-Caveat Lector- April 24 1999 BALKANS WAR Pres. Clinton speaks out on the Colorado High School shooting: "we must use words not violence" he says..... flw THE TIMES: 4/24/99 Nato targets Tom Walker, who has been expelled from Yugoslavia, reports on the war's grim toll on life in Belgrade Bombs sow hate and alienation VERICA is 32, and lives with her 11-year-old daughter in a rundown, Tito-era tower block not far from Belgrade city centre. Her husband left her several years ago, and she has earned her crust by teaching English and hoping for a lucky break that might lead to romance or a full-time job with an export-import company. That snapshot of Verica's life, taken a month ago, still holds true, except that, thanks to Nato, her desperation has increased tenfold. Then she was tall and proud and immaculately made-up. Now she is a shadow of her former self; thin, her hair bedraggled, she chain-smokes and thinks only of protecting her daughter as the cruise missiles draw closer. The destruction of the television centre just around the corner made it clear that Nato has a limitless belief in the infallibility of its smart rockets. Family members come by day and they grimly sit around a coffee-stained table sharing a meal of bread and eggs and some sausage. There is no money for anything else; no one in Belgrade wants to learn English, the language of the aggressor. Russian maybe, but not English. Before the war they were alienated; now they have been tipped towards a hatred of the West and its humanitarian crusade. Out of politeness they do not talk about Kosovo Albanians, but there is an understanding they would prefer them all dead. Above all else, they are frightened and incapable of comprehending the arguments thrust at them by Nato propaganda. Talk of overthrowing their President is meaningless. Not all of Belgrade is so grim. Gypsy street cleaners still hose down the pavements, and horses canter around the racetrack. McDonald's has reopened three of its eight restaurants and wants to hold children's parties again. Physically, the city has changed little, except for pockets of craters that my friend Sasa calls "Godzilla's footprints". But, then,this is not a Second World War bombardment, and people have adjusted. Slick posters appear on billboards, put together with a professionalism that suggests experience in overseas advertising agencies. "They believe in bombs, we believe in God," is one theme. Sasa said "Belgrade has become smaller. One in five people I meet in the street now I know . . . it used to be about one every 30 or so." This is because up to 400,000 of the city's two million inhabitants have fled to the countryside. Some of those remaining behind have become anaesthetised. Sasa was in the basement Writers' Club two nights ago when she received a call from her anxious father telling her to get home because the military airport at Batajnica was being bombed. Sasa rang her friend Eva, who lives near Batajnica; Eva said she thought it was just heavy anti-aircraft fire. In the morning she rang Sasa, sheepishly explaining that she had slept through the detonations of cruise missiles 2½ miles from her house. "She was kind of disgusted with herself for admitting it," said Sasa, "but that's the way it is, you just get used to it." DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
