Misha Glenny articles posted on the crashlist stand out not so much for the
stoic analysis they contain, but for what they omit.
Most disturbingly Misha uses words like democracy and dictatorship in the
same way as the mainstream Western media, i.e. business-friendly and
non-compliant. Not a word is wasted on the IMF's plans for Yugoslavia or the
letter of intent signed in Sofia on US$ 55 billion in reparations to Bosnia
and Croatia.
While Misha knows Croat, Bosnian Muslim and Kosovar forces can be indicted
of every single crime attributed to Serbs, he panders the prejudices that
underlie Western propaganda to justify military intervention in the region.
More important after Albright, Cook and Co. have officially welcomed
Kostunica, they'll pressure him to accept all of G17 recommendations. If
Serbia prospers, then we'll be proven wrong. But Serbia is not Germany and
Japan in 1945 and the US does not need Serbia as a powerhouse economy to
drive growth in the region. Without a massive injection of cash, life for
most Yugloslavs will continue to deteriorate and an end to sanctions will
mainly benefit the upper middle classes.
IMHO we waste time considering whether the Serbs are uniquely evil. The true
record is there for any one to decipher it through a myriad of half-truths,
exaggerations, outright lies and absurd counterclaims. We cannot let the New
World Order (and I cannot think of a better term as the US is not
restrictive and "corporate capital" excludes the role of NATO and big
government) get away with destablising and bombing the region and then
claiming a moral victory because their former demonised leader was not an
angel.
The fight has nothing to do with the intricacies of Balkan history and just
for the record British WW1 propaganda included fabrications about atrocities
attributable to Austrian-backed Albanians against innocent Serbs (Britain
backed Serbia then), but everything to do with the fight against global
corporatism.
It seems those on the woolly left have to pass a politically correct test,
taking the assumptions imposed by the neoliberal media for granted and
assuming we, i.e. the US, its allies and client states, have a moral right
to teach non-compliant leaders and their people a lesson. If one dared to
suggest withdrawing aid, isolating, imposing sanctions against and
demonising Israel because of its verifiably gross violations against human
rights, one would be called anti-Semitic or sympathiser of Arab
fundamentalism. In fact the mere withdrawal of aid, military and logistical
support as well as diplomatic protection would force Israel to come to terms
with its neighbours and even humbly apologise or face the wrath of
Palestinian anger.
I've read most of Jared's and Chossudovsky's articles since the outbreak of
NATO hostilities and sense a bias that has the Serbs as sole victims of
Croat and Albanian neo-fascists, i.e. merely turning mainstream propaganda
on its head., but one thing Jared said philosophically struck a chord. The
NWO masters who bought out the Yugoslav opposition may preach
multiculturalism and tolerance, but practise monoculturalism marketed in
various flavours and absolute intolerance for anyone who dissents with their
big business agenda, the multiculturalism of McDonalds, MTV and CNN blended
with the tolerance of NuLab and Gore's Democrats.
It comes as no surprise that as the media spotlights turns to Belgrade
Israel bombs Southern Lebanon again and Britains sends more troops to Sierra
Leone.
Regards
Neil
> Successful force now faces uncertain future
>
>
>
>
>
> FROM the minute I saw the workers and peasants of central Serbia march
> down Knez Milos Street, I knew that these enraged men with arms like
> legs of mutton would not be leaving Belgrade before they finished
> their job.
> Not a few them were carrying weapons. If the order to shoot had been
> made, the police and the Army would have found themselves with a real
> battle on their hands.
>
> These men knew how the day would end. But on Friday morning most other
> Serbs could scarcely comprehend how deeply their lives had been
> changed by the 12 hours that saw them seize back their dignity and
> their future that languished in Slobodan Milosevic's dungeon.
>
> Many were convinced that he would wrongfoot the opposition at the last
> moment. It was not until I talked to the most senior opposition
> leaders on Thursday morning that I realised they had broken a
> psychological barrier. Cedomir Jovanovic of the Democratic Opposition
> of Serbia (DOS) told me: "We are going to storm the parliament and
> take key state institutions."
>
> Mr Milosevic's opponents had at last understood that they would bring
> him down only by using his favoured political currency, naked force.
> They would not be able to sustain the general strike and the extreme
> pitch of people's anger for more than a few days. On Thursday, it was
> do or die.
>
> Serbia's revolution has come 11 years after those in Eastern Europe.
>
> Leaving aside the mayhem that he provoked in Croatia, Bosnia and
> Kosovo, Mr Milosevic has inflicted unimaginable damage on the Serbian
> state.
>
> He gutted its judiciary and filled its civil service and education
> system with witless sycophants. The state-run media earned a special
> place in the Serbs' misery as it daily regurgitated the mantras of Mr
> Milosevic's anachronistic authoritarian ideology.
>
> The police and the military did not guarantee citizens' wellbeing, but
> was the ultimate sanction of one man's power. The economy is corrupted
> to the point of collapse, serving only the hugely powerful mafias
> whose influence will now wane.
>
> All this was made possible by Mr Milosevic mobilising a rancid,
> bullying nationalism that became the main motor of destabilisation in
> the Balkans. Far from achieving his proclaimed national goals, his
> policies saw Serbs driven out of areas in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo
> where they had lived for centuries.
>
> Vojislav Kostunica and the other members of the new leadership in
> Belgrade face an enormous task in trying to heal those wounds. The
> constitutional order with its multiple parliaments is a complete mess.
> Serbia's relationship with Montenegro is profoundly confusing.
>
> Solving this conundrum is not helped by the fact that Mr Kostunica's
> relationship with the Montenegrin President, Milo Djukanovic, is cool
> at best.
>
> If that wasn't enough, Mr Kostunica's powers as Federal President are
> quite limited and Mr Milosevic's coalition is the most powerful force
> in the federal parliament. For that reason, Mr Kostunica and his
> allies are wooing the SNP, which used to support Mr Milosevic in
> Montenegro, in an attempt to block the influence of Mr Milosevic's
> alliance in parliament.
>
> Furthermore, Mr Kostunica's opposition movement is a broad front in
> which cracks are already beginning to appear. The new President is
> overwhelmingly the most popular figure in Serbia. But he could not
> have swept aside Mr Milosevic without the assistance of several key
> men. The most important of those is Zoran Djindjic, whose Democratic
> Party was the backbone of the protest movement.
>
> According to insiders, the two men, both ambitious, distrust each
> other. Those are the two figures upon whom the Serbs will depend to
> solve their most pressing problem.
>
> The nationalism that led to war in Yugoslavia was fashioned for the
> sole purpose of winning power for Mr Milosevic in 1987. Thirteen years
> later, many Serbs have conveniently forgotten how they supported his
> project in the first place. They have suffered severely for their
> mistake.
>
> There has been much uninformed criticism in the West about Mr
> Kostunica's nationalism. That criticism is based largely on his
> opposition to American policy in the region and to the Nato campaign
> over Kosovo in particular. Expressing approval of the Nato campaign
> within Serbia brings to mind the idea of turkeys voting for Christmas.
>
> But it is also Mr Kostunica's legitimate democratic right to criticise
> American policy (everybody else does). The key point is that he is a
> democrat. He will attempt to solve any problems through negotiation
> and not violence.
>
> The process of rehabilitation will still be exceptionally difficult.
> Serbs will have to address the issue of the war crimes committed
> either by them or in their name.
>
> A more public recognition by the West of the crimes committed against
> Serbs would certainly move the process along. Western Europe must be
> deeply engaged in assisting the reintegration of this confused,
> traumatised country.
>
> An unstable Serbia blocks the regeneration of the entire Balkan
> peninsula; an undemocratic Serbia can always threaten to destabilise
> Bosnia and Kosovo.
>
> There is now a democratic Serbia, but it is by no means yet stable.
> Thanks to the people's uprising in Belgrade, however, this country and
> the Balkans, at last, have a real chance.
>
> The Times 07.10.00
>
>
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