> > ----- Original Message ----- > Sent: Saturday, November 25, 2000 4:17 PM > Subject: SN793:An Open Letter To Diana Johnstone > > > > "The light shone by the media is not the regular sweep of the lighthouse, > > but a random searchlight directed at the whim of its controllers" > > Douglas Hurd > > > > An Open Letter To Diana Johnstone > > > > By Bl. Doncheva, > > Sofia, Bulgaria > > > > Diana Johnstone, a well-known progressive US journalist , has let in the > > public space three articles on the September-October events in Yugoslavia, > > more or less a shocking surprise for me. > > > > I would have awarded her writings with the silence they deserve if my > > mail-box has not been assaulted with them from all quarters of the world. > > > > You see what a harm can be done by a false assessment of events by a > justly > > won popularity and authority of an honest journalist in the past. (The > > question if it is only a "false assessment of events" or ordered "false > > assessment of events" remains open.) > > > > What is wrong with "In a Spin ", the last Diana Johnstone's article I have > > received by a Zmag.org readers both from Canada and Holland? > > > > The wrong in her article can be roughly devided in three groups. > > > > 1/ She thinks the elections in Yugoslavia (September 24) have been > > "democratic". She insists on it. She repeats that sham several times. Free > > expression of free will. > > > > The truth is they have been BLATANTLY undemocratic. > > > > a) Because of the great sums of money poured into Yugoslavia from the US > and > > NATO countries > > - see Emperors-clothes (or www.tenc.net): there you will find SEVERAL > > well-grounded articles on that subject, incl. USA Senate Protocol on some > of > > the KNOWN enourmous sums of US money approved by the Senate; > > - see "New York Times" article by STEVEN ERLANGER, September 20, page A3, > > http://www.nytimes.com/partners/screensaver/index.html?eta2 > > > > b) Because of the direct most ARROGANT interference in the internal > affairs > > of a still sovereign country (before October 6 Yugoslavia WAS a sovereign > > country!) by way of the > > - so-called "temporary US Embassy" set in Budapest and the feverish > > activities of the US Ambassador there; > > - aborriginal - colonial - comprador - etc., government of Bulgaria, a > > country fully dependant on USA-NATO ("Bulgaria has lost a 100 % of its > > sovereignty", B. Dimitrov, a Bulgarian historian and scientist, on one of > > the cable TV on Sunday, Oct. 22). > > Read again Emperors-clothes > > (www.tenc.net), and also http://www.indymedia.org (There is a SEARCH > window > > there. You write Bulgaria and click.) > > At Emperors-clothes you can find the Memorandum of the Yugoslavian > > government concerning that flagrant interference and at both sites you > will > > find some translatrions from the Bulgaria media announcing how CIA have > used > > the Bulgarian territory and some of the Bulgarian US lackeys for their > > dirty tricks. > > I ask Ms. Diana Johnstone, Zmag site and D. Johnstone's fans how they will > > classify > > - lecturing "Otpor" activists in Sofia by CIA trainees for a week just > > before the elections, or > > - announced attempt at a parallel counting in Bulgaria the votes of an > > election in another STILL sovereign country? > > > > IS IT INTERFERENCE OR NOT? > > > > If there is such interference, could elections be democratic? > > > > "That is the question." That is why I think there is something rotten in > D. > > Johnstone's position re the tragic Yugoslavian September and October 2000. > > > > 2/ Ms. D. Johnstone thinks a lot about Mr. Kostunica. > > > > He is great. A nationalist. A lover of his country. A justice fighter. He > > has saved Mr. Milosevic and his family from lynching. A valorous person. A > > paradigm of perfection. > > I.e., Ms. D. Johnstone is diligently building a myth around Kostunica, > > telling fairy-stories and obstinately going round the facts. > > > > And the facts are both simple and sad. > > > > a/ Kostunica is a leader of an obscure insignificant party. > > I.e., he would have NEVER been pushed ahead as a presidential candidate if > > that had not been the decision of the newly founded DOS - and those > > monitoring it. > > Everybody of the reading public knows how DOS has appeared at the > political > > scene in Yugoslavia and the Balkans. > > Everybody knows that it has happened under the prescription and pressure > of > > the USA-CIA and German agents cradling the so-called "opposition" in > > Yugoslavia for months, not to say for years on a run. > > Everybody from the region at least knows which party and which leader has > > the last say in that coalition of parties. > > For Ms. Johnstone and the others who do not know, the answers are: > DJINDJIC' > > s party. DJINDJIC. > > She herself has given a characteristic of DJINDJIC. > > > > Logical Conclusion: > > > > Kostunica is a Nobody. > > He is only a pitiable Puppet On a String. > > DJINDJIC's man - i.e., USA-Germany-NATO's man. > > He has been intensely used to lure the Yugoslavians into the deadly trap > of > > MacDeath AllDark and Company. The Globalisers. > > > > b/ Ms. Johnstone's Kostunica myth is instilling into her readers totally > > wrong impression of her favourite's character and moral. > > > > In that connection I have the following questions to Ms. Johnstone and her > > fans: > > > > If Kostunica is an intelligent person, wouldn't he FIRST read the DOS > > program? > > > > Is it possible to admit that he has accepted to run for a presidential > > candidate of a coalition WITHOUT even having read FIRST its program?!? > > If he has read it but has not undersood the economical part being ignorant > > about the ways of IMF and WB, NWO (Globalisation) etc., wouldn't he ask > > independent specialists for clarifying the dark points? > > But if he is so ignorant about the malignant cancer wolfing the world for > > years on a run, could he be accepted as so very intelligent? > > Or, if we agree that he IS brilliant, then won't we be right to doubt his > > moral? > > How could a patriot - a nationalist, as the rumour is - stand behind such > a > > program as the one of G-17, DOS economists and IMF and WB experts? > > A program that will strip Yugoslavia from even the pale remnants of a > > sovereignity in no time!.... > > A program that will kill his people, force them on their knees, steal > their > > hopes! > > A program that will kill his country!... > > And here is another equally painful and tragic question: > > How could a patriot stand behind the future canonization - > disintegration - > > of his country? > > > > How could a patriot be for the murdering of his people and country both in > > economical and political sense?!!!?... > > > > c/ According to Ms. Johnstone the FASCIST POGROMS on October 5-6 in > Belgrade > > had been carried out without Mr. Kostunica knowledge and approval - of > > course. It seems Mr. Kostunica has lived 2-3 days on a run in a blissful > > ignorance of what is going on in the Belgrade streets and the Skupstina! > > (Notwithstanding the relish with which all the Conquerors' TV programs > have > > kept unrolling again and again pictures of the CIA orchestrated VANDALISM! > > He has not an access to a TV set - maybe.) > > Surely he had not known anything about the simultaneous attacks against > SPS > > offices in Belgrade and all over the country, or the FASCIST violence > > against SPS members. > > > > Let's agree with Ms. Johnstone that he did not know. > > > > Later he has learned and stopped them - how exactly? Ms. Johstone says > just > > that - he has stopped them and valourously saved Mr. Milosevic's life. He > > has not allowed the Chaushesku scenario to be repeated. > > But what has he done practically? Has he gone out to talk with that > FASCIST > > Mayor of Cacak? Has he sent other thugs to stop the first ones? Has he > such > > "good" thugs at his disposal to send them against the "bad" ones? > > Could an ABJECT puppet on strings interfere at critical moments? > > Is it really possible for Kostunica to exercise such power? > > Or the FASCISTS have stopped simply because the Monitoring Center has > > ordered them to stop? > > Or Mr. Milosevic and his family have not been lynched only because the > > Monitoring Center has decided not to go to such extremities just now? > > Mr. Muilosevic's lynching - and eventually of his family together with all > > his baby-grandchildren - might have been postponed for a later date - for > > another CNN bloody spin (surely while beloved Kostunica is peacefully > > sleeping with his cats...) > > > > 3/ Serb Voters' justification. > > > > Ms. Johnstone's insistent paper wall building between Kostunica and > > DJINDJIC, her fairy-story about Kostunica's "independence" from both > German > > and USA main man, DJINDJIC, is truly exasperating, mildly said. > > > > But what is unbearable - for me - is her justification of the Serbian > > voters. > > At least I accept the final part of her article as such justification. > > > > In contrast to her I do not think there is a justification for a betrayal > of > > a country and a people. > > > > Nothing can justify your Mother and Father trading for a PROVEN lie - for > an > > illusion! > > > > What can justify the trading of the children of a people for some seconds > on > > the TV and shoulder-pattings from a World Murderess? > > > > An honest and responsible journalist would have had the will and time to > add > > and underline that for the past eleven years Bulgarians have known depths > of > > misery and suffering still unknown for the poor Serb voters! > > Without being bombed. > > Without being sanctioned. > > Without being isolated internationally or banned from travelling in the > > sense the Serbs had been. > > Just because Bulgarian DJINDJIC-Kostunica-Drashkovic-Shesheli etc., have > > served us, Bulgarians, with a curtsey to IMF, WB, USA-NATO, EU! > > > > What poverty is Ms. Johnstone writing about? > > > > What does she know about poverty? > > > > Could she imagine the extent of poverty that turns a human being first > into > > a helpless stray hungry dog - then into a bewildered hungry cockroach - > then > > into a rotting piece of vegetable in a dump container?!?... > > > > The Serb voters, Ms. Johnstone, know NOTHING about poverty... > > They have had and enjoyed their SOCIAL, HEALTH, EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS > > untouched and functioning for WHOLE ELEVEN YEARS MORE than us, the > > Bulgarians. > > > > Soon those most IGNORANT and CRIMINALLY IRRESPONSIBLE boys and girls from > > CIA "Otpor" will have to pay for their education. > > > > Soon many of the Institutes and Universities, opened for them now, will be > > closed for good. > > > > Soon all the Serb Voters will have to pay unbearable sums for what has > been > > free of charge till now... > > > > Many of the hospitals now will be closed. > > Villages will be left without doctors and medicine. > > > > Soon only those with money will be able to go to a doctor or a dentist... > > > > Soon only those with money will be operated in the hospitals that will be > > left to function. > > > > HOW MANY WILL HAVE THE MONEY? > > > > That is what CIA "Otpor" and the other IGNORANT AND IRRESPONSIBLE young > > people have jumped for in the Belgrade streets after September 24. > > > > The Serb Voters had their factories and plants - their industry - > untouched > > and functioning. They could work and live on their wages notwithstanding > how > > small they were. > > > > Soon they will have NO industry - so NO wages. In exchange they will > receive > > the NWO right to dig into the dump containers for a mouldy piece of bread! > > > > The minors who went on a strike in suport of the New World Order Reign in > > Yugoslavia will have no work at which to strike anymore. The mines will be > > closed and their 80 dollars per month now will disappear as a smoke... > > Some of them will turn into dump-containers' diggers. > > Others will blow themselves to pieces, kicked into a trap without any way > > out. (That is just what some Bulgarian minors did.) > > Some will choose simpler means - a rope, a knife, a jump from a high > storey > > or a rock... > > > > Serb Voters will NEVER be "normal Europeans again". The USA and Western > > Monsters they have sold themselves to have not planned that for them. They > > want the riches of their country - they are interested solely in that and > > the full conquest of the Balkans as a starting step for new crusades! > > > > THEY WANT THE RICHES OF YUGOSLAVIA AND ITS TERRITORY, NOT THE POPULATION. > > > > For them every population in every conquered country is only a nuisance: > > less people - less problems. > > > > Now the Serbs themselves - the Serb Voters to an extent - have given the > > World Vultures the possibility to lecture them on > > > > GENOSIDE - WHAT IS THIS? > > > > When the Serb Voters begin to really worry about what so many people all > > round the world have kept writing and warning - warning and writing - it > > will be too late!... > > > > Serbs problems till September 24 - October 5-6 were minor problems in > > comparison with what is in store for them - in comparison with what > DJINDJIC > > ' Masters will get out of their pockets for the Heroic Serb Voters indeed! > > > > How could minor problems be solved by changing them with a bunch of very > > grave - of really deadly problems - I cannot understand. It is not a > > solution. > > It is a death sentence! > > > > I have not a word of justification for the Serb Voters and all those who > > have taken part in the FASCIST Pogroms and CIA coup in Belgrade. > > > > They have welcome IMF and WB DOS leaders like DJINDJIC and DOS experts > (see > > www.tenc.net) - > > > > AFTER SEATTLE, NOVEMBER 30, 1999; > > AFTER DAVOS, JANUARY 2000; > > AFTER WASHINGTON, APRIL 16; > > AFTER MELBOURNE, SEPTEMBER 11; > > After Prague, September 26!!! > > > > How could WILFUL IGNORANCE be justified? > > > > They have betrayed not only themselves and their people and country. > > They have betrayed my country too. > > They have betrayed the Balkans. The World. > > > > Now really courageous people will fall bloody victims to what their > > IGNORANCE and IRRESPONSIBILITY has made possible - and not only in > > Yuigoslavia... > > > > Remember Guatemala. El Salvador. Chili. Colombia. Bolivia... > > > > And pray. > > > > Bl. Doncheva > > Sofia, Bulgaria > > October, 2000 > > > > "How fortunate for governments (CIA, USA-NATO) that the people (some Serb > > voters, CIA Otpor, Cacak thugs) they administer don't think." Adolph > Hitler > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > -- > > ------------------ > > > > > > http://www.zmag.org/johnstonem.htm > > 11 octobre 2000 > > IN A SPIN > > > > by Diana Johnstone > > > > The "October surprise" that brought a change of power in Belgrade was > > actually two events, one superimposed on the other. One was a democratic > > election, made in Serbia. The other was a totally undemocratic putsch, > made > > in the "international community", otherwise known as NATOland. > > The democratic election would have been sufficient to oblige Slobodan > > Milosevic to retire as Yugoslav President. The majority of Yugoslav voters > > had long wished a change in leadership, and Vojislav Kostunica emerged as > an > > acceptable alternative. > > But the NATO-backed putschists wanted more. They wanted two things that > the > > legal elections could not provide: a dramatic media spectacle that would > fit > > the Western "spin", and a seizure of power beyond the limited powers of > the > > Yugoslav presidency. > > The Democratic Election > > The Yugoslav elections were called by Milosevic himself. Having been > elected > > President of Serbia in the country's first multi-party elections in 1990, > > the "dictator" had followed the constitutional rules and left the Serbian > > presidency at the end of his second term, whereupon he was elected by the > > Yugoslav parliament to the mainly symbolic office of Yugoslav president. > > Having sponsored a constitutional change which would allow him to be > > re-elected, but by universal suffrage, he went on to call early elections, > > months before his term was to run out in mid-2001. > > Milosevic was lured into this move by advisors pointing to deceptive > public > > opinion polls indicating that he could win by a margin of 150,000 votes in > > the autumn, before winter hardships turned voters against him. This is > > similar to the "joke" played on French president Jacques Chirac, who > called > > the early elections that brought his left opposition headed by Lionel > Jospin > > into office. In Paris, it is even rumored that it was a French advisor who > > urged Milosevic to make this fatal error. > > In short, Milosevic was not a "dictator" but a calculating politician > trying > > to stay in office in a multi-party electoral system he had largely > > introduced. Aware that his popularity ratings had long been in decline, he > > counted on several factors to help him get the necessary 50% of the vote > to > > be re-elected President of Yugoslavia. These were > > � the chronic squabbling of the so-called "democratic" (meaning bourgeois, > > as the Swedes call the center right) opposition and the public rejection > of > > its main leaders (especially Democratic Party leader Zoran Djindjic); > > � the fact that Montenegrin president Milo Djukanovic was sure to call for > a > > boycott of the elections as part of his secession strategy, which would > > leave only pro-Milosevic voters willing to go to improvised polling > > stations; > > � the prospect of a couple of hundred thousand solid votes from Kosovo > > constituencies (where ethnic Albanians would, as usual, boycott the > > election) and from the armed forces. > > Aware of its weakness, the opposition which had first loudly demanded > early > > elections then threatened to boycott them, claiming that they would be > > rigged by Milosevic. The NATOland chorus joined in, proclaiming that > > Yugoslav elections would not be "fair and free" and that Milosevic was > > certain to cheat. > > In fact, thanks to a normal democratic system of multi-party supervisors > at > > polling stations, cheating in Yugoslav elections was nearly impossible in > > Serbia proper, except perhaps for the hundred thousand or so soldiers who > > vote in barracks. Kosovo and Montenegro offered limited opportunities for > > cheating only because of the obstructionism of the separatists. In the > end, > > Milosevic was a whopping 700,000 votes short. Official results gave > > Kostunica over 48% of the vote in a five-man race. This fell slightly > short > > of the 50% required to win, but indicated an almost certain landslide in > the > > runoff against Milosevic, who trailed by some ten percentage points. > > (Yugoslav electoral law calls for a second round if no candidate wins an > > absolute majority in the first round.) > > Here is where both sides contributed to a confusion that gave an > opportunity > > to the putschists to move to steal the election. Apparently in a state of > > shock, the government announced the results slowly and without complete > > details. The "Democratic Opposition in Serbia" (DOS) backing Kostunica > > demanded recognition of a claimed first round victory and announced it > would > > boycott the second round. This raised the danger of a second round that > > Milosevic could win by default. The prospect of two winners -- one in the > > first round, the other in the second -- would have created a dangerous > civil > > war situation, favorable to NATO intervention. Kostunica's backers argued > > that since Milosevic had cheated in the first round, he would cheat even > > more in the second -- this was not plausible, but widely believed anyway, > as > > the demonization of the former leader and future scapegoat picked up > > momentum. > > The DOS thereby moved the contest from the ballot box into the streets, > > where "the people" would demand recognition of Kostunica's election. This > > prepared the way for power -- and property -- to change hands amid > confusion > > and violence. > > Neither the police nor the Army was willing to support Milosevic against a > > patriotic Serb like Kostunica who had won popular support in a legal > > election. Their neutrality seems to have been ensured by the influence of > > two key figures dismissed by Milosevic two years ago, former security > chief > > Jovica Stanisic and former army chief of staff Momcilo Perisic, who > retained > > friends and influence in the police and the armed forces respectively. The > > rallying of other figures who had been part of the Milosevic power > structure > > was hastened by Kostunica's reiterated assurances that there would be no > > vengeance. Former Milosevic followers began flocking to the side of > > Kostunica seeking protection from his short-run supporter and long-term > > rival, Zoran Djindjic, well known as Germany's man in Serbia. Thus > Kostunica > > gained the Yugoslav presidency both because he was _not_ Milosevic and > > because he was _not_ Djindjic. But Djindjic has been strikingly active in > > grabbing the substance of victory away from the successful DOS candidate. > > The Media Spectacle > > It is arguable that Kostunica -- considered the most honest of political > > leaders -- could have won the presidential election just as easily (more > > easily, some supporters claim) if the United States and its NATO allies > had > > refrained from pumping millions of dollars and deutschmarks into the > country > > to support what they called "the democratic opposition". But it is far > less > > likely that without all that excess cash, we would have been treated to > the > > spectacle of the October 5th "democratic revolution", when a large crowd > > stormed the venerable Skupstina, the parliament building in the center of > > Belgrade. That event, presented to the world public as the most > spontaneous > > act of self-liberation, was probably the single most planned act of all. > It > > was staged for the TV cameras which filmed and relayed the same scenes > over > > and over again: youths breaking through windows, flags waving, flames > > rising, smoke enveloping what some newspapers described as "the symbol of > > the Milosevic regime". > > This was utter nonsense. It was like calling Big Ben the "symbol of the > > Blair regime" or the Capitol the "symbol of the Clinton regime". But the > > Western spinners needed symbols and drama for the latest episode in the > hit > > TV fiction series of the 1990s starring the "genocidal dictator", Slobodan > > Milosevic. It wouldn't do for "Europe's last communist dictator" simply to > > lose a democratic election. Something more exalted was needed. So there > was > > an attempt to revive a hit drama of a decade earlier, the "fall of > > Ceaucescu", which was also contrived and staged. If Milosevic and his wife > > met the same bloody fate as the Rumanian ruling couple, that would be > > "proof" enough for the media that they were equivalent to the dictator > > couple of Bucharest. > > But they weren't and fortunately it didn't happen quite like that. In > > Belgrade there was no equivalent of the Securitate (Rumanian secret > police) > > to stage the drama. There was only a gang of toughs bussed in from Cacak, > as > > the town's mayor later boasted to Western media, who led the mob up the > > Skupstina steps and easily broke into the scarcely guarded building, which > > was systematically vandalized and set on fire, causing considerable damage > > to public property. The liberators then went on to smash shop windows and > > steal property in nearby shopping streets. This failed to provoke the > > bloodshed that would have improved the TV show, but the vandals did their > > best. > > The fiercely anti-communist mayor of Cacak, Velimir Ilic, told the French > > news agency AFP that his armed "commando" of 2,000 men had set out quite > > deliberately on October 5 to "take control of the key institutions of the > > regime, including the parliament and the television". > > "Our action had been prepared in advance. Among my men were ex-parachute > > troops, former army and police officers as well as men who had fought in > > special forces," he told AFP. "A number of us wore bullet-proof vests and > > carried weapons", he added proudly. Ilic said contact was maintained > > throughout the action with high police and Interior Ministry officials, > but > > that president-elect Kostunica was unaware of what was going on. "We were > > afraid he'd be opposed", said Ilic. And indeed, when he got word of what > was > > going on, Kostunica by all accounts prevented the commandos from hunting > > down Milosevic and giving their spectacle a bloody finale. > > Some of these former "special forces" commandos included veterans of the > > civil wars in Croatia and Bosnia. The peak of irony lies in the fact that > > such paramilitaries, primarily responsible for giving the Serbian people > the > > (unjustified) reputation of "ethnic cleansers" and war criminals, were > > instantly promoted by Western media into heroes of an inspiring > "democratic > > revolution". But there is a consistency about it: the same tiny group of > men > > are able to perform for world media as an exaggerated caricature of "the > > Serbs", first as villains, later as heroes. > > The ordinary citizens of Belgrade deplored the violence of October 5th, as > > they had deplored the violence of the civil wars. And the large crowds who > > gathered in Belgrade squares to support their candidate, Kostunica, were > > blissfully unaware of how they were being used as extras in an > international > > TV production. > > Violence Versus Votes > > The law-abiding citizens of Belgrade were also unaware of how the euphoria > > in the streets would provide cover for an ongoing campaign of violence and > > intimidation aimed at changing the whole power structure in Serbia, > outside > > of any democratic or legal process. The Skupstina that was targeted for > > vandalism was not "the symbol of Milosevic's regime" but a parliament > where > > the Socialist Party and its allies still had a duly elected majority. The > > "democratic revolution" in the streets did not attack a Bastille prison to > > liberate dissenters, but the seat of the democratically elected > > representatives of the people. The mob ransacked and set fire to the > federal > > Electoral Commission offices inside the Skupstina, reportedly setting fire > > to ballots collected there, making it highly unlikely that the disputed > > first round score will ever be satisfactorily clarified. > > The spectacle enabled the managers of street violence to claim the > > "democratic revolution" as their own, openly attempting to relegate > > Kostunica to a figurehead role. > > Since then, throughout the country, Socialist Party headquarters have been > > assaulted and demolished, officials have been beaten and expelled from > their > > functions by gangs of "democrats". The most lucrative enterprises have > been > > seized. Strange parallel governments called "crisis headquarters" have > been > > set up without any democratic mandate to redistribute property and > offices. > > The "revolutionaries" can be sure the NATO benefactors of Serbian > democracy > > will not ask for their money back so long as they target the left, which > is > > identified only as "the Milosevic regime". The clear lesson: "democracy" > is > > not defined by elections, but by NATO approval. Methods don't matter. The > > end justifies the means. > > Franco-German Rivalries > > All through the Yugoslav drama of the past decade, not to mention for well > > over a century, internal conflicts have reflected external great power > > rivalries. This is still going on. > > Among these rival powers, Russia scarcely counts any more. The Russians > have > > more to lose from the Western absorption of Serbia than the Serbs have to > > gain from the Russians, who have been too weak to do anything to stop the > > steady erosion of their influence in the Balkans. As one observer put it, > > "the Serbs have the impression that the Russians only want to share their > > poverty, while the Serbs would rather share American wealth". > > The rival powers are now all Western. A few years ago, Paris tried to > > support Vuk Draskovic against both Milosevic on the one hand and the > German > > party (represented by Djindjic) on the other, but Draskovic proved too > > unreliable. Today, the implicit rivalry is between Kostunica, supported by > > France, and Djindjic, supported by Germany. > > This division is a matter of political principle as well as personality, > and > > relates to conflicting French and German views of the future of Europe. > > Kostunica, as is constantly repeated is a "nationalist" or, we could say, > a > > patriot, who wants to preserve his nation-state, by giving it a new, > modern > > democratic constitution. As a scholar of American federalism, he would > base > > a political order for the future Yugoslavia on the American 18th century > > model. > > For Djindjic, this is old-fashioned nonsense, good only for a transitional > > moment toward the dissolution of all the Balkan nations into a modern > > European Union where politics will take a backseat to business. Djindjic, > > who studied in Germany, believes in "civil society" where the private > sphere > > outweighs the "res publica", and public political life is reduced to > > imagery. Business versus politics could sum up the conflict between these > > two. > > Kostunica plans to stay in office for only a year, just the time to > complete > > his constitutional reform. Thereupon Djindjic, who could never have won > this > > election, openly hopes to take over. > > The Economy, Stupid > > For many years, the alternate currency in Serbia has been the Deutschmark, > > traded on every street corner by men murmuring "devize, devize". During > the > > weeks leading up to the fall of Milosevic, so many D-marks have flooded > into > > the country that the precious currency recently lost half its value. > > Everyone believes that most of this money flows in through Djindjic. It > > seems to have been spent less on the election (Yugoslav election campaigns > > are not the expensive affairs run in the United States) than on preparing > > aspects of "the putsch" that followed: the forceful takeover of media by > > "independent" (i.e., NATO-approved) journalists, of key businesses and > > official positions which has been going on since the October 5 arson of > the > > Skupstina. > > The European Union has moved quickly to lift some economic sanctions > against > > Serbia and Madeleine Albright has also proclaimed the need to give the > > Serbian people "some dividends out of democracy" and to help President > > Kostunica. "We want to support him, we want to get assistance to him. I've > > been talking to our European partners. We will be lifting certain economic > > sanctions to make sure that the people can recover and the Danube is > > cleared," she declared. > > Here the key word is "Danube". NATO bombing destroyed Serb bridges and > > blocked the Danube to European shipping, much of it German. The priority > for > > Germany is to reopen the Danube, and it is for this purpose that important > > funds will be provided. To be precise, funds will be "lent": > > Western generosity will take its usual form of the "debt trap", and > Yugoslav > > public services will have to be cut back for years to come in order to > repay > > the Western powers for rebuilding the transportation structure they > > themselves destroyed. The reconstructed transportation structure will be > > used to ship other people's commercial goods through the country to other > > people's markets. The "democratic dividend" will mainly benefit German > > business. > > But for the moment, the Serbian voters do not want to worry about that. > They > > have been bombed, isolated, sanctioned, banned from traveling to other > > countries, reduced to poverty and treated as pariahs. Their main "crime" > was > > to have wanted to preserve multiethnic Yugoslavia and to have been > reluctant > > to give up all the benefits of self-management socialism in favor of the > > "shock treatment" impoverishing people in Russia and neighboring Bulgaria. > > Since Yugoslavia was not part of the Soviet bloc, its people were slow to > > realize that the defeat of the Soviet bloc meant that they too had to bow > to > > the dictates of the West. Now they can dream of being "normal" Europeans > > again. For a relatively small minority, the dream of prosperity will no > > doubt come true. For others, there will be some unpleasant surprises. But > > that doesn't matter now. > > "People in Serbia are not looking for the truth", observed Serbian writer > > Milan Ratkovic, who lives in Paris. "They are looking for comforting > lies." > > >From being portrayed as monsters, the Serbs are suddenly being celebrated > by > > Western media as heroes. They can turn on Western TV and see heroic images > > of themselves. "Look," says Ratkovic, "we held out longer than anybody > else > > in Eastern Europe. Against us, the West had to use all its weapons and all > > its tricks." Sometimes the only way to solve a problem is to change > > problems. > > > > > > Miroslav Antic, > > http://www.antic.org/SNN/ > > > _______________________________________________ Crashlist resources: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/crashlist
