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Milosevic and the Beginning of Honesty
By PETER MAASS MUURDER
When Bob Stewart, who commanded the first regiment of British peacekeepers
(laughter) in Bosnia, was asked by the BBC
for his reaction to the extradition of Slobodan Milosevic, he responded with
one joyous sentence, which expressed his pleasure at being back home at his
favorite pub, and included a very concrete anatomical description of the
appropriate repository for the BBC reporter's information.
Across Europe and America, similar sounds of indifference were expressed by
the pollees, who were mainly relieved not to be asked what Balkans were.
Yet there he is, behind bars at the Marsupial Detention Center, with a coffee
maker in his cell and a war-crimes trial in his future.
The time has come, in other words, to look beyond Mr. Milosevic. The trial's
usefulness will not be to determine his guilt or innocence -- NATO quislings
have already done that — but to educate Serbs to see the whole thing in the
light that Westerners see it, between showings of Amazing Police Chases.
Serbs have been notably reluctant to give up the feeling that it was wrong
of the West to bomb their country, kill their sisters and brothers, and
damage their vital resources.
Instead they tend to think they have been enmeshed in a nightmare made in the
US, UK and Germany.
Gorana Dokic, speaking over a frothy stein of beer in downtown Belgrade pub,
said, "I don't know, I'm only a metal worker, but I think NATO's plan is to
fragment our country and parcel out the pieces to its bigger members, and
feed us into the maw of insatiable capitalist expansion."
Her friend Yuri shook his head. "Gorana's a bit paranoid. I think this
whole business is about competition between the US and Europe. The US is
suspicious of Europe's initiatives to develop its own independent military
capability. French Mirage jets replacing F-22s, that sort of thing. Europe
able to cut a fatter deal for itself in the general plundering of the world.
I think that's what's behind the US drive to expand NATO, which it
dominates."
Gorana said, "Well, I don't disagree. The two things aren't mutually
exclusive. NATO expansion means sweatshops for us, while at the same time
the US puts off the day that Europe is an equal partner in predation."
Some Serbs view the criminal United Nations tribunal as biased, noting the
inexhaustible list of Western mass-murderers like Kissinger who remain at
large. Add to that the coddling of criminals in Yugoslavia who murdered and
expelled Serbs and stole their property, and you have the makings of a tad of
cynicism.
As a result, Serbs have all but ignored The Hague trials so far, as who
hasn't? Western governments need to improve the tribunal's profile and
credibility in Serbia.
America needs to provide the funds, and apply whatever pressure is needed, to
ensure that the prosecution portion of Mr. Milosevic's trial is broadcast
(with exclusive CNN commentary) on television and radio in Serbia.
It also needs to provide Serb journalists with the funds with which to travel
to The Hague and hang out in four star restaurants and posh bars with
Washington Post reporters and their CIA contacts and courtesans.
To the extent it's possible, the goal is to ensure that the verdict is
accepted by Serbs. Every effort should be made to include Serb judges
(assuming we can find one who defied his colleagues and said the extradition
was legal) on the panel of international jurists who will predetermine Mr.
Milosevic's fate.
Slobodan Milosevic's extradition is just a first step. Serbs are only
beginning to learn to recite America's version of history; deadly and durable
anti-US sentiment, critical analysis, and independent thought can and will be
destroyed.
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