http://www.counterpunch.org/phillips0720.html
COUNTERPUNCH, Saturday, July 20, 2002
Weekend Edition
"I Won't Tell No Lies"
INSIDE KOSOVO: The Human Rubble of War
by James T. Phillips
"There's a Natural Mystic
blowing through the air. If you listen
carefully
now you will hear. This could be the
first trumpet,
might as well be the last. Many more
will have to suffer,
many more will have to die. Don't ask me why,
things are not the way
they used to be. I won't tell no lies."
Natural Mystic, Bob Marley & the Wailers
Bob Marley is dead, but the lyrics he once sang with the Wailers live on,
reverberating in my head every time I click the shutter of my camera while
standing amidst the ruins of war. When I sit down and start typing on my
ancient laptop keyboard, writing stories of suffering and dying, Bob
Marley's ghost sits by my side and reminds me to tell no lies. I listen very
carefully.
Truth, the oft-mentioned first casualty of war, doesn't always die on the
battlefields--or in the newsrooms--of the world. Information about what
really happens to the victims of war, unfiltered by baneful politicians and
biased propagandists, is easy to obtain and report when covering a conflict
from the field. After being confronted by the reality of war, it isn't a
difficult task to search out and destroy the lies offered up by public
relations firms, desk-bound scribes or the natural mystics currently at work
in the White House.
* * *
The rubble has been removed from Kosovo, carted away and buried in the same
earth as the human victims of war.
Three years after the bombs stopped dropping from the sky, the destroyed
homes and shops owned by Albanians have been replaced by thousands of new
structures. Kosovo's re-building program has been very successful, providing
Albanians with housing that would satisfy wealthy arms merchants and retired
generals. As targets of both sides during the 1999 war between Yugoslavia
and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Albanians suffered and
lost throughout a conflict that lasted 78 days. Construction of the new
multi-story buildings has been an integral part of the international
community's efforts to restore dignity and respect, as well as shelter, to
the Albanian population of the Serbian province of Kosovo.
The only evidence of that terrible conflict visible in 2002 are the remnants
of the Serb and Roma communities and, unlike the 78 day plight and flight of
Albanian refugees in 1999, their conflict has lasted for more than one
thousand days. Only a small fraction of the pre-war ethnic minorities remain
in Kosovo, living in semi-protected enclaves where shelter is a luxury and
freedom is a fading memory. The Serbs and Roma live in small houses, crowded
apartments, sagging tents, bug-infested shacks and pre-fabricated boxes.
They also live in unrelieved fear of their Albanian neighbors, protected by
an international cadre of soldiers and police officers more often
interested, with a few heroic exceptions, in earning money than in providing
a safe and secure environment for Kosovo's ethnic minorities.
The Serbs and Roma are the human rubble of war.
* * *
A journalist writing for the Guardian (UK) newspaper recently visited
Kosovo. His report from Mitrovica was informative, included quotes from
officials and citizens, and didn't pull any punches when assessing the
situation in the volatile city located along the banks of the Ibar River.
"Almost three years after the end of the war in Kosovo, the United Nations
is being accused of failing in the province and effectively allowing it to
be split into separate Serb and Albanian entities," wrote the journalist. "A
report by the International Crisis Group, a respected political think tank,
says the UN has let the Serb government extend its grip on Serbian-speaking
areas of Kosovo, leading to its partition."
In other, more precise words, the journalist reported that the Serbs, after
being terrorized by the Kosovo Liberation Army in the years prior to the 78
day long bombing by NATO--and after having their lives and homes destroyed
in revenge attacks during the succeeding three years--are now being accused
of creating the enclaves where they are forced to live. Simply put, the
Serbs are responsible for building their own prisons.
This is Kosovo today. A land where murders, rapes, assaults, thefts and
contradictory opinions abound.
According to the Guardian journalist, the International Crisis Group blames
the Serb government for partitioning "Serb-speaking areas" of Kosovo. I can
confirm that representatives of the ICG are out and about, driving their
sparkling clean sports utility vehicles through Albanian-speaking areas of
Kosovo. But, as to their assertion concerning the "grip" held by the Serb
government, I can only report that the various nationalities that make up
the police and military forces in Kosovo do not include any Serbians. Except
for a few token Serb policemen--who would need to be protected if assigned
to walk a beat in Albanian neighborhoods--security in Kosovo is provided by
Albanians, Americans and other non Serb-speaking peoples.
During my visits to Kosovo, the only stranglehold that I have noticed is
that of the Albanians on the throats of the ethnic minority populations.
And, the ultimate partitioning of Kosovo is being accomplished, not by
Serbs, but by Albanian leaders who are proclaiming independence from the
weak and isolated Serb government. The ICG report was, undoubtedly,
researched and written by well-meaning people who want to see an end to the
injustice and violence in Kosovo. They just forgot to get out of their
vehicles and wade through the human rubble. The Albanians in Kosovo are no
longer an oppressed minority. They dominate the police and government,
control the press and, unbeknownst to the folks at the ICG, oppress the
Serbs and Roma. The Albanians are not in the grip of anything other than a
frenzy to gather money, dominion and friends.
* * *
Obilic is a dusty town west of Pristina. The towering chimneys of a power
station are the tallest structures in the valley where Obilic is located,
visible from miles away, dominating the landscape just as the Albanians now
dominate the power structure of Kosovo. A few Serbs--and one abandoned
Orthodox Christian Church--remain in the town, as yet unmolested, protected
by KFOR soldiers and UNMIK policemen. The only large concentrations of
ethnic minorities in Obilic live in refugee enclaves situated in the shadow
of the power station, and the smells emanating from the chimneys compete
with the odors of rotting garbage, dirty children and smoky fires.
The residents of the refugee enclaves include Roma men, women and children
who were cleansed from their homes during the war in Kosovo. The Roma live
in structures that could be described as shacks if they were constructed to
house humans. The shelters are pieced together from scraps of wood,
cardboard boxes and thin sheets of tin. The leaky roofs are held in place by
old automobile tires. Inside, the soot from wood-burning stoves stains
walls, ceilings and people. The floors are made of dirt in the dry areas,
and mud where water seeps in from the outside. The furniture consists of
wood boxesand, for those who can afford the luxury, filthy carpets.
Scott Taylor, a well-respected Canadian military affairs correspondent,
recently visited the refugee enclave near the Obilic power station. His
report from the field presented the current situation in Kosovo in a
different light than did the trumpeting of the International Crisis Group.
"The housing program also illustrates the vast discrepancy between the
allocation of funds to Albanian Kosovars and other ethnic minorities,"
stated Taylor in an article published in the Ottawa Citizen. "Throughout the
Albanian sectors 'monster' homes--many larger than 7,000 square feet--are
being built. Along the main roads are dozens of new hotels and service
centres, complete with car washes, supermarkets and cafes. By contrast,
inside the isolated minority enclaves there has been little
reconstruction..."
Scott Taylor walked through the squalor, and he talked with the people who
live in misery and despair. He got out of his vehicle and waded through the
human rubble. Taylor told no lies.
There is a natural mystic blowing in the air and, in Kosovo, it stinks worse
than the pollution spewed out from the belching chimneys at the Obilic power
station. It is a mystery to me as to why the International Crisis Group
could spend so much time and money on a report that completely reverses the
true situation in Kosovo but, as Bob Marley wailed, "things are not the way
they used to be."
James T. Phillips is a freelance reporter and photographer. He has covered
wars in Iraq, Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia. He can be reached at:
COUNTERPUNCH, Saturday, July 20, 2002
Weekend Edition
"I Won't Tell No Lies"
INSIDE KOSOVO: The Human Rubble of War
by James T. Phillips
"There's a Natural Mystic
blowing through the air. If you listen
carefully
now you will hear. This could be the
first trumpet,
might as well be the last. Many more
will have to suffer,
many more will have to die. Don't ask me why,
things are not the way
they used to be. I won't tell no lies."
Natural Mystic, Bob Marley & the Wailers
Bob Marley is dead, but the lyrics he once sang with the Wailers live on,
reverberating in my head every time I click the shutter of my camera while
standing amidst the ruins of war. When I sit down and start typing on my
ancient laptop keyboard, writing stories of suffering and dying, Bob
Marley's ghost sits by my side and reminds me to tell no lies. I listen very
carefully.
Truth, the oft-mentioned first casualty of war, doesn't always die on the
battlefields--or in the newsrooms--of the world. Information about what
really happens to the victims of war, unfiltered by baneful politicians and
biased propagandists, is easy to obtain and report when covering a conflict
from the field. After being confronted by the reality of war, it isn't a
difficult task to search out and destroy the lies offered up by public
relations firms, desk-bound scribes or the natural mystics currently at work
in the White House.
* * *
The rubble has been removed from Kosovo, carted away and buried in the same
earth as the human victims of war.
Three years after the bombs stopped dropping from the sky, the destroyed
homes and shops owned by Albanians have been replaced by thousands of new
structures. Kosovo's re-building program has been very successful, providing
Albanians with housing that would satisfy wealthy arms merchants and retired
generals. As targets of both sides during the 1999 war between Yugoslavia
and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Albanians suffered and
lost throughout a conflict that lasted 78 days. Construction of the new
multi-story buildings has been an integral part of the international
community's efforts to restore dignity and respect, as well as shelter, to
the Albanian population of the Serbian province of Kosovo.
The only evidence of that terrible conflict visible in 2002 are the remnants
of the Serb and Roma communities and, unlike the 78 day plight and flight of
Albanian refugees in 1999, their conflict has lasted for more than one
thousand days. Only a small fraction of the pre-war ethnic minorities remain
in Kosovo, living in semi-protected enclaves where shelter is a luxury and
freedom is a fading memory. The Serbs and Roma live in small houses, crowded
apartments, sagging tents, bug-infested shacks and pre-fabricated boxes.
They also live in unrelieved fear of their Albanian neighbors, protected by
an international cadre of soldiers and police officers more often
interested, with a few heroic exceptions, in earning money than in providing
a safe and secure environment for Kosovo's ethnic minorities.
The Serbs and Roma are the human rubble of war.
* * *
A journalist writing for the Guardian (UK) newspaper recently visited
Kosovo. His report from Mitrovica was informative, included quotes from
officials and citizens, and didn't pull any punches when assessing the
situation in the volatile city located along the banks of the Ibar River.
"Almost three years after the end of the war in Kosovo, the United Nations
is being accused of failing in the province and effectively allowing it to
be split into separate Serb and Albanian entities," wrote the journalist. "A
report by the International Crisis Group, a respected political think tank,
says the UN has let the Serb government extend its grip on Serbian-speaking
areas of Kosovo, leading to its partition."
In other, more precise words, the journalist reported that the Serbs, after
being terrorized by the Kosovo Liberation Army in the years prior to the 78
day long bombing by NATO--and after having their lives and homes destroyed
in revenge attacks during the succeeding three years--are now being accused
of creating the enclaves where they are forced to live. Simply put, the
Serbs are responsible for building their own prisons.
This is Kosovo today. A land where murders, rapes, assaults, thefts and
contradictory opinions abound.
According to the Guardian journalist, the International Crisis Group blames
the Serb government for partitioning "Serb-speaking areas" of Kosovo. I can
confirm that representatives of the ICG are out and about, driving their
sparkling clean sports utility vehicles through Albanian-speaking areas of
Kosovo. But, as to their assertion concerning the "grip" held by the Serb
government, I can only report that the various nationalities that make up
the police and military forces in Kosovo do not include any Serbians. Except
for a few token Serb policemen--who would need to be protected if assigned
to walk a beat in Albanian neighborhoods--security in Kosovo is provided by
Albanians, Americans and other non Serb-speaking peoples.
During my visits to Kosovo, the only stranglehold that I have noticed is
that of the Albanians on the throats of the ethnic minority populations.
And, the ultimate partitioning of Kosovo is being accomplished, not by
Serbs, but by Albanian leaders who are proclaiming independence from the
weak and isolated Serb government. The ICG report was, undoubtedly,
researched and written by well-meaning people who want to see an end to the
injustice and violence in Kosovo. They just forgot to get out of their
vehicles and wade through the human rubble. The Albanians in Kosovo are no
longer an oppressed minority. They dominate the police and government,
control the press and, unbeknownst to the folks at the ICG, oppress the
Serbs and Roma. The Albanians are not in the grip of anything other than a
frenzy to gather money, dominion and friends.
* * *
Obilic is a dusty town west of Pristina. The towering chimneys of a power
station are the tallest structures in the valley where Obilic is located,
visible from miles away, dominating the landscape just as the Albanians now
dominate the power structure of Kosovo. A few Serbs--and one abandoned
Orthodox Christian Church--remain in the town, as yet unmolested, protected
by KFOR soldiers and UNMIK policemen. The only large concentrations of
ethnic minorities in Obilic live in refugee enclaves situated in the shadow
of the power station, and the smells emanating from the chimneys compete
with the odors of rotting garbage, dirty children and smoky fires.
The residents of the refugee enclaves include Roma men, women and children
who were cleansed from their homes during the war in Kosovo. The Roma live
in structures that could be described as shacks if they were constructed to
house humans. The shelters are pieced together from scraps of wood,
cardboard boxes and thin sheets of tin. The leaky roofs are held in place by
old automobile tires. Inside, the soot from wood-burning stoves stains
walls, ceilings and people. The floors are made of dirt in the dry areas,
and mud where water seeps in from the outside. The furniture consists of
wood boxesand, for those who can afford the luxury, filthy carpets.
Scott Taylor, a well-respected Canadian military affairs correspondent,
recently visited the refugee enclave near the Obilic power station. His
report from the field presented the current situation in Kosovo in a
different light than did the trumpeting of the International Crisis Group.
"The housing program also illustrates the vast discrepancy between the
allocation of funds to Albanian Kosovars and other ethnic minorities,"
stated Taylor in an article published in the Ottawa Citizen. "Throughout the
Albanian sectors 'monster' homes--many larger than 7,000 square feet--are
being built. Along the main roads are dozens of new hotels and service
centres, complete with car washes, supermarkets and cafes. By contrast,
inside the isolated minority enclaves there has been little
reconstruction..."
Scott Taylor walked through the squalor, and he talked with the people who
live in misery and despair. He got out of his vehicle and waded through the
human rubble. Taylor told no lies.
There is a natural mystic blowing in the air and, in Kosovo, it stinks worse
than the pollution spewed out from the belching chimneys at the Obilic power
station. It is a mystery to me as to why the International Crisis Group
could spend so much time and money on a report that completely reverses the
true situation in Kosovo but, as Bob Marley wailed, "things are not the way
they used to be."
James T. Phillips is a freelance reporter and photographer. He has covered
wars in Iraq, Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia. He can be reached at:
