Features

Instead of Admitting the Truth about this Conflict,Our Leaders Have Constitently Lied to Us The Independent London April 5, 1999, Monday By Robert Fisk IT HAS all gone horribly wrong. Indeed, if the initial objectives are recalled, then we have already lost this war. And it is not only the tragedy of Biblical proportions on the Balkan mountainsides that proves the futility of what we have done. Nato, remember, was supposed to stand by the Rambouillet peace accords, force Slobodan Milosevic to accept limited autonomy for Kosovo and end the slaughter and “ethnic cleansing” of the Kosovo Albanians. Then Nato troops were to move into Kosovo in order to protect the Muslim Albanian and Serb populations. And what has happened? Rambouillet is in ashes. Serbia is refusing to budge after 13 days and nights of air raids. Those we pledged to protect are being driven from their homes in the...

Veran Matic Namera vazdusnih udara protiv Jugoslavije je navodno bila da se zaustavi Miloseviceva ratna masina. Krajni je cilj naizgled bio da se pomogne narodu Kosova a tako i onima u Srbiji koji su takodje bili zrtve Milosevicevog rezima. Medjutim, bombardovanje je ugrozilo zivote ukupno 10,5 miliona ljudi i omogucilo nesputani napad na tek stasale demokratske snage kako na Kosovu tako i u Srbiji. Njime je potkopan rad reformista u Crnoj Gori i u srpskom entitetu u Bosni i Hercegovini i ugrozeni su njihovi napori da ostvare mir. Bombardovanjem Jugoslavije iskazana je sva politicka nemoc predsednika SAD, Bila Klintona, i zapadnih saveznika da sprece humanitarnu katastrofu na Kosovu. Zastititi populaciju kojoj se preti svakako jeste plemenita duznost, ali zahteva jasnu strategiju i unapred utvrdjenu viziju o zavrsetku. S razvojem situacije i na terenu i u vazduhu iz dana u dan postaje sve jasnije da takve strategije jednostavno nema. Umesto nje,...

Veran Matic The air strikes against Yugoslavia were supposed to stop the Milosevic war machine. The ultimate goal is ostensibly to support the people of Kosovo, as well as those of Serbia, who are equally victims of the Milosevic regime. In fact the bombing has jeopardised the lives of 10.5 million people and unleashed an attack on the fledgling forces of democracy in Kosovo and Serbia. It has undermined the work of reformists in Montenegro and the Serbian entity of Bosnia-Herzegovina and their efforts to promote peace. The bombing of Yugoslavia demonstrates the political impotence of US President Bill Clinton and the Western alliance in averting a human catastrophe in Kosovo. The protection of a population under threat is a noble duty, but it requires a clear strategy and a coherent end game. As the situation unfolds on the ground and in the air day by day, it is becoming...

Kjell Magnussons skrift hör till det viktigaste somskrivits om krig och konflikter på Balkan “RAMBOUILLETAVTALET”Texten, förhandlingarna, bakgrundenAv: Kjell Magnusson.Current IssuesReports from Centre for Multiethnic Research Uppsala University. Av Sören Sommelius Kulturredaktör, Helsinborg Dagblad, TFF:s konfliktläkningsgrupp NATOs flyg gick till angrepp mot Jugoslavien för snart ett halvår sedan, den 24 mars, som inledning till 78 dagars bombkrig med stor materiell förödelse och långsiktiga destruktiva konsekvenser för fred och säkerhet i världen. Tusentals människor dödades. Först flydde och fördrevs bortät en miljon albaner genom serbisk vedergällning och bomber. Därefter flydde och fördrevs över 200.000 albaner och zigenare i albansk vedergällning.I dag är läget på Balkan betydligt värre än det var innan NATO började bomba. Utsikterna för en varaktig fred på Balkan är knappast ljusa. Anledningen till att NATO gick i krig var formellt att Jugoslavien vägrade skriva under det så kallade Rambouilletavtalet, ett 80-sidigt dokument, om vilket parterna förhandlade under februari på...

Heralded by the global media as a humanitarian peace-keeping mission, NATO’s ruthless bombing of Belgrade and Pristina goes far beyond the breach of international law. While Slobodan Milosevic is demonised, portrayed as a remorseless dictator, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) is upheld as a self-respecting nationalist movement struggling for the rights of ethnic Albanians. The truth of the matter is that the KLA is sustained by organised crime with the tacit approval of the United States and its allies.  Following a pattern set during the War in Bosnia, public opinion has been carefully misled. The multibillion dollar Balkans narcotics trade has played a crucial role in “financing the conflict” in Kosovo in accordance with Western economic, strategic and military objectives. Amply documented by European police files, acknowledged by numerous studies, the links of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) to criminal syndicates in Albania, Turkey and the European Union have been...

 Om Teknologisk fascisme En debatt mot Habermas Av Hans Ebbing* Krigen mot Jugoslavia representerer det fenomenet som filosofen Arild Haaland har kalla teknologisk fascisme. Det teknologiske overherredømet til USA og Vesten har sitt ideologiske uttrykk i ein teknologisk-kulturell arroganse. Denne arrogansen er det sentrale kjenneteiknet i alla former for fascisme: forakten for viekskap. I Filosofi i NATO Den kjende tyske filosofen, Juergen Habermas, har i kronikken Bestialitet og humanitet i Die Zeit og Bergens Tidende i mai 1999 gjort seg refleksjonar over krigen i Jugoslavia. Stykket er viktig fordi det er typisk for den måten mange intellektuelle og politikarar argumenterer på når dei skal rettferdiggjere NATO si bombing — anten dei har lest Habermas eller ikkje. Argumenta er symptomatiske for ein større, men løynd logikk som eg med filosofen Arild Haaland har kalla teknologisk fascisme. Habermas kunne etter 1 månads luftkrig gle seg over at den “offentlige diskusjonen og stemningen...

By Colonel David H. Hackworth, US Army-Retired* 26 January 1999 Troopers from U. S. Army units in Europe are sharpening their bayonets; U.S.Navy ships, on station in the Adriatic Sea, are prepping their Tomahawk missiles; and U.S. jet-jockeys in Europe are doing their pre-strike drills. Will Serbia’s Kosovo province be Bill Clinton’s next military quagmire? Will this primitive land which has nothing to do with America’s national securitybe our next Vietnam? Bosnia — just one of Clinton’s current tar pits — was supposed to be an in-and-out-and-over one-year commitment. Instead, we’re going on four. The Bosnian swamp’s already cost over 12 billion bucks and almost ruined three of our best heavy Army divisions, and there’s no end in sight. On the human side, there have been more than 100 U.S. casualties, from arms ripped off to broken bones and more than a dozen body bags filled. Kosovo promises to be...

Boston Research Center for the 21st Century* Be the heart of a network of global citizens. * Be a bridge for dialogue between civilizations. * Be a beacon lighting the way to a century of life. Boston Research Center (BRC) is an international peace institute founded in 1993 by Daisaku Ikeda, a Buddhist peace activist and President of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a religious association with members in 128 countries. Aiming toward the goal of a twenty-first century free of war, the Center fosters dialogue among scholars and activists on common values across religions and cultures. Human rights, nonviolence, ecological harmony, and economic security are focal points of the Center’s work. THE EARTH CHARTERDuring the BRC’s recently completed Religion & Ecology conference series, Steven Rockefeller, Professor of Religion at Middlebury College, presented an early draft of the Earth Charter&emdash;a kind of “people’s treaty” that sets forth principles on environmental conservation and...

in Kosovo-Albanian “ZËRI” in Pristina by Blerim Shala 1. DR. OBERG, HOW DO YOU EVALUATE THE PRESENT SITUATION IN KOSOVA, ESPECIALLY REGARDING THE OSCE OBSERVER MISSION WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO BE ESTABLISHED IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS? Compared with one or five years ago, the present situation is worse for all parties. Innocent civilians – about 10% of the Kosovo-Albanians and 10% of the Kosovo-Serbs – have lost their home, belongings, human rights and safety. No politician ever asked them and I am sure they did not want this to achieve any political goal. Second, Serbia/FRY has lost important parts of its control and sovereignty and it has more international interference than ever – what all Serbia was directed out to vote against just a few months ago. And the Albanians in Kosovo are worse off too – they no longer obtain the sympathy, solidarity and admiration for their nonviolent policies from...

To Finding Solutions Denis Halliday says destruction is not the way to deal with Iraq. A peaceful solution can come from recognising the roots of problems The Irish TimesDecember 19, 1998 Question: So, apart from speaking out and taking a moral stand, what do we do? That is a question I am asked frequently. Of course, there is no simple answer. However, we could start by controlling arms sales and build-up everywhere, including in the Middle East and in Iraq. I would support that 100 per cent. Meanwhile, drop the sanctions that are so devastating to the Iraqi people. For the longer term, we could recognise some of the root causes of the conflict between Kuwait and Iraq. Maybe we could acknowledge that Kuwait had been an integral part of Iraq for 3,000 years before some British cartographer carved it out for geopolitical reasons in the 1890s. We might recognise some...

By Robert Fisk The Independent WE ARE now in the endgame, the final bankruptcy of Western policy towards Iraq, the very last throw of the dice. We fire 200 cruise missiles into Iraq and what do we expect? Is a chastened Saddam Hussein going to emerge from his bunker to explain to us how sorry he is? Will he tell us how much he wants those nice UN inspectors to return to Baghdad to find his “weapons of mass destruction”? Is that what we think? Is that what the Anglo-American bombardment is all about? And if so, what happens afterwards? What happens when the missile attacks end – just before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, because, of course, we really are very sensitive about Iraqi religious feelings – and Saddam Hussein tells us that the UN inspectors will never be allowed to return? As the cruise missiles were launched,...

By Dana Priest THE WASHINGTON POSTMonday, December 14, 1998 Trencin, Slovakia — When the Slovak army wanted to create an elite rapid deployment battalion last year, an officer on the general staff walked down the stairs of the Soviet-era military headquarters here and into the office of three U.S. military advisers. Yes, the Americans said, they would arrange for soldiers from the United States to show Slovak field commanders how to organize the unit. No, they said, they would not equip it with U.S. sniper rifles. Although U.S. foreign policymakers kept the Slovak government at arm’s length for several years to show displeasure with the slow pace of democratic reforms, the U.S. military has been intimately involved in remaking the 42,000-strong Slovak army. In twos and threes, hundreds of American officers have come each year to help the Soviet-trained force shrink to an affordable size, decentralize decision-making, accept a rational budget...