> >from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >subject: CPA Ukraine appeal. Yugoslavia -US Terrorism >X-From_: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wed Mar 22 2000 >Delivered-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 >From: Communist Party of Australia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >GUARDIAN ROUNDUP -- PLEASE SEE INDEX > >The following articles were published in "The Guardian", newspaper of >the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, March 22, >2000. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. >Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. >CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >"The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au> >Subscription rates on request. >****************************** >INDEX: >12. Ukrainian appeal for anti-fascist solidarity >13. Yugoslavia: US Terrorism * > > ************************* >12. Ukraine: Communists appeal for anti-fascist solidarity > >The Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU) has appealed to all >fraternal parties to protest against the anti-communist hysteria >and neo-fascist threat in the Ukraine. > >The CPU reports that since the presidential elections in late >1999 the anti-communist hysteria has been gaining in momentum. >Many communists have been subjected to pressure, discrimination >and even physical intimidation, says a statement issued by the >Ukrainian communists. > >The statement gives examples of how the party activities are >being curbed. >Nationalistic local authorities in three western Ukrainian >districts have taken un constitutional decisions to ban the >activities of the Communist Party branches. >The national government did not react -- thus condoning the bans. > >Then the Supreme Council of the The Supreme Council of the >Ukraine has been presented with an unconstitutional draft bill >for the banning of the CPU (though it is the High Court's >jurisdiction). The government remained silent again. > >Then on March 9, 2000, anti-communists resorted to an >unprecedented action. >The CPU reports: "At 12 noon, a group of people armed with guns >and irritant gas spray cans rushed into the building of the >Central Committee of the CPU. >"The workers in the building were beaten and thrown out of the >building, furniture and office equipment were trashed, petrol was >poured into the rooms. A banner proclaiming `Independent Ukraine >from the Carpatian Mountains to the Caucasus' was strung across >the building. > >"The terrorists had a list of demands: ban on the CPU and other >`subversive' parties, immediate withdrawal of the Ukraine from >the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS); revision of the >relationship with Russia as well as the revision of the policies >of Russia and Belarus [on closer co-operation]; sacking of all >(even former) members of the Communist Party of Ukraine and the >Communist Party of the Soviet Union; ban on the use of the >Russian language. > >"There was also an oral demand -- immediate entry of Ukraine into >NATO. "If the demands are not met, the invaders threaten to set fire >to the building", said the CPU statement. > >The ruling regime is keen to silence the opposition as it is >fighting against the onslaught on the vital interests of the >workers and peasants, the majority of the Ukrainian >population. > >The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist >Party of the Ukraine, Petro Simonenko, sent a telegram to the >President of the Ukraine L Kuchma and Prime Minister B Yuschenko. >The telegram said: > >"We are deeply enraged by a blatant terrorist act committed by a >group which calls itself `Independent Ukraine'. >"Using force, arms, tear gas and petrol canisters they had seized >the building of the Central Committee of the CPU and beaten the >workers who were inside. >"On more than one occasion the CPU warned about the threat of >dictatorship and about the possibility that the authority's >flirting with nationalists and terrorists will result in >dictatorship. > >"We demand that decisive and adequate measures are taken against >this banditry, removing these people off the premises and serious >measures taken against the organisers and those responsible for >this provocation." > >The seizure of the building is over -- but the problems remain. >Ukrainian communists appeal for solidarity in their struggle >against the onslaught of fascism in the Ukraine. >They call on fraternal parties and progressive individuals to >protest against threat to ban the Communist Party of Ukraine. > >"Long live anti-fascist solidarity!" ends their message. > > *********************** >13. Yugoslavia: US Terrorism > >Yugoslavia was subjected to NATO air attack -- using missiles and >"smart bombs" -- for 78 days. The country incurred losses of at >least $100 billion, a huge sum for a small country. > by Rob Gowland* > >NATO deliberately knocked out every trunk route -- road, rail and >river -- between Yugoslavia and all its neighbours as part of >Washington's strategy of ruining the economy of any country that >defies it. Even when the bombing is brought to a halt, the victim >country goes on suffering with infrastructure and trade both in >ruins. And to make sure they stay that way, sanctions are >imposed. > >The people of Yugoslavia have accomplished some remarkable feats >of reconstruction under extremely difficult conditions. In all, >NATO destroyed or seriously damaged 45 road bridges and 17 rail >bridges, but already most important road and rail traffic has >been restored with new or reconstructed bridges. > >As part of US tactics to encourage the ethnic Hungarians of the >north of the country to "rise up against Milosevic", NATO heavily >bombed the northern city of Novy Sad and destroyed all bridges >over the Danube, cutting off Novy Sad and the northern province >of Vojvodina. > >This, it was apparently thought, would make the ethnic Hungarian >population welcome the prospect of Hungarian and NATO troops as >liberators and peacekeepers. > >Predictably, it had the opposite effect. The Hungarian minority >in northern Yugoslavia has no desire to join Hungary or to bend >the knee to NATO. > >Tito built a multi-ethnic country and Slobadan Milosevic's >government has continued that policy while reaping the benefits >of it at the same time. > >With the support of the local people and enterprises, work on >reconstructing the road bridge between Novy Sad and Belgrade >began just three days after the bombing was halted. It was >completed in record time. > >Reconstruction > >In fact, the Serbs accomplished some remarkable feats of >construction in tackling NATO's handiwork: they built new railway >bridges in 60 days, for example. They set a world record for the >construction of steel bridges. > >At the same time, despite the urgency of the situation, historic >old stone bridges were carefully restored, not just replaced with >modern steel structures. > >Since the end of hostilities the Ministry for Reconstruction has >fully restored or replaced: > >28 main bridges >4 railway bridges >2 roads >1 railway line >4 heating plants >7 schools or colleges >4 hospitals >445 houses or flats and the Museum of Modern Art in Belgrade. > >Work is presently going on at 65 sites, including ten road >bridges, 12 railway bridges, two schools and 201 flats or houses. > >Precision bombing > >In the course of the Congress we saw some of the damage inflicted >by NATO on the capital, Belgrade. This included a hospital for >intensive care patients and a maternity hospital, both totally >destroyed. At the time of the attacks they were occupied by staff >and patients. >These buildings were not hit by a stick of bombs dropped across a >district -- a hospital hit in such a case could perhaps be an >accident. > >In Belgrade, these hospitals -- and other civilian targets -- >were hit by missiles and "smart bombs" that were aimed with >extraordinary precision using global satellite positioning >technology and real time television guidance systems. >They did not hit the building on either side of the target, they >hit the target. Put another way, if they hit a building, that was >the building they were aiming at. > >NATO targeted hospitals -- especially maternity hospitals -- as a >deliberate terror tactic. >For the same reason, and to impress on the world that the US and >its allies could hit anything they chose whenever they chose, >NATO bombed various historic government buildings even though >they were empty! > >After NATO declared the Yugoslav and Serbian Interior Ministries, >the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry and Yugoslav Defence Ministry to be >"military targets", the Serbs moved all personnel and important >files etc out of the buildings. They made no secret of it and >NATO would have been well aware of it. > >Nevertheless, NATO hit all four buildings with missiles -- just >to show that they could, and would. The Serbs were horrified: >these were historic buildings, classified by their equivalent of >our National Trust. Shocked Serbs told me "Even Hitler didn't >bomb these buildings". >Restoration work on the Foreign Ministry, a particularly ornate >structure with its roof adorned with statues and cupolas, is >already under way but it will be a long process. > >Propaganda > >NATO's lying propaganda, dished out at frequent "media briefings" >to a very compliant press corps which had swallowed the "ethnic >cleansing" disinformation campaign hook, line and sinker, was >combatted by a vibrant and defiant Serbian TV and radio. > >Serbian journalists took great pleasure in exposing the latest >NATO lies, and were soon the target of their very own NATO >disinformation campaign. >They were portrayed as providing not news (like NATO apparently >did) but false and lying propaganda! They were, NATO proclaimed, >an integral part of the "ethnic cleansing" process. Since they >were not honest journalists like their Western counterparts they >deserved no special respect as non-combatants, still less as >representatives of "the press". > >To prove their sordid propaganda role, NATO made a seemingly >impossible demand: that Serbian TV allow NATO to broadcast "eight >hours a day" over the Serb's network. >To NATO's discomfiture, the head of Serbian TV agreed -- on >condition that NATO allow Serbian TV to broadcast for "ten >minutes a day" on all the NATO countries' networks. > >NATO would have none of that and instead, no doubt in the >interests of truth, bombed the headquarters of Serbian TV, >killing 16 staff. >Western journalists and technicians using the facilities were >tipped off about an impending attack and left the building in >good time. > >The missiles killed make-up girls, camera crew, journalists etc, >and wrecked the building. >Serbian TV still operates, but with a skeleton staff from >temporary premises with limited equipment (new equipment cannot >be imported under the sanctions). Although the majority of staff >have been stood down, they are still receiving 70 per cent of >their regular salary. > >Chinese Embassy deliberately hit > >I saw the Chinese Embassy, where three diplomatic staff were >killed and a dozen or so injured by a missile strike. The damage >is severe -- they are indeed lucky the death toll was not higher. >This attack broke every tenet of international law regarding the >sanctity of foreign embassies and diplomatic personnel. > >The US, forced onto the back foot, tried unsuccessfully to >persuade the world that it was the result of using old, outdated >maps! >No one, least of all the Chinese, bought that. If anybody had an >up-to-date map of Belgrade at that time it was NATO. > >China was an active supporter of Yugoslavia against the US, but >the other story that NATO put around to justify the strike on the >Embassy -- that it was a communications centre or radar post >warning the Yugoslavs of incoming NATO air raids -- was never >taken seriously even by the US's allies. > >The Chinese Embassy was hit precisely because China was >championing the cause of Yugoslavia and leading diplomatic >efforts to force the bombing to be halted. It was hit to warn off >"any" country that might think of siding with the Serbs. > >The precision of the US bombing/missile attacks makes them an >ideal means of pressuring other countries. The tactics of US >gangsters' protection rackets have simply been expanded to an >international scale. >We must also remember that at the time China's embassy was hit, >China and the US were deep in negotiations over China's entry >into the World Trade Organisation. > >No doubt, US negotiators saw this as an added inducement for >China to take a less hard-line position in those negotiations. >The US was showing that it could "really" play hardball. > >Trialling new weapons > >As in all conflicts that the US has been in over the last half >century or so, the war on Yugoslavia was also used by the US to >trial new weapons. >Yugoslav power stations were hit with graphite bombs, intended to >not only disrupt power supply but to keep the country blacked out >for a lengthy time. > >Knocking out power plants for lengthy periods threatens the lives >of hospital patients primarily: new born infants, intensive care >patients, dialysis patients, people undergoing emergency surgery. >It is a terror tactic, like so much of the NATO war: state >terrorism at its most blatant. > >Serbian power workers were working to restore power within hours >of the raids. Starting from scratch, they devised ways to >neutralise the effects of the graphite bombs, allowing the power >grid to be restored in a relatively short time. >In the south of the country another weapon was used whose effects >cannot be so easily overcome: depleted uranium (DU), used to tip >armour-piercing shells, missiles, bombs, etc. > >On impact, the DU turns to powder, a radioactive dust that >lingers long after the fighting is over. >If the experience of Iraq is any guide, and it should be, >Yugoslavia can expect a rapid increase over the next several >years in various types of leukemia and other cancers, especially >among the young. >There were strong calls at the Congress of the Socialist Party of >Serbia for a UN ban on DU, a call we in Australia should fully >support. > >* Rob Gowland, member of the Central Committee of the CPA >and a "Guardian" staff member represented the CPA at the Fourth >Congress of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) in Belgrade on >February 17. This is the second of two articles on his >experiences. The first appeared in last week's "Guardian"." JC > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
