* LONDRA - BERKELEY: aggiornamenti sulle iniziative del 24 marzo
* LETTERE DAGLI STATI UNITI D'AMERICA
* UN QUESTIONARIO RISERVATO AI PILOTI USA...
* NUOVA ZELANDA: MOSTRA FOTOGRAFICA SUI CRIMINI DELLA NATO
---
LONDON (UK)
Committee for Peace in the Balkans
NEWS RELEASE, Wednesday 22 March 2000
EVENT: Friday 24th March, Commemorative Rally, 7pm at Friends House,
Euston Rd, London NW1
One year after NATO started bombing ? speak out against NATO war crimes
in Yugoslavia
On the first anniversary of NATO bombing
MPs CALL TO END SANCTIONS AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA
Alice Mahon MP will call for sanctions against Yugoslavia to be lifted
at a rally to mark the first
anniversary of NATO bombing this Friday evening, 24 March. On Monday 20
March Ms Mahon
returned from a delegation to Yugoslavia with colleague Bob
Marshall-Andrews QC MP. Ms
Mahon and Mr Marshall-Andrews are calling for a parliamentary debate on
the effect of
sanctions against Yugoslavia.
The two witnessed first hand some of the effect of sanctions on the
civilian population of
Yugoslavia, especially on refugees and the sick. Ms Mahon and Mr
Marshall-Andrews talked
with refugees from Kosovo, Bosnia and Croatia and met patients at the
Bazanijska Kosa hospital,
Belgrade, where they also learned from a group of cancer experts how
sanctions have seriously
undermined cancer prevention and the quality of care available to
sufferers.
Lack of parts means radiotherapy equipment doesn?t function. Drugs used
in chemotherapy are
unavailable. Severe shortages of x-ray film have significantly reduced
surgeons? capacity to carry
out operations and other surgical procedures.
Sanctions have taken their toll on cancer screening programmes. The
number of early detected
cancer cases has dropped from 35 per cent in 1990 prior to the
imposition of sanctions to 13 per
cent today ? with a predictable increase in cancer deaths. According to
the doctors they met,
compared to the rest of Europe, Serbia is now at the bottom of the
league table for five-year
survival rates for lung, breast, colon, rectum, prostate, testicular,
ovarian, stomach and cervical
cancer.
Ms Mahon and Mr Marshall-Andrews met representatives from the Red Cross
and the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, who confirmed that refugees were
amongst those
suffering most from sanctions. UNHCR representative Eduardo Arboleda
confirmed that a serious
shortage of funds hampered his work. ?One of the solutions? to the
problems of refugees, he said,
would be ?to take sanctions away?.
Alice Mahon MP said: ?Sanctions are placing an intolerable burden on the
800,000 or more
refugees of all nationalities now living in Yugoslavia and should be
lifted ? like the Bosnian mother
of two disabled children, we met, whose husband had died of a heart
attack, tragically and
unnecessarily young, because medical treatment was unavailable. This
family was living in one
tiny room in temporary accommodation and sharing washing and cooking
facilities with dozens of
other families.?
Bob Marshall-Andrews QC MP said: ?Whatever the rights and wrongs of the
conflicts in the
Balkans, the policy of sanctions is inflicting terrible punishment not
only on innocent people but
also upon those who have already suffered displacement and severe
deprivation as a result of
those conflicts. Serbia is a country of 10.million people now forced to
accommodate 8000,000
refugees. Even without sanctions this would place a unacceptable
economic and social strain on
this tiny country.?
For information: Committee for Peace in the Balkans c/o Alice Mahon MP,
House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA,
0171 275 0164, committee@...
More
follows?.
Notes to editors
FRIDAY 24TH MARCH, 7PM
Commemorative Rally
One year after NATO started bombing ?
Speak out against NATO war crimes in Yugoslavia
Friends Meeting House, Euston Road, London NW1
Speakers include:
Alice Mahon MP (chair Committee for Peace in the Balkans)
Tariq Ali (author and broadcaster)
Felicity Arbuthnot (journalist specialising in the effects of depleted
uranium weapons)
Michael Gavrilovic (British-Serbian Alliance for Peace)
Dave Knight (Chair, CND)
Philip Hammond (media analyst)
Jean Lambert MEP (Green Party)
Mark Steel (writer and broadcaster)
Followed by:
Candle-lit Vigil
9.30pm to 10.30pm
Downing Street
---
BERKELEY (USA)
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY
Peace and Conflict Studies Program (PACS) and
Balkan Information Project
KOSOVO, ONE YEAR LATER
INVITE YOU TO
PRESENTATIONS AND PANEL DISCUSSION:
CONSEQUENCES OF INTERVENTIONISM ON
THE FUTURE OF WESTERN DEMOCRACIES
with
Dr. Thomas Fleming
President of The Rockford Institute and Editor of
Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture
Ambassador James Bissett
Former Canadian ambassador in Yugoslavia
and
Dr. Srdja Trifkovic
Foreign Affairs Editor of Chronicles and Executive Director
of The Lord Byron Foundation for Balkan Studies
Thursday, March 23, 2000, 7-9 p.m.
22 Warren Hall, UC Berkeley Campus
(On Oxford St. close to the University Ave., Berkeley)
http://www.berkeley.edu/campus_map/maps/BC12.html
The speakers have recently visited Serbia and Montenegro
They will also introduce a new book - "KOSOVO UNDER NATO" -
a collection of essays to which each of them contributed a chapter
Free admission
For all information contact the Balkan Information Project at
bip@...
---
LETTERE DAGLI STATI UNITI
From: "J." (address-removed)@... Thu Mar 9
To: <webmaster@...>
Hello
My name is James. I'm a working class American living in the midwestern
=
US. I have been following the conflicts in your country for a while now
=
and I just wanted to let you know how I feel. I know that the Serbs =
probably hate the American people and I understand those feelings =
because if Serbians had done to the US what NATO has done to the Serbs I
=
would probably hate the Serbs too. But let me tell you this. Most hard =
working Americans know what is really going on in your country. We =
aren't fooled by the major media. We have seen too many times how the =
media twists the truth to justify the actions of the US government. In =
fact it makes me so angry that sometimes I feel like dropping everything
=
and flying to Serbia to fight for the Serbs. But I have a family here =
that I must feed and cannot do that. I am not some kind of radical. I am
=
a working class American and most of my friends and neighbors feel =
the same way I do. We love our country and our flag. But we hate the =
people who are in control of our government and who have mutilated our =
original constitution. If the founding fathers of the United States =
could be alive to witness what our current government has done to our =
country they would surely weep. I have no idea what the government's =
agenda is in this matter and they never tell us the truth so I may never
=
know. All I do know for certain is that the American public is being =
lied to, and the Serb people are being made to suffer.
In short, please donnot hold the actions of the US government against =
the US people. Most of us see through the lies and our thoughts and =
prayers are with the Serbs. If there is anything I can do that would =
help the Serbian cause I would be more than happy to do so. Send me a =
reply if possible.
Sincerely,
James
-
STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
Dear friends,
Today I received this letter from a American citizen (name and e-mail
known to me) with the subject: "I could not protect your children",
which shows one way of viewing recent events in Yugoslavia.
It is encouraging for me, and i think for all of you. Let's hope there
are many such US citizens which are still silent.
Here is the letter:
--------------------------------------
I am a US citizen. I am ashamed of what the US has done to the people
of Yugoslavia, the Roma people, The Albanian
people, the Serbian people, and to the land of Yugoslavia. I have
written my legislators, circulated petitions, organized
demonstrations, and engaged in sit-ins where demonstrators were
arrested. But it was not enough. For 78 days I could not
sleep at night. My children lay peacefully safe in their beds --- but
the children of Yugoslavia were in harms way -- because of
my country! I could not stand it. I could find no solace in the words
of my country's leaders. I could find no rationality in their
choices to bomb a tiny country of 11 million people, with all the might
of the United States. I cannot apologise enough -- I am
too ashamed to ask your forgiveness. My children are fed, warm, and
safe. I feel guilty I could not protect your children, who
are going without nourishing food, are suffering from the cold, and are
still in harms way.
The American people feel powerless to change the ways of our
politicians. We know that a great deal is wrong -- but many
are increasingly fearful of speaking out. To admit what is going on is
to be obligated to try to change it.
Rich corporations own all our politicians. War is healthy for their
profit margins. They give the orders and our politicians
mouth their evil lies-- to the American people, to the world, perhaps
even to themselves.
Our news is filled with the whitewash of their lies. There is no truth
in the news reports; only the latest slant on the ongoing
horror.
I weep for your children and your families. I also weep for my own
children -- though they are still fed and warm. But until
NATO is disbanded, none of our children are truly safe.
With much love and hope,
///////
--------------------
I replied:
Dear ///////,
Thank you for your sincere and brave words. They are support for me and
my family and all children of Serbia and Yugoslavia. Yes it was hard
time during the 78 days of bombing. Fortunately, we survived, but about
1.600 children was murdered and two times more adult civilians. And as
we can see NATO is again playing war games around our borders.
But thanks to our suffering the world find out what is NATO about and
how far it can go. I am sure that the resistance in the whole world is
rising against that superpower (as in your dear statement) and that NATO
will not live much longer.
There are anti-NATO movements even in USA, and they are growing every
day. I can see that by many mailing lists dedicated to eliminating that
violent power, and I receive daily very vise and argumented comment on
its stupid violence and injustice.
I am happy for your children's safety, and I wish all children of the
world would be happy and safe. That would be normal. And I hope that day
will come in few years, maybe decades. But the struggle is worth it.
Best wishes,
Andrej Tisma
HOMEPAGE: http://aaart.tripod.com/
WEBZINE: http://aaart.tripod.com/personal.htm
---
STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
A QUESTIONNAIRE - FOR THE NATO PILOTS ONLY
1. WE ARE BOMBING TELEVISION, RADIO AND
INTERNET STATIONS AND RE-LAYS BECAUSE:
a) we are teaching the Yugoslavs about the freedom of speach
b) we are showing the Yugoslavs what is real democracy
c) because we are true patriots-we like only american programs,
news,
movies and music
2. COLATERAL DAMAGES ARE
a) dead women and children
b) captured soldiers
c) who cares anyway if it's not me?
3. WE ARE KILLING CIVILIANS BECAUSE:
a) we are trying to deliver humanitarian help
b) we are giving them their human rights
c) because we are soldiers
4. WE ARE BOMBING YUGOSLAVIA
a) in order to kill all the Serbs
b) in order to kill all 25 nationalities living in Yugoslavia
beside
Albanians
c) we never ask ourselves that question
5. PRESIDENT CLINTON IS TRYING
a) to be rembembered in the world history not only as a sexual
maniac
and a great lier but as a draft-dodger who became a warrior
b) to start the World War III
c) to bring the peace to the Balkans and Europe
6. HOW WOULD YOU SPEND 20 BILIONS OF US DOLLARS
a) to feed the hugry and house the homeless in the USA
b) to cure AIDS and cancer patients in Africa
c) to run for President and then wipe off all the small countries
from the
face of the Earth
7. WE PILOTS ARE BRAVE BECAUSE
a) we bomb at night (and we are not afraid of the dark)
b) because we are very high up in the sky (we are not afraid of
heights)
c) because we fly very fast (and we also catapulte fast)
8. WE PILOTS ARE VERY SMART BECAUSE
a) we don't make mistakes
b) we don't ask questions
c) we were told so at home
9. WE GIVE THE INDIAN NAMES TO OUR ARMS AND
PLANES IN ORDER TO :
a) remember all the Indians killed by American soldiers
b) avoid the fact that the USA have no other suitably brave and
noble
names in history
c) we want people of the world to hate the
Indians, not us
10. YUGOSLAVIA IS :
a) in Albania
b) a sovereign European country
c) an American state fighting for independence
11. NATO IS:
a) a part of the USA marshall's office
b) World's peace-keeping force
c) Ms Albright's game toy
12. MILITARY HONOUR IS:
a) to be captured unharmed by serbian animals and then cry to the
mom on the
phone in front of TV cameras
b) to admit you have mistaken a tractor for a tank
c) never admit to have mistaken children on the playground for the
military ground forces
13. IF SOMEONE WAS BOMBING MY CHILDREN BACK
HOME AND SCARE THEM SHITLESS:
a) I would volunteer and fight back
b) I would hate those savages
c) I would thank them for saving our lives from our evil President
---
NUOVA ZELANDA
> PHOTO EXHIBITION OF NATO'S WAR CRIMES IN YUGOSLAVIA -1999
>
>
> The Peace Council of Aotearoa New Zealand officially opened a large
> exhibition of 420, A4 size, laminated coloured photographs depicting
> gruesome scenes of death and destruction from the bombing of Yugoslavia
> one-year ago.
>
> The opening began at 5.30pm on 6 March 2000 in Wellington. More than 90
> people attended and included members from several embassies. The display is
> the first of this scale anywhere in the world? It was arranged in several
> sections as detailed below. The photos, which were submitted to the
> International Court of Justice last year, were obtained from Yugoslav
> authorities and blown up.
>
>
>
> a.. The bombing of refugee columns and camps
>
>
> b.. The bombing of residential buildings, post offices, schools,
> graveyards…
>
>
> c.. The bombing of embassies
>
>
> d.. The bombing of medical facilities
>
>
> e.. The bombing of TV and radio stations, repeaters, relays…
>
>
> f.. Bombing of roads, bridges, railway lines, bus stations, civilian
> airports, buses, trains….
>
>
> g.. Bombing factories, farms, power plants, oil depots
>
>
> h.. Bombing of sport facilities
>
>
> i.. Bombing of prisons and correctional facilities
>
>
> Public reaction to the exhibition was extremely positive and offers of help
> forthcoming. Many people wept.
>
>
> On the following night of the opening national TV late News ran an interview
> and showed some of the photos. Speaking on behalf of the Peace Council,
> Sophia Kovachevich, said that innocent civilians were the victims of war.
> Surely, she said: "we are given the brains to find solutions to disputes
> other than war."
>
>
> Below is the speech delivered at the opening by the president of the Peace
> Council?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> SPEECH BY PRESIDENT OF THE PEACE COUNCIL OF AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND, JOHN
> URLICH, AT THE FACULTY OF LAW LECTURE THEATRE - 6 March 2000
>
> Welcome:
>
> Significance of the occasion: first anniversary of the NATO Bombing of
> Yugoslavia (FRY)
>
> Purpose of the Exhibition: To inform people of this city as to what really
> happened so as to comprehend the scale of the disaster caused by the bombing
> that killed some 5000 civilians in Serbia and 2000-3000 refugees and
> residents of Kosovo. Sophia and Branislav Kovachevich, members of the Peace
> Council, and Barney Richards, National Secretary, have coordinated the
> project.
>
> Evidence:
>
> a.. Written statements include that from former Prime Minister of
> Australia, Malcolm Fraser and the former Attorney General of the United
> States Ramsey Clark.
> b.. All the photos were obtained from the Yugoslav government that were
> originally published in NATO CRIMES IN YUGOSLAVIA VOLUMES 1& 11 submitted to
> the International Court of Justice in April 1999.
> c.. Reports from humanitarian organisations and forensic teams from a
> number of countries sent to Kosovo to find evidence of alleged mass killings
> by Serbs failed to do so.
> d.. The UK pilots and US admitted they dropped cluster bombs on civilians.
> By deciding that FRY should be bombed, the US assumed the role of world
> policeman, judge, jury and executioner and effectively sidelined the UN
> denying its obligations to the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of
> Human Rights and other international conventions.
>
> NATO's justification for bombing was to protect human rights and punishment
> for Fry's refusal to sign the Rambouillet ultimatum drafted by the US that
> would mean the surrender the sovereignty of Kosovo, contrary to
> international law. The same document gave NATO unrestricted access (and
> sovereignty) over the whole of FRY.
>
> What Human Right did NATO defend?
>
> Nato officials lied about their targeting. Nato bombing created the refugee
> problem as Albanians feared being the victims of its destruction and they
> feared retaliation by the Serbs from supporting the NATO bombing of its
> Army. The bombs destroyed an enormous amount of FRY's infrastructure
> including homes, industry, and schools, monasteries and facilities that left
> more than 50% of the people unemployed.
>
> What is the meaning of human rights?
>
> For centuries, Western colonial powers promoted a state ideology based on
> racism, exploitation, capitalism, totalitarianism and hegemony in the belief
> that might is right. For 1500 years religion in order to protect its power
> and privileges colluded with the state to impose its will on others and
> oppress the poor. The colonial nations should therefore be the last to speak
> of defending Human Rights.
>
> a.. The US as a colonial power, ruled the Philippines for 100 years paid
> little attention to Human Rights and left the country economically
> devastated.
> a.. The US assisted the Indonesian army coup in 1965 when 1 million were
> killed and the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in 1975 when 200, 000 East
> Timorese were killed by US trained special forces who also carried out the
> massacres in Dilhi in 1991 and in 1999 when the vote for independence was
> carried.
> b.. The US trained and supplied the security forces and death squads of
> the Contras in Central America, Columbia and Guatemala in the 80s, and
> Turkey's liquidation of the Kurds that created 2 million refugees and
> destroyed 2,200 villages.
> c.. Racial discrimination in the US against blacks is a blot on its human
> rights record.
> Some of the wars as examples of state and church ideology were:
>
> The Crusades, The Inquisition, The 30 years War, The Napoleonic Wars.
>
> Colonial powers shipped 3 million slaves from Africa. 1 million died in
> holding prisons before leaving and thousands died en-route.
>
> The America Civil War where 600, 000 people perished
>
> WW1 and WW2 where some 60 million perished
>
> The Korean, Viet Nam were some 6 million perished
>
> The Gulf War where the whole of Iraq's infrastructure was destroyed and the
> imposition of sanctions denies Iraq adequate medicines and food.
>
> The " Free Press" must share considerable blame for promoting state ideology
> through daily propaganda by 'labelling' and the use of euphemisms such as we
> are "fighting for democracy" and "human rights". They have demonised
> nation's leaders if they did not do our "allies" will. This has led to the
> US bombing 19 countries since WW2, some more than once.
>
> The bombing of FRY has set a dangerous precedent in international affairs and
> threatens the very existence of the United Nations upon which rests the
> hopes of humankind to promote peaceful resolutions.
>
>
>
> John Urlich
> Ph & Fax: ++64 4 9040011
>
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
* LETTERE DAGLI STATI UNITI D'AMERICA
* UN QUESTIONARIO RISERVATO AI PILOTI USA...
* NUOVA ZELANDA: MOSTRA FOTOGRAFICA SUI CRIMINI DELLA NATO
---
LONDON (UK)
Committee for Peace in the Balkans
NEWS RELEASE, Wednesday 22 March 2000
EVENT: Friday 24th March, Commemorative Rally, 7pm at Friends House,
Euston Rd, London NW1
One year after NATO started bombing ? speak out against NATO war crimes
in Yugoslavia
On the first anniversary of NATO bombing
MPs CALL TO END SANCTIONS AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA
Alice Mahon MP will call for sanctions against Yugoslavia to be lifted
at a rally to mark the first
anniversary of NATO bombing this Friday evening, 24 March. On Monday 20
March Ms Mahon
returned from a delegation to Yugoslavia with colleague Bob
Marshall-Andrews QC MP. Ms
Mahon and Mr Marshall-Andrews are calling for a parliamentary debate on
the effect of
sanctions against Yugoslavia.
The two witnessed first hand some of the effect of sanctions on the
civilian population of
Yugoslavia, especially on refugees and the sick. Ms Mahon and Mr
Marshall-Andrews talked
with refugees from Kosovo, Bosnia and Croatia and met patients at the
Bazanijska Kosa hospital,
Belgrade, where they also learned from a group of cancer experts how
sanctions have seriously
undermined cancer prevention and the quality of care available to
sufferers.
Lack of parts means radiotherapy equipment doesn?t function. Drugs used
in chemotherapy are
unavailable. Severe shortages of x-ray film have significantly reduced
surgeons? capacity to carry
out operations and other surgical procedures.
Sanctions have taken their toll on cancer screening programmes. The
number of early detected
cancer cases has dropped from 35 per cent in 1990 prior to the
imposition of sanctions to 13 per
cent today ? with a predictable increase in cancer deaths. According to
the doctors they met,
compared to the rest of Europe, Serbia is now at the bottom of the
league table for five-year
survival rates for lung, breast, colon, rectum, prostate, testicular,
ovarian, stomach and cervical
cancer.
Ms Mahon and Mr Marshall-Andrews met representatives from the Red Cross
and the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, who confirmed that refugees were
amongst those
suffering most from sanctions. UNHCR representative Eduardo Arboleda
confirmed that a serious
shortage of funds hampered his work. ?One of the solutions? to the
problems of refugees, he said,
would be ?to take sanctions away?.
Alice Mahon MP said: ?Sanctions are placing an intolerable burden on the
800,000 or more
refugees of all nationalities now living in Yugoslavia and should be
lifted ? like the Bosnian mother
of two disabled children, we met, whose husband had died of a heart
attack, tragically and
unnecessarily young, because medical treatment was unavailable. This
family was living in one
tiny room in temporary accommodation and sharing washing and cooking
facilities with dozens of
other families.?
Bob Marshall-Andrews QC MP said: ?Whatever the rights and wrongs of the
conflicts in the
Balkans, the policy of sanctions is inflicting terrible punishment not
only on innocent people but
also upon those who have already suffered displacement and severe
deprivation as a result of
those conflicts. Serbia is a country of 10.million people now forced to
accommodate 8000,000
refugees. Even without sanctions this would place a unacceptable
economic and social strain on
this tiny country.?
For information: Committee for Peace in the Balkans c/o Alice Mahon MP,
House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA,
0171 275 0164, committee@...
More
follows?.
Notes to editors
FRIDAY 24TH MARCH, 7PM
Commemorative Rally
One year after NATO started bombing ?
Speak out against NATO war crimes in Yugoslavia
Friends Meeting House, Euston Road, London NW1
Speakers include:
Alice Mahon MP (chair Committee for Peace in the Balkans)
Tariq Ali (author and broadcaster)
Felicity Arbuthnot (journalist specialising in the effects of depleted
uranium weapons)
Michael Gavrilovic (British-Serbian Alliance for Peace)
Dave Knight (Chair, CND)
Philip Hammond (media analyst)
Jean Lambert MEP (Green Party)
Mark Steel (writer and broadcaster)
Followed by:
Candle-lit Vigil
9.30pm to 10.30pm
Downing Street
---
BERKELEY (USA)
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY
Peace and Conflict Studies Program (PACS) and
Balkan Information Project
KOSOVO, ONE YEAR LATER
INVITE YOU TO
PRESENTATIONS AND PANEL DISCUSSION:
CONSEQUENCES OF INTERVENTIONISM ON
THE FUTURE OF WESTERN DEMOCRACIES
with
Dr. Thomas Fleming
President of The Rockford Institute and Editor of
Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture
Ambassador James Bissett
Former Canadian ambassador in Yugoslavia
and
Dr. Srdja Trifkovic
Foreign Affairs Editor of Chronicles and Executive Director
of The Lord Byron Foundation for Balkan Studies
Thursday, March 23, 2000, 7-9 p.m.
22 Warren Hall, UC Berkeley Campus
(On Oxford St. close to the University Ave., Berkeley)
http://www.berkeley.edu/campus_map/maps/BC12.html
The speakers have recently visited Serbia and Montenegro
They will also introduce a new book - "KOSOVO UNDER NATO" -
a collection of essays to which each of them contributed a chapter
Free admission
For all information contact the Balkan Information Project at
bip@...
---
LETTERE DAGLI STATI UNITI
From: "J." (address-removed)@... Thu Mar 9
To: <webmaster@...>
Hello
My name is James. I'm a working class American living in the midwestern
=
US. I have been following the conflicts in your country for a while now
=
and I just wanted to let you know how I feel. I know that the Serbs =
probably hate the American people and I understand those feelings =
because if Serbians had done to the US what NATO has done to the Serbs I
=
would probably hate the Serbs too. But let me tell you this. Most hard =
working Americans know what is really going on in your country. We =
aren't fooled by the major media. We have seen too many times how the =
media twists the truth to justify the actions of the US government. In =
fact it makes me so angry that sometimes I feel like dropping everything
=
and flying to Serbia to fight for the Serbs. But I have a family here =
that I must feed and cannot do that. I am not some kind of radical. I am
=
a working class American and most of my friends and neighbors feel =
the same way I do. We love our country and our flag. But we hate the =
people who are in control of our government and who have mutilated our =
original constitution. If the founding fathers of the United States =
could be alive to witness what our current government has done to our =
country they would surely weep. I have no idea what the government's =
agenda is in this matter and they never tell us the truth so I may never
=
know. All I do know for certain is that the American public is being =
lied to, and the Serb people are being made to suffer.
In short, please donnot hold the actions of the US government against =
the US people. Most of us see through the lies and our thoughts and =
prayers are with the Serbs. If there is anything I can do that would =
help the Serbian cause I would be more than happy to do so. Send me a =
reply if possible.
Sincerely,
James
-
STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
Dear friends,
Today I received this letter from a American citizen (name and e-mail
known to me) with the subject: "I could not protect your children",
which shows one way of viewing recent events in Yugoslavia.
It is encouraging for me, and i think for all of you. Let's hope there
are many such US citizens which are still silent.
Here is the letter:
--------------------------------------
I am a US citizen. I am ashamed of what the US has done to the people
of Yugoslavia, the Roma people, The Albanian
people, the Serbian people, and to the land of Yugoslavia. I have
written my legislators, circulated petitions, organized
demonstrations, and engaged in sit-ins where demonstrators were
arrested. But it was not enough. For 78 days I could not
sleep at night. My children lay peacefully safe in their beds --- but
the children of Yugoslavia were in harms way -- because of
my country! I could not stand it. I could find no solace in the words
of my country's leaders. I could find no rationality in their
choices to bomb a tiny country of 11 million people, with all the might
of the United States. I cannot apologise enough -- I am
too ashamed to ask your forgiveness. My children are fed, warm, and
safe. I feel guilty I could not protect your children, who
are going without nourishing food, are suffering from the cold, and are
still in harms way.
The American people feel powerless to change the ways of our
politicians. We know that a great deal is wrong -- but many
are increasingly fearful of speaking out. To admit what is going on is
to be obligated to try to change it.
Rich corporations own all our politicians. War is healthy for their
profit margins. They give the orders and our politicians
mouth their evil lies-- to the American people, to the world, perhaps
even to themselves.
Our news is filled with the whitewash of their lies. There is no truth
in the news reports; only the latest slant on the ongoing
horror.
I weep for your children and your families. I also weep for my own
children -- though they are still fed and warm. But until
NATO is disbanded, none of our children are truly safe.
With much love and hope,
///////
--------------------
I replied:
Dear ///////,
Thank you for your sincere and brave words. They are support for me and
my family and all children of Serbia and Yugoslavia. Yes it was hard
time during the 78 days of bombing. Fortunately, we survived, but about
1.600 children was murdered and two times more adult civilians. And as
we can see NATO is again playing war games around our borders.
But thanks to our suffering the world find out what is NATO about and
how far it can go. I am sure that the resistance in the whole world is
rising against that superpower (as in your dear statement) and that NATO
will not live much longer.
There are anti-NATO movements even in USA, and they are growing every
day. I can see that by many mailing lists dedicated to eliminating that
violent power, and I receive daily very vise and argumented comment on
its stupid violence and injustice.
I am happy for your children's safety, and I wish all children of the
world would be happy and safe. That would be normal. And I hope that day
will come in few years, maybe decades. But the struggle is worth it.
Best wishes,
Andrej Tisma
HOMEPAGE: http://aaart.tripod.com/
WEBZINE: http://aaart.tripod.com/personal.htm
---
STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
A QUESTIONNAIRE - FOR THE NATO PILOTS ONLY
1. WE ARE BOMBING TELEVISION, RADIO AND
INTERNET STATIONS AND RE-LAYS BECAUSE:
a) we are teaching the Yugoslavs about the freedom of speach
b) we are showing the Yugoslavs what is real democracy
c) because we are true patriots-we like only american programs,
news,
movies and music
2. COLATERAL DAMAGES ARE
a) dead women and children
b) captured soldiers
c) who cares anyway if it's not me?
3. WE ARE KILLING CIVILIANS BECAUSE:
a) we are trying to deliver humanitarian help
b) we are giving them their human rights
c) because we are soldiers
4. WE ARE BOMBING YUGOSLAVIA
a) in order to kill all the Serbs
b) in order to kill all 25 nationalities living in Yugoslavia
beside
Albanians
c) we never ask ourselves that question
5. PRESIDENT CLINTON IS TRYING
a) to be rembembered in the world history not only as a sexual
maniac
and a great lier but as a draft-dodger who became a warrior
b) to start the World War III
c) to bring the peace to the Balkans and Europe
6. HOW WOULD YOU SPEND 20 BILIONS OF US DOLLARS
a) to feed the hugry and house the homeless in the USA
b) to cure AIDS and cancer patients in Africa
c) to run for President and then wipe off all the small countries
from the
face of the Earth
7. WE PILOTS ARE BRAVE BECAUSE
a) we bomb at night (and we are not afraid of the dark)
b) because we are very high up in the sky (we are not afraid of
heights)
c) because we fly very fast (and we also catapulte fast)
8. WE PILOTS ARE VERY SMART BECAUSE
a) we don't make mistakes
b) we don't ask questions
c) we were told so at home
9. WE GIVE THE INDIAN NAMES TO OUR ARMS AND
PLANES IN ORDER TO :
a) remember all the Indians killed by American soldiers
b) avoid the fact that the USA have no other suitably brave and
noble
names in history
c) we want people of the world to hate the
Indians, not us
10. YUGOSLAVIA IS :
a) in Albania
b) a sovereign European country
c) an American state fighting for independence
11. NATO IS:
a) a part of the USA marshall's office
b) World's peace-keeping force
c) Ms Albright's game toy
12. MILITARY HONOUR IS:
a) to be captured unharmed by serbian animals and then cry to the
mom on the
phone in front of TV cameras
b) to admit you have mistaken a tractor for a tank
c) never admit to have mistaken children on the playground for the
military ground forces
13. IF SOMEONE WAS BOMBING MY CHILDREN BACK
HOME AND SCARE THEM SHITLESS:
a) I would volunteer and fight back
b) I would hate those savages
c) I would thank them for saving our lives from our evil President
---
NUOVA ZELANDA
> PHOTO EXHIBITION OF NATO'S WAR CRIMES IN YUGOSLAVIA -1999
>
>
> The Peace Council of Aotearoa New Zealand officially opened a large
> exhibition of 420, A4 size, laminated coloured photographs depicting
> gruesome scenes of death and destruction from the bombing of Yugoslavia
> one-year ago.
>
> The opening began at 5.30pm on 6 March 2000 in Wellington. More than 90
> people attended and included members from several embassies. The display is
> the first of this scale anywhere in the world? It was arranged in several
> sections as detailed below. The photos, which were submitted to the
> International Court of Justice last year, were obtained from Yugoslav
> authorities and blown up.
>
>
>
> a.. The bombing of refugee columns and camps
>
>
> b.. The bombing of residential buildings, post offices, schools,
> graveyards…
>
>
> c.. The bombing of embassies
>
>
> d.. The bombing of medical facilities
>
>
> e.. The bombing of TV and radio stations, repeaters, relays…
>
>
> f.. Bombing of roads, bridges, railway lines, bus stations, civilian
> airports, buses, trains….
>
>
> g.. Bombing factories, farms, power plants, oil depots
>
>
> h.. Bombing of sport facilities
>
>
> i.. Bombing of prisons and correctional facilities
>
>
> Public reaction to the exhibition was extremely positive and offers of help
> forthcoming. Many people wept.
>
>
> On the following night of the opening national TV late News ran an interview
> and showed some of the photos. Speaking on behalf of the Peace Council,
> Sophia Kovachevich, said that innocent civilians were the victims of war.
> Surely, she said: "we are given the brains to find solutions to disputes
> other than war."
>
>
> Below is the speech delivered at the opening by the president of the Peace
> Council?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> SPEECH BY PRESIDENT OF THE PEACE COUNCIL OF AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND, JOHN
> URLICH, AT THE FACULTY OF LAW LECTURE THEATRE - 6 March 2000
>
> Welcome:
>
> Significance of the occasion: first anniversary of the NATO Bombing of
> Yugoslavia (FRY)
>
> Purpose of the Exhibition: To inform people of this city as to what really
> happened so as to comprehend the scale of the disaster caused by the bombing
> that killed some 5000 civilians in Serbia and 2000-3000 refugees and
> residents of Kosovo. Sophia and Branislav Kovachevich, members of the Peace
> Council, and Barney Richards, National Secretary, have coordinated the
> project.
>
> Evidence:
>
> a.. Written statements include that from former Prime Minister of
> Australia, Malcolm Fraser and the former Attorney General of the United
> States Ramsey Clark.
> b.. All the photos were obtained from the Yugoslav government that were
> originally published in NATO CRIMES IN YUGOSLAVIA VOLUMES 1& 11 submitted to
> the International Court of Justice in April 1999.
> c.. Reports from humanitarian organisations and forensic teams from a
> number of countries sent to Kosovo to find evidence of alleged mass killings
> by Serbs failed to do so.
> d.. The UK pilots and US admitted they dropped cluster bombs on civilians.
> By deciding that FRY should be bombed, the US assumed the role of world
> policeman, judge, jury and executioner and effectively sidelined the UN
> denying its obligations to the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of
> Human Rights and other international conventions.
>
> NATO's justification for bombing was to protect human rights and punishment
> for Fry's refusal to sign the Rambouillet ultimatum drafted by the US that
> would mean the surrender the sovereignty of Kosovo, contrary to
> international law. The same document gave NATO unrestricted access (and
> sovereignty) over the whole of FRY.
>
> What Human Right did NATO defend?
>
> Nato officials lied about their targeting. Nato bombing created the refugee
> problem as Albanians feared being the victims of its destruction and they
> feared retaliation by the Serbs from supporting the NATO bombing of its
> Army. The bombs destroyed an enormous amount of FRY's infrastructure
> including homes, industry, and schools, monasteries and facilities that left
> more than 50% of the people unemployed.
>
> What is the meaning of human rights?
>
> For centuries, Western colonial powers promoted a state ideology based on
> racism, exploitation, capitalism, totalitarianism and hegemony in the belief
> that might is right. For 1500 years religion in order to protect its power
> and privileges colluded with the state to impose its will on others and
> oppress the poor. The colonial nations should therefore be the last to speak
> of defending Human Rights.
>
> a.. The US as a colonial power, ruled the Philippines for 100 years paid
> little attention to Human Rights and left the country economically
> devastated.
> a.. The US assisted the Indonesian army coup in 1965 when 1 million were
> killed and the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in 1975 when 200, 000 East
> Timorese were killed by US trained special forces who also carried out the
> massacres in Dilhi in 1991 and in 1999 when the vote for independence was
> carried.
> b.. The US trained and supplied the security forces and death squads of
> the Contras in Central America, Columbia and Guatemala in the 80s, and
> Turkey's liquidation of the Kurds that created 2 million refugees and
> destroyed 2,200 villages.
> c.. Racial discrimination in the US against blacks is a blot on its human
> rights record.
> Some of the wars as examples of state and church ideology were:
>
> The Crusades, The Inquisition, The 30 years War, The Napoleonic Wars.
>
> Colonial powers shipped 3 million slaves from Africa. 1 million died in
> holding prisons before leaving and thousands died en-route.
>
> The America Civil War where 600, 000 people perished
>
> WW1 and WW2 where some 60 million perished
>
> The Korean, Viet Nam were some 6 million perished
>
> The Gulf War where the whole of Iraq's infrastructure was destroyed and the
> imposition of sanctions denies Iraq adequate medicines and food.
>
> The " Free Press" must share considerable blame for promoting state ideology
> through daily propaganda by 'labelling' and the use of euphemisms such as we
> are "fighting for democracy" and "human rights". They have demonised
> nation's leaders if they did not do our "allies" will. This has led to the
> US bombing 19 countries since WW2, some more than once.
>
> The bombing of FRY has set a dangerous precedent in international affairs and
> threatens the very existence of the United Nations upon which rests the
> hopes of humankind to promote peaceful resolutions.
>
>
>
> John Urlich
> Ph & Fax: ++64 4 9040011
>
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------