From the Spanish weekly “Articulo 20” No. 30, of June 14, 1999, about the NATO bombing raids against Yugoslavia and the role of Americans inmaking all decisions.
By Jose Luis Morales
The pilots of Spanish planes who participated in bombing raids against Yugoslavia do not feel like “supermen” nor as masters of air space. Quite on the contrary, they say that our forces play to the tune of music played by the North Americans, and accuse NATO of having honoured with medals the bombing of civilian targets, what they otherwise name “collateral damages”.
Captain Adolfo Luis Martin de la Hoz, who returned to Spain end of May after having participated in the bombings since the beginning, an “authentic expert for the dreadful F-18”, the war plane most often used in the war strategy of “scorched land” in the Balkans, is very categoric: “First of all, I want to make it clear that the majority, I say the majority, of my colleagues, even if not all, are against the war in general and against this war of barbarity in particular.” Martin de la Hoz says that he and his colleagues “are burnt out”. “Since a few days ago there appeared in the papers certain statements of the commander Maches Michavilla, who is now in the air base at Aviano with the pilots who replaced us, in which he said that that our main helper in the air was the mental and physical health.
But I tell you that our worst enemies are our own authorities, the Defence Minister and all his team, the members of the Government, who know nothing about war and go along with it without informing themselves about anything and, what is gravest, are guilty of lying to the Spanish people through the papers, radio and television, foreign correspondents and press agencies.”
The suspicions that NATO’s repeated bombings of civilian victims and non-military targets are not the result of war “errors”, are confirmed by Captain Martin de la Hoz: “Several times our Colonel protested by NATO chiefs why they select targets which are not military targets. They threw him out with curses saying that we should know that the North Americans will lodge a complaint by the Spanish Army, once through Brussel and again by the Defence Minister. But there is more, and I want to tell it to the whole world: once there was a coded order of the North American military that we should drop anti-personnel bombs over the localities of Prishtine and Nish. The colonel refused it altogether and, a couple of days later, the transfer order came. But what I say now is nothing compared to what I shall have to say when the time comes.”
The Spanish military denounces that “the Spanish Government not only does not try to inform themselves but they also accept the false reports that are edited for them in Aviano, where there is a sort of military press cabinet in the hands of North American generals and functionaries. Ever since we arrived in Italy – the Captain goes on – there is no end to humiliations and insults. The order givers are only the North American generals, and no one else. We are zeroes, just as our replacements are going to be. But there is still more to that. Here they say that several operations were directed by Spanish commanders and pilots. Lies over lies. All the missions that we flew, all and each one, were planned by US high military authorities. Even more, they were all planned in detail, including attacking planes, targets and type of ammunition that we have to throw. We never directed anything, and our missions were limited to flying over the borders of Macedonia, Albani, Bosnia and Slovakia.”
Government’s lies
None of the pilots presently stationed at Aviano, who replaced those who went to the Italian base a little before the start of war, last March 23, were there with clean conscience, says the Spanish military. “It is being written to saturation that the disciplined and patriotic Spanish pilots according to Minister Eduardo Serra – are concentrating on the complexity of their war missions”. But we read so many discrepancies, so many lies that we agreed to not read a single newspaper until we return. Our anger is enormous. The President of the Government, the Minister of Foreign Affaires and the Defence Minister are lying brazenly each time they talk about the war. Some of us are of another opinion and believe they do not inform themselves, because the North Americans – the White House, the Pentagon, the CIA, the Embassy or military information service, whoever, do not inform them about anything. How should they inform themselves if our own Javier Solana has not informed himself since the war broke out? Solana is a puppet who has been put there by the Yankees to do what they tell him he has to do. And so he does, standing straight before General Clark when he talks to him, or better said, when he issues him the orders that he has to implement without delay.”
On the subject of manipulation of information about the war, Captain de la Hoz says that “no one has said anything about the incidents that took place in Aviano, about the disastrous maintenance of Spanish machines, about all, and about the constant humiliations to which we were subjected from the beginning. Not that we are cannon fodder. No. We are nothing. About the fatal accidents, the losses suffered without connection to combats, the contempt and sanctions, not a word. From no one!”
For the wrong selection of targets and humiliations the Spanish militaries are ever more certain that there is no alibi. “We know perfectly well that we are intervening in a conflict – says Martin de la Hoz – which is rejected by the majority of the Spanish people and this is most important for us. But what they do not say in any information, commentary or speech, is that the Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese … that we are there to cover up the North American generals who are dealing and wheeling in the war. There is no journalist who has any slightest idea what is happening in Yugoslavia.
They are destroying the country, bombing it with novel weapons, toxic nervous gases, surface mines dropped with parachute, bombs containing uranium, black napalm, sterilization chemicals, sprayings to poison the crops and weapons of which even we still do not know anything. The North Americans are committing there one of the biggest barbarities that can be committed against the humanity. Much and very bad things will be told in the future about what was happening there, because, by the way, judging by what we talked about with the British and German officers, it was designed in order to divide the Europeans and keep us subjected for many decades.
Therefore, Captain Martin de la Hoz is enraged when there are talks about the costs of the war. There should be no doubts, he confirms that the militaries detached in Aviano are receiving bonuses which “multiply by five our salary, without considering the daily expenses and other perquisites.
We could say that we should be satisfied with what this war means economically for each one of us, but it is not true, what they give us is the chocolate for the parrots. This war is going to cost the Spaniards more than all the money allocated for the culture in the last five years. And how, even if now no one says anything because of the elections, but it will come in a few months and will be felt in our pockets. Because this brutal solely Yankees’ war, no one’s but Yankees’, is going to be paid by all of us. Be sure that what I say is not to exculpate myself and to intone ‘mea culpa’ for having participated in it, because I will never be able to forget that what was being committed there was one the biggest savageries of history.”
© “Articulo 20” 1999
