FROM PHOENIX, ARIZONA The Special "Kosovo Crisis" Truth in Media Global Watch Bulletins, such as the one enclosed below, can also be accessed at our Web site: www.truthinmedia.org which is being updated throughout the day. DAY 18, Update 1 ----------------------- Apr. 10, 1999; 1:30PM EDT HEADLINES Washington 1. Clinton Willing to Risk Global War; A Pentagon Officer: "The Man Is an Ass" (From the Capitol Hill Blue) Athens 2. Toxins from NATO Bombs Endangering Six Countries Besides Serbia; Use of Depleted Uranium Shells Condemned Los Fresnos 3. Get Us Out of NATO! (By Col. Randy Givens, a "Green Beret" Vet) Los Angeles 4. The O'Grady Lie (By William Dorich) Phoenix 5. An American Hero or Actor of the Year? (A June '95 TiM story) ---------------------- 1. Clinton Willing to Risk Global War; A Pentagon Officer: "The Man Is an Ass" (From the Capitol Hill Blue) WASHINGTON, Apr. 5 - Bill Clinton's failing Kosovo war "is part of a desperate, dangerous and fatally flawed plan by a scandal-ridden President to salvage a legacy for the history books," White House and Pentagon insiders told Doug Thompson, the Capitol Hill Blue publisher and a former journalist. Interviews conducted over the past two weeks by Thompson showed an increasingly isolated President whose obsession with his place in the history books has led him to ignore the recommendations not only of career military officers, but also of many close aides. "The President is standing alone on a lot of this," says one White House aide. "He's finder fewer and fewer people who are willing to stick with him over Kosovo. He's backed himself, his administration and his country into a corner." Two who are sticking with Clinton are National Security Advisor Sandy Berger and Secretary of State Madeline Albright, who aides say would follow Clinton anywhere. "Berger and Albright put their loyalty to Clinton above their oaths to serve the Constitution," says military analyst Sander Owen. "It's pathetic to watch." At the Pentagon, senior officers now call the President the "draft dodger in chief," and sneer at his inability to grasp simple military tactics. "The man is an ass," says one career officer. "He has no concept of a military operation. To him, it's just a video game. What we don't know is how many body bags it will take to make this jerk face reality." Arnold Crittendon, a retired intelligence analyst, says Clinton has become a "laughing stock" in both the military and intelligence communities. "His political motives are so blatant that they would be farcical if we weren't talking about the lives of American soldiers," Crittendon says. "There wasn't that much respect for the man to begin with. What little there was is long gone now." [...] Former Navy Capt. Al Simonson says he knows several career military professionals who are willing to resign their commissions rather than continue to serve under Clinton. "I've been around the military for more than 30 years and I have never seen morale this low," Simonson says. "Bill Clinton has destroyed the soul of our armed forces." [...] For the full report, check out the CAPITOL HILL BLUE: http://www.capitolhillblue.org/April1999/040599/clinton040599.htm -------------- 2. Toxins from NATO Bombs Endangering Six Countries Besides Serbia; Use of Depleted Uranium Shells Condemned by Experts ATHENS, Apr. 10 - Greek experts registered an increase in levels of toxic substances in the atmosphere of Greece, and said that Albania, Macedonia, Italy, Austria and Hungary all face a potential threat to human health as a result of NATO's bombing of Serbia, which includes the use of radioactive depleted uranium shells. Prof. Christos Zerefos, a member of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and director of the world center for ozone cartography, said that one day after the start NATO's attack on Yugoslavia, Greek experts discovered in the atmosphere dioxin and particles of the group of toxic agents knows as furanes, which pose a high risk for human health of the entire region. Meanwhile, back in New York, the International Action Center, a group that opposes the use of depleted-uranium weapons, called the Pentagon's decision to use the A-10 "Warthog" jets against targets in Serbia "a danger to the people and environment of the entire Balkans". The A-10s were the anti-tank weapon of choice in the 1991 war against Iraq. It carries a GAU-8/A Avenger 30 millimeter seven-barrel cannon capable of firing 4,200 rounds per minute. During that war it fired 30 mm rounds reinforced with depleted uranium, a radioactive weapon. John Catalinotto, a spokesperson from the Depleted Uranium Education Project of the International Action Center, and an editor of the 1997 book "Metal of Dishonor: Depleted Uranium", said the use of DU weapons in Yugoslavia "adds a new dimension to the crime NATO is perpetrating against the Yugoslav people -including those in Kosovo". Sara Flounders, a contributing author of "Metal of Dishonor: Depleted Uranium" and the Co-Director of the International Action Center, said the "Warthogs fired roughly 940,000 rounds of DU shells during the Gulf War. More than 600,000 pounds of radioactive waste was left in the Gulf Region after the war. And DU weapons in smaller number were already used by NATO troops during the bombing of Serbian areas of Bosnia in 1995." In an Apr. 1 front page article headlined, "Uranium bullets on NATO holsters," the San Francisco Examiner's reporter, Kathleen Sullivan, wrote that "the use of depleted uranium in combat is a troubling prospect to some veterans groups, which worry that the Pentagon will fail - once again - to issue warnings about the danger posed by its hazardous dust and debris. Piers Wood, a senior fellow at the Center for Defense Information and a retired Army lieutenant colonel, dismissed concerns about the health and environmental effects of depleted uranium, saying everything in life is a trade-off. "I would risk the consequences of inhaling depleted uranium dust before I would consider facing tanks, Wood told the Examiner. Depleted uranium is wonderful stuff. It turns tanks into Swiss cheese." However, radiation expert Rosalie Bertell said depleted uranium is highly toxic to humans. Bertell, president of the International Institute of Concern for Public Health, called its use in Yugoslavia radiation and toxic chemical warfare that must be denounced. Some experts also warned of the environmental hazards posed by depleted uranium, which has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. "In Yugoslavia, it's expected that depleted uranium will be fired in agricultural areas, places where livestock graze and where crops are grown, thereby introducing the specter of possible contamination of the food chain," said Paul Sullivan, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center. Last year, Iraqi doctors said they feared a disturbing rise in leukemia and stomach cancer among civilians who live near the war zone may be linked to depleted uranium contamination of Iraqi farmland. --- TiM Ed.: In short, the new Adolf and his helpers are indeed worse than the original. For, the Clinton administration and its NATO allies are committing not only crimes against humanity, but against life in general, including the flora and fauna (also see an earlier TiM article about that - Day 8, Update 1, Item 2, Mar. 31). -------------- 3. Get Us Out of NATO! (By Col. Randy Givens, a "Green Beret" Vet) LOS FRESNOS, Apr. 9 - Col. George "Randy" Givens (US SF, ret.), a "Green Beret" veteran from the Vietnam war, says the U.S. should get out of NATO. Fast. Before the body bags start coming home. Here's a message he sent to us last night, enclosing an editorial from a local paper in this southwest Texas community in the Rio Grande Valley: "Our Secretary of State claims that at this month�s 50th anniversary NATO summit, U.S. 'leaders will unveil a revised strategic concept for the alliance.' This may be so, but I think all Americans should immediately say: 'Get us OUT of NATO.' NATO was intended to be a DEFENSIVE organization to protect Europe and American interests from a Soviet attack - PERIOD!!! We signed treaties to that effect. Congress approved them. If Clinton and friends want to change that, then they MUST be forced to rewrite the treaties and submit them to the American people for a vote. By then, the body bags will be coming home and all bets will be off. An editorial on this subject is copied below for your information: http://www.valleystar.com/pages/files/o904091.htm " Col. Randy Givens, Texas --------------- 4. The O'Grady Lie (By William Dorich) LOS ANGELES, Apr. 10 - William Dorich, president of the Serbian American Voters Alliance, sent us a copy of his today's letter to Ms. Jane Pauley, of the Dateline NBC show, in which he said that, "nowhere in your coverage of the Capt. Scott O'Grady story did you disclose that the distance between Mrkonjic Grad near Banja Luka (where his parachute came down), to �20 miles southeast of Bihac� (according to his commanding officer the morning after his rescue), is a distance is 60 miles." Why is that important? Take a look at the map at our Web site, and our story headlined, "O'Grady: An American Hero or Actor of the Year?", written on June 10, 1995 (http://www.truthinmedia.org/Columns/Ogrady.html), and also reproduced here as Item 5 - for those TiM readers who can only read our reports by e-mail. Yes, it was three years and 10 months ago, to the day, that we also became suspicious of O'Grady's miraculous "rescue" mission. For Based on Mr. Dorich's comments (see below), we weren't alone: "You and O'Grady have deceived the American people into believing that he had to job some 12 miles each night through the heart of hostile Serb controlled territory, saturated with hundreds of thousands of land mines. surely, Ms. Pauley you are not naive making me conclude that you are an accomplice to these lies and distortions. I am enclosing my June 10, 1995 letter to President Clinton as there is no need to rehash this outrageous propaganda and how easily you and your spin doctors at NBC have manipulated the facts to support this cardboard hero and the 'party line' of this lying president. I have admired your work for many years, how saddened I am that you, too, have been sucked into creating propaganda, I expected more. Goebbels would be proud." William Dorich, Los Angeles P.S. how compelling that the pilot of the downed Stealth is such a deep dark secret. --- And now, here's are the salient excerpts from Mr. Dorich's letter to President Clinton, dated June 10, 1995: "An American President once said: �You can fool some of the people some of the time, but not all of the people, all of the time.� The so-called �picture perfect rescue� was right out of Universal Studios and the mind of Steven Spielberg. Air Force Capt. Scott F. O�Grady�s parachute was sighted 25 miles south of Banja Luka, near the town of Mrkonjic Grad. During the CNN interview today with O�Grady he said he moved �about one and a half miles during the 6 days.� Your government officials have reported that O�Grady was plucked from �the fogbound forest near where his F-16 was shot down six days earlier.� The original broadcast of the rescue specifically claimed that he was retrieved �20 miles southeast of Bihac�that is some 60 miles away from the parachute site. You should indeed be grateful that the Serbs had the good sense not to parade O�Grady before the CNN cameras to discredit your administration more than they already have. O�Grady did not use his radio for nearly 6 days for a good reasonthe Serbs who had captured him had the radio transmitter. To imply that we send pilots up in multi-million dollar aircraft and then provide them with batteries that only last a few days amounts to a hideous lie. Plucking O�Grady from the forest within 50 yards of his hiding place might make a good movie script, but it hardly represents the truth, confirmed to me by two separate people very high in the intelligence community of the American government who are outraged by this media stunt. These sources obviously wish to remain anonymous. It was the State Department that supplied CNN with the information that the Serbs had not captured the downed pilot. That is where the plot thickens. >From my contacts in Banja Luka (Bosnia) who are at the upper most levels of the Bosnian Serb Army, I had the absolute assurance that the Serbs had captured O�Grady. These sources have proven trustworthy and accurate over the past 4 years. Apparently this �story book rescue� was a deal calculated to restore the faith of American �top guns,� to downgrade the danger that our pilots face in Bosnia, and to restore what is left of your credibility. My only question is, at what price to the Serbs? If O�Grady was so thirsty that he had to rely on his socks for water, why didn�t he milk the cows, �who were so friendly that he even named them?� Your re-election and the secret deals you have made in this O�Grady rescue could impact your new bid for the White House. Stop trying to fool all of the people, all of the time. Serbs have rights, too!" William Dorich, president, Serbian American Voters Alliance -------------- 5. An American Hero or Actor of the Year? (A June '95 TiM story) PHOENIX, Apr. 10 - It is not often that a writer would start a story with a "PS," but this is one of those exceptions which confirm the literary rule. The article which follows was written nearly four years ago. As it turned out, even though the Bosnian Serbs set O'Grady free on June 8, 1995, allowing the U.S. marines to "rescue" him, they were bombed by NATO anyway in August-September 1995. Which showed how much Clinton administration's word was worth. Zero. No wonder Milosevic is now keeping the three American soldiers captures in Kosovo. "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me," goes the old saw. And now, here's our June 1995 article, "An American Hero or Actor of the Year?"... PHOENIX, June 10, 1995 - An American F-16 jet is shot down by the Bosnian Serbs on June 2. The pilot survives for six days on grass and water, some of it squeezed out of his socks. On June 8, he is rescued in a daring mission by a group of brave marines. President Bill Clinton hails the airman, Capt. Scott O�Grady, as "an American hero." The nation rejoices and celebrates another example of the U.S. military prowess. Clinton suggests a movie could be made based on this event. It could. Because it shows that Clinton�s State Dept., NSC and Pentagon advisors seem to have as much imagination as the Hollywood script writers. But Washington�s plot is weak. For, if the movie were made based on what really happened, the film�s title could be "Deception," and its sequel could be "Impeachment." What did really happen? We don�t know for sure. But it seems that the Bosnian Serb Gen. Ratko Mladic (and/or Serbia�s President Slobodan Milosevic), made a deal, brokered by the UN, intended to make Clinton look good at home. They released the captive pilot and let the marines "rescue" him. In return, they probably got assurances that they won�t be bombed again by NATO. And that the Administration will not allow the arms embargo to be lifted. In other words, Bob Dole�s proposed "lift and strike" policy (lift the embargo to help the Muslims, strike the Serbs from the air), was flipped into a "strike and lift" move. Strike the US aid to Bosnia, and lift the air threat against the Serbs. As America celebrated O�Grady�s freedom, Mladic and Milosevic were probably toasting each other on having outsmarted the "most powerful country in the world." If this sounds too far-fetched, consider the following "play-by-play" recap: --- June 2, 1995 "...Bosnian Serb officials said a parachute was seen just before the fighter jet crashed into a populated area near the town of Mrkonjic Grad, about 40 miles south of Banja Luka." "A search an rescue operation... has been mounted (by NATO) near Banja Luka." By Roger Cohen, NYT, Sarajevo "A Bosnian Serb military source quoted by Associated Press said a chute had been sighted shortly before the plane crashed on the outskirts of the town Mrkonjic Grad." "Admiral Leighton Smith told the CNN that he had an unconfirmed report that the pilot had been captured by the Serbs." By R.W. Apple Jr., NYT Washington June 3, 1995 A NATO spokesman "said there were indications from commander of the Bosnian Serbs, Gen. Ratko Mladic, that his forces have captured the pilot." By Roger Cohen, NYT, Sarajevo June 4, 1995 "Gen. Ratko Mladic... has insisted that he will not give any information on an American pilot who F-16 jet was downed on Friday until NATO renounced the use of air strikes in Bosnia, the UN said today." "Gen. Mladic made it clear that until he has a meeting with the commander of the UN forces in the former Yugoslavia, Gen. Bertrand Janvier, and until he receives security guarantees, there will be no hostage releases and no information on the pilot." By Roger Cohen, NYT, Sarajevo June 8, 1995 A NATO A-130 pilot picked up a signal from O�Grady at 2:08 a.m. Bosnian time about 20 miles southeast of Bihac. "It took American military officials (only) five hours to plan and carry out the risky daylight rescue." "At one point, an American officer... requested permission to fire a missile at a Serbian radar installation... Permission was denied." "Bosnian Serbs contended the mission under NATO was no surprise." "The (Serb) radar site in Knin, code named Giraffe, was turned on at 6:21 a.m., according to NATO chronology, which made it ominously plain that if the Serbs were initially surprised by the raid, they were in the dark no longer." (TiM Ed.. Yet, they chose to do nothing!?) "At 6:58 a.m., an (American) officer recommended that NATO forces destroy the radar base at Knin. The request was rebuffed by senior officers." By Francis X. Clines, NYT, Wash. June 9, 1995 Pentagon and NATO were at a loss to explain how the Serbs managed to shoot down the F-16. "My personal feeling is that they intentionally set a trap and sprung it. And we have lots of indications that this was the case," said Lieut. Gen. Michael Ryan, the American commander in Italy. "NATO will now try to avoid flying over Bosnia and rely mainly on aircraft that will fly over water close to the coast, and look in with long-range radar." By Elaine Sciolino, NYT, Washington "The White House today rejected a request by the Prime Minister of Bosnia that the US lift the arms embargo against his Muslim-led government, and said that President Clinton would veto any legislation designed to force such a change in policy." By Alison Mitchell, NYT, Washington --- The preceding are some basic facts, as reported in the media. For the sake of consistency, we�ve quoted only from the New York Times� reports. They raise a ton of questions: (1) Capt. O�Grady�s parachute was seen not far from his downed jet, some 25 miles southwest of Mrkonjic Grad (see the map). He was "rescued" about 20 miles from Bihac. How did he manage to travel about 60 miles unseen, especially as O�Grady said himself that he moved no more than a mile and a half from his hiding place? (2) For a man who was supposed to have eaten only grass leaves for six days, O�Grady seemed in fine shape. What was his weight before he went down? What was his weight upon return? Can his weight and poor diet for six days be reconciled by medical experts? (3) The Pentagon and NATO said initially that they had picked up some signals from the downed pilot. After that, his radio stayed silent for several days. Why did O�Grady wait so long before trying again? (Pentagon officials blamed the bad weather for it. After the hundreds of billions of dollars which we spend on our military, why can�t the Pentagon get a radio that works in the rain?) (4) Why did the senior NATO officers turn down the request of the American flyers to silence the Serb radars in Knin - a standard procedure in situations such as that on June 8? Because Naples (NATO command) knew of the political deal, but the boys in the air didn�t? (5) The Serb leaders have declared NATO and the UN enemies. They made good on that by downing an F-16 in broad daylight, and by taking nearly 400 UN soldiers prisoner. According to Pentagon�s own admissions, Serbs have proven that they are smart enough to fool even the sophisticated NATO command. So why did the Serbs not fire on June 8 when they illuminated an entire NATO flying armada? (6) Why did the Serbs let the American helicopters land on their territory without any opposition? (7) The helicopters reportedly landed within 50 meters of O�Grady�s hiding spot. Isn�t that fantastic precision for a single, short transmission which O�Grady had sent some six hours before? (8) The choppers spent only two minutes on the ground before taking off with O�Grady on board. An American officer told CNN that O�Grady came out of the woods running toward the US marines, pistol in hand, before they were able to properly identify each other, as military procedures required. Why was O�Grady so sure these were US marines? (9) Large military apparatuses, such as the Pentagon or NATO, aren�t exactly famous for their "speed to market." Yet, here we are supposed to believe that they were able to plan, verify O�Grady�s authenticity, map his exact location, assemble the flying flotilla, get the necessary approvals, and launch the rescue mission - all in about five hours! Was there any previous time in which the military responded with such an incredible speed? (10) If Clinton really meant to get tough with the Serbs, why is he now content only to "look in with long-range radars," instead of take out their radar or missile sites in retaliation for the downed US jet? Because he caved in and agreed not to bother the Serbs anymore - as Gen. Mladic had demanded? (11) Is that also why Clinton did not meet the Bosnian Prime Minister, Haris Silajdzic? And why Al Gore instead delivered a stern message to Silajdzic, which included, for the first time, President�s promise to veto any embargo-lifting legislation passed by the Congress? (12) In addition to the events in Bosnia and Washington, the US government recalled last week from Belgrade its negotiator, Robert Frasure, where the latter was trying to persuade Milosevic to recognize Bosnia in exchange for the lifting of the sanctions. The European, a British-based newspaper, reported that Frasure left Belgrade fuming. That�s because Madeleine Albright had apparently prevailed over Richard Holbrooke, voicing her opposition to the US "soft-soft" approach toward Milosevic. But what if that had nothing to do with Ms. Albright? What if Milosevic decided, after he and Mladic were able to outplay Clinton in this high-stakes poker game, that Serbia no longer needed to recognize Bosnia to get the sanctions lifted? -------------- NOTE: To cancel the e-mail editions of our reports, just reply REMOVE or UNSUBSCRIBE, followed by your e-mail address.
