougoslavie aussi, si Kostunica - c'est-a-dire Djindjic
- venait au pouvoir, il ne
faudrait sans doute pas tres longtemps au peuple yougoslave pour
comprendre qu'il a ete trompe.
Pour briser et detourner les revoltes, les Etats-Unis et leurs amis
essayeraient certainement a
nouveau d'exciter des affrontements.
La resistance est donc la seule voie possible pour assurer la paix et le
developpement social dans
les Balkans. Milosevic a declare dans son dernier grand discours
electoral: "Si nous devenions
une colonie, nous ne serions jamais liberes des sanctions (l'embargo),
car etre une colonie c'est
la pire forme de sanctions. Si nous devenions une colonie, nous
n'aurions aucune chance de
developpement, ni a court, ni a long terme."
Sur ce point, on ne peut que lui donner raison.
La responsabilite des jeunes du monde
A l'heure actuelle, il est impossible de predire ce qui va se passer
ici. Plusieurs elections se
deroulaient simultanement et on manque encore de chiffres suffisants. En
outre, il s'agissait
d'elections parlementaires au niveau de la federation Serbie-Montenegro.
Les elections pour le
parlement serbe se derouleront dans un an.
D'ici la, les pressions et ingerences des Etats-Unis ne manqueront pas
mais aussi, le debat
politique. Et la resistance des secteurs progressistes qui aspirent a
une autre societe que le
capitalisme feroce a l'assaut du monde. Et beaucoup de retournements
peuvent encore se
produire.
Dans ce debat, la jeunesse progressiste des pays "riches" et celle des
pays exploites de l'Est et
du tiers monde ont un role tres important a jouer. Faire prendre
conscience que le monde n'est pas
ce que pretendent la TV et la pub, qu'il n'est pas possible que tous les
peuples du monde
recoivent en cadeau leur ticket pour entrer dans le club des voleurs,
que seule la solidarite - et
non la colonisation - permettra le developpement. Pour vivre et se
developper dans la dignite, on
ne peut compter sur les promesses.
A propos des 77 millions de dollars
pour "imposer la democratie"
Plus vous etes "independant", plus Washington vous paie.
Que veut donc dire ce mot "independant"?
MICHEL COLLON
Que diriez-vous si Moscou offrait deux ou trois milliards a un parti
belge pour acheter des
dirigeants de partis politiques et les aider a remporter les elections?
Vous parleriez de corruption
et vous auriez raison.
Eh bien, c'est ce qui se passe ici. Les Etats-Unis ont verse 77 millions
de dollars a l'opposition.
Est-cela le critere de la democratie? Plus on verse de dollars, plus les
elections sont "libres"?
===
Unser Kandidat hat gewonnen oder es gibt Krieg
(von Rainer Rupp)
Wolfgang Gehrke, verantwortlich für Außenpolitik in der
PDS-Bundestagsfraktion des Bundestags, hatte kürzlich im "Neuen
Deutschland" der NATO und der EU vorgeworfen, auf Grund ihrer
offensichtlichen Einmischung in die inneren Angelegenheiten Jugoslawiens
vor den Wahlen am 24. September überhaupt nicht an einem Frieden auf dem
Balkan interessiert zu sein. In der Tat drohen EU und NATO sogar mit
einem neuen Krieg, nur damit ihre Kandidaten auf jeden Fall die Wahl in
Jugoslawien gewinnen.
Schon vor Ende der Wahl schrieen NATO und EU gemeinsam mit der von
ihnen teuer bezahlten jugoslawischen Opposition "Wahlbetrug". Denn wenn
der NATO-Kandidat Kostunica verlieren sollte, dann war die Wahl von
Milosevic manipuliert und sie kann folglich von EU und NATO nicht
anerkannt werden. Um dies auch durchzusetzen, - so die Überlegung der
westlichen Wertegemeinschaft, die sich in der Welt moralisch selbst am
höchsten stellt - musste die NATO erneut ihre humanitäre Kriegsmaschine
rund um Jugoslawien konzentrieren und in Alarmbereitschaft versetzen.
Der französische Außenminister ließ Sonntag Nacht noch über Radio Monte
Carlo wissen, dass seine EU-Amtskollegen noch spät in einer
Telephonkonferenz beraten hätten, wie zu reagieren sei, "falls Präsident
Milosevic die Wahlen mit unfairen Mitteln gewinnen sollte." Wobei
natürlich jedem der Beteiligten von vorn herein klar war, dass Milosevic
mit nichts anderem als nur mit unfairen Mitteln gewinnen konnte,
schließlich hatten EU und USA nicht umsonst mindestens $75 Millionen
Wahlhilfe an die korrupte Opposition gezahlt und noch größere
Versprechungen gemacht, wenn die Jugoslawen sich in der Wahl für den von
der NATO ausgewählten Kandidaten entscheiden.
Dass die militärischen Friedensintervention gegen Belgrad jederzeit
wieder aufgenommen werden kann, das macht die NATO mit ihrem
beeindruckenden Zusammenzug militärischer Mittel rund um Jugoslawien
deutlich. Damit in Belgrad die Friedensbotschaft der westlichen
humanitären Krieger nicht missverstanden wird, hat NATO Generalsekretär
Lord Robertson einer Reutersmeldung vom Sonntag zufolge Präsident
Milosevic bereits mit militärischen Aktionen gedroht, "falls er bei den
Wahlen betrügt". Er warnte, dass die "Truppen der westlichen Allianz auf
dem Balkan sich in Alarmbereitschaft befinden". ("EU leaders in
consultation over Yugoslav election", Paris, Reuters 24.9.00)
Zu diesem Zweck hatte die NATO rechtzeitig zur Wahl die größte Seearmada
seit ihrem ersten Angriff auf Jugoslawien im Mittelmeer zusammen
gezogen. Der britische Premier Toni Blair, der sich mit seinem
militaristischen Humangesülze längst einen festen Platz im Himmel der
Neuen Weltordnung gesichert hat, hat als "Botschaft an Präsident
Slobodan Milosevic" den britischen Flugzeugträger "Invincible" und den
Hubschrauberträger "Ocean" ins Mittelmeer geschickt, wo sie auf eine
amerikanische Schlachtgruppe stoßen werden.
Am Montag berichtete die britische Tageszeitung "The Independent", dass
unlängst während einer Beratung einer britischen Luftlandebrigade, die
Teil der Schnellen Eingriffstruppe der NATO ist, darum ging, die Chancen
für eine militärische Operation in Montenegro zu erörtern, wozu auch die
Einnahme von Flugplätzen und anderen strategisch wichtigen Punkten ging.
"Nato sends strong message to Milosevic", By Vesna Peric Zimonjik in
Belgrade, Kim Sengupta in London and Steve Crawshaw in Podgorica, The
Independent, 25 September 2000).
In den nächsten Tagen soll außerdem ein gemeinsames
kroatisch-amerikanisches Seemanöver vor der montenegrinisch-kroatischen
Küste stattfinden, bei dem die US-Marines auch amphibische Landungen
üben sollen. Weitere Manöver sind für französische und holländische
Schiffe geplant. Zugleich halten sich hartnäckig aus Bulgarien kommende
Gerüchte im Internet, dass die USA im Rahmen des groß angelegten
NATO-Manövers "Trans-Carpathia 2000" unter Beteiligung der
NATO-Verbündeten Ungarn und Poland und neun weiterer "NATO
Partnerländer" einschließlich Kroatiens und Rumänien von bulgarischem
Territorium aus Angriffe auf Südserbien planen, um von dort aus zu den
im südöstlichen Kosovo stationierten US-Einheiten durch zu stoßen.
"Trans-Carpathia 2000" begann am 20. 9. und soll bis 29. 9. dauern.
Mit diesen beindruckenden militärischen Drohgebärde wollen die
westlichen Vorkämpfer des Friedens ihrer Opposition in Belgrad unbedingt
an die Macht verhelfen. Dafür scheinen die NATO-Humanisten nicht einmal
vor einem neuen Krieg auf dem Balkan zurück zu schrecken.
Saarburg den 25.9.00
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
* Considerazioni sul Montenegro
* Per i mafiosi di tutto il mondo: "Open an off-shore bank in
Montenegro!"
* Russia Surprised With NATO Planned Military Action in Montenegro
* 12/9/2000: Arrestato in Montenegro braccio destro di Milosevic
ALTRI LINK SEGNALATI:
> http://www.iacenter.org/bosnia/elich_strike.htm
NATO PREPARING NEW MILITARY STRIKE IN BALKANS
Nostri documenti dello scorso anno:
> http://www.marx2001.org/nuovaunita/jugo/crj/m_l/160799a.htm
> http://www.marx2001.org/nuovaunita/jugo/crj/m_l/090899.htm
---
CONSIDERAZIONI SUL MONTENEGRO
Ieri mi sono imbattuto quasi per caso nel programma TG2 Dossier di RAI2
dove si parlava della situazione in Jugoslavia
alla vigilia delle elezioni. Dopo il primo servizio delirante di Ennio
Remondino, come al solito fazioso e pieno di bugie,
c'è stato un servizio sul Montenegro.
Adesso la tattica per disorientare lo spettatore è quella di
presentargli i due nazionalismi contrapposti, quello serbo
panslavo e quello montenegrino, senza quasi mai far riferimento ai
sentimenti jugoslavisti, ancora presenti secondo me
nella maggioranza della popolazione, anzi la parola Jugoslavia non viene
quasi mai detta e viene sostituita con la parola
Serbia.
Le parole del metropolita della chiesa ortodossa in Montenegro vengono
messe in contrapposizione con quelle dei
nazionalisti montenegrini e presentate come opinioni personali al fine
di screditarle, con affermazioni del tipo "Lui crede
che in Montenegro hanno sempre vissuto i serbi sa secoli" oppure
"Secondo lui non esiste nessuna etnia montenegrina".
Anche Milosevic sarebbe un nazionalista che tenta di tenere sottomessi i
montenegrini come una provincia serba, non come
una regione della federazione jugoslava. Per questo motivo (cioè per
colpa di Milosevic) è normale che si sviluppi il
nazionalismo in Montenegro ("con la sua politica Milosevic sta
incendiando il nazionalismo"). Hanno presentato
Djukanovic come colui che ha sconfitto alle elezioni (democratiche,
quando gli fa comodo in Serbia c'è la dittatura) il
candidato del partito di Milosevic. Hanno intervistato anche Bogdanovic,
che si vantava di come le sue squadracce ("la
polizia speciale del Montenegro") abbiano fermato l'esercito federale
diretto in Kossovo al tempo della guerra.
Insomma, la disinformazione strategica ha messo le mani pure sul
Montenegro e io non sono molto ottimista. Come
possiamo evitare che si compia un altro scempio? Dopo inizieranno pure
con la Vojvodina o il Sangiaccato?
Vi ho tediato anche troppo. Vi volevo soltanto ringraziare perché per
merito vostro mi sono innamorato di un paese e del
suo modo di vivere, anche se ormai questo quasi non esiste più. Adesso
so veramente cosa significa Jugoslavia, però so
anche che la stiamo perdendo e questo mi fa star male...
Spero di poter vedere la Jugoslavia tornare quella di un tempo, uno dei
pochi paesi dove vorrei vivere.
Un fraterno abbraccio.
Pino C.
---
JUGOSLAVIA: ELEZIONI; MINACCE MONTENEGRO, DENUNCIA BULATOVIC
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 25 SET - Il voto in
Montenegro e' stato
condizionato da ''pressioni e minacce'' del governo
riformista
del presidente Milo Djukanovic, ha sostenuto il
premier federale
Momir Bulatovic in una conferenza stampa.
Molti cittadini, ha detto Bulatovic, ''sono stati
minacciati
di licenziamento se fossero andati a votare, e da
stamane
infatti i siluramenti sono cominciati''. Sarebbe
questa, secondo
il premier, la causa della bassa affluenza, che egli
stima
comunque intorno al 60% e non il 22% come dichiarato
dall'opposizione serba. Stando a Bulatovic, il 93%
dei votanti
montenegrini si sono pronunciati per l'attuale
presidente
federale Slobodan Milosevic. Dei 50 seggi
parlamentari riservati
al Montenegro, ha concluso, la coalizione di regime
ne controlla
almeno 47. (ANSA).
OT
25/09/2000 15:56
---
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This act allows for the establishment offshore banks, and also for
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This fee includes provision of mail forwarding and shared telephone and
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---
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=199518
Russia Surprised With NATO Planned Military Action in Montenegro
MOSCOW, Sep 15, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) Russia was deeply
concerned
with NATO's threat of sending ground troops to Montenegro in the case of
Belgrade using force in Podgorica, the Russian foreign ministry said in
a
statement Thursday.
"Recent comments made by U.S. Air Force Commander in Europe, General
Gregory Martin, about NATO having already conceived several variants of
military action against Montenegro, including the use of ground troops,
are
shocking," said the ministry.
"By his statement, the general has confirmed that the North Atlantic
alliance is constantly planning military operations against a sovereign
state without consulting Russia, which is in breach of the cooperation
agreement between NATO and Russia," the statement read.
"It is amazing that the general could make that statement, especially
during such a critical time in the Balkan region," the ministry said.
Local and presidential elections are due to be held in the former
Yugoslavia on September 24.
The Russian State Duma lower house of parliament plans to send observers
to
monitor the forthcoming elections. ((c) 2000 Agence France Presse)
---
dal Corriere della Sera on line 12/9/2000
PER ALCUNE ORE
Arrestato in Montenegro braccio destro di Milosevic
Il braccio destro di Slobodan Milosevic, Ratko Krsmanovic, è stato
arrestato per alcune ore dalla polizia montenegrina perché sorpreso a
scrivere sui muri di un palazzo di Podgorica con una bomboletta spray.
[SIC! Facile immaginare che il vero motivo del sequestro e' legato alle
elezioni nella Federazione...]
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
* Per i mafiosi di tutto il mondo: "Open an off-shore bank in
Montenegro!"
* Russia Surprised With NATO Planned Military Action in Montenegro
* 12/9/2000: Arrestato in Montenegro braccio destro di Milosevic
ALTRI LINK SEGNALATI:
> http://www.iacenter.org/bosnia/elich_strike.htm
NATO PREPARING NEW MILITARY STRIKE IN BALKANS
Nostri documenti dello scorso anno:
> http://www.marx2001.org/nuovaunita/jugo/crj/m_l/160799a.htm
> http://www.marx2001.org/nuovaunita/jugo/crj/m_l/090899.htm
---
CONSIDERAZIONI SUL MONTENEGRO
Ieri mi sono imbattuto quasi per caso nel programma TG2 Dossier di RAI2
dove si parlava della situazione in Jugoslavia
alla vigilia delle elezioni. Dopo il primo servizio delirante di Ennio
Remondino, come al solito fazioso e pieno di bugie,
c'è stato un servizio sul Montenegro.
Adesso la tattica per disorientare lo spettatore è quella di
presentargli i due nazionalismi contrapposti, quello serbo
panslavo e quello montenegrino, senza quasi mai far riferimento ai
sentimenti jugoslavisti, ancora presenti secondo me
nella maggioranza della popolazione, anzi la parola Jugoslavia non viene
quasi mai detta e viene sostituita con la parola
Serbia.
Le parole del metropolita della chiesa ortodossa in Montenegro vengono
messe in contrapposizione con quelle dei
nazionalisti montenegrini e presentate come opinioni personali al fine
di screditarle, con affermazioni del tipo "Lui crede
che in Montenegro hanno sempre vissuto i serbi sa secoli" oppure
"Secondo lui non esiste nessuna etnia montenegrina".
Anche Milosevic sarebbe un nazionalista che tenta di tenere sottomessi i
montenegrini come una provincia serba, non come
una regione della federazione jugoslava. Per questo motivo (cioè per
colpa di Milosevic) è normale che si sviluppi il
nazionalismo in Montenegro ("con la sua politica Milosevic sta
incendiando il nazionalismo"). Hanno presentato
Djukanovic come colui che ha sconfitto alle elezioni (democratiche,
quando gli fa comodo in Serbia c'è la dittatura) il
candidato del partito di Milosevic. Hanno intervistato anche Bogdanovic,
che si vantava di come le sue squadracce ("la
polizia speciale del Montenegro") abbiano fermato l'esercito federale
diretto in Kossovo al tempo della guerra.
Insomma, la disinformazione strategica ha messo le mani pure sul
Montenegro e io non sono molto ottimista. Come
possiamo evitare che si compia un altro scempio? Dopo inizieranno pure
con la Vojvodina o il Sangiaccato?
Vi ho tediato anche troppo. Vi volevo soltanto ringraziare perché per
merito vostro mi sono innamorato di un paese e del
suo modo di vivere, anche se ormai questo quasi non esiste più. Adesso
so veramente cosa significa Jugoslavia, però so
anche che la stiamo perdendo e questo mi fa star male...
Spero di poter vedere la Jugoslavia tornare quella di un tempo, uno dei
pochi paesi dove vorrei vivere.
Un fraterno abbraccio.
Pino C.
---
JUGOSLAVIA: ELEZIONI; MINACCE MONTENEGRO, DENUNCIA BULATOVIC
(ANSA) - BELGRADO, 25 SET - Il voto in
Montenegro e' stato
condizionato da ''pressioni e minacce'' del governo
riformista
del presidente Milo Djukanovic, ha sostenuto il
premier federale
Momir Bulatovic in una conferenza stampa.
Molti cittadini, ha detto Bulatovic, ''sono stati
minacciati
di licenziamento se fossero andati a votare, e da
stamane
infatti i siluramenti sono cominciati''. Sarebbe
questa, secondo
il premier, la causa della bassa affluenza, che egli
stima
comunque intorno al 60% e non il 22% come dichiarato
dall'opposizione serba. Stando a Bulatovic, il 93%
dei votanti
montenegrini si sono pronunciati per l'attuale
presidente
federale Slobodan Milosevic. Dei 50 seggi
parlamentari riservati
al Montenegro, ha concluso, la coalizione di regime
ne controlla
almeno 47. (ANSA).
OT
25/09/2000 15:56
---
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---
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=199518
Russia Surprised With NATO Planned Military Action in Montenegro
MOSCOW, Sep 15, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) Russia was deeply
concerned
with NATO's threat of sending ground troops to Montenegro in the case of
Belgrade using force in Podgorica, the Russian foreign ministry said in
a
statement Thursday.
"Recent comments made by U.S. Air Force Commander in Europe, General
Gregory Martin, about NATO having already conceived several variants of
military action against Montenegro, including the use of ground troops,
are
shocking," said the ministry.
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alliance is constantly planning military operations against a sovereign
state without consulting Russia, which is in breach of the cooperation
agreement between NATO and Russia," the statement read.
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to
monitor the forthcoming elections. ((c) 2000 Agence France Presse)
---
dal Corriere della Sera on line 12/9/2000
PER ALCUNE ORE
Arrestato in Montenegro braccio destro di Milosevic
Il braccio destro di Slobodan Milosevic, Ratko Krsmanovic, è stato
arrestato per alcune ore dalla polizia montenegrina perché sorpreso a
scrivere sui muri di un palazzo di Podgorica con una bomboletta spray.
[SIC! Facile immaginare che il vero motivo del sequestro e' legato alle
elezioni nella Federazione...]
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Yugoslavia Amid the Maelstrom
By Gregory Elich
The sound was like no other. Hundreds of blackbirds were perched in trees
throughout the park in central Belgrade where our bus stopped, and their
loud and raucous cries startled me. I had never seen so many blackbirds in
one place. Our host, Nikola Moraca, and his son were there to greet us.
When asked about the blackbirds, Nikola replied, "We never had these
before. They are from Kosovo. They migrated here because the bombing in
Kosovo was too intense." The birds' piercing cries were unsettling, and
seemed a harbinger of all of the pain and suffering we would come to
witness during our stay in Yugoslavia. We were a delegation of peace
activists and concerned individuals, organized and led by Barry Lituchy, a
specialist on European history. Our mission was to bring medical aid to
the people of Yugoslavia, and we would spend the first two weeks of August
1999 gathering evidence of NATO war crimes for former U.S. Attorney
General Ramsey Clark's Independent Commission of Inquiry.
Years of hardship had taken their toll on Yugoslav society. Burdened by
sanctions, a massive influx of refugees, and NATO's destruction of
factories and workplaces, the unemployment rate had soared. All along
Revolution Boulevard, sidewalks were jammed with street vendors selling
paltry goods. It was an important means of survival for many people in
Belgrade. I saw two very elderly women sitting behind a card table, on
which the only goods were stones, hand-painted with designs and
affectionate sayings. Gasoline is strictly rationed, and stations were
usually closed. We frequently saw people standing by roadsides, plastic
bottles of gasoline for sale. Gasoline smuggled across the border from
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary was another means of survival for the
destitute. Buses and streetcars were densely crowded. Windows were sealed
in some streetcars, a sign of air conditioning in better times. Now the
closed windows served to trap the oppressive summer heat as people, soaked
with sweat, crowded and pressed against each other. "The burden of imposed
sanctions is felt in nearly every situation on a daily basis," Danka
Moraca, Nikola's wife, informed us. "Sanctions have changed our lives
tremendously, if not totally. Now we are all used to shortages of everyday
necessities such as basic food, cleaning products and personal items. If
you are fortunate enough to be able to afford them, you must wait in long
lines." Sanctions, she added, have resulted in a "decline of salaries,
pensions and a general impoverishment of ordinary people." According to
the Yugoslav Red Cross, approximately 100,000 people, primarily pensioners
and welfare recipients, rely on soup kitchens, but the need outstrips the
supply of available meals. Eight years of sanctions have taken their toll,
and the war compounded the effect, nearly doubling the poverty rate.
On our first morning in Belgrade, we met with Bratislava Morina, Federal
Minister for Refugees, Displaced Persons and Humanitarian Aid. It was
Morina's ministry that was responsible for coping with Europe's largest
refugee population. Already burdened with 700,000 refugees from wars in
Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, more than 200,000 people had fled from
Kosovo by the time of our visit, a number that would soon grow to over
350,000. Morina, whose husband is Albanian, listed several prominent
political positions held by Albanians in Yugoslavia, "until they were
given orders to leave office" by secessionists "and become part of the
parallel world." - a reference to the secessionist's boycott of
institutions. Calm and dignified, Morina spoke eloquently of the
destruction wrought by NATO, but concluded that these were "not the worst
crimes committed" by President Clinton. "When we hear claims that they
want to create a multiethnic society in Kosovo, this is ironic," she said,
"because we have witnessed one of the most radical ethnic cleansing
campaigns" since the arrival of NATO troops.
We next met with officials of the Yugoslav Red Cross. We gave them several
bags of medicines that were donated by American doctors and individuals.
Dr. Miodrag Starcevic talked of the refugee crisis, pointing out that "our
needs are very urgent," and that they lacked food, shelter, clothes and
medicines for refugees. Officials there felt that the level of need for
humanitarian aid greatly exceeded what international organizations were
providing. Another serious problem for the organization is that it cannot
operate freely in Kosovo. "We cannot go there," Dr. Starcevic said. "Even
when we send humanitarian relief, we must provide in advance for some kind
of escort by KFOR [NATO's Kosovo Force], because it is impossible to go
there. It is too dangerous." Medical officer Ljubisa Dragisic told us that
local production met most of the nation's needs for drugs and medical
supplies, but that sanctions caused shortages in imported medicines. "It's
especially a problem with some services," she said. "For example, the
transfusion service, because we import the bags and blood tests, and some
drugs...oncology drugs, and some programs for example, the dialysis
program, and a part of the program for treatment of diabetics." Suture
material and anesthetic drugs were also in short supply.
Poisoning an Entire Nation and People
We were particularly interested in learning more about the environmental
aspect of NATO bombing. The systematic destruction of chemical,
petrochemical, fertilizer plants, and oil refineries seriously poisoned
the local environment. In the early morning hours of April 18, 1999, NATO
missiles rained down on the industrial town of Pancevo, just northeast of
Belgrade. A petrochemical plant was hit, sending into the atmosphere 900
tons of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), an extremely dangerous carcinogen.
By sunrise, clouds of VCM poured through the town, at levels exceeding
10,600 times the permissible limit for human safety. Burning VCM released
phosgene gas, a substance that was used as a poison gas during the First
World War. Chlorine gas - also used as a poison gas during World War I -
was also discharged by fires at the plant, as were other dangerous
chemicals, such as naptha, ethylene dichloride and hydrochloric acid. A
poison rain spattered the region, and hundreds of tons of oil and
chemicals soaked into the soil and poured into the Danube River. Pools of
mercury formed on the grounds of the plant. After a missile narrowly
missed striking a tank of liquid ammonia, panicked workers dumped the
liquid ammonia into the Danube in order to avert a terrible tragedy. The
entire population of Pancevo was evacuated immediately, but residents had
returned to their homes by the time of our visit. Doctors there advise
women to avoid pregnancy for the next two years, and many residents are
coming down with red rashes and blisters. Although we were only in Pancevo
for a few hours, some of us, myself included, found rashes appearing on
our legs before the end of the day. My lower legs were covered with
rashes, and it was two weeks before they would finally disappear.
According to one worker we talked with, eighty percent of the
petrochemical plant was destroyed. Another worker told us that "vast
quantities of ammonia and VCM spilled into the river," and that he could
"see an immediate effect because one meter above the river the bank
appears burned. All the plants look as if they had been burned by fire."
Several people expressed fears for their health and that of their
families.
Serious environmental hazards also resulted from the destruction of power
plants in Bor and Kragujevac. Transformers there relied on transformer oil
containing polychlorinated biphenyles (PCB) pyralene, as a coolant.
According to the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern
Europe, "one liter of the PCB pyralene pollutes one billion liters of
water." We visited an oil refinery in Novi Sad. One resident of Novi Sad,
whose home was located a mere three blocks from the refinery, later told
me that the refinery was bombed on virtually a daily basis and that his
neighborhood was constantly enveloped in smoke. Outside the refinery, we
saw a struggling bird soaked in oil, near death
Perhaps the deadliest weapon in NATO's arsenal was depleted uranium (DU)
tipped missiles and bombs. Depleted uranium's high density enables
projectiles to easily penetrate armor and concrete targets. When DU
weapons impact on their target, thousands of radioactive particles are
released into the atmosphere, and may be borne for miles by the wind. When
people ingest these particles, serious bodily damage can result. Following
the use of DU weapons in the 1991 Gulf War, rates of birth defects and
leukemia rose dramatically in southern Iraq.
Barry and I talked with Dr. Radoje Lausevic, an environmental specialist
and assistant professor at the University of Belgrade. Dr. Lausevic's
appearance and manner of speech reminded me of my best friend, Jorge, so
he made an immediately favorable impression. While driving us in his car,
he commented on the ecological impact of the war, and it wasn't until we
arrived at our destination that I realized that his talk was so
interesting that I forgot to record him or take notes. We arrived at the
office of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern
Europe, where we briefly concluded our discussion of the environmental
damage. Barry asked about depleted uranium (DU) weapons. My impression was
that use of depleted uranium weapons was limited to Kosovo, but Dr.
Lausevic told us that Russian sources determined that 30 metric tons of DU
was used outside of Kosovo. The entire territory of Yugoslavia was exposed
to these weapons. One particle of DU in the lungs, he said, is equivalent
to a daily chest x-ray for life.
The delegation also met with Dusan Vasiljevic, president of Green Table, a
Belgrade-based environmental non-governmental organization. A man with an
elegant manner of speech, he also acted as our guide and translator when
we visited Pancevo. Vasiljevic told us that 135,000 tons of toxic
chemicals spilled into the environment as a result of NATO bombing.
Speaking of Pancevo, he pointed out that VCM "is one of the most dangerous
toxic chemicals that ever existed. It's gastro organic in the first place,
and disrupts the cells inside," the consequences of which are "liver
disease, kidney disease and of course cancer itself." Vasiljevic also
confirmed Dr. Lausevic's report of widespread use of DU weapons.
Vasiljevic explained that as DU particles spread over an area, it "enters
the food chain, as well as to water, soil, even in the air. Once you get
these depleted uranium particles in your body, they stay there. You can't
get rid of them. And they move in your body...mostly they go to the
kidneys, and also to the liver." Vasiljevic's comments on Kosovo were
sobering. "Kosovo itself is a nuclear desert now. I wouldn't go there
myself...because the level of radiation in Kosovo is over any tolerable
level." Depleted uranium emits primarily alpha radiation, which is 20
times more deadly internally than gamma radiation, he said. The United
Nations Balkan Task Force, as well as other Western investigators "did not
find any increased radiation. How could they say so? Because they did not
have the proper equipment for that....They had just a Geiger counter." A
Geiger counter is worthless for measuring DU because it measures primarily
gamma radiation, not alpha.
Exhaust from NATO overflights, Vasiljevic claimed, severely damaged the
ozone layer above Yugoslavia. Immediately following NATO's bombing
campaign, Yugoslavia was ravaged by a series of floods and severe
rainstorms. By the time of our visit, the temperature was searing,
unbearable at times. People speculated that the heat, floods and rains
were a result of the thinning of the ozone. The damaged ozone layer would
soon drift over Western Europe, Vasiljevic said. It is difficult to
determine a correlation, but on December 2, 1999, the European Space
Agency reported that the lowest ever levels of ozone, "nearly as low as
those found in the Antarctic," were measured over northwest Europe during
November. Everyone was concerned about the food supply. Danka worried that
"all that we have on the green markets or in the shops nowadays has been
contaminated, either by the destroyed chemical industry or by the new
weapons dropped on our heads. I can't even think about the possible
consequences of consuming such food."
A City Crippled by Bombs
In the northern city of Novi Sad, we viewed three bridges spanning the
Danube River. All three were severed by NATO missiles. The Varadin Bridge
carried a main water pipe, and when the bridge was destroyed on April 1,
the Petrovaradin section of the city lost its water supply. Similarly,
destruction of the Zezelj Bridge on April 26 eliminated water in the
suburbs. Water had to be trucked in until service could be restored. At
the Executive Council Building in Novi Sad, we met Dr. Zivorad Smiljanic,
president of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, and an
interesting and knowledgeable man. Smiljanic pointed out, as did many
others during our visit, that Yugoslavia has 26 nationalities and is a
multiethnic society. "Even the smallest nationalities have education in
their own mother tongue," he said. "Now you can see for yourselves what
NATO did." NATO leaders "constantly talk about democracy, but we could see
that democracy in action here: democracy that bombed and destroyed
bridges, schools and hospitals....all these aims were actually false,
because the real truth and their real aim was to conquer everything and
put everything under one system." Smiljanic was asked to name their most
urgent need. "The thing that we would like most of all is for the
international community to leave us alone;" he exclaimed, "to lift
blockades and sanctions, and stop 'helping' us in the way that they are
doing."
Following the meeting, one official approached Barry. His eyes were moist.
"It was such a difficult time for those of us with children," he said. "We
didn't know what to do: take both children in one cellar, or put them in
separate cellars." A terrible dilemma, whether to keep the family together
and risk losing everyone in a single moment; or split the family apart,
thus increasing the chances of losing someone.
We were scheduled to tour and view bomb damage at the Executive Council
building later in the day. When we arrived, our bus pulled to a stop in
front of the building and our delegation began to disembark. A woman
walked up to our bus, and asked us through an open window, "Are you a
delegation?" Receiving an affirmative answer, she spoke in an angry and
outraged tone, "We're a delegation from Germany. We've been here one week
already. We've seen such terrible things, you can't imagine. People here
have a system like no one in the world. It's a true multiethnic society.
Back in Germany, all we hear are lies. There is no way to get the truth
out." We soon came to share her reaction and her outrage. The portrayal of
Yugoslavia in Western media is bizarre for anyone who troubles himself to
actually visit the place. A multiethnic society where peoples of many
nationalities work and live together is painted as racist. A society in
which women walk calmly and unafraid in a park at midnight, as we
regularly saw, is portrayed as crime-ridden. Knowledgeable and worldly
people are represented as ignorant and irrational. How often had I read in
the Western press of President Slobodan Milosevic's 1989 speech at Kosovo
Polje, in which it was claimed that he whipped the crowd into a
nationalist frenzy with a language of hate? Western reporters can get away
with such monstrous lies because they know no one will bother to check the
text of that speech. I couldn't believe the accusation because it ran
counter to those speeches I was familiar with. When I found a copy of the
speech, my suspicions were confirmed. There was not one phrase of hatred.
What I found instead were phrases such as, "Serbia has never had only
Serbs living in it. Today, more than in the past, members of other peoples
and nationalities also live in it. This is not a disadvantage for Serbia.
I am truly convinced that it is its advantage." Or these examples:
"Socialism in particular, being a progressive and just democratic society,
should not allow people to be divided in the national and religious
respect," and "Yugoslavia is a multiethnic community and it can survive
only under the conditions of full equality for all nations that live in
it." These are the phrases Western media would have one believe are filled
with hate and racism. When I returned to the United States, it was weeks
before I could bear to listen to the news and its spewing of lies and
obsession with trivial issues.
Whatever else would happen during our stay in Yugoslavia, it was clear
that we would be well fed. Every morning and evening, Nikola and Danka
prepared a spectacular banquet for us. We were continually delighted by a
dazzling array of delicious dishes. Their extraordinary hospitality and
kindness made me feel like part of their family, and Nikola's impish sense
of humor brought daily merriment. The importance of family and friends was
paramount in this society. Friends, family, and neighbors often visited.
On the street, we often saw family members holding hands. Displays of
affection were open. Due to sanctions, their lives are materially
impoverished compared to earlier times, but still they lead rich lives. As
one man in Novi Sad told me, "We have a different philosophy here than in
the West. We have a saying, 'The man is rich who has many friends'."
NATO did not ignore Vidovdan Skonaselje, a suburb of Novi Sad. People were
living in the ruins of their homes, simply because they had nowhere else
to go. The home of Rajko and Gordana Matic was severely damaged. Rajko and
his wife Gordana fled Zagreb in 1992 and built their new home here. Now
NATO had bombed their new house. Heavy plastic covered the windows. With
the exception of the frame and base, nothing remained of the roof. The
explosion had dented and twisted their car. They allowed us inside to view
their home. Holes in the walls, a result of the bomb blast, allowed
chickens to enter and wander about. On the second floor, one of the
interior walls, broken and cracked, was bowed to an alarming degree, like
the letter 'C'. Light streamed in through a ruptured wall, and mounds of
rubble filled the rooms. It didn't seem safe, but they had nowhere else to
go, nor money to repair the damage. Previous Western visitors had promised
them help, which never came. To the left of the Matic's house stood an
empty shell of another home. Only the brick walls still stood. Everything
else was blown away in the bombing. Farther to the left, the roof of a
demolished home angled down to the ground. Behind it stood more homes with
blasted roofs, damaged walls and seared interiors. The house to the right
was missing the second floor. Only remnants of the front and back wall
remained. Hammering sounds told us that the owners had begun the arduous
task of rebuilding. Across the street, the roof of one home was a mass of
twisted wreckage. Between these buildings, a roadside sign listed at a
drunken angle, punctured neatly by shrapnel from a NATO bomb. It was a
"welcome" sign.
NATO also left its calling card at another suburb of Novi Sad, Detelinara.
On May 6, a powerful bomb landed at the juncture of two apartment
buildings and the Svetozar Markovic elementary school. By the time of our
visit, the huge crater had been filled in, and all 20 of the demolished
automobiles removed. The buildings were severely damaged, and many
apartments were devastated. Seven people were wounded in the attack, and
the site followed a pattern that we would witness repeatedly during our
two weeks in Yugoslavia. Residential areas with no military value were
targeted on a regular basis.
Belgrade Bombarded
In New Belgrade, the more recently built section of the city, we stopped
at Hotel Yugoslavia. On May 7, just before midnight, two NATO missiles
struck the hotel near the main entrance. One person was killed, and four
wounded. It was impossible to view the extensive destruction without
contemplating the mentality that could order missiles to be fired at a
hotel. As we stood before the Chinese embassy, only a few blocks away,
NATO's excuses seemed absurd. Architecturally distinctive, the embassy's
unique beauty could not possibly be mistaken for the nearby Federal
Directorate of Supply and Procurement, nor any other building in the
vicinity. Similarly difficult to swallow was the claim that the embassy
was bombed because the CIA had relied on an old map. The embassy building
was built during 1992-93, and an old map would have shown an empty field.
One would have to believe that NATO intended to bomb an empty field.
Certainly, the CIA would have closely monitored the Chinese embassy in
Belgrade, particularly as NATO prepared to wage war on Yugoslavia. Three
satellite-guided missiles struck the embassy, just twenty minutes after
the bombing of Hotel Yugoslavia. The missile that did the most damage
penetrated through the roof, burrowing down to the basement. Three people
were killed, and 20 wounded. Fire and smoke poured through the building.
The stairways were demolished, and people trapped on the top three floors
tied bedsheets together, hanging them out of windows as a means of escape.
We saw that one rope of bedsheets still hung from a fourth story window.
Two days before my departure for Yugoslavia, I obtained a copy of an
article from the July 2 issue of Kai Fang, published in Hong Kong. The
article's author, Su Lan, wrote that embassy personnel electronically
monitored NATO's military operations, and that NATO feared that the
downing of its F-117 Stealth fighter-bomber may have been a result of
information passed along by them to Yugoslav officials. The October 17
issue of The Observer and a follow-up story a few weeks later, confirmed
that the embassy was deliberately targeted. A NATO flight controller based
in Naples told The Observer, "The Chinese embassy had an electronic
profile, which NATO located and pinpointed." "The aim," said another NATO
officer, "was to send a clear message to Milosevic that he should not use
outside help in the shape of the Chinese."
Not far away stood the ruins of another beautiful building, the 23-story
Usce Business Center, the target of four missiles on April 21. Much of the
building's exterior was blackened by fire, and many windows were a mass of
twisted metal. I remembered seeing dramatic photographs of this building
engulfed in flames. NATO planners anticipated high "collateral damage."
Their plans anticipated that up to 100 government officials and 250
civilians residing in nearby apartments in the "expected blast radius"
would be killed in the attack. Unfazed at the prospect of murdering up to
350 people, President Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair gave
their approval for the building's destruction. The Usce Business Center
housed offices of a variety of businesses and political organizations. The
rationale for the building's destruction was that some of the offices
belonged to the Serbian Socialist Party and the closely allied Yugoslav
United Left. Only prior evacuation of the building averted a tragedy and
no one perished in the attack.
NATO's bland assertions seemed obscene. Bombing the Chinese embassy was an
"accident," and therefore excusable. This carried with it the unspoken
assumption that bombing another building and killing Yugoslav civilians
would be acceptable. The destruction of Hotel Yugoslavia and the Usce
Business Center was also acceptable, because these somehow fell into the
all-inclusive category of "military targets." Many people in the West were
completely indifferent to the death and destruction carried out in their
names. All of NATO's claims were accepted without examination or
questioning. The United States, it is assumed, has an inherent right to
invade or bomb another country and to trample international law underfoot.
In this context, I found it poignant when we saw a billboard in Belgrade,
which read: "They believe in bombs. We believe in God."
That night, in the Moraca's home, delegation member Ken Freeland
interviewed Nenad Gudjic, a Serbian refugee from Kosovo. Gudjic said he
felt that "Albanians suppressed me, especially when I started to date my
present wife, who is Albanian." His wife also felt strong pressure from
Albanian extremists, prompting them to leave Kosovo. "Something very
interesting is happening now," Gudjic said. "I lived in Pristina for 33
years. Now, on the streets of Belgrade, I saw a few of my Albanian friends
who escaped, as I escaped, from Pristina. They are living now in Belgrade
without any problems. These are ethnic Albanians of my generation who
escaped that chaos."
Every Federal building in downtown Belgrade bore the scars of bombing.
Almost every day we passed these buildings, and each day the sight was as
painful as the day before. Late one night during the war, kept awake by an
air raid, Nikola was on his balcony talking to his neighbor across the
street on her balcony. The sound of flying missiles interrupted their
conversation. Nikola shouted at his neighbor, "Get down. This one will hit
us." His shoulders rose as a chill travelled down the back of his neck.
Two explosions roared. Only a few short blocks away, one missile smashed a
house on Maxim Gorky Street, also damaging an adjoining apartment building
and a restaurant. The other missile struck a street nearby. Four people
were injured; one of whom, 23-year old Sofija Jovanovic, died of her
wounds two days later. On my last day in Belgrade, I walked down to view
the site. Nothing remained but a mound of concrete, bricks, broken boards,
and upturned earth. As a sort of memorial, someone had scrawled graffiti
on the remnants of an adjacent building: "Bombed April 30." With
fatalistic humor, graffiti on another house read, "Sorry. You missed us."
Danka described life during the bombing. "We were bombed constantly for 78
days and nights, without any break or pause. We were without water or
electricity for days. We had to throw away everything from the
refrigerator, including all medicaments essential for our family, because
of the high temperatures in May. The bombing was awful, cruel and savage.
We were all afraid, staying in the dark lobby for hours, listening to the
scary sounds of the low-flying warplanes, detonations, children crying,
car alarms, and people screaming who simply couldn't stand it anymore."
Later in the war, "NATO changed its tactics, and by the end they were
bombing us every two hours. That was part of their psychological war, I
suppose." The effects of the bombardment were widespread. "There was no
bread. The bakeries couldn't produce bread without electricity. The smell
of spoiled food spread from nearby supermarkets. There was no milk for
children." Her children were upset, asking, "Why are those people bombing
us? Why do they hate us so much when we didn't do anything wrong to them?"
Danka revealed that every time she kissed her children goodnight "during
the bombing campaign, deep inside me I was praying for God to see them
healthy and alive the next morning. During those long bombing nights, they
were awakened so many times by strong nearby explosions, annoyed and
panicked."
The Belgrade 5 transformer station of the Serbian Electric Company is
located at Bezanijska Kosa in New Belgrade. It was bombed, as were many
other electrical power and transformer stations. Several Tomahawk missiles
struck here, as well as a new weapon, the CBU-94, a cluster bomb which
releases a web of carbon-graphite threads, resulting in electrical
short-circuits and burnt components. At one point, seventy percent of
Yugoslavia's power supply was knocked out, which also adversely affected
water supplies that depended on electrical pumps. About 50,000 hospital
patients, including those on dialysis and babies in incubators, also
suffered from the power outages. When workers proved adept at restoring
power rapidly, NATO then targeted the plants with cruise missiles and
conventional bombs. By the end of the war, one third of the electricity
transmission systems were damaged or destroyed. During our visit to
Belgrade 5, workers were busily repairing the damage. We talked with one
of the workers, who said that most of the Belgrade suburb of Zemun was
without electricity. He worried about the onset of winter, when people
would have to rely on alternative sources of heat, such as coal and small
heaters. He pointed out that the coolant for the plant's transformers
contained PCBs, and that consequently, "when the fuel burns, it is toxic,
so [NATO] poisoned nature around here also. It went into the ground, so it
will reach our water supplies." One of our delegation members, Jeff
Goldberg, asked him if this was the most expensive damage inflicted on
Yugoslavia, and the worker immediately responded, "The most expensive
damage is that they killed a lot of people." When asked about the length
of time required for repair, the worker answered. "We need equipment. We
need spare parts...without foreign aid we are dead. We have a factory that
makes spare parts, converters, but...they can make only one switch per
month. It's a low capacity factory."
The previous day, due to bomb damage, virtually all of Serbia's steam
power plants shut down, and much of the country was left without power. On
the day of our visit, a breakdown at the power line at the Djerdap-Bor
hydroelectric plant caused a chain-reaction of breakdowns in other power
lines, resulting in more blackouts. It was expected that hundreds of
thousands of people would freeze during winter, with sanctions blocking
the import of much-needed parts, but prospects improved due to a
remarkable program of reconstruction and improvisation. Electricity is
severely rationed, with frequent power cuts. But what seemed an inevitable
humanitarian disaster has been averted through the ingenuity and heroic
efforts of workers in overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The
electrical worker we talked with summed up the war: "We were bombed
because we refuse to be slaves. We are a proud people and we don't want to
be enslaved. Rich people want slaves. They want obedient people."
Our meeting with the Belgrade-based Committee for Compiling Data on Crimes
against Humanity and International Law was of particular interest for me.
I had read several articles about the work of the committee as well as
interviews with its president, Dr. Zoran Stankovic, so I was familiar with
the meticulous and significant work they had done in Bosnia-Herzegovina
and Croatia. All nine members of the committee work on a volunteer basis,
constrained by severely limited resources, outmoded personal computers and
only one copy machine. The committee was tasked to investigate NATO war
crimes, and that was the main focus of our discussion. A point of
frustration for the committee was that they had submitted eight files of
documentation with The Hague War Crimes Tribunal, which treated their
reports with complete disinterest.
Albanian Refugees and Civil War: Behind the Media Screen
NATO officials accused the Yugoslav government of expelling its Albanian
population and committing genocide. The flood of refugees pouring into
Albania and Macedonia was trumpeted as justification for bombing
Yugoslavia. Few dwelled on the logical fallacy of NATO's claim that a
refugee crisis which occurred subsequent to bombing was itself the
motivation for that bombing. Western leaders presented a simple picture,
one easily grasped. Reality is seldom as simple as a Hollywood action
movie, though, and Western leaders intentionally distorted events for an
uncritical public.
Every nationality can be found in the membership of the Serbian Socialist
Party, including Albanian, and the party has long prided itself on a
commitment to a multiethnic society. This commitment is evident in its
program and in virtually every document and every speech. Toward the end
of 1998, during the period of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, the Yugoslav
government set up 14 centers throughout Kosovo, where people could come
and take free lumber and building supplies for reconstruction of homes
damaged in the civil war. These supplies were open to every person of
every nationality. There were no restrictions. It was impossible for me to
believe that the Serbian Socialist Party metamorphosed overnight into a
racist organization, bent on national exclusivity. It did not fit, so I
dug into the matter, trying to ascertain the truth among a torrent of
lies. A more subtle picture emerged, still with suffering on a mass scale,
but this time with NATO as the central catalyst. According to an
intelligence report from the German Foreign Office, dated January 12,
1999, "Even in Kosovo an explicit political persecution linked to Albanian
ethnicity is not verifiable...actions of the security forces [are] not
directed against the Kosovo Albanians as an ethnically defined group, but
against the military opponent and its actual or alleged supporters." A
civil war was raging in the province of Kosovo between the Albanian
secessionist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and Yugoslav security forces.
This internal document presented a very different message than Western
leaders' public statements.
Concomitant with NATO's bombing campaign, hundreds of thousands of people
of all nationalities fled their homes. When the first bombs fell,
extremists became enraged and blamed Albanians for the bombing. Many of
these extremists formed paramilitary groups and criminal gangs, and vented
their rage on the local Albanian population. NATO's bombs created an
environment of anarchy and chaos that allowed thugs, paramilitary gangs,
and renegade police to operate freely. One Serbian official was reported
as saying, "It was a catastrophe. Podujevo was emptied in about three
hours. There were a lot of vile and angry people, maddened, who were out
of control." In Kosovo's capital city of Pristina, the first wave of
refugees departed when threatened by thugs during the week and a half
following NATO's first bombs on March 24. The second wave left when the
center of the city was bombed on April 6 and 7, and the third wave left
later, out of a panic that something may happen. Zoran Andjelkovic,
president of the then governing Provisional Executive Council for Kosovo,
pointed out that the first ten days or so of chaos included fierce clashes
among angry civilians. Criminal gangs ran wild, ordering people to leave
so that their homes could be robbed. Both Albanian and Serbian criminal
gangs roamed the region. Adrian Gillan, in an article in the London Review
of Books, talked with Ben Ward, a researcher for Human Rights Watch. Ward
told him, "There doesn't appear to be anything to support allegations of
mass killings. It is generally paramilitaries who are responsible. It
doesn't seem organized. There appear to be individual acts of sadism
rather than anything else. There seems not to be any policy or
instruction, but that isn't to say that people have not been given the
latitude to kill. However, I don't think at this stage we have anything
that adds up to the systematic killing of civilians." Restoring order was
an extremely difficult task for the Yugoslav Army and security forces
because they were under constant NATO bombardment. Yet, by the third week
of the war they had succeeded in restoring order in much of the region,
and in the latter half of April, Yugoslav police began escorting refugees
back to their homes. By the time Yugoslav troops and security forces
withdrew from Kosovo in early June, they had arrested over 800 thugs and
paramilitaries for crimes against civilians.
At the beginning of the war, Yugoslav troops evacuated villages along the
border with Albania where KLA bunkers and arms depots where found. An
invasion by NATO troops was anticipated, and as one Yugoslav soldier
explained, "You can't be waiting for the American army and at the same
time have armed Albanians behind your back." In an interview for UPI
conducted during the war, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic said, "Our
regular forces are highly disciplined. The paramilitary irregular forces
are a different story. Bad things happened, as they did with both sides
during the Vietnam war, or any other war for that matter. We have arrested
those irregular self-appointed leaders. Some have already been tried and
sentenced to 20 years in prison."
People fled for other reasons as well. There was a clear pattern of people
fleeing areas subjected to intensive bombardment. Some of the refugees Ben
Ward talked with said they had fled from NATO bombs. Other refugees fled
to escape being caught in battles between Yugoslav and KLA forces.
Thousands more fled to avoid forcible conscription into KLA ranks. Every
Albanian man KLA soldiers encountered was forced to enlist. Those who
refused were either savagely beaten or killed.
Refugee flight, though, was never as thorough as painted by NATO
propaganda, and hundreds of thousands of Albanians remained in Kosovo.
Paramilitary rage swept through portions of the western region, while much
of the remainder of the province was unscathed. Even during the period of
bombing, many thousands of Albanian refugees returned to their homes.
The web of lies spun by the NATO propaganda machine started to unravel
once KFOR entered the province. Claiming that there would be half a
million internally displaced people inside the province, KFOR instead
found only small isolated pockets of refugees. "We planned for what we
thought was a potential disaster...and we just haven't found it," admitted
Lt. General Mike McDuffie. Lurid tales of mass genocide fell apart, as
forensic specialists investigated suspected mass graves. Up to 700 bodies
were said to be hidden in the Trepca lead and zinc mines. Not one body was
found there. About 350 were buried in a mass grave in Ljubenic, the public
was told. A thorough examination of the site found only seven. The leader
of the Spanish forensic team, Emilio Perez Pujo, was told that his team
would go to the "worst zone of Kosovo," and to "prepare ourselves to
perform more than 2,000 autopsies." But, "the result is very different. We
only found 187 cadavers." "There were no mass graves" in his team's area,
he said. "For the most part the Serbs are not as bad as they have been
painted." Faced with increasingly embarrassing questions about the lack of
evidence for NATO's justification for military aggression, The Hague war
crimes tribunal scrambled to release a statement asserting that they had
indeed found 2,108 bodies. Far short of genocide, but certainly more than
individual reports of excavations would indicate. Significantly, the
tribunal neglected to categorize these deaths. We are not told how many
bodies of each nationality were found, how many died from executions, how
many were KLA or Yugoslav soldiers killed in combat, how many died from
NATO bombs, and how many died from natural causes.
NATO claimed that its intervention was necessary to quell the civil war in
Kosovo, while neglecting to reveal its role in creating and escalating the
conflict. A September 24, 1998 report on the Monitor television program on
German ARD Television Network, revealed that the German Federal
Intelligence Service [BND] was engaged in "several illegal arms supplies"
to Albania, in cooperation with the Military Counter Intelligence Service
[MAD], and that "via these channels" military equipment was supplied to
the KLA. An ex-MAD official claimed that orders for the illegal arms
shipments were issued "from the very top." Several monitors from the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) patrolling
Kosovo during 1998-99 were CIA officers, revealed The Times on March 12,
2000. Their function was to provide advice and training manuals to the
KLA. The same article reports that Shaban Shala, a KLA commander, met
British, American and Swiss intelligence agents in northern Albanian as
early as 1996. According to Belgrade's Politika Ekspres, "a leak from
well-informed circles in the [secessionist] Democratic League of Kosovo"
disclosed that during a meeting between US envoy Richard Holbrooke and KLA
officers at Junik on June 26, 1998, Holbrooke promised the KLA $10 million
for the purchase of U.S. arms. One week later, Albanian media reported
mysterious flights of U.S. C-130 cargo planes landing at Gjadar airport in
northern Albania, a region under the control of the KLA. None of the
flights were reported to Albanian air traffic controllers, causing alarm
over potential collisions. Paul Beaver, an editor at Jane's Defence Weekly
was told by a Pentagon source, "Even before the air strikes seemed
inevitable, a [Military Professional Resources - MPRI] team was there [in
Kosovo] giving basic military training in tactics to the KLA field
commanders." MPRI is an organization of ex-US military officers that is
contracted by the Pentagon to provide training to foreign armed forces
when it is politically awkward for the U.S. government to be seen as
directly involved. KLA bunkers captured by Yugoslav forces often turned up
sophisticated Western weapons and U.S. food tins and medical packs. The
Fate of the Roma (Gypsy) People in Kosovo
On August 6, we visited Zemun and met with Jovan Damjanovic, president of
the Federal Association of Roma (Gypsy) People in Yugoslavia. A passionate
man, Damjanovic described the horrors visited upon his community by the
KLA following the occupation of the province by KFOR. Once Yugoslav forces
withdrew, there was nothing to restrain the KLA from pursuing its policy
of murdering and driving out every non-Albanian ethnic group, and every
non-secessionist Albanian. Under the protective umbrella of KFOR, the KLA
went on a murderous rampage, killing or expelling virtually everyone who
opposed it and leaving in its wake a trail of burning homes.
Damjanovic told us that the European Union had issued a list of 300
Yugoslav citizens who it banned from travel outside of Yugoslavia. The
United States and several other nations also joined in imposing the travel
restrictions. Individuals whose names are on the list and who have
investments or accounts outside of Yugoslavia had those assets seized.
U.S. intelligence agents visited many of the people on the list, implying
that their names could be removed from the list if they cooperated with
Western attempts to overthrow the democratically elected government of
Yugoslavia. There were also hints that uncooperative individuals would
face trumped-up war crimes charges. Right-wing opposition leader Vuk
Draskovic is not on the list, but he also was told he would face war
crimes charges if he did not join the U.S. effort to topple the
government, an assignment he readily accepted. Almost the entire
government of Yugoslavia is on the list, as well as many prominent people
in the society. On December 6, 1999, the list was expanded to 590 names,
and more than two months later, on February 28, an additional 180 names
were added. Looking over the list of names, I recognized several people we
had met, such as Commissioner for Refugees, Displaced Persons and
Humanitarian Aid Bratislava Morina and President of the Vojvodina Assembly
Zivorad Smiljanic. In Smiljanic's case, Western officials supposedly knew
enough about him to add him to the list, but not enough to spell his name
correctly. Only a complete reading of the list can bring a full
understanding of its vindictive nature. Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic's daughter-in-law is on the list. The Minister of Sport,
apparently, also bears guilt, as do the Minister of Tourism and the
Minister of Family Care. Also punished is the owner of a fashion-clothing
store, the owner of a watch company, bankers, family members of a banker,
and the Secretary of the Red Cross. In short, anyone of prominence who has
not lent him or herself to the Western project to impose a puppet
government is treated as a criminal.
On September 17, 1999, Damjanovic issued a statement condemning the KLA's
pogrom against non-Albanians in Kosovo. "This state of affairs calls into
question the justification for the foreign presence," the statement
declared, and "the exodus of Serbs, Montenegrins, and the Romanies
continues on the lines of the Nazi scenario of fifty years ago, while the
world looks on." It was a strong statement, but also a cry from the heart.
Damjanovic's organization faced the daunting task of providing housing and
aid for the mass exodus of the Romany people from Kosovo. His plea did not
go unnoticed in the West. On December 6, he too, was added to the EU's
travel ban list. Now the president of the Roma people in Yugoslavia, too,
is a criminal.
We were driven to a Roma settlement in Zemun Polje, on the outskirts of
Zemun. Romany residents here and in Zemun itself had taken into their
homes over 5,000 refugees. Coping with this influx placed a considerable
strain on the local population. Those who had little still opened their
arms to help their fellow human beings. It said much for the people, and I
was deeply impressed. This was a poor neighborhood, and several of the
homes demonstrated an ingenuity for improvised construction with found
materials that reminded me of a similar resourcefulness found among poor
residents of Bangkok. One home in particular fascinated me, with what
appeared to be a fur-covered roof, and a fur tail waving aloft from a pole
which protruded from the roof. The moment our cars pulled to a stop, a
crowd gathered. We interviewed several Roma and Egyptian refugees; people
who had lost everything. Krasnic Tefiq brought his family here from Obilic
after KLA soldiers came to his house and threatened to kill him and his
family. For two months they had nowhere to sleep until a family here took
them in, but life was still hard. "We have no food," he told us, "We are
starving. We are begging in the streets for food." Puco Rezeza's
experience was similar. His brother was killed by the KLA, and KLA
soldiers threatened to kill him and his family if they did not leave. He
too told us he was starving. We interviewed several more people, but when
emotions flared, Damjanovic decided to cut short the interviews. As our
cars departed, children ran excitedly behind us, enveloped in the dust
kicked up by our cars. We passed two boys standing by the side of the
road, who pumped their fists in the air, and chanted, "Yugoslavia!
Yugoslavia!"
We resumed our interviews in Zemun the next day. We were surrounded and
pressed on all sides by a crowd of refugees, all anxious to tell us their
stories and to hear what others had to say. The heat was sweltering, and
sweat poured down my back. Estrep Ramadanovic, vice president of the Roma
association, told us that 120,000 out of 150,000 Romany people had been
expelled from Kosovo. Ramadanovic himself had taken 20 refugees into his
home. "The KLA soldiers don't want any other ethnic group to be in
Kosovo," he told us, "Only Albanians." Bajrosha Dulaj was angry. "My
daughter, Anesi Akmeti, was raped by KLA soldiers. At night we were
sleeping in our house, and KLA soldiers broke in and dragged my daughter
out and raped her." Her family's only remaining possessions were the
clothes they wore on the day they were driven from Kosovo. "These are the
only clothes I have. I have no food, nowhere to sleep," she said. "Should
I sleep on the street?" The psychological effects of bombing persisted.
"The children awake at night, calling 'Mama, Mama,' and I have nothing to
give to them. They are afraid of airplanes. They can't sleep well. They
can't eat."
Adan Berisha survived KLA torture. He showed us his wife, who was also
tortured by KLA soldiers. It appeared as if acid had been poured on her
face and arm. The KLA killed their 12-year-old son, Idis, as well as
Adan's father and two of his uncles. "A KLA soldier gave us only three
hours to leave our home," Adan said, "or he would kill us." His voice was
filled with anguish as he concluded, "Sorrow. A world of sorrow."
"KLA soldiers took everything, all my furniture from my home," Rakmani
Elis told us, "and then they burned down my house." Rakmani expressed
himself with a passion that swept all before it. "I'm not against the
American people," he exclaimed, "but this decision they made strikes me as
lunatic. The rights of every people, the Serb, the Montenegrin and the
Gypsy, have been annulled. People are going out to kill, but you, as an
army," - referring to KFOR - "just sit there. Did you come here to help or
to watch this circus going on? Events now are making history. It is not
acceptable what the American people are doing to us. If they came to help,
let me see them help. But if they did not come here to help, then
everyone, Serbs and Gypsies, will be stamped out."
KLA solders had dragged Aysha Shatili and her children from her home, and
started removing her furniture. "I called three British KFOR soldiers for
help. They came, but did nothing," she said. Her son was stabbed in the
back when he attempted to stop the KLA soldiers from looting their home.
Her two houses were then burned down. Like most of the refugees, she too
owned only the clothes she wore on the day she was driven from her home.
Five KLA soldiers visited Hasim Berisha, looking for his brother. "They
told me I have just five minutes to produce my brother or they will kill
my entire family." He left immediately and went to his sister's house. His
sister reported the incident to British KFOR headquarters, where they told
her to go wherever she would like to go, just so she won't be killed.
Hasim checked on his house the following day, and saw that it had been
burned down. His brother was caught by the KLA and severely beaten, and he
too was forced to flee the province.
Abdullah Shefik was fleeing from Urosevac in his van when KLA soldiers
stopped him and ordered him to leave his van with them. "American KFOR
soldiers stood nearby when my van was hijacked," he said, "but they did
nothing." All of his belongings were in the van.
Becet Kotesi told us that when British and French KFOR troops entered
Gnjilane, KLA soldiers "attacked Serbian and Roma people. KFOR did nothing
because they were on the other side of town, but the town is not very big,
so they had to know what was happening." Kotesi was in a pharmacy when the
shooting began, and promptly left to ride his bicycle home. "Three hundred
meters behind me was another man riding a bicycle, and KLA soldiers threw
a grenade at him and killed him." Kotesi fled the province because "KLA
soldiers searched for my compatriots, to beat and kill them because many
fought against them as members of the Yugoslav Army."
A Humanist Scholar, Driven from his Home
The Provisional Executive Council, which governed Kosovo up until the
entry of NATO troops, represented every ethnic group in the province. On
August 8 we interviewed Bajram Haliti, one of the Council's members.
Haliti, a Roma, also serves as Secretary for Development of Information on
the Languages of National Minorities. Always well-dressed and dignified,
he was gentle and soft-spoken, and I took an immediate liking to this
scholarly man who described himself as a humanist. Two years before, he
published a book, "The Roma: a People's Terrible Destiny," concerning the
genocide against the Roma people during the Second World War, and he
kindly gave each of us a copy of his book. In his personal library were
over 500 books in several languages from many countries on the subject of
the Roma and the genocide against them. Both of his homes were burned down
by KLA soldiers, including the library that Haliti had spent a lifetime
collecting. "I can't set a price on that library," he told us. At the
beginning of May 1999, Haliti sent an open letter to President Clinton,
protesting the bombing of his country. In the letter, he wrote, "Everyone
who cares for peace supports Yugoslavia, its leadership and people, who
are fighting for freedom, independence and territorial integrity." Calling
for an end to the bombing, his letter pointed out that "only peaceful
means can lead to a just settlement for all national communities which
live in Kosovo and Metohija." The letter made an impression. Haliti was on
the first travel ban list.
Addressing the issue of the rights of the Albanian people in Kosovo,
Haliti mentioned that a Yugoslav delegation arranged 17 meetings with
secessionists prior to NATO's bombardment. "In those negotiations," he
said, "we wanted to offer the Albanian people maximum legal, cultural and
political autonomy," but the secessionist delegation refused to meet with
them. "Every ethnic group was guaranteed all political, cultural and legal
rights," but secessionist Albanians boycotted institutions. "People
outside of Yugoslavia did not know that Albanians refused to exercise
their rights. For example, Albanians boycotted schools in their own
language, and told the world that they can't receive an education in their
own language." There were 65 newspapers in the Albanian language in
Kosovo, he added. "Many of these newspapers advocated secession, to sever
ties. Not one newspaper was forbidden. In America, if a group put out a
newspaper advocating secession and terrorism, would that newspaper be
allowed to publish?"
"Why doesn't NATO challenge [KLA leader] Hasim Thaci? Why don't they bomb
Hasim Thaci," he asked, "as he carries out massive ethnic cleansing? In
Kosmet [Kosovo-Metohija] now, few Serbs remain, few Roma remain and few
Gorans remain.... The Roma people are in a very hard situation. It is the
same situation Jewish people faced in 1939. At that time, Hitler
persecuted every Jew in his territory. And now we have Hasim Thaci. Now
Roma houses are burned down. Roma are expelled by the KLA."
"The hostility toward Roma people is because we want a normal life
together with other ethnic groups, we oppose division of our country, and
we give our political support to the government."
One of our delegation members, Ken Freeland, a pacifist and anti-war
activist from Houston, was keenly interested in a journal edited by
Haliti, Ahimsa, the title of which was taken from Gandhi's term for
non-violence. "Roma people are a peaceful people," Haliti explained. "The
Roma are a cosmopolitan people. Roma do not have a country. The exodus of
the Roma people has brought them to every country, where they are loyal
citizens who live a normal life. The Roma people have earned the right to
give this name to the journal."
Haliti told us that in a few months "we will have our own radio and
television frequencies, and a station" called Romany National Television,
and that he would be the station's chief editor. I wondered in how many
other countries Romanies held government positions. How many other
countries had a Romany radio and television station, in the Romany
language? Were there any, besides Yugoslavia? NATO propaganda had turned
reality completely on its head, painting the most multiethnic society in
the Balkans, in which every nationality was represented in the Kosovo
government, as nationalist and racist.
Haliti and I shared a passion for music, and following our interview, we
had a very interesting discussion of Roma culture, and the contribution of
the Romany people to the world of music. Haliti told us that flamenco
music originated among Roma people, and also talked of several prominent
Roma musicians, such as jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and flamenco
musician Camaron De La Isla.
Twelve days later, Haliti was again interviewed, this time by Tanjug, the
Yugoslav news agency. "It is useless to talk about the position and the
rights of Romanies, as the UN peace mission is unable to protect any
inhabitants of the province, including ethnic Albanians who do not accept
the terror of their extremist fellows," he declared. KLA leaders "reject
the fundamental democratic and humane principles on which contemporary
civilization rests and without which there can be no peace or stability in
multiethnic communities." It will be a long time before Bajram Haliti's
name is removed from the travel ban "enemies list."
War on Belgrade
One of NATO's innovations was a rather novel form of censorship. On April
23, missiles slammed into Radio Television Serbia (RTS) in downtown
Belgrade, killing 16. The studio, NATO claimed, was a "legitimate military
target" because it broadcast "propaganda," meaning, of course, that it was
reporting the effects of NATO's bombing. RTS Belgrade was passing footage
of destruction to Western media, a practice that evidently had to be
stopped. CNN had a studio there, but was warned of the attack beforehand
and pulled out its equipment and personnel. CNN invited Serbian Minister
of Information Aleksandar Vucic to the studio for a live broadcast
interview. Vucic was asked to arrive for makeup at 2:00 AM sharp on April
23, for an interview scheduled to take place half an hour later. At 2:20,
RTS was no more. Shortly after the attack, RTS employee Sava Andjelkovic
described the scene. "A wall behind me virtually vanished, and then the
entire wing of the building. We heard screams of wounded people." Several
people were trapped in the rubble, and it was some time before all of the
survivors could be rescued. Vucic was more fortunate. His tardiness spared
his life, foiling the attempted assassination.
By the time of our visit, the rubble had been cleared, but the building
still stood with one wing sheared away, the multi-floor building standing
with each floor exposed. Nearby, missing railings and smashed windows at
the Dusko Radovic Children's Theater hinted at greater damage within.
RTS Belgrade was not alone. Radio and television stations and towers
throughout Yugoslavia were targeted. Our host Nikola demonstrated what was
on his television. Only static could be found on state channels. Untouched
were opposition channels, as well as music video and fashion channels, and
always there was access to Western cable. Western media stories about the
so-called "media dictatorship" in Yugoslavia, like all Western media
stories about Yugoslavia, are less believable for those who visit there.
We stopped at the Tanjug Press Center, housed in an aged and
unprepossessing building. As we climbed the stairs, delegation member
Michael Parenti pointed to several steps that were missing chunks of
concrete and quipped, "So this is the well-oiled Milosevic propaganda
machine we hear so much about." Not far away, an opposition-owned
television station, housed in a tall gleaming modern building, towered
above its surroundings. The U.S. and European Union have funnelled
millions of dollars to opposition media in Yugoslavia. One wonders what
the reaction would be in the United States were a hostile foreign
government to fund American media advocating the overthrow of the
government. In Yugoslavia, this media, bought and paid for, operated
freely. Newsstands were everywhere, and perusal revealed that a flood of
opposition newspapers and magazines vastly outnumbered pro-government
publications such as Politika, Borba, and Vecernje Novosti. It presented
an interesting study in semantics. A media dictatorship is where state
television cannot be viewed, but opposition television can; where there
are three pro-government papers and dozens of opposition papers. In the
United States, freedom of the press is lauded. One can pick up any
newspaper in any city with the confident expectation that it will have
essentially the same content as any other newspaper in any other city.
Alternative publications, often tepid and predictable, are marginalized
and often difficult to find, virtually to the point of irrelevance.
NATO's media war against Yugoslavia continues unabated. In place of bombs,
more subtle methods are implemented, outside the perception of the
American public. As state television returns to the air, transmitters
based in neighboring countries jam it. Such stations as Voice of America,
BBC, Radio Free Europe and USA Radio broadcast on Yugoslav state radio and
television frequencies. While we were in Yugoslavia, on August 11, RTS
issued a statement condemning this "media occupation," and pointing out
that these "frequencies were awarded to our country by international
conventions" and that this "violates all international standards in the
sphere of telecommunications." Appeals to international law fell on deaf
ears.
From RTS, a long trolley ride took us to the Belgrade suburb of Rakovica.
There we viewed the 21st of May Industrial Complex, which manufactured
automobile engines, and like many factories throughout Yugoslavia, it lay
in ruins. Now it was merely a mass of twisted wreckage; steel pipes,
girders and concrete jumbled together. The deliberate targeting of
factories was an extension of sanctions, an attempt at economic
strangulation. Over 600,000 people lost their jobs during the period of
bombing, raising the number of unemployed to over two million. About $100
billion damage was inflicted on Yugoslavia, president of the Trade Union
Association Radoslav Ilic announced during the war. "This aggression has
all the characteristics of a dirty war," he said, "in which workers are
the biggest sufferers. Workers and the products of their work have become
military targets, and the international progressive public is too slow in
awakening." Much of the Western progressive public still slumbers.
While in Rakovica, we met a refugee from Bosnia-Herzegovina who had
earlier worked in Germany for seven years. He wanted to show us his
child's school, the France Presern elementary school, one of dozens of
schools targeted by NATO. Virtually every window was broken and several
window frames were damaged. The doors were locked, so we were unable to
view interior damage. He told us that the school year would begin in two
weeks, and wondered where his child would go to school.
Kosovo's Other Albanians
Later that afternoon we met with three Albanian refugees from Kosovo. All
three, Faik Jasari, Corin Ismali and Fatmir Seholi, were members of the
Kosovo Democratic Initiative, an Albanian political party that favored a
multiethnic Kosovo within Yugoslavia and opposed the KLA's policy of
secession and racial exclusion. Jasari is president of the Kosovo
Democratic Initiative, as well as a member of the Provisional Executive
Council, which governed Kosovo prior to NATO's occupation of the province.
Jasari said he was forced to flee from his home in Gnjilane on June 18th
because "members of the KLA were showing photos of my family and me to
people, trying to find us. I am now at the top of the list of people the
KLA is looking for." Jasari lost everything. "My wife and I worked for 34
years, and now we have nothing. Nothing." Barry asked him if he was afraid
for his life. "Yes. I am afraid.....If they find me, they will kill me."
He had good reason to be afraid. The KLA had already killed several
hundred pro-Yugoslav Albanians. Many more were beaten and tortured. In
all, Jasari said, the KLA had expelled over 150,000 Albanians from Kosovo,
both before and after the entry of KFOR. He could not stand idly by, and
sent a letter to UN Special Representative for Kosovo Bernard Kouchner,
asking "to visit with him and discuss the situation in Kosovo and with my
party." Predictably, his letter went unanswered. "Where is democracy and
pluralism in Kosovo? I can't go there," he told us. I can't take part in
the political process. Where is democracy?" All of NATO's pretty-sounding
phrases about democracy and human rights, aimed at the Western domestic
audience, rang hollow for him.
When asked about reports of Serbian oppression of Albanians, Jasari
responded firmly, "It is not true. It is not true. I am Albanian and I
have all the same rights as any Serbian."
Corin Ismali, Under-Secretary for National Social Questions in the
Provisional Executive Council, also attempted to meet with Kouchner, and
he too was rebuffed. Ismali was forced from his home by threats from KLA
soldiers, he explained, "because I supported Yugoslavia and I opposed
secession....We want to live with other ethnic groups in Yugoslavia. We do
not want to live in a country that has only one ethnic group."
Fatmir Seholi worked in public relations for the Kosovo Democratic
Initiative, and was chief editor at Radio Television Pristina. "I must
point out," he said, "that the Albanian people had more media than did the
Serbian people" in Kosovo. "You could find only one newspaper in the
Serbian language, but you could find about 65 newspapers in the Albanian
language." That one Serbian newspaper was closed down shortly after the
arrival of KFOR in Kosovo. Seholi studied at Pristina University, and
pointed out that Albanian people were able to study in their own language.
"I think that America did not have the right information about Albanian
people in Kosovo, or did not want to get the correct information about the
rights of Albanian people in Kosovo."
The tragedy that befell Seholi's country had disillusioned him. "Until the
NATO bombing, I loved and<br/><br/>(Message over 64 KB, truncated)
By Gregory Elich
The sound was like no other. Hundreds of blackbirds were perched in trees
throughout the park in central Belgrade where our bus stopped, and their
loud and raucous cries startled me. I had never seen so many blackbirds in
one place. Our host, Nikola Moraca, and his son were there to greet us.
When asked about the blackbirds, Nikola replied, "We never had these
before. They are from Kosovo. They migrated here because the bombing in
Kosovo was too intense." The birds' piercing cries were unsettling, and
seemed a harbinger of all of the pain and suffering we would come to
witness during our stay in Yugoslavia. We were a delegation of peace
activists and concerned individuals, organized and led by Barry Lituchy, a
specialist on European history. Our mission was to bring medical aid to
the people of Yugoslavia, and we would spend the first two weeks of August
1999 gathering evidence of NATO war crimes for former U.S. Attorney
General Ramsey Clark's Independent Commission of Inquiry.
Years of hardship had taken their toll on Yugoslav society. Burdened by
sanctions, a massive influx of refugees, and NATO's destruction of
factories and workplaces, the unemployment rate had soared. All along
Revolution Boulevard, sidewalks were jammed with street vendors selling
paltry goods. It was an important means of survival for many people in
Belgrade. I saw two very elderly women sitting behind a card table, on
which the only goods were stones, hand-painted with designs and
affectionate sayings. Gasoline is strictly rationed, and stations were
usually closed. We frequently saw people standing by roadsides, plastic
bottles of gasoline for sale. Gasoline smuggled across the border from
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Hungary was another means of survival for the
destitute. Buses and streetcars were densely crowded. Windows were sealed
in some streetcars, a sign of air conditioning in better times. Now the
closed windows served to trap the oppressive summer heat as people, soaked
with sweat, crowded and pressed against each other. "The burden of imposed
sanctions is felt in nearly every situation on a daily basis," Danka
Moraca, Nikola's wife, informed us. "Sanctions have changed our lives
tremendously, if not totally. Now we are all used to shortages of everyday
necessities such as basic food, cleaning products and personal items. If
you are fortunate enough to be able to afford them, you must wait in long
lines." Sanctions, she added, have resulted in a "decline of salaries,
pensions and a general impoverishment of ordinary people." According to
the Yugoslav Red Cross, approximately 100,000 people, primarily pensioners
and welfare recipients, rely on soup kitchens, but the need outstrips the
supply of available meals. Eight years of sanctions have taken their toll,
and the war compounded the effect, nearly doubling the poverty rate.
On our first morning in Belgrade, we met with Bratislava Morina, Federal
Minister for Refugees, Displaced Persons and Humanitarian Aid. It was
Morina's ministry that was responsible for coping with Europe's largest
refugee population. Already burdened with 700,000 refugees from wars in
Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, more than 200,000 people had fled from
Kosovo by the time of our visit, a number that would soon grow to over
350,000. Morina, whose husband is Albanian, listed several prominent
political positions held by Albanians in Yugoslavia, "until they were
given orders to leave office" by secessionists "and become part of the
parallel world." - a reference to the secessionist's boycott of
institutions. Calm and dignified, Morina spoke eloquently of the
destruction wrought by NATO, but concluded that these were "not the worst
crimes committed" by President Clinton. "When we hear claims that they
want to create a multiethnic society in Kosovo, this is ironic," she said,
"because we have witnessed one of the most radical ethnic cleansing
campaigns" since the arrival of NATO troops.
We next met with officials of the Yugoslav Red Cross. We gave them several
bags of medicines that were donated by American doctors and individuals.
Dr. Miodrag Starcevic talked of the refugee crisis, pointing out that "our
needs are very urgent," and that they lacked food, shelter, clothes and
medicines for refugees. Officials there felt that the level of need for
humanitarian aid greatly exceeded what international organizations were
providing. Another serious problem for the organization is that it cannot
operate freely in Kosovo. "We cannot go there," Dr. Starcevic said. "Even
when we send humanitarian relief, we must provide in advance for some kind
of escort by KFOR [NATO's Kosovo Force], because it is impossible to go
there. It is too dangerous." Medical officer Ljubisa Dragisic told us that
local production met most of the nation's needs for drugs and medical
supplies, but that sanctions caused shortages in imported medicines. "It's
especially a problem with some services," she said. "For example, the
transfusion service, because we import the bags and blood tests, and some
drugs...oncology drugs, and some programs for example, the dialysis
program, and a part of the program for treatment of diabetics." Suture
material and anesthetic drugs were also in short supply.
Poisoning an Entire Nation and People
We were particularly interested in learning more about the environmental
aspect of NATO bombing. The systematic destruction of chemical,
petrochemical, fertilizer plants, and oil refineries seriously poisoned
the local environment. In the early morning hours of April 18, 1999, NATO
missiles rained down on the industrial town of Pancevo, just northeast of
Belgrade. A petrochemical plant was hit, sending into the atmosphere 900
tons of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), an extremely dangerous carcinogen.
By sunrise, clouds of VCM poured through the town, at levels exceeding
10,600 times the permissible limit for human safety. Burning VCM released
phosgene gas, a substance that was used as a poison gas during the First
World War. Chlorine gas - also used as a poison gas during World War I -
was also discharged by fires at the plant, as were other dangerous
chemicals, such as naptha, ethylene dichloride and hydrochloric acid. A
poison rain spattered the region, and hundreds of tons of oil and
chemicals soaked into the soil and poured into the Danube River. Pools of
mercury formed on the grounds of the plant. After a missile narrowly
missed striking a tank of liquid ammonia, panicked workers dumped the
liquid ammonia into the Danube in order to avert a terrible tragedy. The
entire population of Pancevo was evacuated immediately, but residents had
returned to their homes by the time of our visit. Doctors there advise
women to avoid pregnancy for the next two years, and many residents are
coming down with red rashes and blisters. Although we were only in Pancevo
for a few hours, some of us, myself included, found rashes appearing on
our legs before the end of the day. My lower legs were covered with
rashes, and it was two weeks before they would finally disappear.
According to one worker we talked with, eighty percent of the
petrochemical plant was destroyed. Another worker told us that "vast
quantities of ammonia and VCM spilled into the river," and that he could
"see an immediate effect because one meter above the river the bank
appears burned. All the plants look as if they had been burned by fire."
Several people expressed fears for their health and that of their
families.
Serious environmental hazards also resulted from the destruction of power
plants in Bor and Kragujevac. Transformers there relied on transformer oil
containing polychlorinated biphenyles (PCB) pyralene, as a coolant.
According to the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern
Europe, "one liter of the PCB pyralene pollutes one billion liters of
water." We visited an oil refinery in Novi Sad. One resident of Novi Sad,
whose home was located a mere three blocks from the refinery, later told
me that the refinery was bombed on virtually a daily basis and that his
neighborhood was constantly enveloped in smoke. Outside the refinery, we
saw a struggling bird soaked in oil, near death
Perhaps the deadliest weapon in NATO's arsenal was depleted uranium (DU)
tipped missiles and bombs. Depleted uranium's high density enables
projectiles to easily penetrate armor and concrete targets. When DU
weapons impact on their target, thousands of radioactive particles are
released into the atmosphere, and may be borne for miles by the wind. When
people ingest these particles, serious bodily damage can result. Following
the use of DU weapons in the 1991 Gulf War, rates of birth defects and
leukemia rose dramatically in southern Iraq.
Barry and I talked with Dr. Radoje Lausevic, an environmental specialist
and assistant professor at the University of Belgrade. Dr. Lausevic's
appearance and manner of speech reminded me of my best friend, Jorge, so
he made an immediately favorable impression. While driving us in his car,
he commented on the ecological impact of the war, and it wasn't until we
arrived at our destination that I realized that his talk was so
interesting that I forgot to record him or take notes. We arrived at the
office of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern
Europe, where we briefly concluded our discussion of the environmental
damage. Barry asked about depleted uranium (DU) weapons. My impression was
that use of depleted uranium weapons was limited to Kosovo, but Dr.
Lausevic told us that Russian sources determined that 30 metric tons of DU
was used outside of Kosovo. The entire territory of Yugoslavia was exposed
to these weapons. One particle of DU in the lungs, he said, is equivalent
to a daily chest x-ray for life.
The delegation also met with Dusan Vasiljevic, president of Green Table, a
Belgrade-based environmental non-governmental organization. A man with an
elegant manner of speech, he also acted as our guide and translator when
we visited Pancevo. Vasiljevic told us that 135,000 tons of toxic
chemicals spilled into the environment as a result of NATO bombing.
Speaking of Pancevo, he pointed out that VCM "is one of the most dangerous
toxic chemicals that ever existed. It's gastro organic in the first place,
and disrupts the cells inside," the consequences of which are "liver
disease, kidney disease and of course cancer itself." Vasiljevic also
confirmed Dr. Lausevic's report of widespread use of DU weapons.
Vasiljevic explained that as DU particles spread over an area, it "enters
the food chain, as well as to water, soil, even in the air. Once you get
these depleted uranium particles in your body, they stay there. You can't
get rid of them. And they move in your body...mostly they go to the
kidneys, and also to the liver." Vasiljevic's comments on Kosovo were
sobering. "Kosovo itself is a nuclear desert now. I wouldn't go there
myself...because the level of radiation in Kosovo is over any tolerable
level." Depleted uranium emits primarily alpha radiation, which is 20
times more deadly internally than gamma radiation, he said. The United
Nations Balkan Task Force, as well as other Western investigators "did not
find any increased radiation. How could they say so? Because they did not
have the proper equipment for that....They had just a Geiger counter." A
Geiger counter is worthless for measuring DU because it measures primarily
gamma radiation, not alpha.
Exhaust from NATO overflights, Vasiljevic claimed, severely damaged the
ozone layer above Yugoslavia. Immediately following NATO's bombing
campaign, Yugoslavia was ravaged by a series of floods and severe
rainstorms. By the time of our visit, the temperature was searing,
unbearable at times. People speculated that the heat, floods and rains
were a result of the thinning of the ozone. The damaged ozone layer would
soon drift over Western Europe, Vasiljevic said. It is difficult to
determine a correlation, but on December 2, 1999, the European Space
Agency reported that the lowest ever levels of ozone, "nearly as low as
those found in the Antarctic," were measured over northwest Europe during
November. Everyone was concerned about the food supply. Danka worried that
"all that we have on the green markets or in the shops nowadays has been
contaminated, either by the destroyed chemical industry or by the new
weapons dropped on our heads. I can't even think about the possible
consequences of consuming such food."
A City Crippled by Bombs
In the northern city of Novi Sad, we viewed three bridges spanning the
Danube River. All three were severed by NATO missiles. The Varadin Bridge
carried a main water pipe, and when the bridge was destroyed on April 1,
the Petrovaradin section of the city lost its water supply. Similarly,
destruction of the Zezelj Bridge on April 26 eliminated water in the
suburbs. Water had to be trucked in until service could be restored. At
the Executive Council Building in Novi Sad, we met Dr. Zivorad Smiljanic,
president of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, and an
interesting and knowledgeable man. Smiljanic pointed out, as did many
others during our visit, that Yugoslavia has 26 nationalities and is a
multiethnic society. "Even the smallest nationalities have education in
their own mother tongue," he said. "Now you can see for yourselves what
NATO did." NATO leaders "constantly talk about democracy, but we could see
that democracy in action here: democracy that bombed and destroyed
bridges, schools and hospitals....all these aims were actually false,
because the real truth and their real aim was to conquer everything and
put everything under one system." Smiljanic was asked to name their most
urgent need. "The thing that we would like most of all is for the
international community to leave us alone;" he exclaimed, "to lift
blockades and sanctions, and stop 'helping' us in the way that they are
doing."
Following the meeting, one official approached Barry. His eyes were moist.
"It was such a difficult time for those of us with children," he said. "We
didn't know what to do: take both children in one cellar, or put them in
separate cellars." A terrible dilemma, whether to keep the family together
and risk losing everyone in a single moment; or split the family apart,
thus increasing the chances of losing someone.
We were scheduled to tour and view bomb damage at the Executive Council
building later in the day. When we arrived, our bus pulled to a stop in
front of the building and our delegation began to disembark. A woman
walked up to our bus, and asked us through an open window, "Are you a
delegation?" Receiving an affirmative answer, she spoke in an angry and
outraged tone, "We're a delegation from Germany. We've been here one week
already. We've seen such terrible things, you can't imagine. People here
have a system like no one in the world. It's a true multiethnic society.
Back in Germany, all we hear are lies. There is no way to get the truth
out." We soon came to share her reaction and her outrage. The portrayal of
Yugoslavia in Western media is bizarre for anyone who troubles himself to
actually visit the place. A multiethnic society where peoples of many
nationalities work and live together is painted as racist. A society in
which women walk calmly and unafraid in a park at midnight, as we
regularly saw, is portrayed as crime-ridden. Knowledgeable and worldly
people are represented as ignorant and irrational. How often had I read in
the Western press of President Slobodan Milosevic's 1989 speech at Kosovo
Polje, in which it was claimed that he whipped the crowd into a
nationalist frenzy with a language of hate? Western reporters can get away
with such monstrous lies because they know no one will bother to check the
text of that speech. I couldn't believe the accusation because it ran
counter to those speeches I was familiar with. When I found a copy of the
speech, my suspicions were confirmed. There was not one phrase of hatred.
What I found instead were phrases such as, "Serbia has never had only
Serbs living in it. Today, more than in the past, members of other peoples
and nationalities also live in it. This is not a disadvantage for Serbia.
I am truly convinced that it is its advantage." Or these examples:
"Socialism in particular, being a progressive and just democratic society,
should not allow people to be divided in the national and religious
respect," and "Yugoslavia is a multiethnic community and it can survive
only under the conditions of full equality for all nations that live in
it." These are the phrases Western media would have one believe are filled
with hate and racism. When I returned to the United States, it was weeks
before I could bear to listen to the news and its spewing of lies and
obsession with trivial issues.
Whatever else would happen during our stay in Yugoslavia, it was clear
that we would be well fed. Every morning and evening, Nikola and Danka
prepared a spectacular banquet for us. We were continually delighted by a
dazzling array of delicious dishes. Their extraordinary hospitality and
kindness made me feel like part of their family, and Nikola's impish sense
of humor brought daily merriment. The importance of family and friends was
paramount in this society. Friends, family, and neighbors often visited.
On the street, we often saw family members holding hands. Displays of
affection were open. Due to sanctions, their lives are materially
impoverished compared to earlier times, but still they lead rich lives. As
one man in Novi Sad told me, "We have a different philosophy here than in
the West. We have a saying, 'The man is rich who has many friends'."
NATO did not ignore Vidovdan Skonaselje, a suburb of Novi Sad. People were
living in the ruins of their homes, simply because they had nowhere else
to go. The home of Rajko and Gordana Matic was severely damaged. Rajko and
his wife Gordana fled Zagreb in 1992 and built their new home here. Now
NATO had bombed their new house. Heavy plastic covered the windows. With
the exception of the frame and base, nothing remained of the roof. The
explosion had dented and twisted their car. They allowed us inside to view
their home. Holes in the walls, a result of the bomb blast, allowed
chickens to enter and wander about. On the second floor, one of the
interior walls, broken and cracked, was bowed to an alarming degree, like
the letter 'C'. Light streamed in through a ruptured wall, and mounds of
rubble filled the rooms. It didn't seem safe, but they had nowhere else to
go, nor money to repair the damage. Previous Western visitors had promised
them help, which never came. To the left of the Matic's house stood an
empty shell of another home. Only the brick walls still stood. Everything
else was blown away in the bombing. Farther to the left, the roof of a
demolished home angled down to the ground. Behind it stood more homes with
blasted roofs, damaged walls and seared interiors. The house to the right
was missing the second floor. Only remnants of the front and back wall
remained. Hammering sounds told us that the owners had begun the arduous
task of rebuilding. Across the street, the roof of one home was a mass of
twisted wreckage. Between these buildings, a roadside sign listed at a
drunken angle, punctured neatly by shrapnel from a NATO bomb. It was a
"welcome" sign.
NATO also left its calling card at another suburb of Novi Sad, Detelinara.
On May 6, a powerful bomb landed at the juncture of two apartment
buildings and the Svetozar Markovic elementary school. By the time of our
visit, the huge crater had been filled in, and all 20 of the demolished
automobiles removed. The buildings were severely damaged, and many
apartments were devastated. Seven people were wounded in the attack, and
the site followed a pattern that we would witness repeatedly during our
two weeks in Yugoslavia. Residential areas with no military value were
targeted on a regular basis.
Belgrade Bombarded
In New Belgrade, the more recently built section of the city, we stopped
at Hotel Yugoslavia. On May 7, just before midnight, two NATO missiles
struck the hotel near the main entrance. One person was killed, and four
wounded. It was impossible to view the extensive destruction without
contemplating the mentality that could order missiles to be fired at a
hotel. As we stood before the Chinese embassy, only a few blocks away,
NATO's excuses seemed absurd. Architecturally distinctive, the embassy's
unique beauty could not possibly be mistaken for the nearby Federal
Directorate of Supply and Procurement, nor any other building in the
vicinity. Similarly difficult to swallow was the claim that the embassy
was bombed because the CIA had relied on an old map. The embassy building
was built during 1992-93, and an old map would have shown an empty field.
One would have to believe that NATO intended to bomb an empty field.
Certainly, the CIA would have closely monitored the Chinese embassy in
Belgrade, particularly as NATO prepared to wage war on Yugoslavia. Three
satellite-guided missiles struck the embassy, just twenty minutes after
the bombing of Hotel Yugoslavia. The missile that did the most damage
penetrated through the roof, burrowing down to the basement. Three people
were killed, and 20 wounded. Fire and smoke poured through the building.
The stairways were demolished, and people trapped on the top three floors
tied bedsheets together, hanging them out of windows as a means of escape.
We saw that one rope of bedsheets still hung from a fourth story window.
Two days before my departure for Yugoslavia, I obtained a copy of an
article from the July 2 issue of Kai Fang, published in Hong Kong. The
article's author, Su Lan, wrote that embassy personnel electronically
monitored NATO's military operations, and that NATO feared that the
downing of its F-117 Stealth fighter-bomber may have been a result of
information passed along by them to Yugoslav officials. The October 17
issue of The Observer and a follow-up story a few weeks later, confirmed
that the embassy was deliberately targeted. A NATO flight controller based
in Naples told The Observer, "The Chinese embassy had an electronic
profile, which NATO located and pinpointed." "The aim," said another NATO
officer, "was to send a clear message to Milosevic that he should not use
outside help in the shape of the Chinese."
Not far away stood the ruins of another beautiful building, the 23-story
Usce Business Center, the target of four missiles on April 21. Much of the
building's exterior was blackened by fire, and many windows were a mass of
twisted metal. I remembered seeing dramatic photographs of this building
engulfed in flames. NATO planners anticipated high "collateral damage."
Their plans anticipated that up to 100 government officials and 250
civilians residing in nearby apartments in the "expected blast radius"
would be killed in the attack. Unfazed at the prospect of murdering up to
350 people, President Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair gave
their approval for the building's destruction. The Usce Business Center
housed offices of a variety of businesses and political organizations. The
rationale for the building's destruction was that some of the offices
belonged to the Serbian Socialist Party and the closely allied Yugoslav
United Left. Only prior evacuation of the building averted a tragedy and
no one perished in the attack.
NATO's bland assertions seemed obscene. Bombing the Chinese embassy was an
"accident," and therefore excusable. This carried with it the unspoken
assumption that bombing another building and killing Yugoslav civilians
would be acceptable. The destruction of Hotel Yugoslavia and the Usce
Business Center was also acceptable, because these somehow fell into the
all-inclusive category of "military targets." Many people in the West were
completely indifferent to the death and destruction carried out in their
names. All of NATO's claims were accepted without examination or
questioning. The United States, it is assumed, has an inherent right to
invade or bomb another country and to trample international law underfoot.
In this context, I found it poignant when we saw a billboard in Belgrade,
which read: "They believe in bombs. We believe in God."
That night, in the Moraca's home, delegation member Ken Freeland
interviewed Nenad Gudjic, a Serbian refugee from Kosovo. Gudjic said he
felt that "Albanians suppressed me, especially when I started to date my
present wife, who is Albanian." His wife also felt strong pressure from
Albanian extremists, prompting them to leave Kosovo. "Something very
interesting is happening now," Gudjic said. "I lived in Pristina for 33
years. Now, on the streets of Belgrade, I saw a few of my Albanian friends
who escaped, as I escaped, from Pristina. They are living now in Belgrade
without any problems. These are ethnic Albanians of my generation who
escaped that chaos."
Every Federal building in downtown Belgrade bore the scars of bombing.
Almost every day we passed these buildings, and each day the sight was as
painful as the day before. Late one night during the war, kept awake by an
air raid, Nikola was on his balcony talking to his neighbor across the
street on her balcony. The sound of flying missiles interrupted their
conversation. Nikola shouted at his neighbor, "Get down. This one will hit
us." His shoulders rose as a chill travelled down the back of his neck.
Two explosions roared. Only a few short blocks away, one missile smashed a
house on Maxim Gorky Street, also damaging an adjoining apartment building
and a restaurant. The other missile struck a street nearby. Four people
were injured; one of whom, 23-year old Sofija Jovanovic, died of her
wounds two days later. On my last day in Belgrade, I walked down to view
the site. Nothing remained but a mound of concrete, bricks, broken boards,
and upturned earth. As a sort of memorial, someone had scrawled graffiti
on the remnants of an adjacent building: "Bombed April 30." With
fatalistic humor, graffiti on another house read, "Sorry. You missed us."
Danka described life during the bombing. "We were bombed constantly for 78
days and nights, without any break or pause. We were without water or
electricity for days. We had to throw away everything from the
refrigerator, including all medicaments essential for our family, because
of the high temperatures in May. The bombing was awful, cruel and savage.
We were all afraid, staying in the dark lobby for hours, listening to the
scary sounds of the low-flying warplanes, detonations, children crying,
car alarms, and people screaming who simply couldn't stand it anymore."
Later in the war, "NATO changed its tactics, and by the end they were
bombing us every two hours. That was part of their psychological war, I
suppose." The effects of the bombardment were widespread. "There was no
bread. The bakeries couldn't produce bread without electricity. The smell
of spoiled food spread from nearby supermarkets. There was no milk for
children." Her children were upset, asking, "Why are those people bombing
us? Why do they hate us so much when we didn't do anything wrong to them?"
Danka revealed that every time she kissed her children goodnight "during
the bombing campaign, deep inside me I was praying for God to see them
healthy and alive the next morning. During those long bombing nights, they
were awakened so many times by strong nearby explosions, annoyed and
panicked."
The Belgrade 5 transformer station of the Serbian Electric Company is
located at Bezanijska Kosa in New Belgrade. It was bombed, as were many
other electrical power and transformer stations. Several Tomahawk missiles
struck here, as well as a new weapon, the CBU-94, a cluster bomb which
releases a web of carbon-graphite threads, resulting in electrical
short-circuits and burnt components. At one point, seventy percent of
Yugoslavia's power supply was knocked out, which also adversely affected
water supplies that depended on electrical pumps. About 50,000 hospital
patients, including those on dialysis and babies in incubators, also
suffered from the power outages. When workers proved adept at restoring
power rapidly, NATO then targeted the plants with cruise missiles and
conventional bombs. By the end of the war, one third of the electricity
transmission systems were damaged or destroyed. During our visit to
Belgrade 5, workers were busily repairing the damage. We talked with one
of the workers, who said that most of the Belgrade suburb of Zemun was
without electricity. He worried about the onset of winter, when people
would have to rely on alternative sources of heat, such as coal and small
heaters. He pointed out that the coolant for the plant's transformers
contained PCBs, and that consequently, "when the fuel burns, it is toxic,
so [NATO] poisoned nature around here also. It went into the ground, so it
will reach our water supplies." One of our delegation members, Jeff
Goldberg, asked him if this was the most expensive damage inflicted on
Yugoslavia, and the worker immediately responded, "The most expensive
damage is that they killed a lot of people." When asked about the length
of time required for repair, the worker answered. "We need equipment. We
need spare parts...without foreign aid we are dead. We have a factory that
makes spare parts, converters, but...they can make only one switch per
month. It's a low capacity factory."
The previous day, due to bomb damage, virtually all of Serbia's steam
power plants shut down, and much of the country was left without power. On
the day of our visit, a breakdown at the power line at the Djerdap-Bor
hydroelectric plant caused a chain-reaction of breakdowns in other power
lines, resulting in more blackouts. It was expected that hundreds of
thousands of people would freeze during winter, with sanctions blocking
the import of much-needed parts, but prospects improved due to a
remarkable program of reconstruction and improvisation. Electricity is
severely rationed, with frequent power cuts. But what seemed an inevitable
humanitarian disaster has been averted through the ingenuity and heroic
efforts of workers in overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The
electrical worker we talked with summed up the war: "We were bombed
because we refuse to be slaves. We are a proud people and we don't want to
be enslaved. Rich people want slaves. They want obedient people."
Our meeting with the Belgrade-based Committee for Compiling Data on Crimes
against Humanity and International Law was of particular interest for me.
I had read several articles about the work of the committee as well as
interviews with its president, Dr. Zoran Stankovic, so I was familiar with
the meticulous and significant work they had done in Bosnia-Herzegovina
and Croatia. All nine members of the committee work on a volunteer basis,
constrained by severely limited resources, outmoded personal computers and
only one copy machine. The committee was tasked to investigate NATO war
crimes, and that was the main focus of our discussion. A point of
frustration for the committee was that they had submitted eight files of
documentation with The Hague War Crimes Tribunal, which treated their
reports with complete disinterest.
Albanian Refugees and Civil War: Behind the Media Screen
NATO officials accused the Yugoslav government of expelling its Albanian
population and committing genocide. The flood of refugees pouring into
Albania and Macedonia was trumpeted as justification for bombing
Yugoslavia. Few dwelled on the logical fallacy of NATO's claim that a
refugee crisis which occurred subsequent to bombing was itself the
motivation for that bombing. Western leaders presented a simple picture,
one easily grasped. Reality is seldom as simple as a Hollywood action
movie, though, and Western leaders intentionally distorted events for an
uncritical public.
Every nationality can be found in the membership of the Serbian Socialist
Party, including Albanian, and the party has long prided itself on a
commitment to a multiethnic society. This commitment is evident in its
program and in virtually every document and every speech. Toward the end
of 1998, during the period of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, the Yugoslav
government set up 14 centers throughout Kosovo, where people could come
and take free lumber and building supplies for reconstruction of homes
damaged in the civil war. These supplies were open to every person of
every nationality. There were no restrictions. It was impossible for me to
believe that the Serbian Socialist Party metamorphosed overnight into a
racist organization, bent on national exclusivity. It did not fit, so I
dug into the matter, trying to ascertain the truth among a torrent of
lies. A more subtle picture emerged, still with suffering on a mass scale,
but this time with NATO as the central catalyst. According to an
intelligence report from the German Foreign Office, dated January 12,
1999, "Even in Kosovo an explicit political persecution linked to Albanian
ethnicity is not verifiable...actions of the security forces [are] not
directed against the Kosovo Albanians as an ethnically defined group, but
against the military opponent and its actual or alleged supporters." A
civil war was raging in the province of Kosovo between the Albanian
secessionist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and Yugoslav security forces.
This internal document presented a very different message than Western
leaders' public statements.
Concomitant with NATO's bombing campaign, hundreds of thousands of people
of all nationalities fled their homes. When the first bombs fell,
extremists became enraged and blamed Albanians for the bombing. Many of
these extremists formed paramilitary groups and criminal gangs, and vented
their rage on the local Albanian population. NATO's bombs created an
environment of anarchy and chaos that allowed thugs, paramilitary gangs,
and renegade police to operate freely. One Serbian official was reported
as saying, "It was a catastrophe. Podujevo was emptied in about three
hours. There were a lot of vile and angry people, maddened, who were out
of control." In Kosovo's capital city of Pristina, the first wave of
refugees departed when threatened by thugs during the week and a half
following NATO's first bombs on March 24. The second wave left when the
center of the city was bombed on April 6 and 7, and the third wave left
later, out of a panic that something may happen. Zoran Andjelkovic,
president of the then governing Provisional Executive Council for Kosovo,
pointed out that the first ten days or so of chaos included fierce clashes
among angry civilians. Criminal gangs ran wild, ordering people to leave
so that their homes could be robbed. Both Albanian and Serbian criminal
gangs roamed the region. Adrian Gillan, in an article in the London Review
of Books, talked with Ben Ward, a researcher for Human Rights Watch. Ward
told him, "There doesn't appear to be anything to support allegations of
mass killings. It is generally paramilitaries who are responsible. It
doesn't seem organized. There appear to be individual acts of sadism
rather than anything else. There seems not to be any policy or
instruction, but that isn't to say that people have not been given the
latitude to kill. However, I don't think at this stage we have anything
that adds up to the systematic killing of civilians." Restoring order was
an extremely difficult task for the Yugoslav Army and security forces
because they were under constant NATO bombardment. Yet, by the third week
of the war they had succeeded in restoring order in much of the region,
and in the latter half of April, Yugoslav police began escorting refugees
back to their homes. By the time Yugoslav troops and security forces
withdrew from Kosovo in early June, they had arrested over 800 thugs and
paramilitaries for crimes against civilians.
At the beginning of the war, Yugoslav troops evacuated villages along the
border with Albania where KLA bunkers and arms depots where found. An
invasion by NATO troops was anticipated, and as one Yugoslav soldier
explained, "You can't be waiting for the American army and at the same
time have armed Albanians behind your back." In an interview for UPI
conducted during the war, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic said, "Our
regular forces are highly disciplined. The paramilitary irregular forces
are a different story. Bad things happened, as they did with both sides
during the Vietnam war, or any other war for that matter. We have arrested
those irregular self-appointed leaders. Some have already been tried and
sentenced to 20 years in prison."
People fled for other reasons as well. There was a clear pattern of people
fleeing areas subjected to intensive bombardment. Some of the refugees Ben
Ward talked with said they had fled from NATO bombs. Other refugees fled
to escape being caught in battles between Yugoslav and KLA forces.
Thousands more fled to avoid forcible conscription into KLA ranks. Every
Albanian man KLA soldiers encountered was forced to enlist. Those who
refused were either savagely beaten or killed.
Refugee flight, though, was never as thorough as painted by NATO
propaganda, and hundreds of thousands of Albanians remained in Kosovo.
Paramilitary rage swept through portions of the western region, while much
of the remainder of the province was unscathed. Even during the period of
bombing, many thousands of Albanian refugees returned to their homes.
The web of lies spun by the NATO propaganda machine started to unravel
once KFOR entered the province. Claiming that there would be half a
million internally displaced people inside the province, KFOR instead
found only small isolated pockets of refugees. "We planned for what we
thought was a potential disaster...and we just haven't found it," admitted
Lt. General Mike McDuffie. Lurid tales of mass genocide fell apart, as
forensic specialists investigated suspected mass graves. Up to 700 bodies
were said to be hidden in the Trepca lead and zinc mines. Not one body was
found there. About 350 were buried in a mass grave in Ljubenic, the public
was told. A thorough examination of the site found only seven. The leader
of the Spanish forensic team, Emilio Perez Pujo, was told that his team
would go to the "worst zone of Kosovo," and to "prepare ourselves to
perform more than 2,000 autopsies." But, "the result is very different. We
only found 187 cadavers." "There were no mass graves" in his team's area,
he said. "For the most part the Serbs are not as bad as they have been
painted." Faced with increasingly embarrassing questions about the lack of
evidence for NATO's justification for military aggression, The Hague war
crimes tribunal scrambled to release a statement asserting that they had
indeed found 2,108 bodies. Far short of genocide, but certainly more than
individual reports of excavations would indicate. Significantly, the
tribunal neglected to categorize these deaths. We are not told how many
bodies of each nationality were found, how many died from executions, how
many were KLA or Yugoslav soldiers killed in combat, how many died from
NATO bombs, and how many died from natural causes.
NATO claimed that its intervention was necessary to quell the civil war in
Kosovo, while neglecting to reveal its role in creating and escalating the
conflict. A September 24, 1998 report on the Monitor television program on
German ARD Television Network, revealed that the German Federal
Intelligence Service [BND] was engaged in "several illegal arms supplies"
to Albania, in cooperation with the Military Counter Intelligence Service
[MAD], and that "via these channels" military equipment was supplied to
the KLA. An ex-MAD official claimed that orders for the illegal arms
shipments were issued "from the very top." Several monitors from the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) patrolling
Kosovo during 1998-99 were CIA officers, revealed The Times on March 12,
2000. Their function was to provide advice and training manuals to the
KLA. The same article reports that Shaban Shala, a KLA commander, met
British, American and Swiss intelligence agents in northern Albanian as
early as 1996. According to Belgrade's Politika Ekspres, "a leak from
well-informed circles in the [secessionist] Democratic League of Kosovo"
disclosed that during a meeting between US envoy Richard Holbrooke and KLA
officers at Junik on June 26, 1998, Holbrooke promised the KLA $10 million
for the purchase of U.S. arms. One week later, Albanian media reported
mysterious flights of U.S. C-130 cargo planes landing at Gjadar airport in
northern Albania, a region under the control of the KLA. None of the
flights were reported to Albanian air traffic controllers, causing alarm
over potential collisions. Paul Beaver, an editor at Jane's Defence Weekly
was told by a Pentagon source, "Even before the air strikes seemed
inevitable, a [Military Professional Resources - MPRI] team was there [in
Kosovo] giving basic military training in tactics to the KLA field
commanders." MPRI is an organization of ex-US military officers that is
contracted by the Pentagon to provide training to foreign armed forces
when it is politically awkward for the U.S. government to be seen as
directly involved. KLA bunkers captured by Yugoslav forces often turned up
sophisticated Western weapons and U.S. food tins and medical packs. The
Fate of the Roma (Gypsy) People in Kosovo
On August 6, we visited Zemun and met with Jovan Damjanovic, president of
the Federal Association of Roma (Gypsy) People in Yugoslavia. A passionate
man, Damjanovic described the horrors visited upon his community by the
KLA following the occupation of the province by KFOR. Once Yugoslav forces
withdrew, there was nothing to restrain the KLA from pursuing its policy
of murdering and driving out every non-Albanian ethnic group, and every
non-secessionist Albanian. Under the protective umbrella of KFOR, the KLA
went on a murderous rampage, killing or expelling virtually everyone who
opposed it and leaving in its wake a trail of burning homes.
Damjanovic told us that the European Union had issued a list of 300
Yugoslav citizens who it banned from travel outside of Yugoslavia. The
United States and several other nations also joined in imposing the travel
restrictions. Individuals whose names are on the list and who have
investments or accounts outside of Yugoslavia had those assets seized.
U.S. intelligence agents visited many of the people on the list, implying
that their names could be removed from the list if they cooperated with
Western attempts to overthrow the democratically elected government of
Yugoslavia. There were also hints that uncooperative individuals would
face trumped-up war crimes charges. Right-wing opposition leader Vuk
Draskovic is not on the list, but he also was told he would face war
crimes charges if he did not join the U.S. effort to topple the
government, an assignment he readily accepted. Almost the entire
government of Yugoslavia is on the list, as well as many prominent people
in the society. On December 6, 1999, the list was expanded to 590 names,
and more than two months later, on February 28, an additional 180 names
were added. Looking over the list of names, I recognized several people we
had met, such as Commissioner for Refugees, Displaced Persons and
Humanitarian Aid Bratislava Morina and President of the Vojvodina Assembly
Zivorad Smiljanic. In Smiljanic's case, Western officials supposedly knew
enough about him to add him to the list, but not enough to spell his name
correctly. Only a complete reading of the list can bring a full
understanding of its vindictive nature. Yugoslav President Slobodan
Milosevic's daughter-in-law is on the list. The Minister of Sport,
apparently, also bears guilt, as do the Minister of Tourism and the
Minister of Family Care. Also punished is the owner of a fashion-clothing
store, the owner of a watch company, bankers, family members of a banker,
and the Secretary of the Red Cross. In short, anyone of prominence who has
not lent him or herself to the Western project to impose a puppet
government is treated as a criminal.
On September 17, 1999, Damjanovic issued a statement condemning the KLA's
pogrom against non-Albanians in Kosovo. "This state of affairs calls into
question the justification for the foreign presence," the statement
declared, and "the exodus of Serbs, Montenegrins, and the Romanies
continues on the lines of the Nazi scenario of fifty years ago, while the
world looks on." It was a strong statement, but also a cry from the heart.
Damjanovic's organization faced the daunting task of providing housing and
aid for the mass exodus of the Romany people from Kosovo. His plea did not
go unnoticed in the West. On December 6, he too, was added to the EU's
travel ban list. Now the president of the Roma people in Yugoslavia, too,
is a criminal.
We were driven to a Roma settlement in Zemun Polje, on the outskirts of
Zemun. Romany residents here and in Zemun itself had taken into their
homes over 5,000 refugees. Coping with this influx placed a considerable
strain on the local population. Those who had little still opened their
arms to help their fellow human beings. It said much for the people, and I
was deeply impressed. This was a poor neighborhood, and several of the
homes demonstrated an ingenuity for improvised construction with found
materials that reminded me of a similar resourcefulness found among poor
residents of Bangkok. One home in particular fascinated me, with what
appeared to be a fur-covered roof, and a fur tail waving aloft from a pole
which protruded from the roof. The moment our cars pulled to a stop, a
crowd gathered. We interviewed several Roma and Egyptian refugees; people
who had lost everything. Krasnic Tefiq brought his family here from Obilic
after KLA soldiers came to his house and threatened to kill him and his
family. For two months they had nowhere to sleep until a family here took
them in, but life was still hard. "We have no food," he told us, "We are
starving. We are begging in the streets for food." Puco Rezeza's
experience was similar. His brother was killed by the KLA, and KLA
soldiers threatened to kill him and his family if they did not leave. He
too told us he was starving. We interviewed several more people, but when
emotions flared, Damjanovic decided to cut short the interviews. As our
cars departed, children ran excitedly behind us, enveloped in the dust
kicked up by our cars. We passed two boys standing by the side of the
road, who pumped their fists in the air, and chanted, "Yugoslavia!
Yugoslavia!"
We resumed our interviews in Zemun the next day. We were surrounded and
pressed on all sides by a crowd of refugees, all anxious to tell us their
stories and to hear what others had to say. The heat was sweltering, and
sweat poured down my back. Estrep Ramadanovic, vice president of the Roma
association, told us that 120,000 out of 150,000 Romany people had been
expelled from Kosovo. Ramadanovic himself had taken 20 refugees into his
home. "The KLA soldiers don't want any other ethnic group to be in
Kosovo," he told us, "Only Albanians." Bajrosha Dulaj was angry. "My
daughter, Anesi Akmeti, was raped by KLA soldiers. At night we were
sleeping in our house, and KLA soldiers broke in and dragged my daughter
out and raped her." Her family's only remaining possessions were the
clothes they wore on the day they were driven from Kosovo. "These are the
only clothes I have. I have no food, nowhere to sleep," she said. "Should
I sleep on the street?" The psychological effects of bombing persisted.
"The children awake at night, calling 'Mama, Mama,' and I have nothing to
give to them. They are afraid of airplanes. They can't sleep well. They
can't eat."
Adan Berisha survived KLA torture. He showed us his wife, who was also
tortured by KLA soldiers. It appeared as if acid had been poured on her
face and arm. The KLA killed their 12-year-old son, Idis, as well as
Adan's father and two of his uncles. "A KLA soldier gave us only three
hours to leave our home," Adan said, "or he would kill us." His voice was
filled with anguish as he concluded, "Sorrow. A world of sorrow."
"KLA soldiers took everything, all my furniture from my home," Rakmani
Elis told us, "and then they burned down my house." Rakmani expressed
himself with a passion that swept all before it. "I'm not against the
American people," he exclaimed, "but this decision they made strikes me as
lunatic. The rights of every people, the Serb, the Montenegrin and the
Gypsy, have been annulled. People are going out to kill, but you, as an
army," - referring to KFOR - "just sit there. Did you come here to help or
to watch this circus going on? Events now are making history. It is not
acceptable what the American people are doing to us. If they came to help,
let me see them help. But if they did not come here to help, then
everyone, Serbs and Gypsies, will be stamped out."
KLA solders had dragged Aysha Shatili and her children from her home, and
started removing her furniture. "I called three British KFOR soldiers for
help. They came, but did nothing," she said. Her son was stabbed in the
back when he attempted to stop the KLA soldiers from looting their home.
Her two houses were then burned down. Like most of the refugees, she too
owned only the clothes she wore on the day she was driven from her home.
Five KLA soldiers visited Hasim Berisha, looking for his brother. "They
told me I have just five minutes to produce my brother or they will kill
my entire family." He left immediately and went to his sister's house. His
sister reported the incident to British KFOR headquarters, where they told
her to go wherever she would like to go, just so she won't be killed.
Hasim checked on his house the following day, and saw that it had been
burned down. His brother was caught by the KLA and severely beaten, and he
too was forced to flee the province.
Abdullah Shefik was fleeing from Urosevac in his van when KLA soldiers
stopped him and ordered him to leave his van with them. "American KFOR
soldiers stood nearby when my van was hijacked," he said, "but they did
nothing." All of his belongings were in the van.
Becet Kotesi told us that when British and French KFOR troops entered
Gnjilane, KLA soldiers "attacked Serbian and Roma people. KFOR did nothing
because they were on the other side of town, but the town is not very big,
so they had to know what was happening." Kotesi was in a pharmacy when the
shooting began, and promptly left to ride his bicycle home. "Three hundred
meters behind me was another man riding a bicycle, and KLA soldiers threw
a grenade at him and killed him." Kotesi fled the province because "KLA
soldiers searched for my compatriots, to beat and kill them because many
fought against them as members of the Yugoslav Army."
A Humanist Scholar, Driven from his Home
The Provisional Executive Council, which governed Kosovo up until the
entry of NATO troops, represented every ethnic group in the province. On
August 8 we interviewed Bajram Haliti, one of the Council's members.
Haliti, a Roma, also serves as Secretary for Development of Information on
the Languages of National Minorities. Always well-dressed and dignified,
he was gentle and soft-spoken, and I took an immediate liking to this
scholarly man who described himself as a humanist. Two years before, he
published a book, "The Roma: a People's Terrible Destiny," concerning the
genocide against the Roma people during the Second World War, and he
kindly gave each of us a copy of his book. In his personal library were
over 500 books in several languages from many countries on the subject of
the Roma and the genocide against them. Both of his homes were burned down
by KLA soldiers, including the library that Haliti had spent a lifetime
collecting. "I can't set a price on that library," he told us. At the
beginning of May 1999, Haliti sent an open letter to President Clinton,
protesting the bombing of his country. In the letter, he wrote, "Everyone
who cares for peace supports Yugoslavia, its leadership and people, who
are fighting for freedom, independence and territorial integrity." Calling
for an end to the bombing, his letter pointed out that "only peaceful
means can lead to a just settlement for all national communities which
live in Kosovo and Metohija." The letter made an impression. Haliti was on
the first travel ban list.
Addressing the issue of the rights of the Albanian people in Kosovo,
Haliti mentioned that a Yugoslav delegation arranged 17 meetings with
secessionists prior to NATO's bombardment. "In those negotiations," he
said, "we wanted to offer the Albanian people maximum legal, cultural and
political autonomy," but the secessionist delegation refused to meet with
them. "Every ethnic group was guaranteed all political, cultural and legal
rights," but secessionist Albanians boycotted institutions. "People
outside of Yugoslavia did not know that Albanians refused to exercise
their rights. For example, Albanians boycotted schools in their own
language, and told the world that they can't receive an education in their
own language." There were 65 newspapers in the Albanian language in
Kosovo, he added. "Many of these newspapers advocated secession, to sever
ties. Not one newspaper was forbidden. In America, if a group put out a
newspaper advocating secession and terrorism, would that newspaper be
allowed to publish?"
"Why doesn't NATO challenge [KLA leader] Hasim Thaci? Why don't they bomb
Hasim Thaci," he asked, "as he carries out massive ethnic cleansing? In
Kosmet [Kosovo-Metohija] now, few Serbs remain, few Roma remain and few
Gorans remain.... The Roma people are in a very hard situation. It is the
same situation Jewish people faced in 1939. At that time, Hitler
persecuted every Jew in his territory. And now we have Hasim Thaci. Now
Roma houses are burned down. Roma are expelled by the KLA."
"The hostility toward Roma people is because we want a normal life
together with other ethnic groups, we oppose division of our country, and
we give our political support to the government."
One of our delegation members, Ken Freeland, a pacifist and anti-war
activist from Houston, was keenly interested in a journal edited by
Haliti, Ahimsa, the title of which was taken from Gandhi's term for
non-violence. "Roma people are a peaceful people," Haliti explained. "The
Roma are a cosmopolitan people. Roma do not have a country. The exodus of
the Roma people has brought them to every country, where they are loyal
citizens who live a normal life. The Roma people have earned the right to
give this name to the journal."
Haliti told us that in a few months "we will have our own radio and
television frequencies, and a station" called Romany National Television,
and that he would be the station's chief editor. I wondered in how many
other countries Romanies held government positions. How many other
countries had a Romany radio and television station, in the Romany
language? Were there any, besides Yugoslavia? NATO propaganda had turned
reality completely on its head, painting the most multiethnic society in
the Balkans, in which every nationality was represented in the Kosovo
government, as nationalist and racist.
Haliti and I shared a passion for music, and following our interview, we
had a very interesting discussion of Roma culture, and the contribution of
the Romany people to the world of music. Haliti told us that flamenco
music originated among Roma people, and also talked of several prominent
Roma musicians, such as jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and flamenco
musician Camaron De La Isla.
Twelve days later, Haliti was again interviewed, this time by Tanjug, the
Yugoslav news agency. "It is useless to talk about the position and the
rights of Romanies, as the UN peace mission is unable to protect any
inhabitants of the province, including ethnic Albanians who do not accept
the terror of their extremist fellows," he declared. KLA leaders "reject
the fundamental democratic and humane principles on which contemporary
civilization rests and without which there can be no peace or stability in
multiethnic communities." It will be a long time before Bajram Haliti's
name is removed from the travel ban "enemies list."
War on Belgrade
One of NATO's innovations was a rather novel form of censorship. On April
23, missiles slammed into Radio Television Serbia (RTS) in downtown
Belgrade, killing 16. The studio, NATO claimed, was a "legitimate military
target" because it broadcast "propaganda," meaning, of course, that it was
reporting the effects of NATO's bombing. RTS Belgrade was passing footage
of destruction to Western media, a practice that evidently had to be
stopped. CNN had a studio there, but was warned of the attack beforehand
and pulled out its equipment and personnel. CNN invited Serbian Minister
of Information Aleksandar Vucic to the studio for a live broadcast
interview. Vucic was asked to arrive for makeup at 2:00 AM sharp on April
23, for an interview scheduled to take place half an hour later. At 2:20,
RTS was no more. Shortly after the attack, RTS employee Sava Andjelkovic
described the scene. "A wall behind me virtually vanished, and then the
entire wing of the building. We heard screams of wounded people." Several
people were trapped in the rubble, and it was some time before all of the
survivors could be rescued. Vucic was more fortunate. His tardiness spared
his life, foiling the attempted assassination.
By the time of our visit, the rubble had been cleared, but the building
still stood with one wing sheared away, the multi-floor building standing
with each floor exposed. Nearby, missing railings and smashed windows at
the Dusko Radovic Children's Theater hinted at greater damage within.
RTS Belgrade was not alone. Radio and television stations and towers
throughout Yugoslavia were targeted. Our host Nikola demonstrated what was
on his television. Only static could be found on state channels. Untouched
were opposition channels, as well as music video and fashion channels, and
always there was access to Western cable. Western media stories about the
so-called "media dictatorship" in Yugoslavia, like all Western media
stories about Yugoslavia, are less believable for those who visit there.
We stopped at the Tanjug Press Center, housed in an aged and
unprepossessing building. As we climbed the stairs, delegation member
Michael Parenti pointed to several steps that were missing chunks of
concrete and quipped, "So this is the well-oiled Milosevic propaganda
machine we hear so much about." Not far away, an opposition-owned
television station, housed in a tall gleaming modern building, towered
above its surroundings. The U.S. and European Union have funnelled
millions of dollars to opposition media in Yugoslavia. One wonders what
the reaction would be in the United States were a hostile foreign
government to fund American media advocating the overthrow of the
government. In Yugoslavia, this media, bought and paid for, operated
freely. Newsstands were everywhere, and perusal revealed that a flood of
opposition newspapers and magazines vastly outnumbered pro-government
publications such as Politika, Borba, and Vecernje Novosti. It presented
an interesting study in semantics. A media dictatorship is where state
television cannot be viewed, but opposition television can; where there
are three pro-government papers and dozens of opposition papers. In the
United States, freedom of the press is lauded. One can pick up any
newspaper in any city with the confident expectation that it will have
essentially the same content as any other newspaper in any other city.
Alternative publications, often tepid and predictable, are marginalized
and often difficult to find, virtually to the point of irrelevance.
NATO's media war against Yugoslavia continues unabated. In place of bombs,
more subtle methods are implemented, outside the perception of the
American public. As state television returns to the air, transmitters
based in neighboring countries jam it. Such stations as Voice of America,
BBC, Radio Free Europe and USA Radio broadcast on Yugoslav state radio and
television frequencies. While we were in Yugoslavia, on August 11, RTS
issued a statement condemning this "media occupation," and pointing out
that these "frequencies were awarded to our country by international
conventions" and that this "violates all international standards in the
sphere of telecommunications." Appeals to international law fell on deaf
ears.
From RTS, a long trolley ride took us to the Belgrade suburb of Rakovica.
There we viewed the 21st of May Industrial Complex, which manufactured
automobile engines, and like many factories throughout Yugoslavia, it lay
in ruins. Now it was merely a mass of twisted wreckage; steel pipes,
girders and concrete jumbled together. The deliberate targeting of
factories was an extension of sanctions, an attempt at economic
strangulation. Over 600,000 people lost their jobs during the period of
bombing, raising the number of unemployed to over two million. About $100
billion damage was inflicted on Yugoslavia, president of the Trade Union
Association Radoslav Ilic announced during the war. "This aggression has
all the characteristics of a dirty war," he said, "in which workers are
the biggest sufferers. Workers and the products of their work have become
military targets, and the international progressive public is too slow in
awakening." Much of the Western progressive public still slumbers.
While in Rakovica, we met a refugee from Bosnia-Herzegovina who had
earlier worked in Germany for seven years. He wanted to show us his
child's school, the France Presern elementary school, one of dozens of
schools targeted by NATO. Virtually every window was broken and several
window frames were damaged. The doors were locked, so we were unable to
view interior damage. He told us that the school year would begin in two
weeks, and wondered where his child would go to school.
Kosovo's Other Albanians
Later that afternoon we met with three Albanian refugees from Kosovo. All
three, Faik Jasari, Corin Ismali and Fatmir Seholi, were members of the
Kosovo Democratic Initiative, an Albanian political party that favored a
multiethnic Kosovo within Yugoslavia and opposed the KLA's policy of
secession and racial exclusion. Jasari is president of the Kosovo
Democratic Initiative, as well as a member of the Provisional Executive
Council, which governed Kosovo prior to NATO's occupation of the province.
Jasari said he was forced to flee from his home in Gnjilane on June 18th
because "members of the KLA were showing photos of my family and me to
people, trying to find us. I am now at the top of the list of people the
KLA is looking for." Jasari lost everything. "My wife and I worked for 34
years, and now we have nothing. Nothing." Barry asked him if he was afraid
for his life. "Yes. I am afraid.....If they find me, they will kill me."
He had good reason to be afraid. The KLA had already killed several
hundred pro-Yugoslav Albanians. Many more were beaten and tortured. In
all, Jasari said, the KLA had expelled over 150,000 Albanians from Kosovo,
both before and after the entry of KFOR. He could not stand idly by, and
sent a letter to UN Special Representative for Kosovo Bernard Kouchner,
asking "to visit with him and discuss the situation in Kosovo and with my
party." Predictably, his letter went unanswered. "Where is democracy and
pluralism in Kosovo? I can't go there," he told us. I can't take part in
the political process. Where is democracy?" All of NATO's pretty-sounding
phrases about democracy and human rights, aimed at the Western domestic
audience, rang hollow for him.
When asked about reports of Serbian oppression of Albanians, Jasari
responded firmly, "It is not true. It is not true. I am Albanian and I
have all the same rights as any Serbian."
Corin Ismali, Under-Secretary for National Social Questions in the
Provisional Executive Council, also attempted to meet with Kouchner, and
he too was rebuffed. Ismali was forced from his home by threats from KLA
soldiers, he explained, "because I supported Yugoslavia and I opposed
secession....We want to live with other ethnic groups in Yugoslavia. We do
not want to live in a country that has only one ethnic group."
Fatmir Seholi worked in public relations for the Kosovo Democratic
Initiative, and was chief editor at Radio Television Pristina. "I must
point out," he said, "that the Albanian people had more media than did the
Serbian people" in Kosovo. "You could find only one newspaper in the
Serbian language, but you could find about 65 newspapers in the Albanian
language." That one Serbian newspaper was closed down shortly after the
arrival of KFOR in Kosovo. Seholi studied at Pristina University, and
pointed out that Albanian people were able to study in their own language.
"I think that America did not have the right information about Albanian
people in Kosovo, or did not want to get the correct information about the
rights of Albanian people in Kosovo."
The tragedy that befell Seholi's country had disillusioned him. "Until the
NATO bombing, I loved and<br/><br/>(Message over 64 KB, truncated)
From "International Policy" - http://www.inaffairs.org.yu
John Catalinotto
International Coordinator in
Ramsey Clark's International Action Center
NATO Must Be Abolished
In the name of the International Action Center and its president, former
US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, I would like to thank the Institute
for
International Politics and Economics for inviting us to participate in
this important symposium to discuss the roots and the consequences of
the
war of aggression the US-led NATO powers waged against the people of
Yugoslavia.
Yugoslavia has always had a special place in our hearts. Why? Exactly
because the ideal of Yugoslavia is that of a multi-ethnic,
multi-national,
multi-religious state founded on social justice and equality of
nationalities, religions and languages.
The greatest military powers on earth – just a year ago– unleashed a
vicious, cold-blooded war against the people of Yugoslavia. These powers
expected the Yugoslavs to beg for mercy after two, three days at most.
Instead, the people here stood up bravely to 78 days of relentless
bombing. We are proud to be here on this anniversary among such people.
We
only regret we couldn't have done more in our own country to stop the
bombing and the war waged against you.
Long Live Yugoslavia!
Since the defeat of the Soviet Union strategists in US ruling circles
have
promoted the policy of expanding NATO and using that military pact as a
world policeman. This policy is directed against smaller and weaker
countries in Africa and the Middle East. It is also aimed at plundering
the East, up to the Caspian Sea with its oil riches.
While the major NATO powers are military allies, they are rivals for
markets, resources and areas to invest in. The US strategy of expanding
NATO is also aimed at keeping these powerful rivals in line behind
Washington.
The people of Yugoslavia were the direct targets of this policy. But
they
were only the first part of the world's peoples endangered by a strategy
that leads towards bigger, more dangerous wars – unless the people of
the
world are able to stop it.
WHO MAKES UP NATO
With the exception of Japan and Australia, NATO includes all the major
industrial and financial powers: the United States, Germany, France,
Britain, Italy and Canada. These six plus Japan make up the G-7
countries
that set economic rules for the world.
The corporate and financial rulers of these countries control the bulk
of
the world's wealth, both in these industrialized countries themselves
and
in what can be described as the oppressed countries or the Third World.
These capitalist countries were the first to industrialize, they are now
the most advanced in technology, they control the mass media, and of
course they manufacture the most powerful weapons and are the most
heavily
armed. They sell weapons to the world but keep the most powerful and
advanced weapons for themselves.
They include the big colonial powers of the 19th century – Britain and
France – that directly ruled vast parts of the earth, and others that
held
colonies like Germany (Namibia, Tanzania), the Netherlands (Indonesia)
and
Belgium (Congo). Now there are few direct colonies, but through control
of
the world market, currency exchange rates and banking, and on the basis
of
their technological advantages, they now indirectly control and oppress
most of the world. In 1878 they met in Berlin and carved up the Balkans.
In 1885 they met in Berlin and carved up Africa into spheres of
influence.
In 1999 they met in Bosnia and carved up Kosovo for the so-called
peace-keeping forces.
It should never be forgotten that, while pursuing their rivalry for
markets, colonies and raw materials in the first half of this century,
these predatory states launched two world wars that together killed 100
to
200 million people.
Of these seven countries, the United States, with the greatest single
national economy and by far the biggest military power, is now the most
dangerous to the rest of the world.
This analysis will focus on statements coming from United States
military
and diplomatic leaders and from their own media. Yet it will clearly
show
how the war against Yugoslavia was premeditated, planned in advance,
with
wide-ranging geostrategic goals, and that it contains the seeds of new
wars.
1992 PENTAGON WHITE PAPER
On March 8, 1992, the New York Times published excerpts from a 46-page
White Paper
leaked by Pentagon officials. This paper asserts the need for complete
US world domination in
both political and military terms and threatens other countries that
even aspire to a greater role.
The public threats seem to be aimed at the European powers and Japan.
Here's some part of
what it said:
"Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival...
First, the US must show the
leadership necessary to establish and protect a new order that holds the
promise of convincing
potential competitors that they need not aspire to a greater role or
pursue a more aggressive
posture to protect their legitimate interests. We must account
sufficiently for the interests of the
advanced industrial nations to discourage them from seeking to overturn
the established political
and economic order. Finally, we must maintain the mechanism for
deterring potential competitors
from even aspiring to a larger regional or global role".
Regarding Europe, the document continues:
"It is of fundamental importance to preserve NATO as the primary
instrument of Western defense
and security... We must seek to prevent the emergence of European-only
security arrangements
which would undermine NATO".
GEN. DUGAN'S PLAN FOR THE BALKANS
It wasn't too long before strategists began adapting this policy to the
developing crisis in the
Balkans.
Retired Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael J. Dugan and George Kenney
of the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace wrote an opinion piece for the New
York Times published
November 29, 1992, entitled "Operation 'Balkan Storm': Here's a Plan".
"A win in the Balkans would establish US leadership in the post-Cold War
world in a way that
Operation Desert Storm never could". Dugan laid out a scenario of
building a coalition with
Britain, France and Italy on an ad hoc basis, if possible, because he
believed the United Nations
Security Council would not approve a NATO assault. He described arming
the pro-US Bosnian
forces to use "unconventional" operations in Bosnia to force the UN to
suspend humanitarian
programs.
Then, he said, massive air power should be used against Serbs in Bosnia
and Serbia. Dugan
suggested using aircraft carriers, F-15s, F-16s, F-18s, and F-111s,
Tomahawk missiles, and the
JSTARS surveillance system to destroy Serbia's electricity grid,
refineries, storage facilities, and
communications. "But the US costs in blood and treasure would be modest
compared with that of
Bosnian trauma".
Gen. Dugan was infamous for his interview in September 1990 where he
candidly laid out US
plans for the massive assault on and destruction of Iraq. For speaking
out so frankly, he was
relieved of his command. But the US carried out this vicious plan
against Iraq.
His scenario for Bosnia too was carried out a little over six years
later, but starting instead from
Kosovo. And by then Washington was able to push and pull all of NATO
behind it while the UN
was left powerless.
From 1993 to 1995 in Bosnia the US, through NATO, increasingly used air
power against
Bosnian and Croatian Serbs as well as against those Muslim forces that
opposed the Izetbegovic
regime.
In August and September 1995, NATO launched a massive air war against
positions of the
Bosnian Serbs. The combination of these air raids with the NATO-enforced
economic blockade
led to the Dayton Accords of 1995. As part of the agreement, 60,000 NATO
troops, 20,000 of
them US soldiers, were sent into Bosnia under US command.
Earlier, a German/French-backed European force intervened in Bosnia,
where it attempted to
broker a truce. But US officials prodded the Bosnian regime to sabotage
this agreement, leading
to more bloodshed. Finally, US officials brokered the Dayton Accords on
more or less the same
terms except with a major US role as the occupying army.
A large new NATO base was established in Hungary to facilitate troop
deployment in Bosnia.
The US also established new bases in Macedonia and northern Albania.
(San Francisco
Chronicle, September 12, 1995)
As early as 1990, the US government had put in place plans for a
military occupation of Eastern
Europe and possibly parts of the former Soviet Union. That plan included
the 100,000 strong
Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps, the NATO unit in charge of
the Bosnia
operation.
At the end of November 1995, Reuters reported that: "The Allied Command
Europe Rapid
Reaction Corps (ARRC), based at Rheindahlen in western Germany, has
worked relatively
unnoticed since 1992 to put into practice NATO's new emphasis... (It
has) NATO's full array of
firepower (and) a tailor-made fighting force of up to 100,000 soldiers
able to deploy quickly. As
ARRC commander, British Lt.-Gen. Michael Walker, is in charge of running
the multinational
ground force to be stationed in and around Bosnia for NATO's first
ground deployment outside
its own area. The corps, with headquarters in Sarajevo, is taking three
divisions into Bosnia. Two
of them, the US First Armored Division and the British Third Mechanized
Division, are
permanently assigned to it. The third division is French".
The US used the Bosnia operation as a wedge for the expansion of NATO
into Eastern Europe.
AUGUST 1998, ATTACK ON YUGOSLAVIA AT WORK
By August 4, 1998 the Clinton administration confirmed that NATO had
developed detailed plans
for an attack on Yugoslavia. Sources told the New York Times that the
focus is on "a variety of
air-power options that could punish or intimidate".
On July 29, 1998, the Albanian government had announced that 76 top NATO
officers were in
Tirana, the capital, to plan "joint Albania–NATO exercises" from August
17 to August 22, 1998
within 50 miles of the border with Kosovo. The maneuvers will prepare
NATO and Albanian
troops for a "peacekeeping mission". Similar exercises are planned for
Macedonia in September.
These maneuvers were recommended in a March 20, 1998 position paper of
the International
Crisis Group, a think-tank with White House ties, headed by former
Senate Democratic Leader
George Mitchell.
That report also recommended "an international force in Albania close to
the borders of Kosovo
to help prevent the conflict in Kosovo from spreading and... facilitate
rapid and effective action
should an intervention become necessary". On July 29, 1998, German
Foreign Minister Klaus
Kinkel recommended similar action by NATO.
An article in the November 28, 1998 New York Times, headlined "A policy
struggle stirs within
NATO", provided advance notice of US plans to expand NATO's use beyond
Europe.
Washington wanted NATO forces ready to intervene not only in the Balkans
and against
countries like Iraq or Iran in the Middle East, or Libya, Sudan or Congo
in Africa – but against
any attempt at a popular revolution anywhere, from Russia to Indonesia.
UN Security Council resolutions have often provided a cover for US
military intervention –
against Korea in 1950 and Iraq in 1991, for example. Yet the council is
not certain to ratify all US
military aggression.
Washington noted in its "mission statement" for NATO that the alliance
may act without the
Security Council's approval. US officials argue that otherwise a Russian
or Chinese veto could
stop a military action. One NATO official brazenly explained this to the
Times: "A Security
Council mandate is highly desirable but we should not tie our hands in
advance".
US – EUROPE CONFLICTS
On March 4, 1999:
– A Marine court martial in North Carolina acquitted the captain whose
jet fighter-bomber
snapped a gondola cable in the Italian Alps a year before, killing 20
European tourists. Italians
protested.
– The state of Arizona executed by lethal injection German-American
Walter LaGrand. The
German government protested.
– Media worldwide announced that the Clinton administration imposed 100
percent import duties
on selected European-produced goods. The European Union protested.
These three seemingly unrelated events expressed open economic
competition between US
business interests and those of its former Cold War "allies" in Western
Europe, a competition
carried out through the national states.
Within three weeks this competition was buried under the weight of US
air power. When
Belgrade refused to sign the Rambouillet surrender terms, Washington
used this pretext to launch
a war against Yugoslavia.
By the time the North Atlantic Treaty Organization celebrated its 50th
anniversary on April 4,
1999, it had just made its first military assault beyond its borders and
carried out the largest
bombing in Europe since World War II.
Washington used the war against Yugoslavia to impose its changes on NATO
– changing it from a
no-longer-needed anti-Soviet alliance to an intervention force ready to
strike worldwide. NATO
powers met in Washington in late April to ratify this proposal.
In addition, the US government had recently succeeded in gaining NATO
admission for Poland,
Hungary and the Czech Republic over the objection of other NATO members.
It then pulled
these three countries directly into the war.
The brutal bombing of Yugoslavia gives the first example of how the US
wants to use the new,
post-Cold War NATO to lead its European allies into battle. Washington
says the NATO
countries have an "alliance of interests". What this means is the common
need of the predatory
ruling classes in the US and Europe to suppress any popular revolt that
threatens their ability to
plunder the raw materials and labor of the rest of the world.
It also means a common interest in preventing any newer capitalist
country from being able to
challenge the G-7's domination of the world economy. Neither would-be
capitalists in Russia and
Eastern Europe nor up-and-coming entrepreneurs in south Korea or
Indonesia will be allowed to
challenge the supremacy of US, West European and Japanese capital. They
will have to consider
themselves fortunate to get crumbs off the tables of their masters.
Along with this "alliance of interests", however, there is also a bitter
rivalry between the same
powers over economic and strategic interests. This has already burst out
with the "banana war"
and the battle between the US and the European Union over
hormone-fattened meat.
Washington's first de facto expansion of NATO's role is against
Yugoslavia. To contain the
competing interests of the NATO countries and submit them all to US
strategic control,
Washington had NATO be the instrument for its conquest of Yugoslavia.
Throughout the 11-week assault on Yugoslavia by most of the world's
biggest military powers,
US and European mainstream politicians of all political shades tried to
give the impression that the
NATO forces were united, whatever trade rivalries and military
maneuvering were going on
behind the scenes.
But no sooner had Yugoslavia agreed to terms the European Union's
leaders made a remarkable
statement: the European Union, up to now a primarily economic alliance
centered around German
banks and industry, announced plans to emerge as a military power.
Leaders from 15 European countries announced the move on June 3, 1999 –
the same day that
the Yugoslav leadership announced its acceptance, on paper, of NATO's
onerous terms.
"The union must have the capacity for autonomous action", the EU
statement read, "backed up by
credible military forces, the means to decide to use them, and a
readiness to do so, in order to
respond to international crises without prejudice to actions by NATO".
Make no mistake. The emergence of a new European military power does not
bode well for
ordinary working people anywhere. European workers in particular can
look forward to having
more of their labor robbed to fund the new military apparatus while
social services are cut – an
experience US workers have been forced to endure for decades.
WASHINGTON A REPEAT OFFENDER
Just since World War II, Washington has fought the Korean War;
overthrown the elected
governments of Guatemala, Iran, Chile, Indonesia; fought wars against
the people of Central
America; invaded Lebanon; carried out a genocidal war in Indochina, in
which millions of
Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians and more than 50,000 US troops died;
and enforced an
economic blockade against Iraq that has taken the lives of more than a
million and a half people,
half of them children under the age of five. The real objective of the
war on Yugoslavia is to
re-balkanize the Balkans – to break up Yugoslavia into small, easily
controllable and digestible
pieces, in order to insure US/NATO, and especially US, domination of
this key strategic region.
While 10 years ago it had no bases in Eastern Europe, today the United
States has military bases
in Albania, Macedonia, Hungary, Bosnia and Croatia. Washington and its
NATO partners have
cut up Kosovo into little pieces, occupation zones. And they have
assisted in forcing out all ethnic
and national groups who were not Albanian, and even some Albanians.
Thomas Friedman, who writes for the New York Times – is a thoroughly
despicable individual
who is now held up as the highest example of US journalism. Friedman
wrote approvingly on
March 28, 1999: "For globalization to work, America can't be afraid to
act like the almighty
superpower that it is. The hidden hand of the market will never work
without a hidden fist.
McDonald's cannot flourish without McDonnell-Douglas, the designer of
the F-15, and the hidden
fist that keeps the world safe for Silicon Valley's technology is called
the United States Army, Air
Force, Navy and Marine Corps".
NEW US MILITARY BUILDUP
US military superiority is the key to US global economic domination. The
United States does not
have superiority over its rivals just by virtue of its economic system
and technology. But what it
does have is this vast military apparatus to implement its will.
A new military buildup is already under way, even though the United
States today already spends
more on its military that the rest of the UN Security Council combined.
Having spent US$ 19
trillion since 1940 on the military, the US government proposes to spend
an additional US$ 1,2
trillion in the next four years.
But Washington doesn't want to be the only one spending on the military.
US Defense Secretary
William Cohen used an evaluation of the war against Yugoslavia to bully
the NATO allies into
accepting US policies at an "informal meeting" of 19 NATO defense
ministers in Toronto
September 21–22, 1999.
Cohen said NATO won the war with US "precision-guided weapons" and other
high-tech
systems. Speaking of European NATO members, he said that "in some cases
countries would
have to spend more money" to buy such weapons – by implication from US
arms makers.
Speaking earlier at the Institute of Strategic Studies in San Diego on
September 9, 1999, Defense
Secretary William Cohen boasted of the US role in this bombing. He
outlined what he would
demand from France, Britain, Germany and the other European powers
regarding the US's new
NATO proposal called the Defense Capabilities Initiative.
"We have all agreed to develop forces that are more mobile, beginning
with the reassessment of
NATO's strategic lift requirements for planning purposes. We need
forces, we've agreed, that can
sustain themselves longer; that means having a logistics system that
will ensure they have the
supplies when and where they need them".
Cohen said the NATO powers need "forces that can engage more
effectively; that means having
the new advanced technologies such as greater stocks of precision-guided
munitions and forces
that can survive better against chemical, biological or nuclear weapons,
and also information
warfare".
EUROPEAN SECURITY AND DEFENSE IDENTITY
Cohen and his European allies had different views on what the so-called
European Security and
Defense Identity (ESDI) should mean. Washington would oppose any force
that challenges its
domination even in Europe itself. Washington sees the ESDI as a way of
harnessing European
militarism back into NATO – where the Pentagon holds the reins. That's
what Cohen told
reporters in Toronto on September 22.
"There was unanimity of expression (supporting ESDI)", he said. "This is
important for the
Europeans to undertake. It is important also to make sure that it is not
seen as a separate
institution and capability, but rather that it is maintained under the
umbrella so to speak of
NATO".
On September 22, French Press Agency report noted that ESDI was supposed
to allow
European NATO members to carry out "a peacekeeping operation, for
example, using NATO
materiel and resources but not involving the US or Canada. It was
unclear, however, how the
Europeans would be able to act independently while relying on assets
under the control of an
alliance still dominated by the Pentagon".
Cohen wants a situation in which the European NATO countries take the
risks of wartime
casualties and pay the costs, but where US control of strategic weapons
and logistics gives
Washington all the trump cards.
It's clear that Cohen expects NATO to fight future wars of a Kosovo size
and bigger – and more
distant from the United States or Western Europe. Now, without a USSR,
Washington wants
NATO to be a world cop. And Cohen expects the European governments to
pick up a big share
of the costs of expansion. But he was definitely talking about "the next
war", without clarifying if
that war was against Iraq, Libya, in the Balkans, in Central Asia, in
Africa, against the Colombian
revolutionaries, against the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.
Perhaps it will be some new
target with a leader the US media demonizes.
Because NATO is such a threat to peace, Ramsey Clark has declared
publicly that he sees no
other alternative but to abolish NATO. And we in the International
Action Center have made this
demand central to our anti-war work.
WHAT IS OUR ROLE?
This conference is doing an excellent job analyzing the war against
Yugoslavia and its
consequences. But our responsibility is not simply to analyze the world,
but to change it. NATO's
armies are strong, but they too have weaknesses. The US military fears
that any significant
casualties among US troops will arouse a mass anti-war movement as
happened during the war
against Vietnam. Some of the other European powers have populations that
are also reluctant to
back a war that demands sacrifices. They are in conflict with each
other. All this raises possibilities
to fight back.
I especially address this to those of us here from the very NATO
countries that waged aggression
against Yugoslavia. Our responsibility is to use the facts and analysis
from here to mobilize our
home populations to fight the government's policies, to lift the
sanctions against Yugoslavia, to
send aid – really reparations for the crimes committed.
On June 10, the International Action Center is holding a day-long
International Tribunal on
US/NATO War Crimes Against Yugoslavia in New York. Our initial hearing
last July 31 inspired
or encouraged a dozen US cities. Those working in parallel with us held
similar hearings in Oslo,
Novi Sad, Berlin, Rome, Vienna, Moscow, Kiev, Sydney, and even Tokyo.
The most dramatic
was a mass people tribunal in Athens last fall where thousands found
Clinton guilty of war crimes.
More hearings are planned for Belgrade, Hamburg, Prague, Boston and
elsewhere.
We do not expect to make the people in power see reason and change their
minds. These
tribunals are a way to mobilize mass public opinion and build a movement
that can fight the
governments that wage these wars. In the International Action Center we
also support the
struggles of oppressed groups in the United States – or example, the
fight to free political prisoner
Mumia Abu-Jamal. Only by building bridges to others can we succeed in
turning back the US war
machine.
On June 10, former Attorney General Ramsey Clark will prosecute US and
NATO leaders for
19 charges of war crimes, crimes against peace and crimes against
humanity. International expert
witnesses will present testimony. And a distinguished international
panel of judges will hear the
case. Come and be part of this historic event.
Down with NATO! Long live Yugoslavia!
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
John Catalinotto
International Coordinator in
Ramsey Clark's International Action Center
NATO Must Be Abolished
In the name of the International Action Center and its president, former
US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, I would like to thank the Institute
for
International Politics and Economics for inviting us to participate in
this important symposium to discuss the roots and the consequences of
the
war of aggression the US-led NATO powers waged against the people of
Yugoslavia.
Yugoslavia has always had a special place in our hearts. Why? Exactly
because the ideal of Yugoslavia is that of a multi-ethnic,
multi-national,
multi-religious state founded on social justice and equality of
nationalities, religions and languages.
The greatest military powers on earth – just a year ago– unleashed a
vicious, cold-blooded war against the people of Yugoslavia. These powers
expected the Yugoslavs to beg for mercy after two, three days at most.
Instead, the people here stood up bravely to 78 days of relentless
bombing. We are proud to be here on this anniversary among such people.
We
only regret we couldn't have done more in our own country to stop the
bombing and the war waged against you.
Long Live Yugoslavia!
Since the defeat of the Soviet Union strategists in US ruling circles
have
promoted the policy of expanding NATO and using that military pact as a
world policeman. This policy is directed against smaller and weaker
countries in Africa and the Middle East. It is also aimed at plundering
the East, up to the Caspian Sea with its oil riches.
While the major NATO powers are military allies, they are rivals for
markets, resources and areas to invest in. The US strategy of expanding
NATO is also aimed at keeping these powerful rivals in line behind
Washington.
The people of Yugoslavia were the direct targets of this policy. But
they
were only the first part of the world's peoples endangered by a strategy
that leads towards bigger, more dangerous wars – unless the people of
the
world are able to stop it.
WHO MAKES UP NATO
With the exception of Japan and Australia, NATO includes all the major
industrial and financial powers: the United States, Germany, France,
Britain, Italy and Canada. These six plus Japan make up the G-7
countries
that set economic rules for the world.
The corporate and financial rulers of these countries control the bulk
of
the world's wealth, both in these industrialized countries themselves
and
in what can be described as the oppressed countries or the Third World.
These capitalist countries were the first to industrialize, they are now
the most advanced in technology, they control the mass media, and of
course they manufacture the most powerful weapons and are the most
heavily
armed. They sell weapons to the world but keep the most powerful and
advanced weapons for themselves.
They include the big colonial powers of the 19th century – Britain and
France – that directly ruled vast parts of the earth, and others that
held
colonies like Germany (Namibia, Tanzania), the Netherlands (Indonesia)
and
Belgium (Congo). Now there are few direct colonies, but through control
of
the world market, currency exchange rates and banking, and on the basis
of
their technological advantages, they now indirectly control and oppress
most of the world. In 1878 they met in Berlin and carved up the Balkans.
In 1885 they met in Berlin and carved up Africa into spheres of
influence.
In 1999 they met in Bosnia and carved up Kosovo for the so-called
peace-keeping forces.
It should never be forgotten that, while pursuing their rivalry for
markets, colonies and raw materials in the first half of this century,
these predatory states launched two world wars that together killed 100
to
200 million people.
Of these seven countries, the United States, with the greatest single
national economy and by far the biggest military power, is now the most
dangerous to the rest of the world.
This analysis will focus on statements coming from United States
military
and diplomatic leaders and from their own media. Yet it will clearly
show
how the war against Yugoslavia was premeditated, planned in advance,
with
wide-ranging geostrategic goals, and that it contains the seeds of new
wars.
1992 PENTAGON WHITE PAPER
On March 8, 1992, the New York Times published excerpts from a 46-page
White Paper
leaked by Pentagon officials. This paper asserts the need for complete
US world domination in
both political and military terms and threatens other countries that
even aspire to a greater role.
The public threats seem to be aimed at the European powers and Japan.
Here's some part of
what it said:
"Our first objective is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival...
First, the US must show the
leadership necessary to establish and protect a new order that holds the
promise of convincing
potential competitors that they need not aspire to a greater role or
pursue a more aggressive
posture to protect their legitimate interests. We must account
sufficiently for the interests of the
advanced industrial nations to discourage them from seeking to overturn
the established political
and economic order. Finally, we must maintain the mechanism for
deterring potential competitors
from even aspiring to a larger regional or global role".
Regarding Europe, the document continues:
"It is of fundamental importance to preserve NATO as the primary
instrument of Western defense
and security... We must seek to prevent the emergence of European-only
security arrangements
which would undermine NATO".
GEN. DUGAN'S PLAN FOR THE BALKANS
It wasn't too long before strategists began adapting this policy to the
developing crisis in the
Balkans.
Retired Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael J. Dugan and George Kenney
of the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace wrote an opinion piece for the New
York Times published
November 29, 1992, entitled "Operation 'Balkan Storm': Here's a Plan".
"A win in the Balkans would establish US leadership in the post-Cold War
world in a way that
Operation Desert Storm never could". Dugan laid out a scenario of
building a coalition with
Britain, France and Italy on an ad hoc basis, if possible, because he
believed the United Nations
Security Council would not approve a NATO assault. He described arming
the pro-US Bosnian
forces to use "unconventional" operations in Bosnia to force the UN to
suspend humanitarian
programs.
Then, he said, massive air power should be used against Serbs in Bosnia
and Serbia. Dugan
suggested using aircraft carriers, F-15s, F-16s, F-18s, and F-111s,
Tomahawk missiles, and the
JSTARS surveillance system to destroy Serbia's electricity grid,
refineries, storage facilities, and
communications. "But the US costs in blood and treasure would be modest
compared with that of
Bosnian trauma".
Gen. Dugan was infamous for his interview in September 1990 where he
candidly laid out US
plans for the massive assault on and destruction of Iraq. For speaking
out so frankly, he was
relieved of his command. But the US carried out this vicious plan
against Iraq.
His scenario for Bosnia too was carried out a little over six years
later, but starting instead from
Kosovo. And by then Washington was able to push and pull all of NATO
behind it while the UN
was left powerless.
From 1993 to 1995 in Bosnia the US, through NATO, increasingly used air
power against
Bosnian and Croatian Serbs as well as against those Muslim forces that
opposed the Izetbegovic
regime.
In August and September 1995, NATO launched a massive air war against
positions of the
Bosnian Serbs. The combination of these air raids with the NATO-enforced
economic blockade
led to the Dayton Accords of 1995. As part of the agreement, 60,000 NATO
troops, 20,000 of
them US soldiers, were sent into Bosnia under US command.
Earlier, a German/French-backed European force intervened in Bosnia,
where it attempted to
broker a truce. But US officials prodded the Bosnian regime to sabotage
this agreement, leading
to more bloodshed. Finally, US officials brokered the Dayton Accords on
more or less the same
terms except with a major US role as the occupying army.
A large new NATO base was established in Hungary to facilitate troop
deployment in Bosnia.
The US also established new bases in Macedonia and northern Albania.
(San Francisco
Chronicle, September 12, 1995)
As early as 1990, the US government had put in place plans for a
military occupation of Eastern
Europe and possibly parts of the former Soviet Union. That plan included
the 100,000 strong
Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps, the NATO unit in charge of
the Bosnia
operation.
At the end of November 1995, Reuters reported that: "The Allied Command
Europe Rapid
Reaction Corps (ARRC), based at Rheindahlen in western Germany, has
worked relatively
unnoticed since 1992 to put into practice NATO's new emphasis... (It
has) NATO's full array of
firepower (and) a tailor-made fighting force of up to 100,000 soldiers
able to deploy quickly. As
ARRC commander, British Lt.-Gen. Michael Walker, is in charge of running
the multinational
ground force to be stationed in and around Bosnia for NATO's first
ground deployment outside
its own area. The corps, with headquarters in Sarajevo, is taking three
divisions into Bosnia. Two
of them, the US First Armored Division and the British Third Mechanized
Division, are
permanently assigned to it. The third division is French".
The US used the Bosnia operation as a wedge for the expansion of NATO
into Eastern Europe.
AUGUST 1998, ATTACK ON YUGOSLAVIA AT WORK
By August 4, 1998 the Clinton administration confirmed that NATO had
developed detailed plans
for an attack on Yugoslavia. Sources told the New York Times that the
focus is on "a variety of
air-power options that could punish or intimidate".
On July 29, 1998, the Albanian government had announced that 76 top NATO
officers were in
Tirana, the capital, to plan "joint Albania–NATO exercises" from August
17 to August 22, 1998
within 50 miles of the border with Kosovo. The maneuvers will prepare
NATO and Albanian
troops for a "peacekeeping mission". Similar exercises are planned for
Macedonia in September.
These maneuvers were recommended in a March 20, 1998 position paper of
the International
Crisis Group, a think-tank with White House ties, headed by former
Senate Democratic Leader
George Mitchell.
That report also recommended "an international force in Albania close to
the borders of Kosovo
to help prevent the conflict in Kosovo from spreading and... facilitate
rapid and effective action
should an intervention become necessary". On July 29, 1998, German
Foreign Minister Klaus
Kinkel recommended similar action by NATO.
An article in the November 28, 1998 New York Times, headlined "A policy
struggle stirs within
NATO", provided advance notice of US plans to expand NATO's use beyond
Europe.
Washington wanted NATO forces ready to intervene not only in the Balkans
and against
countries like Iraq or Iran in the Middle East, or Libya, Sudan or Congo
in Africa – but against
any attempt at a popular revolution anywhere, from Russia to Indonesia.
UN Security Council resolutions have often provided a cover for US
military intervention –
against Korea in 1950 and Iraq in 1991, for example. Yet the council is
not certain to ratify all US
military aggression.
Washington noted in its "mission statement" for NATO that the alliance
may act without the
Security Council's approval. US officials argue that otherwise a Russian
or Chinese veto could
stop a military action. One NATO official brazenly explained this to the
Times: "A Security
Council mandate is highly desirable but we should not tie our hands in
advance".
US – EUROPE CONFLICTS
On March 4, 1999:
– A Marine court martial in North Carolina acquitted the captain whose
jet fighter-bomber
snapped a gondola cable in the Italian Alps a year before, killing 20
European tourists. Italians
protested.
– The state of Arizona executed by lethal injection German-American
Walter LaGrand. The
German government protested.
– Media worldwide announced that the Clinton administration imposed 100
percent import duties
on selected European-produced goods. The European Union protested.
These three seemingly unrelated events expressed open economic
competition between US
business interests and those of its former Cold War "allies" in Western
Europe, a competition
carried out through the national states.
Within three weeks this competition was buried under the weight of US
air power. When
Belgrade refused to sign the Rambouillet surrender terms, Washington
used this pretext to launch
a war against Yugoslavia.
By the time the North Atlantic Treaty Organization celebrated its 50th
anniversary on April 4,
1999, it had just made its first military assault beyond its borders and
carried out the largest
bombing in Europe since World War II.
Washington used the war against Yugoslavia to impose its changes on NATO
– changing it from a
no-longer-needed anti-Soviet alliance to an intervention force ready to
strike worldwide. NATO
powers met in Washington in late April to ratify this proposal.
In addition, the US government had recently succeeded in gaining NATO
admission for Poland,
Hungary and the Czech Republic over the objection of other NATO members.
It then pulled
these three countries directly into the war.
The brutal bombing of Yugoslavia gives the first example of how the US
wants to use the new,
post-Cold War NATO to lead its European allies into battle. Washington
says the NATO
countries have an "alliance of interests". What this means is the common
need of the predatory
ruling classes in the US and Europe to suppress any popular revolt that
threatens their ability to
plunder the raw materials and labor of the rest of the world.
It also means a common interest in preventing any newer capitalist
country from being able to
challenge the G-7's domination of the world economy. Neither would-be
capitalists in Russia and
Eastern Europe nor up-and-coming entrepreneurs in south Korea or
Indonesia will be allowed to
challenge the supremacy of US, West European and Japanese capital. They
will have to consider
themselves fortunate to get crumbs off the tables of their masters.
Along with this "alliance of interests", however, there is also a bitter
rivalry between the same
powers over economic and strategic interests. This has already burst out
with the "banana war"
and the battle between the US and the European Union over
hormone-fattened meat.
Washington's first de facto expansion of NATO's role is against
Yugoslavia. To contain the
competing interests of the NATO countries and submit them all to US
strategic control,
Washington had NATO be the instrument for its conquest of Yugoslavia.
Throughout the 11-week assault on Yugoslavia by most of the world's
biggest military powers,
US and European mainstream politicians of all political shades tried to
give the impression that the
NATO forces were united, whatever trade rivalries and military
maneuvering were going on
behind the scenes.
But no sooner had Yugoslavia agreed to terms the European Union's
leaders made a remarkable
statement: the European Union, up to now a primarily economic alliance
centered around German
banks and industry, announced plans to emerge as a military power.
Leaders from 15 European countries announced the move on June 3, 1999 –
the same day that
the Yugoslav leadership announced its acceptance, on paper, of NATO's
onerous terms.
"The union must have the capacity for autonomous action", the EU
statement read, "backed up by
credible military forces, the means to decide to use them, and a
readiness to do so, in order to
respond to international crises without prejudice to actions by NATO".
Make no mistake. The emergence of a new European military power does not
bode well for
ordinary working people anywhere. European workers in particular can
look forward to having
more of their labor robbed to fund the new military apparatus while
social services are cut – an
experience US workers have been forced to endure for decades.
WASHINGTON A REPEAT OFFENDER
Just since World War II, Washington has fought the Korean War;
overthrown the elected
governments of Guatemala, Iran, Chile, Indonesia; fought wars against
the people of Central
America; invaded Lebanon; carried out a genocidal war in Indochina, in
which millions of
Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians and more than 50,000 US troops died;
and enforced an
economic blockade against Iraq that has taken the lives of more than a
million and a half people,
half of them children under the age of five. The real objective of the
war on Yugoslavia is to
re-balkanize the Balkans – to break up Yugoslavia into small, easily
controllable and digestible
pieces, in order to insure US/NATO, and especially US, domination of
this key strategic region.
While 10 years ago it had no bases in Eastern Europe, today the United
States has military bases
in Albania, Macedonia, Hungary, Bosnia and Croatia. Washington and its
NATO partners have
cut up Kosovo into little pieces, occupation zones. And they have
assisted in forcing out all ethnic
and national groups who were not Albanian, and even some Albanians.
Thomas Friedman, who writes for the New York Times – is a thoroughly
despicable individual
who is now held up as the highest example of US journalism. Friedman
wrote approvingly on
March 28, 1999: "For globalization to work, America can't be afraid to
act like the almighty
superpower that it is. The hidden hand of the market will never work
without a hidden fist.
McDonald's cannot flourish without McDonnell-Douglas, the designer of
the F-15, and the hidden
fist that keeps the world safe for Silicon Valley's technology is called
the United States Army, Air
Force, Navy and Marine Corps".
NEW US MILITARY BUILDUP
US military superiority is the key to US global economic domination. The
United States does not
have superiority over its rivals just by virtue of its economic system
and technology. But what it
does have is this vast military apparatus to implement its will.
A new military buildup is already under way, even though the United
States today already spends
more on its military that the rest of the UN Security Council combined.
Having spent US$ 19
trillion since 1940 on the military, the US government proposes to spend
an additional US$ 1,2
trillion in the next four years.
But Washington doesn't want to be the only one spending on the military.
US Defense Secretary
William Cohen used an evaluation of the war against Yugoslavia to bully
the NATO allies into
accepting US policies at an "informal meeting" of 19 NATO defense
ministers in Toronto
September 21–22, 1999.
Cohen said NATO won the war with US "precision-guided weapons" and other
high-tech
systems. Speaking of European NATO members, he said that "in some cases
countries would
have to spend more money" to buy such weapons – by implication from US
arms makers.
Speaking earlier at the Institute of Strategic Studies in San Diego on
September 9, 1999, Defense
Secretary William Cohen boasted of the US role in this bombing. He
outlined what he would
demand from France, Britain, Germany and the other European powers
regarding the US's new
NATO proposal called the Defense Capabilities Initiative.
"We have all agreed to develop forces that are more mobile, beginning
with the reassessment of
NATO's strategic lift requirements for planning purposes. We need
forces, we've agreed, that can
sustain themselves longer; that means having a logistics system that
will ensure they have the
supplies when and where they need them".
Cohen said the NATO powers need "forces that can engage more
effectively; that means having
the new advanced technologies such as greater stocks of precision-guided
munitions and forces
that can survive better against chemical, biological or nuclear weapons,
and also information
warfare".
EUROPEAN SECURITY AND DEFENSE IDENTITY
Cohen and his European allies had different views on what the so-called
European Security and
Defense Identity (ESDI) should mean. Washington would oppose any force
that challenges its
domination even in Europe itself. Washington sees the ESDI as a way of
harnessing European
militarism back into NATO – where the Pentagon holds the reins. That's
what Cohen told
reporters in Toronto on September 22.
"There was unanimity of expression (supporting ESDI)", he said. "This is
important for the
Europeans to undertake. It is important also to make sure that it is not
seen as a separate
institution and capability, but rather that it is maintained under the
umbrella so to speak of
NATO".
On September 22, French Press Agency report noted that ESDI was supposed
to allow
European NATO members to carry out "a peacekeeping operation, for
example, using NATO
materiel and resources but not involving the US or Canada. It was
unclear, however, how the
Europeans would be able to act independently while relying on assets
under the control of an
alliance still dominated by the Pentagon".
Cohen wants a situation in which the European NATO countries take the
risks of wartime
casualties and pay the costs, but where US control of strategic weapons
and logistics gives
Washington all the trump cards.
It's clear that Cohen expects NATO to fight future wars of a Kosovo size
and bigger – and more
distant from the United States or Western Europe. Now, without a USSR,
Washington wants
NATO to be a world cop. And Cohen expects the European governments to
pick up a big share
of the costs of expansion. But he was definitely talking about "the next
war", without clarifying if
that war was against Iraq, Libya, in the Balkans, in Central Asia, in
Africa, against the Colombian
revolutionaries, against the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.
Perhaps it will be some new
target with a leader the US media demonizes.
Because NATO is such a threat to peace, Ramsey Clark has declared
publicly that he sees no
other alternative but to abolish NATO. And we in the International
Action Center have made this
demand central to our anti-war work.
WHAT IS OUR ROLE?
This conference is doing an excellent job analyzing the war against
Yugoslavia and its
consequences. But our responsibility is not simply to analyze the world,
but to change it. NATO's
armies are strong, but they too have weaknesses. The US military fears
that any significant
casualties among US troops will arouse a mass anti-war movement as
happened during the war
against Vietnam. Some of the other European powers have populations that
are also reluctant to
back a war that demands sacrifices. They are in conflict with each
other. All this raises possibilities
to fight back.
I especially address this to those of us here from the very NATO
countries that waged aggression
against Yugoslavia. Our responsibility is to use the facts and analysis
from here to mobilize our
home populations to fight the government's policies, to lift the
sanctions against Yugoslavia, to
send aid – really reparations for the crimes committed.
On June 10, the International Action Center is holding a day-long
International Tribunal on
US/NATO War Crimes Against Yugoslavia in New York. Our initial hearing
last July 31 inspired
or encouraged a dozen US cities. Those working in parallel with us held
similar hearings in Oslo,
Novi Sad, Berlin, Rome, Vienna, Moscow, Kiev, Sydney, and even Tokyo.
The most dramatic
was a mass people tribunal in Athens last fall where thousands found
Clinton guilty of war crimes.
More hearings are planned for Belgrade, Hamburg, Prague, Boston and
elsewhere.
We do not expect to make the people in power see reason and change their
minds. These
tribunals are a way to mobilize mass public opinion and build a movement
that can fight the
governments that wage these wars. In the International Action Center we
also support the
struggles of oppressed groups in the United States – or example, the
fight to free political prisoner
Mumia Abu-Jamal. Only by building bridges to others can we succeed in
turning back the US war
machine.
On June 10, former Attorney General Ramsey Clark will prosecute US and
NATO leaders for
19 charges of war crimes, crimes against peace and crimes against
humanity. International expert
witnesses will present testimony. And a distinguished international
panel of judges will hear the
case. Come and be part of this historic event.
Down with NATO! Long live Yugoslavia!
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
SULLE ELEZIONI NELLA RF DI JUGOSLAVIA
Gentile Tommaso Di Francesco,
nei giorni precedenti la tornata elettorale in Jugoslavia abbiamo notato
uno zelo particolare da parte tua e del tuo giornale nel sostegno ad uno
dei candidati della opposizione di destra, il liberista e nazionalista
Kostunica. In particolare, nel tuo articolo "I profughi dimenticati di
Belgrado"
(http://www.ilmanifesto.it/Quotidiano-archivio/23-Settembre-2000/art13.htm)
sostieni che "solo Kostunica non ha smesso di insistere sulla questione
Kosovo e sul rientro dei profughi", sorvolando sul fatto che proprio
Kostunica in Kosovo e' stato preso a sassate in faccia dai serbi sotto
assedio, mentre l'attuale governo jugoslavo chiede costantemente che, in
applicazione alla Risoluzione ONU 1244, non solo rientrino i profughi,
ma persino alle forze di sicurezza jugoslave sia consentito di
rientrare. Per quanto riguarda il voto ai profughi, tu biasimi Milosevic
che non li fa votare; a parte il fatto che i profughi hanno
tranquillamente diritto di voto nei loro seggi (in Kosovo), ma non
possono esercitarlo perche' - appunto - sono profughi (ma la colpa di
questo di chi e'?): se il governo jugoslavo avesse organizzato dei seggi
elettorali appositi nei campi profughi tu avresti sicuramente scritto
che sarebbe stata una "speculazione politica di Milosevic" per
garantirsi i voti dei profughi.
Comunque si voglia girare la frittata, la colpa e' di Milosevic.
D'altronde, lo dicono pure tutti gli altri giornali.
Saluti
Coordinamento Romano per la Jugoslavia
PS. non contiamo nella pubblicazione, ma una risposta diretta ci sarebbe
gradita.
PPS. perche', piuttosto, non pubblicate l'intervista di Juergen
Elsaesser a Mihailo Markovic? Se c'e' un problema di copyright crediamo
sia facilmente risolvibile... O non e' quello il motivo?
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
Gentile Tommaso Di Francesco,
nei giorni precedenti la tornata elettorale in Jugoslavia abbiamo notato
uno zelo particolare da parte tua e del tuo giornale nel sostegno ad uno
dei candidati della opposizione di destra, il liberista e nazionalista
Kostunica. In particolare, nel tuo articolo "I profughi dimenticati di
Belgrado"
(http://www.ilmanifesto.it/Quotidiano-archivio/23-Settembre-2000/art13.htm)
sostieni che "solo Kostunica non ha smesso di insistere sulla questione
Kosovo e sul rientro dei profughi", sorvolando sul fatto che proprio
Kostunica in Kosovo e' stato preso a sassate in faccia dai serbi sotto
assedio, mentre l'attuale governo jugoslavo chiede costantemente che, in
applicazione alla Risoluzione ONU 1244, non solo rientrino i profughi,
ma persino alle forze di sicurezza jugoslave sia consentito di
rientrare. Per quanto riguarda il voto ai profughi, tu biasimi Milosevic
che non li fa votare; a parte il fatto che i profughi hanno
tranquillamente diritto di voto nei loro seggi (in Kosovo), ma non
possono esercitarlo perche' - appunto - sono profughi (ma la colpa di
questo di chi e'?): se il governo jugoslavo avesse organizzato dei seggi
elettorali appositi nei campi profughi tu avresti sicuramente scritto
che sarebbe stata una "speculazione politica di Milosevic" per
garantirsi i voti dei profughi.
Comunque si voglia girare la frittata, la colpa e' di Milosevic.
D'altronde, lo dicono pure tutti gli altri giornali.
Saluti
Coordinamento Romano per la Jugoslavia
PS. non contiamo nella pubblicazione, ma una risposta diretta ci sarebbe
gradita.
PPS. perche', piuttosto, non pubblicate l'intervista di Juergen
Elsaesser a Mihailo Markovic? Se c'e' un problema di copyright crediamo
sia facilmente risolvibile... O non e' quello il motivo?
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
DA PEACELINK: A PROPOSITO DI LIBERTA' DI VOTO
------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date forwarded: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 04:37:12 +0200
From: "francesco iannuzzelli" <francesco@...>
Organization: peacelink
To: pck-armamenti@...
Come segnalato in home page dalla testimonianza di Zoran, gli
USA stanno compiendo parecchie operazioni militari in
concomitanza con il voto in Yugoslavia.
In Kosovo sono arrivati altri 4 battaglioni di truppe alleate portando
la K-For a 45.000 effettivi.
Nella confinante Romania forze della Nato insieme a rumeni,
svizzeri e bulgari simulano un "intervento teso a riportare la pace in
un paese sconvolto dalla guerra civile".
In Slovacchia e Repubblica Ceca si svolgono le manovre "Blue Line
2000" con piloti e jet statunitensi.
Le operazioni piu' significative pero' riguardano l'esercitazione
congiunta tra truppe USA e croate, sia di terra che di mare, che si
svolgera' dal 25 al 29 settembre, coinvolgendo 600 soldati
americani e 9.000 croati nelle citta' di Spalato e Sebenik.
Sono accompagnati da due unita' di trasporto per operazioni
anfibie, la USS Austin e la USS Saipan, che nei giorni scorsi era
nel porto di Trieste (prima ancora a La Spezia).
Inoltre la portaerei Washington, a propulsione nucleare, e' stata
trasferita all'ultimo momento dal Golfo Persico all'Adriatico, dove e'
giunta in questi giorni.
Il dipartimento della difesa statunitense ha smentito ogni legame
tra queste manovre e le concomitanti elezioni yugoslave...
ciao
francesco
Fonti:
Reuters:
http://live.altavista.com/scripts/editorial.dll?ei=2205001&ern=y
Analisidifesa:
http://www.analisidifesa.it/numero7/natobelg.htm
francesco iannuzzelli francesco@...
associazione peacelink - sez. disarmo
http://www.peacelink.it
===
DUE MESSAGGI DA MICHEL COLLON, PRESENTE IN JUGOSLAVIA
Message urgent de Michel Collon de Belgrade
L?opposition va provoquer des incidents Dimanche soir. Ils diront qu?ils
ont gagné les élections à 9 heures, les bureaux
fermant à 8 heures. Mais les résultats officiels n?étant connus qu?à
minuit. Ils diront que les sondages étaient à leur
faveur et que si Milosevic gagne ça ne peut être qu?une fraude. Ils
cherecheront des bagares avec la police et avoir de
mauvaises images. Peut-être aussi des incidents à Montenegro.
Pourtant les sondages ne sont pas fiables, reconnaît même un responsable
des observateurs dits indépendants, organisés
par l?opposition et les USA, qui reconnaît qu?on ne peut rien prédire.
La tactique de déstabilisation est bien coordonnée, les prix augmentent
chacun de ces derniers jours, on (qui?) organise des
pénuries, huile et sucre sont retirés, les gens se ruent pour stocker.
Les prix augmentent, un dinar de plus chaque jour pour
un mark. L?atmosphère devient engoissante.
La différence entre les meetings électoraux frappe. A celui de Milosevic
: « En tant que colonie, nous ne serions jamais
libres des sanctions car le statut de colonie c?est la pire forme de
sanctions ». Les gens sont fiers de ce qu?ils ont fait :
resister. Milosevic a beaucoup reconstruit. Mais bien sûr, il y a la
lassitude des sanctions et les illusions de la jeunesse qui
n?a pas vecu le fascisme. Il y a un fosse entre générations, d?autant
que l?Ouest envahit la jeunesse avec sa pub et son
modèle de consommation.
Et au meetings de Kostunica, les gens sont tristes, ils sont vite partis
apres le discours, il ne restent même pas pour le
concert. C?est normal, il se prétend un homme de principes mais il est
en train de vendre la souveraineté du pays.
L?opposition, trouvera-t-elle assez de gens pour le soutenir dans ces
incidents ? On verra?
Je ne sais pas comment ca va tourner, en tout cas ça valait la peine de
venir ici. Il faut se préparer au pire et mobiliser les
gens
> Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 17:24:19 +0200
> From: Marko Atanasievski
> To: pdevos@...
> Subject: Message de Michel Collon de Belgrade
>
> Nous sommes ici plus de 200 observateurs venus de 53 pays (Russie,
> Argentine, Chili, Jordanie, Chine, Allemagne, etc) pour contr^oler la
> legalite des elections en Yougoslavie.
> Au parlement, nous avons rencontre la commission de supervision des
> elections qui nous a explique les regles. En fait, elles ressemblent
> tout a fait a ce quon voit dans les pays occidentaux: vote secret,
> bulletins controles, dans tous les bureaux de vote, commissions de
> controle ouvertes a tous les partis.
> En fait, les methodes electorales sont celles pronees par l'OSCE,
> Organisation pour la Cooperation et la Securite en Europe, qui avait
> d'ailleurs declare parfaitement correctes les elections yougoslaves
> de 1996.
> On se demande alors pourquoi la presse occidentale repete inlassablement
> que les elections seront truquees pour permettre a Milosevic de gagner.
> Parce qu'elle pense que l'opposition va perdre? Parce que l'Otan
> cherche un pretexte pour intervenir a nouveau?
> Nous avons essaye de repondre a cette question, ce samedi matin, en
> echangeant nos observations entre observateurs d'une vingtaine de
> pays. D'abord, nous avons constate qu'a l'etranger, on racontait des
> choses assez incroyables. En Hongrie, la presse pretend que les
> observateurs etrangers viennent seulement de quatre pays (Russie,
> Libye, Irak et Hongrie), qu'ils ne peuvent rencontrer l'opposition et
> que celle ci ne pourra etre dans les bureaux de vote pour controler
> les operations. Trois mensonges grossiers, nous avons pu le
> constater. Au Canada, les medias ont pretendu que tous les
> journalistes etrangers avaient ete expulses. Archi-faux: il reste ici
> des dizaines de correspondants internationaux meme si cest vrai,
> quelques journalistes ont ete expulses.
> Cest peut etre regrettable dans certains cas, mais il faut aussi
> comprendre: les Yougoslaves ont subi une guerre, des milliers de gens
> ont perdu la vie, leurs maisons, leurs biens, l'Otan a foutu des
> dechets nucleaires un peu partout et ca provoquer des millers de
> cancers dans quelques annes, et toute cette guerre a ete prepare par
> des mediamensonges occidentaux. Aujourdhui, ils sont a nouveau
> nerveux car les Etats Unis manifestement font monter la tension...
> Il y a dix jours, un journal de l'opposition yougoslave a revele que
> Madeleine Albright, ministre US des Affaires etrangeres, avait reclame
> qu'on bombarde a nouveau la Yougoslavie. Proposition non acceptee
> pour l'instant par les autres responsables americains, mais demain
> qu'arrivera-t-il? Avant les guerres precedentes contre la
> Yougoslavie, on avait constate aussi une campagne psychologique
> preparatoire: demonisation de l'adversaire, creation d'un etat de
> tension en lui attribuant des projets agressifs (ici on pretend que
> Milosevic va attaquer le Montenegro, ce qui ne tient pas debout),
> etcetera... Dans cette campagne psychologique, les sondages doivent
> etre consideres comme une arme de propagande parmi d'autres. Selon
> beaucoup de gens a qui j'ai parle, la lutte sera serree. Voteront
> Milosevic ceux qui, en depit de critiques qu'ils lui font, mettent
> pardessus tout la defense de l'independance. Voteront pour
> l'opposition ceux qui, lasses par des annes depreuves et de
> privations, s'efforcent de croire Kostunica et les promesses des
> EtatsUnis. Mais les medias occidentaux avancent que Kostunica serait
> sur de gagner. Ca ne repose pas sur des enquetes serieuses, en fait
> il n'existe pas de sondage scientifiquement fiable. Pourquoi alors ce
> pronostic trompeur? Pour decourager les electeurs yougoslave et pour
> preparer l'opinion occidentale a cette idee: si Milosevic gagne, ce
> ne pourra etre qu'en fraudant, donc nous devrons intervenir de
> nouveau contre la Yougoslavie (par une nouvelle guerre ou de nouveaux
> bombardements? Esperons que non, et faisons tout pour qu'il n'en soit
> pas ainsi). Les Etats Unis ont fourni a l'opposition une serie de
> consultants specialistes de la communication (le genre de ceux qui
> ont assiste Jamie Shea durant la guerre); les sondages trompeurs
> font partie de leur panoplie d'armes psychologiques. Les Etats-Unis
> font aujourd'hui plein de promesses, garantissant aux Yougoslaves
> qu'ils vivront prosperes s'ils votent bien. D'abord, il faut
> remarquer que ces promesses ils les ont deja faites aux Russes, aux
> Bulgares et aux Albanais avec les resultats qu'on sait....
> En Occident, on n'en parle guere, mais ici, on est tres choques par
> les 70 millions de dollars que les Usa reconnaissent verser aux
> partis, medias dits independants et a d'autres organisations. Acheter
> la Yougoslavie? Que diraient les medias occidentaux si Belgrade ou
> Pekin versait 5 milliards de FB (somme equivalente si on compare les
> niveaux de vie) pour aider un parti d'extreme gauche en France parce
> qu'elle ne respecte pas les droits des Corses ou des Basques? Ou en
> Belgique parce qu'elle enferme les refugies dans des prisons?
>
> Redevenons serieux: les Etats-Unis sont en train de preparer
> psychologiquement l'opinion internationale a la possibilite dune
> nouvelle agression (n'oublions pas qu'ils bobardemt impunement l'Irak
> depuis neuf ans!). Ils osent presenter comme une lecon de
> <democratie> le chantage <Votez pour nous ou crevez de faim a moins
> qu'on vous bombarde a nouveau!>
>
> Au moment ou ils preparent un Plan Colombie, veritable declaration de
> guerre contre toute l'Amerique latime et ses nouvelles luttes au
> Venezuela, em Argentine et ailleurs, au moment ou ils soutiennent
> ferocement Israel responsable d'une purification ethnique
> systematique depuis plus de cinquante ans, au moment ou le monde
> entier se mobilise tres positivement contre les injustices de la
> globalisation imposee par les multinationales, il est tres important
> d'arreter cette nouvelle menace d'agression.
>
> Demain, les 200 observateurs se disperseront dans tout le pays ou ils
> pourront tout controler dans les bureaux de vote et les operations de
> comptage. Nous avons convenu d'echanger nos impressions dimache soir
> et lundi matin tres tot. Les resultats devraient etre connus dans la
> nuit. Il me parait tres important de contrer IMMEDIATEMENT la
> desinformation que certains milieux essaient d'organiser au sujet de
> ces elections. Je suggere de contacter d'avance des journalistes
> honnetes pour leur expliquer qu'une autre information est disponible.
> On peut me joindre a l'hotel Intercontinental, chambre 313.
>
> Michel Collon
> samedi 23 septembre, Belgrade
===
IMPORTANTI INFORMAZIONI DALLA BULGARIA
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/doncheva/electionday.htm
>Election Day Meddling
>A letter from Blagovesta Doncheva in Sofia, Bulgaria
>(9-24-2000)
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/doncheva/bulgmed.htm
>Bulgaria Meddles in Yugoslav Vote
>
>'Monitor,' [Bulgaria] September 22, p. 1-2-3
>
>Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marin Raikov, is behind an unprecedented
>plan for parallel Yugoslav vote counting from Sofia. Kostov threatens
>Milosevic with "categorical/decisive actions" if he 'manipulates' the vote on
>Sunday...
===
SULLE INTERFERENZE EUROPEE E STATUNITENSI
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Sept. 28, 2000
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
YUGOSLAVIA ELECTIONS: U.S., W. EUROPE USE CARROT &
STICK
By John Catalinotto
With the big vote set for Sept. 24, the European Union and
the U.S. government have stepped up their already blatant
intervention in Yugoslavia's national election. Both the
Yugoslav government and anti-war forces in NATO countries
have reacted with anti-NATO actions.
The EU offered the carrot. In a "message to the Serbian
people" from a Sept. 18 monthly foreign ministers' meeting
in Brussels, the EU said it would lift sanctions if
Yugoslavs voted out President Slobodan Milosevic in the
presidential election.
"The elections ... will give the Serbian people the
opportunity to repudiate clearly and peacefully the policy
of Milosevic." Should they do so, "we will lift the
sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, we
will support the necessary economic aid for its
reconstruction, and we will support the reintegration of the
FRY into the international community," is how the EU
presented its bribe.
Washington continued to wave the big stick. The U.S. Navy
plans maneuvers in the Adriatic Sea off the Yugoslav coast
on election weekend. Both U.S. and NATO leaders have
threatened intervention should there be conflict in
Montenegro, the smaller republic, which along with Serbia
makes up what remains of Yugoslavia.
If Yugoslavia is treated like the other former socialist
countries of the Balkans, "reintegration" means that a
handful of Yugoslavs will grow rich while the bulk of the
population is driven deeper into poverty and the people as a
whole are forced to submit to Western imperialism.
An article in the Sept. 19 New York Times makes it clear
that the only job opportunities for young Bulgarian women is
to work as prostitutes in the Czech Republic near the German
border.
The only serious candidates for president of Yugoslavia are
Milosevic and Vojislav Kostunica, who is backed by 18 small
opposition parties, some of them openly pro-NATO and all pro-
Western. Kostunica is a long-time anti-communist with
credentials as a Serbian nationalist.
Kostunica is also the only opposition figure who is not
tarnished by open association with NATO forces. He can
possibly attract voters who are weary of the assault on
Yugoslavia and who hope that removing Milosevic will end the
hostility.
The U.S. and West European imperialists, however, want
Kostunica to defeat Milosevic in order to weaken the best-
organized anti-NATO structures inside Yugoslavia. These
structures include Milosevic's Socialist Party and the party
called the Yugoslav United Left, plus the security forces
and the army.
Weakening this apparatus would leave the road open for
imperialist penetration and for turning all of Yugoslavia
back into a colony of the West, whether or not that is what
Kostunica plans.
The Western media claim Kostunica is leading in election
polls. Pro-Milosevic sources point out that the polls were
taken by pro-NATO organizations that want to try to claim
Milosevic "stole" the election should he win.
BELGRADE PUTS NATO LEADERS ON TRIAL
Meanwhile, the Milosevic forces have run their election
campaign against NATO threats, pointing to the opposition as
NATO puppets.
In addition, the Yugoslav government has gone on the
political offensive against NATO. In Belgrade Sept. 18 the
government opened a trial of NATO leaders for war crimes
committed during the 1999 aggression and 78-day bombing
assault.
Yugoslavia charged Presidents Bill Clinton of the United
States and Jacques Chirac of France, British Prime Minister
Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, U.S.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and nine other NATO
and Western government leaders with war crimes. Their names
were attached to 14 empty chairs in the front of a Belgrade
courtroom.
Serb authorities appointed a lawyer for each of the accused.
Yugoslav officials said it would take four days to present
the evidence.
"They are charged with inciting an aggressive war...war
crimes against civilian population...use of banned combat
means, attempted murder of the Yugoslav president...the
violation of the country's territorial integrity. ..," the
charge sheet read.
"They fired 600 cruise missiles and made 25,119 [air]
sorties during the 78-day aggression, attacking both
military and civilian targets, killing and wounding many
people, causing mass destruction of property," it added.
The charges were similar in structure to those presented at
the dozens of "People's Tribunals" held in Germany, the
United States, Italy, Austria, Greece, Russia and other
countries in the past 14 months, all of which found the NATO
leaders guilty. The Yugoslavs will be able to present more
detailed, eyewitness descriptions of the crimes.
Exposing NATO's crimes and especially the lies NATO leaders
used to justify their aggression has strengthened solidarity
with Yugoslavia in some of the NATO countries.
In Italy, a traditional annual peace march from Perugia to
Assisi will take place Sept. 24 with a more clearly anti-
NATO position than it has had in recent years. Last year
former Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema led the march--but he
also had led the war against Yugoslavia. This year march
organizers invited forces carrying a banner "Against NATO,
against the embargoes" to play a big role in the march and
promised that none of the war criminals from the Italian
regime would be present.
In Germany, a group of anti-war intellectuals have issued a
call from Berlin: "No new NATO-war on the Balkans!" The call
warns of U.S.-NATO military preparations for a possible new
assault on Yugoslavia, and asks for actions against this new
aggression. There are also vigils planned in Bonn on Sept.
22 and 29.
- END -
(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to
copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
ww@.... For subscription info send message to:
info@.... Web: http://www.workers.org)
YUGOSLAVIA LODGES PROTEST WITH E.U. COUNCIL
BRUSSELS, September 23 (Tanjug) Yugoslavia has filed a protest
with the European Union in Brussels over a socalled "message" that E.U.
foreign ministers have recently sent Yugoslavs in connection with
Sunday's
presidential and parliamentary elections in Yugoslavia.
Yugoslav Charge d'Affaires Dragan Zupanjevac delivered the
protest
note to E.U. Ministerial Council Director General Brian Crowe.
The note says, among others, that the E.U. ministers' "message"
constitutes gross and unacceptable interference in the internal affairs
of
a sovereign country, and is without a precedent in democratic practice.
Yugoslavia believes it is high time the European Union
abandoned
its unprincipled and antiEuropean policy, its antiYugoslav policy of
sanctions and isolation, which is achieving nothing other than
continuing
to destabilise southeast Europe, the protest note says.
===
F.R. YUGOSLAVIA ELECTIONS
YUGOSLAVIA TO ELECT PRESIDENT AND MP'S ON SUNDAY
BELGRADE, September 23 (Tanjug) Yugoslavia will be electing a
president and federal parliament deputies, while its republic of Serbia
will be voting also for local administration officials on Sunday,
September
24.
According to the Central Electoral Commission, Yugoslavia has
an
electorate of 7,861,327; of this number, 7,417,197 are in Serbia, and
444,130 in the other Yugoslav federal unit, Montenegro.
This will be the first time for the people to be electing a
president directly, and they will have the choice of five candidates:
Incumbent Slobodan Milosevic, nominated by a leftist coalition
made up of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), the Yugoslav Left (JUL),
and the Socialist People's Party (SNP) of Montenegro;
Vojislav Kostunica, nominated by 18 opposition parties rallied
into the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) bloc;
Tomislav Nikolic of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS);
Vojislav Mihailovic of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO);
Miroljub Vidojkovic of the Affirmative Party.
Should none of the candidates secure an outright majority of
the
votes cast in the first round, the two leading candidates will fight it
out
between them in a runoff two weeks later.
Serbs and Montenegrins will be voting in 27 electoral districts
to
elect 138 deputies to the Chamber of Citizens (lower house) of the
Yugoslav
federal parliament, from among candidates nominated by 30 parties on 30
tickets.
Of this number, Serbia will be giving 108 deputies to the
Chamber,
and Montenegro, 30.
Yugoslav citizens displaced from Serbia's U.N.administered
Kosovo
and Metohija province will be voting in Serbia's southern Prokuplje and
Vranje municipalities.
Deputies to the Chamber of Republics (Upper house) will be
elected
by direct ballot another first with Serbia and Montenegro, as two
equal
constituencies, giving 20 deputies each.
Parallel with the federal elections, polls will be held for
electing 120 deputies to the Serbian Vojvodina province's assembly
(Parliament), and local administrations in Serbia.
Also, 110 deputies to the Belgrade City Council will be elected
from among 548 candidates nominated by 21 parties.
Belgrade has an electorate of 1,351,365.
Apart from local monitors, the elections will be monitored by
more
than 200 foreign observers from 52 countries, who have already arrived
in
Yugoslavia.
YUGOSLAVIA TAKES FURTHER STEPS TO PREVENT ELECTION FRAUD
BELGRADE, September 23 (Tanjug) The Yugoslav Central Electoral
Commission on Saturday reviewed reports on a plot to illegally augment
the
number of ballots at polling stations and issued further instructions to
prevent fraud on the eve of Sunday's elections.
Yugoslavia votes for president and deputies to both chambers of
the federal parliament, while its republic of Serbia elects local
administrators on Sunday, September 24.
The Commission said in a statement it has come in possession of
information that, as part of subversive activities against Yugoslavia, a
plan has been hatched to sabotage and compromise the presidential
election.
"Foreign factors have prepared a number of ballots for the
presidential election, which their stooges among the Yugoslav people
should
drop in the ballot boxes folded inside the regular ballot papers...
"This has been done because, under election rules, in case
there
is a single ballot in a box more than there were voters at that
particular
polling station, the polling must be declared invalid", the Commission
said.
In this way, a couple of hundred unscrupulous individuals could
invalidate the will of hundreds of thousands, it added.
The Commission has therefore decreed that the invigilators at
the
polling stations must check that the ballot paper of each voter in the
presidential election is a single paper, with nothing folded in it.
"The check will be made by each voter marking the ballot,
folding
it and then handing it over to an invigilator to see that it is a single
paper, while not violating the secrecy of the voting, and then dropping
it
in the box", the statement said.
The Commission appealed to the people to respect the reasons
that
have made this kind of control necessary.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date forwarded: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 04:37:12 +0200
From: "francesco iannuzzelli" <francesco@...>
Organization: peacelink
To: pck-armamenti@...
Come segnalato in home page dalla testimonianza di Zoran, gli
USA stanno compiendo parecchie operazioni militari in
concomitanza con il voto in Yugoslavia.
In Kosovo sono arrivati altri 4 battaglioni di truppe alleate portando
la K-For a 45.000 effettivi.
Nella confinante Romania forze della Nato insieme a rumeni,
svizzeri e bulgari simulano un "intervento teso a riportare la pace in
un paese sconvolto dalla guerra civile".
In Slovacchia e Repubblica Ceca si svolgono le manovre "Blue Line
2000" con piloti e jet statunitensi.
Le operazioni piu' significative pero' riguardano l'esercitazione
congiunta tra truppe USA e croate, sia di terra che di mare, che si
svolgera' dal 25 al 29 settembre, coinvolgendo 600 soldati
americani e 9.000 croati nelle citta' di Spalato e Sebenik.
Sono accompagnati da due unita' di trasporto per operazioni
anfibie, la USS Austin e la USS Saipan, che nei giorni scorsi era
nel porto di Trieste (prima ancora a La Spezia).
Inoltre la portaerei Washington, a propulsione nucleare, e' stata
trasferita all'ultimo momento dal Golfo Persico all'Adriatico, dove e'
giunta in questi giorni.
Il dipartimento della difesa statunitense ha smentito ogni legame
tra queste manovre e le concomitanti elezioni yugoslave...
ciao
francesco
Fonti:
Reuters:
http://live.altavista.com/scripts/editorial.dll?ei=2205001&ern=y
Analisidifesa:
http://www.analisidifesa.it/numero7/natobelg.htm
francesco iannuzzelli francesco@...
associazione peacelink - sez. disarmo
http://www.peacelink.it
===
DUE MESSAGGI DA MICHEL COLLON, PRESENTE IN JUGOSLAVIA
Message urgent de Michel Collon de Belgrade
L?opposition va provoquer des incidents Dimanche soir. Ils diront qu?ils
ont gagné les élections à 9 heures, les bureaux
fermant à 8 heures. Mais les résultats officiels n?étant connus qu?à
minuit. Ils diront que les sondages étaient à leur
faveur et que si Milosevic gagne ça ne peut être qu?une fraude. Ils
cherecheront des bagares avec la police et avoir de
mauvaises images. Peut-être aussi des incidents à Montenegro.
Pourtant les sondages ne sont pas fiables, reconnaît même un responsable
des observateurs dits indépendants, organisés
par l?opposition et les USA, qui reconnaît qu?on ne peut rien prédire.
La tactique de déstabilisation est bien coordonnée, les prix augmentent
chacun de ces derniers jours, on (qui?) organise des
pénuries, huile et sucre sont retirés, les gens se ruent pour stocker.
Les prix augmentent, un dinar de plus chaque jour pour
un mark. L?atmosphère devient engoissante.
La différence entre les meetings électoraux frappe. A celui de Milosevic
: « En tant que colonie, nous ne serions jamais
libres des sanctions car le statut de colonie c?est la pire forme de
sanctions ». Les gens sont fiers de ce qu?ils ont fait :
resister. Milosevic a beaucoup reconstruit. Mais bien sûr, il y a la
lassitude des sanctions et les illusions de la jeunesse qui
n?a pas vecu le fascisme. Il y a un fosse entre générations, d?autant
que l?Ouest envahit la jeunesse avec sa pub et son
modèle de consommation.
Et au meetings de Kostunica, les gens sont tristes, ils sont vite partis
apres le discours, il ne restent même pas pour le
concert. C?est normal, il se prétend un homme de principes mais il est
en train de vendre la souveraineté du pays.
L?opposition, trouvera-t-elle assez de gens pour le soutenir dans ces
incidents ? On verra?
Je ne sais pas comment ca va tourner, en tout cas ça valait la peine de
venir ici. Il faut se préparer au pire et mobiliser les
gens
> Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 17:24:19 +0200
> From: Marko Atanasievski
> To: pdevos@...
> Subject: Message de Michel Collon de Belgrade
>
> Nous sommes ici plus de 200 observateurs venus de 53 pays (Russie,
> Argentine, Chili, Jordanie, Chine, Allemagne, etc) pour contr^oler la
> legalite des elections en Yougoslavie.
> Au parlement, nous avons rencontre la commission de supervision des
> elections qui nous a explique les regles. En fait, elles ressemblent
> tout a fait a ce quon voit dans les pays occidentaux: vote secret,
> bulletins controles, dans tous les bureaux de vote, commissions de
> controle ouvertes a tous les partis.
> En fait, les methodes electorales sont celles pronees par l'OSCE,
> Organisation pour la Cooperation et la Securite en Europe, qui avait
> d'ailleurs declare parfaitement correctes les elections yougoslaves
> de 1996.
> On se demande alors pourquoi la presse occidentale repete inlassablement
> que les elections seront truquees pour permettre a Milosevic de gagner.
> Parce qu'elle pense que l'opposition va perdre? Parce que l'Otan
> cherche un pretexte pour intervenir a nouveau?
> Nous avons essaye de repondre a cette question, ce samedi matin, en
> echangeant nos observations entre observateurs d'une vingtaine de
> pays. D'abord, nous avons constate qu'a l'etranger, on racontait des
> choses assez incroyables. En Hongrie, la presse pretend que les
> observateurs etrangers viennent seulement de quatre pays (Russie,
> Libye, Irak et Hongrie), qu'ils ne peuvent rencontrer l'opposition et
> que celle ci ne pourra etre dans les bureaux de vote pour controler
> les operations. Trois mensonges grossiers, nous avons pu le
> constater. Au Canada, les medias ont pretendu que tous les
> journalistes etrangers avaient ete expulses. Archi-faux: il reste ici
> des dizaines de correspondants internationaux meme si cest vrai,
> quelques journalistes ont ete expulses.
> Cest peut etre regrettable dans certains cas, mais il faut aussi
> comprendre: les Yougoslaves ont subi une guerre, des milliers de gens
> ont perdu la vie, leurs maisons, leurs biens, l'Otan a foutu des
> dechets nucleaires un peu partout et ca provoquer des millers de
> cancers dans quelques annes, et toute cette guerre a ete prepare par
> des mediamensonges occidentaux. Aujourdhui, ils sont a nouveau
> nerveux car les Etats Unis manifestement font monter la tension...
> Il y a dix jours, un journal de l'opposition yougoslave a revele que
> Madeleine Albright, ministre US des Affaires etrangeres, avait reclame
> qu'on bombarde a nouveau la Yougoslavie. Proposition non acceptee
> pour l'instant par les autres responsables americains, mais demain
> qu'arrivera-t-il? Avant les guerres precedentes contre la
> Yougoslavie, on avait constate aussi une campagne psychologique
> preparatoire: demonisation de l'adversaire, creation d'un etat de
> tension en lui attribuant des projets agressifs (ici on pretend que
> Milosevic va attaquer le Montenegro, ce qui ne tient pas debout),
> etcetera... Dans cette campagne psychologique, les sondages doivent
> etre consideres comme une arme de propagande parmi d'autres. Selon
> beaucoup de gens a qui j'ai parle, la lutte sera serree. Voteront
> Milosevic ceux qui, en depit de critiques qu'ils lui font, mettent
> pardessus tout la defense de l'independance. Voteront pour
> l'opposition ceux qui, lasses par des annes depreuves et de
> privations, s'efforcent de croire Kostunica et les promesses des
> EtatsUnis. Mais les medias occidentaux avancent que Kostunica serait
> sur de gagner. Ca ne repose pas sur des enquetes serieuses, en fait
> il n'existe pas de sondage scientifiquement fiable. Pourquoi alors ce
> pronostic trompeur? Pour decourager les electeurs yougoslave et pour
> preparer l'opinion occidentale a cette idee: si Milosevic gagne, ce
> ne pourra etre qu'en fraudant, donc nous devrons intervenir de
> nouveau contre la Yougoslavie (par une nouvelle guerre ou de nouveaux
> bombardements? Esperons que non, et faisons tout pour qu'il n'en soit
> pas ainsi). Les Etats Unis ont fourni a l'opposition une serie de
> consultants specialistes de la communication (le genre de ceux qui
> ont assiste Jamie Shea durant la guerre); les sondages trompeurs
> font partie de leur panoplie d'armes psychologiques. Les Etats-Unis
> font aujourd'hui plein de promesses, garantissant aux Yougoslaves
> qu'ils vivront prosperes s'ils votent bien. D'abord, il faut
> remarquer que ces promesses ils les ont deja faites aux Russes, aux
> Bulgares et aux Albanais avec les resultats qu'on sait....
> En Occident, on n'en parle guere, mais ici, on est tres choques par
> les 70 millions de dollars que les Usa reconnaissent verser aux
> partis, medias dits independants et a d'autres organisations. Acheter
> la Yougoslavie? Que diraient les medias occidentaux si Belgrade ou
> Pekin versait 5 milliards de FB (somme equivalente si on compare les
> niveaux de vie) pour aider un parti d'extreme gauche en France parce
> qu'elle ne respecte pas les droits des Corses ou des Basques? Ou en
> Belgique parce qu'elle enferme les refugies dans des prisons?
>
> Redevenons serieux: les Etats-Unis sont en train de preparer
> psychologiquement l'opinion internationale a la possibilite dune
> nouvelle agression (n'oublions pas qu'ils bobardemt impunement l'Irak
> depuis neuf ans!). Ils osent presenter comme une lecon de
> <democratie> le chantage <Votez pour nous ou crevez de faim a moins
> qu'on vous bombarde a nouveau!>
>
> Au moment ou ils preparent un Plan Colombie, veritable declaration de
> guerre contre toute l'Amerique latime et ses nouvelles luttes au
> Venezuela, em Argentine et ailleurs, au moment ou ils soutiennent
> ferocement Israel responsable d'une purification ethnique
> systematique depuis plus de cinquante ans, au moment ou le monde
> entier se mobilise tres positivement contre les injustices de la
> globalisation imposee par les multinationales, il est tres important
> d'arreter cette nouvelle menace d'agression.
>
> Demain, les 200 observateurs se disperseront dans tout le pays ou ils
> pourront tout controler dans les bureaux de vote et les operations de
> comptage. Nous avons convenu d'echanger nos impressions dimache soir
> et lundi matin tres tot. Les resultats devraient etre connus dans la
> nuit. Il me parait tres important de contrer IMMEDIATEMENT la
> desinformation que certains milieux essaient d'organiser au sujet de
> ces elections. Je suggere de contacter d'avance des journalistes
> honnetes pour leur expliquer qu'une autre information est disponible.
> On peut me joindre a l'hotel Intercontinental, chambre 313.
>
> Michel Collon
> samedi 23 septembre, Belgrade
===
IMPORTANTI INFORMAZIONI DALLA BULGARIA
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/doncheva/electionday.htm
>Election Day Meddling
>A letter from Blagovesta Doncheva in Sofia, Bulgaria
>(9-24-2000)
http://emperors-clothes.com/articles/doncheva/bulgmed.htm
>Bulgaria Meddles in Yugoslav Vote
>
>'Monitor,' [Bulgaria] September 22, p. 1-2-3
>
>Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marin Raikov, is behind an unprecedented
>plan for parallel Yugoslav vote counting from Sofia. Kostov threatens
>Milosevic with "categorical/decisive actions" if he 'manipulates' the vote on
>Sunday...
===
SULLE INTERFERENZE EUROPEE E STATUNITENSI
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Sept. 28, 2000
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------
YUGOSLAVIA ELECTIONS: U.S., W. EUROPE USE CARROT &
STICK
By John Catalinotto
With the big vote set for Sept. 24, the European Union and
the U.S. government have stepped up their already blatant
intervention in Yugoslavia's national election. Both the
Yugoslav government and anti-war forces in NATO countries
have reacted with anti-NATO actions.
The EU offered the carrot. In a "message to the Serbian
people" from a Sept. 18 monthly foreign ministers' meeting
in Brussels, the EU said it would lift sanctions if
Yugoslavs voted out President Slobodan Milosevic in the
presidential election.
"The elections ... will give the Serbian people the
opportunity to repudiate clearly and peacefully the policy
of Milosevic." Should they do so, "we will lift the
sanctions against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, we
will support the necessary economic aid for its
reconstruction, and we will support the reintegration of the
FRY into the international community," is how the EU
presented its bribe.
Washington continued to wave the big stick. The U.S. Navy
plans maneuvers in the Adriatic Sea off the Yugoslav coast
on election weekend. Both U.S. and NATO leaders have
threatened intervention should there be conflict in
Montenegro, the smaller republic, which along with Serbia
makes up what remains of Yugoslavia.
If Yugoslavia is treated like the other former socialist
countries of the Balkans, "reintegration" means that a
handful of Yugoslavs will grow rich while the bulk of the
population is driven deeper into poverty and the people as a
whole are forced to submit to Western imperialism.
An article in the Sept. 19 New York Times makes it clear
that the only job opportunities for young Bulgarian women is
to work as prostitutes in the Czech Republic near the German
border.
The only serious candidates for president of Yugoslavia are
Milosevic and Vojislav Kostunica, who is backed by 18 small
opposition parties, some of them openly pro-NATO and all pro-
Western. Kostunica is a long-time anti-communist with
credentials as a Serbian nationalist.
Kostunica is also the only opposition figure who is not
tarnished by open association with NATO forces. He can
possibly attract voters who are weary of the assault on
Yugoslavia and who hope that removing Milosevic will end the
hostility.
The U.S. and West European imperialists, however, want
Kostunica to defeat Milosevic in order to weaken the best-
organized anti-NATO structures inside Yugoslavia. These
structures include Milosevic's Socialist Party and the party
called the Yugoslav United Left, plus the security forces
and the army.
Weakening this apparatus would leave the road open for
imperialist penetration and for turning all of Yugoslavia
back into a colony of the West, whether or not that is what
Kostunica plans.
The Western media claim Kostunica is leading in election
polls. Pro-Milosevic sources point out that the polls were
taken by pro-NATO organizations that want to try to claim
Milosevic "stole" the election should he win.
BELGRADE PUTS NATO LEADERS ON TRIAL
Meanwhile, the Milosevic forces have run their election
campaign against NATO threats, pointing to the opposition as
NATO puppets.
In addition, the Yugoslav government has gone on the
political offensive against NATO. In Belgrade Sept. 18 the
government opened a trial of NATO leaders for war crimes
committed during the 1999 aggression and 78-day bombing
assault.
Yugoslavia charged Presidents Bill Clinton of the United
States and Jacques Chirac of France, British Prime Minister
Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, U.S.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and nine other NATO
and Western government leaders with war crimes. Their names
were attached to 14 empty chairs in the front of a Belgrade
courtroom.
Serb authorities appointed a lawyer for each of the accused.
Yugoslav officials said it would take four days to present
the evidence.
"They are charged with inciting an aggressive war...war
crimes against civilian population...use of banned combat
means, attempted murder of the Yugoslav president...the
violation of the country's territorial integrity. ..," the
charge sheet read.
"They fired 600 cruise missiles and made 25,119 [air]
sorties during the 78-day aggression, attacking both
military and civilian targets, killing and wounding many
people, causing mass destruction of property," it added.
The charges were similar in structure to those presented at
the dozens of "People's Tribunals" held in Germany, the
United States, Italy, Austria, Greece, Russia and other
countries in the past 14 months, all of which found the NATO
leaders guilty. The Yugoslavs will be able to present more
detailed, eyewitness descriptions of the crimes.
Exposing NATO's crimes and especially the lies NATO leaders
used to justify their aggression has strengthened solidarity
with Yugoslavia in some of the NATO countries.
In Italy, a traditional annual peace march from Perugia to
Assisi will take place Sept. 24 with a more clearly anti-
NATO position than it has had in recent years. Last year
former Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema led the march--but he
also had led the war against Yugoslavia. This year march
organizers invited forces carrying a banner "Against NATO,
against the embargoes" to play a big role in the march and
promised that none of the war criminals from the Italian
regime would be present.
In Germany, a group of anti-war intellectuals have issued a
call from Berlin: "No new NATO-war on the Balkans!" The call
warns of U.S.-NATO military preparations for a possible new
assault on Yugoslavia, and asks for actions against this new
aggression. There are also vigils planned in Bonn on Sept.
22 and 29.
- END -
(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to
copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
ww@.... For subscription info send message to:
info@.... Web: http://www.workers.org)
YUGOSLAVIA LODGES PROTEST WITH E.U. COUNCIL
BRUSSELS, September 23 (Tanjug) Yugoslavia has filed a protest
with the European Union in Brussels over a socalled "message" that E.U.
foreign ministers have recently sent Yugoslavs in connection with
Sunday's
presidential and parliamentary elections in Yugoslavia.
Yugoslav Charge d'Affaires Dragan Zupanjevac delivered the
protest
note to E.U. Ministerial Council Director General Brian Crowe.
The note says, among others, that the E.U. ministers' "message"
constitutes gross and unacceptable interference in the internal affairs
of
a sovereign country, and is without a precedent in democratic practice.
Yugoslavia believes it is high time the European Union
abandoned
its unprincipled and antiEuropean policy, its antiYugoslav policy of
sanctions and isolation, which is achieving nothing other than
continuing
to destabilise southeast Europe, the protest note says.
===
F.R. YUGOSLAVIA ELECTIONS
YUGOSLAVIA TO ELECT PRESIDENT AND MP'S ON SUNDAY
BELGRADE, September 23 (Tanjug) Yugoslavia will be electing a
president and federal parliament deputies, while its republic of Serbia
will be voting also for local administration officials on Sunday,
September
24.
According to the Central Electoral Commission, Yugoslavia has
an
electorate of 7,861,327; of this number, 7,417,197 are in Serbia, and
444,130 in the other Yugoslav federal unit, Montenegro.
This will be the first time for the people to be electing a
president directly, and they will have the choice of five candidates:
Incumbent Slobodan Milosevic, nominated by a leftist coalition
made up of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), the Yugoslav Left (JUL),
and the Socialist People's Party (SNP) of Montenegro;
Vojislav Kostunica, nominated by 18 opposition parties rallied
into the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) bloc;
Tomislav Nikolic of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS);
Vojislav Mihailovic of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO);
Miroljub Vidojkovic of the Affirmative Party.
Should none of the candidates secure an outright majority of
the
votes cast in the first round, the two leading candidates will fight it
out
between them in a runoff two weeks later.
Serbs and Montenegrins will be voting in 27 electoral districts
to
elect 138 deputies to the Chamber of Citizens (lower house) of the
Yugoslav
federal parliament, from among candidates nominated by 30 parties on 30
tickets.
Of this number, Serbia will be giving 108 deputies to the
Chamber,
and Montenegro, 30.
Yugoslav citizens displaced from Serbia's U.N.administered
Kosovo
and Metohija province will be voting in Serbia's southern Prokuplje and
Vranje municipalities.
Deputies to the Chamber of Republics (Upper house) will be
elected
by direct ballot another first with Serbia and Montenegro, as two
equal
constituencies, giving 20 deputies each.
Parallel with the federal elections, polls will be held for
electing 120 deputies to the Serbian Vojvodina province's assembly
(Parliament), and local administrations in Serbia.
Also, 110 deputies to the Belgrade City Council will be elected
from among 548 candidates nominated by 21 parties.
Belgrade has an electorate of 1,351,365.
Apart from local monitors, the elections will be monitored by
more
than 200 foreign observers from 52 countries, who have already arrived
in
Yugoslavia.
YUGOSLAVIA TAKES FURTHER STEPS TO PREVENT ELECTION FRAUD
BELGRADE, September 23 (Tanjug) The Yugoslav Central Electoral
Commission on Saturday reviewed reports on a plot to illegally augment
the
number of ballots at polling stations and issued further instructions to
prevent fraud on the eve of Sunday's elections.
Yugoslavia votes for president and deputies to both chambers of
the federal parliament, while its republic of Serbia elects local
administrators on Sunday, September 24.
The Commission said in a statement it has come in possession of
information that, as part of subversive activities against Yugoslavia, a
plan has been hatched to sabotage and compromise the presidential
election.
"Foreign factors have prepared a number of ballots for the
presidential election, which their stooges among the Yugoslav people
should
drop in the ballot boxes folded inside the regular ballot papers...
"This has been done because, under election rules, in case
there
is a single ballot in a box more than there were voters at that
particular
polling station, the polling must be declared invalid", the Commission
said.
In this way, a couple of hundred unscrupulous individuals could
invalidate the will of hundreds of thousands, it added.
The Commission has therefore decreed that the invigilators at
the
polling stations must check that the ballot paper of each voter in the
presidential election is a single paper, with nothing folded in it.
"The check will be made by each voter marking the ballot,
folding
it and then handing it over to an invigilator to see that it is a single
paper, while not violating the secrecy of the voting, and then dropping
it
in the box", the statement said.
The Commission appealed to the people to respect the reasons
that
have made this kind of control necessary.
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
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