----- Original Message ----- From: TiM Publisher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: TiM GW Bulletins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2000 9:30 PM Subject: NATO Tells Serbs to Stay Put, Adds Insult to Injury (TiM GW Bulletin 2000/12-4, Dec. 16, 2000) > > FROM PHOENIX, ARIZONA > 2. NATO Tells Serbs to Stay Put, Adds Insult to Injury > > Western Diplomat Slights Yugoslav Army's Capability > > PRISTINA, Dec. 15 - In our Dec. 4 update about the situation in Kosovo, > "Serb Wimps Kiss Up to NATO Pimps," we quoted Zoran Djindjic as saying > that, "Yugoslav government was seeking NATO acceptance of the plan to drive > the Kosovo Albanian rebels from the 80-square mile contested Presevo Valley > buffer zone between Kosovo province and the rest of Serbia." > > Asking permission from a foreign occupying force if you can be allowed to > defend your own land from terrorists who have killed and massacred your > troops makes the label "wimps" fairly benign. Yet to the new Yugoslav > president, Vojislav Kostunica, the remark by the man who is widely expected > to become Serbia's prime minister after the Dec. 23 vote was not wimpy > enough. Speaking last week after Djindjic's comments, Kostunica said that, > "this is not the time for war drums." > > Belgrade's appeasing attitude toward the aggressors drew protests and > demonstrations by the Serbs from Presevo Valley on Dec. 13. Thousands of > angry Serbs blocked key roads near Kosovo today, demanding that the > authorities drive out the ethnic Albanian militants entrenched in the area, > the New York Times reported on Dec. 14. Some 3,000 people used cars, > trucks and tractors to close roads into and out of Bujanovac and the rail > line, and all roads that link Serbia to Macedonia and Greece. > > So now Kostunica and Djindjic have their own people rising up against them > with no Slobodan Milosevic around any more to take the blame. > > Furthermore, Kostunica's willingness to prostrate himself and his country > before NATO lower than even Djindjic was prepared to do was not lost on the > KFOR leaders. Yesterday, they told Belgrade what its leaders' meekness > asked for - butt out! Brig. Gen. Dennis E. Hardy, the American who > commands peacekeepers, including 6,000 American troops, in the eastern part > of Kosovo, said in an interview published Dec. 15 by the New York Times > that, NATO "would not tolerate Serbian police or army use of force to > reassert control of a three-mile-wide buffer zone along Kosovo's eastern > border that ethnic Albanian rebels control." > > No surprise there. As eyewitnesses in the area have already reported to > TiM, the U.S. troops are virtual accomplices of the Albanian terrorists, > having been seen to provide logistical support for the rebel operations > (see "Kosovo Eyewitness: American Troops Aided Albanian Rebels Who Killed > Four Serb Policemen," Nov. 29, 2000). > > But don't take our word for it. Here's what the Kosovo Albanian > recently-elected leader, Ibrahim Rugova, said in a Dec. 11 interview with > the German Der Spiegel (The Mirror) magazine: > > "Thanks to the presence of KFOR peacekeeping troops, NATO's support and the > UN's reconstruction assistance Kosovo today is de facto > independent." Later in the interview, Rugova also added, "NATO is already > our (Albanian) private army. But in the future we will share responsibility > and also develop an army of our own as a protective power." > > So the new Serb leaders are appealing for help from the foreign troops that > the Kosovo Albanian leader calls their "private army!" Is there any wonder > the Serbs of the Presevo Valley are rising up against such Belgrade "leaders?" > > As if that was not demeaning enough, asked by the Times whether the Serb > forces could flush out the Albanian in a quick clean operation, a Western > diplomat added insult to injury by replying, "I don't think the Serbian > forces are capable of that." Or was it realism? Because the Albanian > rebels are certainly treating the Serb posturing as empty threats. > > Violence flared anew on Friday (Dec. 15). NATO spokesman said two cars in > the southern (Bujanovac) part of the zone carrying Serbs were raked with > gunfire Friday (Dec. 15), leaving one of the occupants wounded in the > arm. The two targeted cars then drove to a crossing into Kosovo and the > wounded man was treated by U.S. soldiers, a spokesman for the American > peacekeepers, Maj. Jim Marshall, said in a statement. > > And in a report suggesting tensions might be spreading, locals in the > northern part of the zone, near Kursumlija, said Albanian militants shot at > a Serb-populated village late Friday (Dec. 15). It was the first such > incident reported in the north. The villagers told police they had seen > Albanian rebels digging trenches in the region. The shootings occurred > even as Serbs lifted their barricades on roads along the tense border with > Kosovo after a personal appeal by Kostunica. > > Meanwhile, the governments of Yugoslavia and of Serbia, its main republic, > met today (Dec 16) in Bujanovac - on the edge > of the tense region - and threatened tough action unless NATO peacekeepers > and U.N. officials running Kosovo clamp down on the insurgents, according > to a Dec. 16 Associated Press report. > > The commander of the Serb Third Army reported that ethnic Albanian > militants are seeking to export their independence war from Kosovo into a > neighboring Serbian area are assembling military hardware for a major > offensive later this month, according to a Dec. 16 Associated Press > report. Speaking before the meeting, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Lazarevic said his > military intelligence was reporting a rebel offensive planned for Dec. 27 > by "several thousand terrorists." > > "They are fixing up bridges, improving their communications, and bringing > in ... mortars and howitzers," said Lazarevic. > > The U.N. Security Council is to meet Tuesday to discuss the latest Balkan > flashpoint. If it fails to produce an efficient plan and action, Yugoslavia > will "invoke its legitimate right to solve the problem itself, with the use > of all internationally permitted measures to fight terrorism," the > Bujanovac declaration said. > -------------- > > 3. Bosnian "Demo Farce:" West Rejects Serb Party's Victory > > SARAJEVO, Dec. 12 - Bosnian Serbs were warned last week that the West could > cut off vital aid to them if they give a major role in government to the > winning Serb party in last month's elections, according to a Dec. 12 > Reuters' report. The Serb Democratic Party (SDS) won the largest number of > seats in the assembly of the Serb Republic in the elections, and its deputy > president, Mirko Sarovic, won the presidential vote. > > Luke Zahner, spokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in > Europe (OSCE), which organized the general elections in Bosnia last month, > said Bosnia's Serb Republic needed to appoint an apolitical government of > experts if it wanted to survive a serious economic crisis. > > He was clearly referring to the nationalist Serb Democratic Party (SDS) > founded by Bosnian Serb wartime leader Dr. Radovan Karadzic, which has > reportedly demanded a significant number of posts in the future government. > > And what about the will of the people? Never mind that. Since when has > that mattered in the western rendition of the "demo farce?" So in comes > the blackmail, just as the Austrians found out when they chose the "wrong" > leader (Joerg Haider) last February (see "Haiderbash Is On, Democracy Is > Off"). > > As if trying to confirm this impression, the U.S. officials called for a > ban on the SDS before the vote, charging that it had not broken links with > indicted war criminals like Karadzic. After the vote, the U.S. government > said it would not give any financial assistance to a government that > included the SDS. > > U.S. Ambassador, Thomas Miller, on Tuesday (Dec. 12) reiterated his > government's stance at a news conference in the Bosnian Serb de facto > capital Banja Luka. "We have no interest in putting assistance into support > of a government which includes the SDS," said Miller. > > The SDS has a poor international reputation, the Reuters said, once having > been called by the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Richard > Holbrooke, a "criminal organization". > > Now, isn't that a pot calling a kettle black? > ------------- > NOTE: To cancel the e-mail editions of our reports, just reply REMOVE or > UNSUBSCRIBE, followed by your e-mail address. > ------------- > > ---- > TRUTH IN MEDIA > Phoenix, Arizona > e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Visit the Truth in Media Web site http://www.truthinmedia.org/ for articles > on geopolitical affairs. > > _______________________________________________ Crashlist resources: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/crashlist
