From: Miroslav Antic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The last Balkan war Serious conflicts of American institutes and non-government organizations, which had profited from the tragedy of Balkan nations, came to light after arrival of Bush's administration By Milorad Ivanovic Although there's no war in Yugoslavia, a struggle over it is still going on in Washington. The struggle was not initiated by Serbs, but by members of numerous American institutes and non-government organizations, which had profited from the misery of Balkan nations. It was known that relations among the institutes were tensed but the public knew nothing about that before the arrival of Bush's administration. Having lost elections, former officials of American administration found new jobs in the institutes and non-government organizations. The former State Secretary Madeleine Albright was appointed for the chairman of the National Democratic Institute (NDI). Mediator in negotiations Richard Holbrook and former NATO commander Wesley Clark got appointments in the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). Other high officials found jobs in the Center for International Strategic Studies, International Crisis Group, "Helsinki Watch" and some other organizations. The Peace Institute refused services of former diplomats and analysts. "Institutes and non-government organizations that employed members of the former administration support the policy, which they had advocated for ten years and which proved to be completely wrong," one of the leading American analysts says for "Blic News <http://blic.gates96.com/> " weekly. "Those people advocated the policy of sanctions, unbelievable pressure and even air raids on Serbia. Nowadays, they are trying to prove that October's changes in Serbia resulted out of their efforts. After Milosevic's extradition to The Hague, Clark and Holbrook congratulated themselves on that success. It was really awful. They are trying to persuade Bush's administration to take their recipe for policy toward Yugoslavia, because they want to wash their hands," the analyst, who wants to remain anonymous, adds. Our collocutor belongs to so-called Washington rival group, which is known for its mild attitude toward Yugoslavia. Contrary to pro-Albright group, which includes the Peace Institute, International Crisis Group, Brookings Institute, Center for Strategic International Studies, NDI, NED, "Helsinki Watch", and the Council for International Relations, so-called pro-Serb group consists of only two organizations: the Cato Institute and Hartridge Foundation. Representatives of two opposing groups meet regularly in so-called Balkan Council, which gathers officials of the State Department, White House and Congress in charge of Balkan issues. When representatives of the institutes and organizations are informed about the moves that Washington intends to make, they exchange opinions on the situation in the region. Analysts believe that these meetings have a decisive role in the creation of American foreign policy toward Yugoslavia. Although they had different opinions on the problems in the region, representatives of the organizations tried to maintain friendly relations and avoid conflicts. However, the truce phase has definitely ended. The institutes and organizations are in serious conflicts over the issue of Yugoslavia. Even Yugoslav officials became victims of their conflicts. During a recent visit to Washington, Yugoslav Minister of Foreign Affairs Goran Svilanovic was in a real battle of institutes. An institute advised Minister Svilanovic to meet Dan Fred, claiming that he would be the head of the Department for Europe, in the State Department. Minister Svilanovic followed the advice and met Fred, but another diplomat was later appointed to that position. Representatives of the rival institute stated that they knew Fred wouldn't get that appointment. "If Minister Svilanovic had consulted us, we would have told him that. We hope that he realizes that he should consult only people who have insight into the situation," our source of Washington says. "A kind of war over Yugoslavia is really led in Washington. It seems that someone deliberately gives wrong information in order to discredit the other side and win the favor of certain Belgrade officials," Jim Denton, the former executive director of non-government organization "Freedom House" and an independent consultant who represents the Serb Government in the USA says for "Blic News" weekly. According to him, institutes aren't divided on Clinton-Bush but on hard line-traditional line basis. "The main aim of the hard line was to send Milosevic to The Hague. On the other hand, traditionalists are less interested in The Hague and they support extremely delicate and fragile Yugoslav democracy. They believe that Milosevic should be tried firstly in Belgrade and later in The Hague. On the other hand, the hard line sets ultimatums and deadlines and exerts pressure on Yugoslavia," Denton explains http://blic.gates96.com/ _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
