* Brogli elettorali? Si, ma nella FYROM! (Italo Slavo)
* Impede the civil war which is being instigated by Kostunica and the
West (International Leninist Current)
* U.S./NATO STEAL YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS (International Action Center)
* Early Election Results: Big Defeat for U.S. Fifth Column Tactics
(Jared Israel)
* NATO Game-Plan: Destabilize Yugoslavia (George Szamuely)
* Pristina: Despite all, many stay true to Milosevic (L. Kleveman)
GRAVE IMBARAZZO NELLA NATO PER IL DOPO-ELEZIONI: KOSTUNICA E' PIU'
NAZIONALISTA DI MILOSEVIC, SE VINCE PER DAVVERO COME FACCIAMO A SPACCARE
LA FEDERAZIONE?
* Yugoslavia After Milosevic (LORD DAVID OWEN)
* KOSTUNICA NOT CLINTON ADMINISTRATION MAN (MARTIN SIEFF, UPI)
---
I BROGLI ELETTORALI VERI SONNO AVVENUTI NELLA
REPUBBLICA EX-JUGOSLAVIA DI MACEDONIA (FYROM),
ED INFATTI NESSUN GIORNALE NE PARLA.
La scorsa domenica 24/9, mentre nella vicina RF di Jugoslavia si
tenevano le elezioni, nella FYROM si sono nuovamente svolte le
consultazioni amministrative. Gia' contestate per la maniera in cui si
erano svolte due settimane prima, nella loro seconda tornata queste
consultazioni sono state nuovamente viziate da irregolarita' e brogli
evidenti, denunciati anche dagli osservatori dell'OSCE che pure hanno
dichiarato che l'atmosfera e' stata "un po' migliore" di quella
dell'occasione precedente, perche' stavolta non ci sarebbero stati
episodi di violenza...
Notoriamente pero' i mezzi di dis/informazione dei paesi occidentali
e la NATO in particolare non prestano attenzione ai brogli, alle
violenze, alle intimidazioni ed alle irregolarita' reali, preferendo
concentrarsi su quelle presunte che, a detta loro, avverrebbero in certi
paesi, ostili alle magnifiche sorti e progressive della globalizzazione
imperialista. Tra questi paesi c'e' anche la Repubblica Federale di
Jugoslavia, che UE e NATO non sono ancora riusciti a comprare, e cercano
allora di distruggere squartandola nelle sue residue componenti: Kosovo,
Montenegro, Vojvodina.
Pertanto, le nostre democraticissime anime belle non levano ne'
leveranno mai alcuna voce critica sul modo in cui le destre di governo
della FYROM - nazionalisti filobulgari, che controllano soprattutto la
parte orientale del paese, e mafiosi irredentisti pan-albanesi, che
controllano la parte occidentale -, ampiamente foraggiate proprio dalla
NATO, e gia' responsabili di brogli alle ultime elezioni politiche e
presidenziali, stanno devastando ogni prerogativa di democrazia nel
paese. D'altronde, l'attuale presidente Boris Trajkovski, anche in
qualita' di capo delle Forze armate, ha dichiarato il suo appoggio alla
entrata del paese nella NATO: il "Programma nazionale " del governo
macedone affermerebbe espicitamente le stesse intenzioni ("PROGRAM FOR
NATO MEMBERSHIP-CONFIRMATION OF MACEDONIA'S DETERMINATION", Fonte:
Macedonian Information Agency, 26.9.00).
Ecco perche' la NATO non solo non parla dei brogli nella FYROM, ma
viceversa li sollecita e li sostiene, cosi' come ha gia' fatto in
precedenza in Bosnia (nel 1996 i votanti hanno ampiamente superato il
100% degli aventi diritto), in Albania (per consentire l'ascesa di
Berisha al potere), in Montenegro (in occasione della elezione di
Djukanovic), In Ucraina (per le presidenziali all'inizio del 2000),
insomma in tutti i paesi dell'Europa centro-orientale che hanno bisogno
di una "spintarella" verso la svolta liberista ed atlantista. Non a caso
tali svolte sono sempre attuate dalle classi politiche piu'
nazionaliste, reazionarie, e sempre legate alla criminalita' mafiosa.
Italo Slavo
---
Subject: Impede the civil war which is being instigated by
Kostunica and the West
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 02:59:42 +0200
From: "ILC" <ilc@...>
The election campaign in Yugoslavia was accompanied by massive
interferences
of the West. They not only supported the opposition with a tremendous
amount
of money, promised the lifting of the vicious sanctions in case their
candidate will win, conducted a powerful media campaign around the globe
but
also exercised military threats against Yugoslavia by holding manoeuvres
in
Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria as well a deploying their navy to the
Adriatic
sea – let alone the political, economic and military aggression of the
past
ten years with the aim to destroy the resistance of the Yugoslavian and
Serbian people. In this sense and under these condition no free and fair
democratic election could be carried out.
We are not able to verify the correctness of the announced electoral
results, but what we indeed know is, that imperialism is manipulating
elections and organising frauds all around the world in order to keep
its
puppets in power. With its media machine they use to whitewash also the
most
notorious dictatorships like that of Fujimori in Peru. Therefore there
is no
reason to believe in the truth of their cries of fraud even more as
monitors
from all around the world (except the Nato aggressor counties) reported
the
elections to have been carried out without major irregularities.
The very fact that Kostunica and the bourgeois opposition is not willing
to
go to the second round of elections prove their fear of loosing them.
With
the support of their Western masters they have chosen to attack
boycotting
the elections, calling for a mass movement in the streets and for a
general
strike to bring down Milosevic. In this way they try to precipitate the
exhausted people into a bloody and fratricide civil war. Further
weakening
the country and its ability to resist to the New World Order a civil war
would be in the sole interest of imperialism and its local bourgeois
agents.
This shows the complicity of Kostunica with imperialism and Nato which
he
had been hiding behind a nationalist façade claiming to have been
against
the Nato war and in favour of the Serbian recuperation of Kosovo.
However,
his opposition block is composed of the most open and notorious Nato
puppets
like Djindjic. The real character of Kostunica has not only be
highlighted
by the paramount flow of finances for him but also by his advocacy and
support of the so-called G17 proposals that are nothing else than a
blueprint of the IMF, WTO and WB programme which will suck out the
country
in the same semi-colonial way as it is already taking place in Bulgaria
or
Russia. But even if Serbia will obey to the dictate of the New Order as
Kostunica is planning it this will not bring any help or relieve to the
Yugoslav masses shaken by the impact of the Western aggression. The goal
of
imperialism is to destroy Yugoslavia and Serbia as the main strategic
obstacle for their rule over and penetration into the Balkans.
It is true that Milosevic has led the country into a crisis. This is
expressed in the Dayton agreements (conceding big parts of Bosnia to
imperialism with the vane hope to therewith avoid a confrontation), in
the
corruption of the leading strata, in its enrichment by privatisations
and
last but not least in the dangerous confrontation of today: The
constitutional change in favour of a presidentialist system was a big
mistake and had to provoke the clash that could have been avoided by a
president elected by parliament. However, the social block in power
could
preserve Yugoslavia as an independent state opposed to the imperialist
New
World Order as well as some important social gains of the peasants,
workers
and the popular masses in general and the multinational character of the
society.
The clash between the bourgeois opposition and the governmental block of
SPS
is therefore at the same time both a confrontation between imperialism
and
an oppressed people as well as a class conflict. It is a continuation of
an
imperialist aggression already lasting for tens years but which could
not
reach its goal of the complete subjugation and destruction of Yugoslavia
and
Serbia – even not by the war of last year. The fact that Milosevic has
led
the struggle of the Yugoslav and Serbian masses into an impasse does not
change the progressive and anti-imperialist character of the popular
block
led by him.
The anti-imperialist, revolutionary and communist forces in Yugoslavia
and
around the world have to support those who:
· Impede the civil war being instigated by the Kostunica, the opposition
and
the West
· Defend the resistance and independence of Yugoslavia and Serbia
against
the Nato and its New World Order and strive for the full implementation
of
UN resolution 1244 and later the recuperation of Kosovo by Yugoslavia
· Stand for social justice and equality refusing the neo-liberal recipes
of
IMF, WTO and WB
· Secure the multinational character of Yugoslavia
while creating on this very base an independent popular movement.
Executive Committee of the ILC
Vienna, September 27, 2000
***************************************
International Leninist Current (ILC)
Corriente Leninista Internacional (CLI)
PF 23, A-1040 Wien, Austria
Tel & Fax +43 1 504 00 10
ilc@...
www.comports.com/ilc
www.antiimperialista.com
---
Subject: U.S./NATO STEAL YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 22:39:27 -0400
From: iacenter@...
U.S./NATO STEAL YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS--
Soft Money and Hard Threats
By Sara Flounders, Co-Director, International Action Center
September 27, 2000
On Sept. 26 the State Election Commission in Yugoslavia announced the
results of the Sept. 24 elections. The candidate backed by the U.S.
government and the European Union, Vojislav Kostunica, received 48
percent of the vote to President Slobodan Milosevic’s 40 percent.
Since neither candidate received more than 50 percent, a run-off
election has
been set for Oct. 8.
Kostunica’s immediate reaction was to reject participation in a run-off
election and demand that Milosevic concede defeat. Bill Clinton,
Britain’s
Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and other NATO leaders who bombed
Yugoslavia in 1999 also demanded Milosevic concede.
The first point for the whole international movement that opposed NATO
war against Yugoslavia to keep in mind is that the Yugoslav elections
were
not “free and fair.” Imperialism stole the election through its blatant
pressure,
bribery and interference.
The elections raise a vital question. Will Yugoslavia be turned over to
the
Western banks and corporations? Will the assets of industrial
enterprises be
broken up and sold off, as they have been in every other country in
Eastern
Europe, Russia and the former Soviet Republics? Will the majority of the
population be relegated to living below the poverty line?
The Sept. 24 elections involved three layers of voting. Besides the
presidential vote, there were also municipal elections, in which the
U.S.-
backed opposition won many cities and towns.
There was also an election for the Yugoslav Federal Parliament. The
coalition
of the United Left, the Socialist Party and the SP’s sister party in
Montenegro won a strong majority of both houses. In Montenegro it was
unopposed, as the pro-Western government abstained from the election.
Under Yugoslav law, Parliament has more rights than the president and
directs the government, electing the prime minister.
But a setback for Milosevic in the presidential election puts more at
risk than
the future of one individual. He was the main target of the war carried
out by
U.S. and NATO—the imperialist world powers—and because of that he has
come to symbolize Yugoslav resistance. In addition, he was at the center
of
the coalition of forces that led Yugoslavia during the 78 days of
bombing.
All the social gains of an independent country that had broken free of
imperialist enslavement and held out during years of encirclement and
war
are now endangered.
WESTERN INTERFERENCE DISTORTED ELECTION
In this election the U.S. and European Union governments used every
possible dirty trick, corrupt practice and payoff, and then bragged
about
them. Threats of bombing, promises to end nine years of sanctions,
intimidation and military maneuvers heightened the tension.
On election day the Pentagon and Croatia held their largest joint
military
exercises ever--a joint landing on an island in the Adriatic near
Montenegro,
part of Yugoslavia, to simulate an invasion. Fifteen British war ships
have
now moved into the Mediterranean. A U.S. aircraft carrier in the
Adriatic Sea
has moved closer to Montenegro.
The major media here—the New York Times on Sept. 20 and the Washington
Post on Sept. 19--have described in detail the exact amounts funneled
into
the opposition parties, radio and TV stations and newspapers. The U.S.
Congress publicly voted on $77 million in open interference. Then on
Sept.
25, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to send another $105
million to aid anti-Milosevic forces in Serbia and Montenegro.
These articles describe suitcases of cash handed over at the border,
endless
supplies of computers, fax machines, cell phones and the trainers to use
them. These goods have been passed to the opposition through front
organizations, NGOs and media outlets.
Weeks before the election, Western-funded polling organizations
announced
that Kostunica would win a sweeping victory. For the West’s media
monopoly beaming into Yugoslavia, there were only two options. Either
Milosevic would lose or there would be massive fraud.
The U.S. State Department announced that even if Milosevic won by
overwhelming odds, Washington would refuse to accept the results.
HOW SHOULD MOVEMENT EVALUATE THESE EVENTS?
Those who opposed NATO bombing in 1999 and all the militant activists
who have taken on the International Monetary Fund, World Bank,
globalization and sweatshops have a stake in what happens next in
Yugoslavia.
Are they ready to stand in solidarity with whatever steps are necessary
to
keep another country from being forced under the boot of the IMF and
World Bank?
Washington, London, Paris and Berlin have openly intervened and bragged
of it. In the face of these admissions, those in office in Yugoslavia
have
every right to void the elections and disqualify the opposition.
In the United States, France, Britain or Germany, would such an election
have
been allowed to continue? In the United States no political organization
is
permitted to accept funds from another government for political purposes
unless it publicly registers as an agent of a foreign power. The U.S.
ruling
class is determined that only it should control the electoral process.
Any U.S. politician found accepting contributions, bribes or payments of
any
kind from a foreign government is disgraced, attacked and could face
criminal
indictment.
Just the allegation that the Clinton administration accepted a
contribution
from an ethnically Chinese businessperson who might have had contact
with
China sent every politician running for cover.
CORRUPTION AND TREASON
It is important to recognize that the Yugoslav government has the moral
right
to nullify this election on the basis of outrageous outside
interference. It has
every right to refuse to proceed with further elections under conditions
of
war, sanctions and occupation.
The Parliament has every right to establish a criminal inquiry into the
funding
sources of the opposition. Government prosecutors have every right to
indict and jail the politicians and publications that have corrupted the
election process.
The masses have every right to go into the streets and denounce the
opposition parties and publications as agents of a foreign power.
Kostunica, until now a minor politician considered a Serb nationalist
with a
long history of anti-Communism, consistently maintains that he has not
accepted any money from the West. He has even criticized the NATO
bombing and sanctions. No Yugoslav politician could win significant
votes if
seen as a NATO stooge.
It may be true that he personally has not pocketed any money. But
Kostunica has surrounded himself with political parties and
organizations
that are toadies to the NATO countries. His whole campaign has been
publicized by radio and television stations and newspapers wholly and
openly financed by grants from Washington and Berlin.
He is supported by the U.S. and European imperialist powers because his
political program, even if it criticizes NATO, embraces the very
policies that
NATO is demanding. He is the easiest of the politicians to make into a
pawn
because he has no personal base. He is the candidate of a bloc of 18
small
feuding political parties that have no common interests or ideology.
They are
united only by opposition to the government and their willingness to
accept
foreign funds.
U.S. ENGINEERED COUPS AND COUNTERREVOLUTIONS
The big U.S. monopolies and banks and Washington itself have never
accepted an election as “free and fair” if it put their class interests
in danger
or brought the masses onto the scene. Since the end of World War II the
U.S. has organized the overthrow of more than 50 governments.
In Chile in 1973 the CIA organized a military coup to drown the
progressive
legally elected government in blood. It did the same in Iran in 1953 and
in
Guatemala in 1954.
In 1990 the U.S. orchestrated the overthrow of the Sandinistas in
Nicaragua.
Washington had cobbled together a 20-party coalition whose only aim was
to overthrow the government and restore the old propertied class. It
promised to end the “Contra” war and sanctions and provide massive aid
if
the popular Sandinistas were defeated.
In this situation, much like the one today in Yugoslavia, Washington
succeeded in manipulating the election to drive out the Sandinistas. But
the
U.S. never came through with the aid, and now some of the lowest-paid
sweatshops in the world operate in the “Free Trade Zones” of Nicaragua.
‘FREE ELECTIONS’ IN A COUNTRY UNDER SIEGE?
Yugoslavia, like Nicaragua, illustrates the dangers of holding an
election in
the midst of an unrelenting war, sanctions and occupation of part of the
country by foreign armies. With their dominance of the world media, the
lure
of material goods, the bribes and the threat of further punishment,
these
powers were able to reach right into the country.
President Milosevic was trying to get a mandate by calling a vote when
the
opposition seemed divided, weak, discredited. But the imperialists
quickly
strengthened them using tactics refined over decades of interventions.
Yugoslavia, a small, beleaguered country maneuvering to survive, has
allowed dozens of openly pro-imperialist parties to maintain offices,
staff,
publish newspapers, organize and to participate in elections. These
concessions have only further emboldened the enemies of the Yugoslav
workers.
Even though the imperialists complained that they were not allowed to
monitor the elections, hundreds of foreigners did come in as election
observers and certified that they were “free and fair”--that the
government
honestly and legally abided by all election procedures. But this shifted
attention from the actual fraud taking place: the massive intervention
and
intimidation by imperialism.
The political opposition was allowed to engage in practically
unrestrained
acceptance of foreign assistance, advice and media hype. The whole
process
was corrupted by an army of Western advisors and pollsters.
WILL U.S./NATO FORCES SUCCEED?
Reports from election observers and even the big-business media show
there
is a hard core of working-class support for Milosevic from those who see
him
as a defender of the country against NATO. Even among those who naively
voted for Kostunica out of anger against Milosevic, there are many who
want to resist Western imperialism.
The question facing the Yugoslav masses now is will the Western
multinationals, on the basis of this election distorted by intervention,
be able
to capture the state apparatus and open the door to super-exploitation?
Will the enemy that failed to break Yugoslavia’s resistance with 78 days
of
bombing be able to take over by manipulation of an election--or will the
government be able to resist?
If the left organizations and patriotic parties in Yugoslavia resist,
will the
progressive and working-class and anti-war movements in the West defend
them against an inevitable propaganda blitz from the West and a possible
new military campaign?
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
One contribution to this effort could be a Commission of Inquiry to
examine
the corrupting role that the U.S. government, the European Union, their
NATO military arm and their international financial organizations played
in
the Yugoslav election.
This Inquiry could gather and publicize information on these
institutions’
efforts to subvert and overthrow the Yugoslav government. It could also
gather information on the open and secret funding of political parties,
organizations and publications by U.S. government agencies.
The Inquiry could deepen international understanding of Yugoslavia’s
problem by incorporating testimony and reports on U.S. intervention in
the
internal affairs of other governments. This would include the overthrow
of
other popular governments in Guatemala, Panama, Chile, Iran and
Indonesia
and also intervention in elections in Italy, Haiti, Nicaragua, Guyana
and
others.
Activists in other NATO countries could organize their own Commissions
of
Inquiry and public hearings to examine how this latest intervention
violated
their laws. Similar information came to light earlier when hearings and
tribunals in many countries put U.S. and NATO leaders on trial for war
crimes
against Yugoslavia.
The importance of international solidarity should never be
underestimated.
Yugoslavia must not stand alone.
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: iacenter@...
web: www.iacenter.org
CHECK OUT THE NEW SITE www.mumia2000.org
phone: 212 633-6646
fax: 212 633-2889
---
Early Election Results: Big Defeat for U.S. Fifth Column Tactics
by Jared Israel (9-26-2000)
Below we have reprinted the preliminary Election Commission returns, as
posted by Tanjug, the Yugoslav news agency. The amazing thing is that
despite every sort of meddling, the U.S. has failed to bring down the
Yugoslav government. Indeed, the government coalition now has a majority
in
both houses of Parliament, which governYugoslavia.
This election has been quite something. Everyone admits that the
"democratic" opposition is massively funded by US government agencies.
The
only difference between this funding and what the CIA used to do in the
1950s, 1960s and 1970s is that in this case some of the funding is
open.
But some of it is not so open, with money smuggled into Yugoslavia in
suitcases full of cash.(1)
The U.S. has subjected the Yugoslav people to the most extreme kind of
intimidation. The 6th fleet is off the shore of Croatia conducting
"maneuvers". Remember, Yugoslavia has been subjected to attacks by the
U.S. and its allies and proxy forces for ten years, including 78 days of
bombing. So the people have reason to be concerned about the 6th fleet.
While holding this military stick over Yugoslav heads, the West has
promised to lift sanctions and embrace Yugoslavia, if only the Yugoslavs
get rid of Milosevich. This is a false promise. Several recent articles
on
Emperor's Clothes ( www.tenc.net ) deal with the punitive treatment
Yugoslavia could expect if the US government gets its local agents in
power.
Today, the US House of Representatives voted to give the "independent
democratic" opposition $105 MILLION to continue what the U.S. press is
now
calling its "populist" struggle. Not bad. They get to be populists plus
millions of dollars to line their pockets because note that this money
is
not going to solve the problems of ordinary Yugoslavs, it is going to
reward "democratic" opposition organizations and individuals. It is
bribe
money. The U.S. Establishment likes to get something for its bribes, in
this case political control.
$105 million is a lot of money in Yugoslavia. First of all, it's a
small
country with 1/25th of the U.S. population. And it is very poor,
compared
to the U.S. $150 (US) a month is an OK salary in Yugoslavia; you can
live
on $150 about as well as someone making about $2000 in the U.S.
So to get an idea of the effect of $105 million in U.S. terms, multiply
by
25 (for population) and 13.333 (for salary.) This means that in
equivalent
US dollars, Congress just voted to pay $35 BILLION to the "independent"
opposition.
So the U.S. government is holding out a big (though entirely deceptive)
carrot and a big stick. What a spirit of resistance, that under these
circumstances the Yugoslavs would give a majority of seats in both
houses
of Parliament to the parties the U.S .wants them to dump. This spirit of
resistance is what the U.S. and Germany have been trying to destroy for
ten
long years. Indeed, Germany has been trying to break the Serbian spirit
for
a hundred years, if not more.
Parliamentary Returns
The most important elections are those for the two houses of
Parliament.
There, the Government Coalition of the Socialist Party, the JUL and
Montenegrin SNP have gained an absolute majority in Parliament.
Presidential Returns Give Kostunica a Plurality, Requiring a Runoff
Election
In the Presidential race, the Election Commission returns give both
Milosevich and Kostunica under 40 and 48% respectively. Since both are
under 50%, a run-off is required.
But a run-off would be bad for the DOS. Milosevich will most likely
fare
better in a run-off than he did in round one. Why? For one thing, he
will
get most of the Radical Party vote. More important, many of the more
nationalist Serbs didn't vote in round one because they didn't want to
vote
for Milosevich, but they will vote for him in round two because they see
Kostunica's coalition as tied to the U.S. Kostunica's absolute numbers
may
go up, but his percentlocas of the total could well go down.
The U.S. has a problem. Even if Kostunica were to win the Presidential
vote, the government is controlled by Parliament, and Parliament is
solidly
in the hands of the Governing coalition. Therefore the US is using its
"democratic" opposition to try and destabilize the situation and bring
the
government down.
Djindjic Attacks Official Returns, Followed by Kostunica
At approximately 3:00 Eastern U.S. time Democratic Party leader Zoran
Djindjic publicly attacked the Election Commission returns, claiming
they
were false. He provided no evidence. This is consistent, of course.
Prior
to the elections, Djindjic and the State Department and Robin Cook and
every Western newsman assured us that Milosevich would "steal" the
elections, but never indicated how, so why provide evidence now that
"the
deed has been done"?
Djindjic said his coalition would demand to see the official returns
and
"compare them with ours, one by one if necessary" and that they would
reject a runoff because "we will respect the result that was registered
on
September 24." ('Reuters, 9-26-2000, 3.08 PM)
An hour later, the official candidate of the "democratic" coalition
spoke
up. Vojislav Kostunica followed Djindjic's lead, echoing the charges of
fraud and the refusal to participate in the runoff. ('Reuters,
9-26-2000,
4.10 PM)
Kostunica was picked to be the "democratic" coalition's candidate
because
he had not been discredited (like Mr. Djindjic) as an agent of the U.S.
government. But as we have pointed out, (2) Kostunica's character is not
the issue because Kostunica is not the master of his fate. He relies on
the
DOS coalition and various "democratic" organizations, like the Group of
17
economists. They in turn rely on the U.S. government. How can Kostunica
buck these forces? They have the U.S. money; they have the
organizations;
and they have the media. He has Kostunica and a tiny political party.
The Golden Rule: He Who Has the Gold Makes The Rules
The U.S. has given tens of millions of dollars to the "democratic"
opposition. Kostunica says he has taken none of this money. If this is
true, then Zoran Djindjic and the other "independent" democrats are
getting
it all. Djindjic has an organization able to smuggle cash across the
border
("in suitcases" according to the N.Y. Times) (1) And the G-17
economists, a
leading component of the US-funded opposition, has the ties to the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
So Zoran Djindjic speaks at 3pm and Vojislav Kostunica echoes him at 4.
There you have it: a small example but one that reflects the true
relation
of forces. Whatever Mr. Kostunica really is, whatever he really wants,
whatever he has convinced himself he is doing, he is only the tail. The
dog
is Zoran Djindjic, the G-17 economists, Vesna Pesic, Radio B292 and the
rest of the independent democratic civil society peace activist
opposition,
and they all work for the USA
(1) Here is the quote from the 'NY Times' on how "democratic"
opposition
money gets into Yugoslavia:
"The money from the West is going to most of the institutions
that the government attacks for receiving it - sometimes in
direct aid, sometimes in indirect aid like computers and
broadcasting equipment, and sometimes in suitcases of cash
carried across the border between Yugoslavia and Hungary
or Serbia and Montenegro. Most of those organizations and
news media could not exist without foreign aid."
('N.Y. Times', 9-20-2000.
For the complete 'N.Y. Times' story and a commentary from Emperor's
Clothes, see "'NY Times' Confirms Charge: U.S. Gov't Meddles in
Yugoslavia"
at http://emperors-clothes.com/news/erlang.htm
(2) See 'US ARROGANCE AND YUGSOLASV ELECTIONS' at
http://emperors-clothes.com/engl.htm
---
NATO Game-Plan: Destabilize Yugoslavia
by George Szamuely (9-27-2000)
It is entirely appropriate that US policymakers, their British parrots,
and
assorted NATO toadies are already debating the future course of
Yugoslavia.
Having first denounced last Sunday's elections as totally meaningless
since
they would inevitably be "stolen" by President Slobodan Milosevic, they
then turned around and decided, before any results had been announced,
that
Vojislav Kostunica had won outright on the first ballot. So much then
for
Milosevic's chicanery. NATO's high-fives at the election results are
reminiscent of the inane rejoicing that followed the end of the Kosovo
bombing last year. It had taken 11 weeks to defeat a tiny power like
Yugoslavia. And even then it was NATO that had to make the concessions,
not
Milosevic. Yet the Brits and the Americans celebrated, as if it were
VE-Day
all over again. The election results show a far from convincing win in
the
first round of voting for Kostunica, as well as a victory for the
Government coalition in the Yugoslav parliament. NATO claims
vindication.
But if it has indeed "won"-and this is by no means clear-then it is only
after a massive and unprecedented effort at
intimidation. The Serbs were first bribed to vote the "right" way-thus
the
proverbial "carrot". And if that failed to do the trick, there was the
threat of military action-the "stick".
It is hard to take any elections seriously under such circumstances.
How
can you cast a vote for the candidate of your choice if there is a
chance
of cruise missiles blowing up your home if you vote the "wrong" way? The
best NATO can boast is that it avoided total humiliation. Incidentally,
it
is meaningless to talk of NATO any longer-today it is nothing more than
an
echo chamber for yapping Pentagon and State Department officials, and
their
fierce little pups in London. Here is the glorious record of NATO
heroism:
$75 million from Washington to bankroll the Yugoslav opposition.
Millions
more to aid municipalities deemed not under Milosevic's control.
Millions
to line Montenegrin President Milo Djuakonovic's pockets. US and EU
promises to lift sanctions if Milosevic is voted out. Then there are the
threats: Any result other than a defeat for Milosevic will be considered
by
Washington to be the product of fraud. The US reserves the right to
intervene to prevent such a calamity.
Today, the United States is demanding that Milosevic steps down, even
though the Yugoslav Federal Electoral Commission is saying that
Kostunica
did not receive 50 percent of the vote. The US Government is accepting
without question the claims of the Democratic Opposition that Kostunica
won
55 percent to Milosevic's 35 percent. Yet these figures are not based on
any vote count, but on the reports of opposition poll watchers-hardly a
disinterested bunch of observers. There were no American observers at
the
polls. The Russians were there. They claim they witnessed no election
irregularities. Clearly, the orders emanating from Washington, and
relayed
through Budapest, is that the "opposition" take to the streets and
demand
Milosevic's resignation. Such protests could well elicit a violent
response. This, in turn, could be seized on by the United States as a
threat to the region, justifying military intervention. Alternatively,
the
"opposition" may be encouraged to boycott a run-off and establish a
Government in exile-perhaps in Podgorica. Such a Government would enjoy
diplomatic recognition and would in due course, act as a NATO stooge
urging
an invasion of Yugoslavia to remove the "illegitimate" Government in
Belgrade.
In the meantime, military threats are increasing. "We...need to make
sure
that Milosevic understands there is very substantial capacity in the
region"-thus British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook Britain has 15
warships
in the Mediterranean near Yugoslavia operating in two training groups.
They
are manned by 5,000 sailors, Royal Marines and aircrew. They include the
aircraft carrier Invincible, which carries Harrier jump-jet fighters,
the
destroyer HMS Liverpool, helicopter assault ship HMS Ocean, the
amphibious
assault ship HMS Fearless and 10 more ships including minesweepers, a
tanker, a store ship and Northumberland, a type-23 frigate. US and Croat
forces are holding joint naval exercises 150 miles northwest of
Montenegro.
They include a simulated Marine landing on an island in the Adriatic
Sea.
On September 28, Romania and Bulgaria are planning a joint exercise at
the
Romanian Danube port of Turnu Magurele. The plan includes the
construction
of a pontoon bridge across the Danube and the evacuation of the local
population.
On Monday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill authorizing
$500
million in financial aid for opposition groups in Yugoslavia. $500
million
is a huge amount of money in a country as small, impoverished and as
burdened by economic sanctions as Yugoslavia. Funds of this magnitude
cannot but corrupt the most virtuous of nations. Remember, this is a
Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which normally protests
foreign aid, debt relief, and handouts in general.
It is not hard to imagine what the future holds in store for
Yugoslavia.
Suppose the United States gets what it wants. Slobodan Milosevic steps
aside and Kostunica takes over. There is a peaceful transition, and both
the United States and the European Union lift sanctions as promised. In
no
time at all, the United States will demand the surrender of Milosevic to
The Hague. Indeed, it will be an election issue, with George W. Bush
baiting the Clinton Administration for being insufficiently zealous in
its
pursuit of Milosevic. Kostunica will probably refuse these demands. Soon
the media will fall into lockstep parroting the line that as long as
Milosevic is residing in Belgrade, he is the one who is really running
the
show. Every day journalists will be informing us that Kostunica is
nothing
more than Milosevic's puppet. Congress will then vote to cut off all
further funds to Yugoslavia. The EU will follow suit. At that point,
US-financed demonstrations will take place in Belgrade and other major
cities. The protesters will demand that Milosevic be handed over to the
Tribunal. If the US gets lucky, there will be some violence. At that
point,
Washington will summon Kostunica and tell him that he is jeopardizing
Balkan stability. If he wants to stay in power, he will have to play
ball
with the United States. Milosevic must be handed over. The Rambouillet
Accords will be put back on the table, along with Appendix B and the
referendum on Kosovo independence. And while we are at it, Vojvodina
will
have to be offered a "special" status.
One thing is for sure, the United States will not simply permit
Yugoslavia
to walk away and happily enjoy the prestige that comes from having
defied
the world's greatest powers for over 10 years. Yugoslavia will be made
to
pay.
www.tenc.net [Emperor's Clothes]
---
Despite all, many stay true to Milosevic
By LUTZ KLEVEMAN
PRISTINA, YUGOSLAVIA
Wednesday 27 September 2000
The many bars and cafes along the main road in Mitrovica, a drab
industrial
town in the north of Kosovo, were packed on Monday night with bearded
Serbs
watching the evening news from Belgrade. Many nodded in sombre
satisfaction
when the newsreader on RTS state television reported "a clear lead" for
President Slobodan Milosevic midway through the vote-counting. Mr
Milosevic may have sent their sons into four deadly wars, impoverished
them, beaten them and taken them hostage in an isolated pariah state,
but
that is not how millions of Serbs see his 13-year rule. Random exit
polls
in the "other" Serbia outside the opposition stronghold, Belgrade,
showed
widespread support for the Serb strongman, casting doubts on Western
beliefs that put Mr Milosevic's popularity down solely to propaganda and
fear.
"Of course I voted for Milosevic because he defends the freedom of our
country," said one voter leaving a polling station. The villain in the
people's mind is NATO, not Mr Milosevic. While the nationalist frenzy of
the early 1990s might be abating, Serbs are still deeply divided between
Western-oriented, mostly urban, democratic reformers and strong Slavic
do-it-alone patriots.
Members of the first camp feel that by bombing the country and imposing
economic sanctions, the West has not made life easier for them. "Nothing
has helped Milosevic and hurt the chances for democracy in Serbia more
than
the bombing," said Milan Samardzic, a student activist. Alexander Mitic,
a
Belgrade-based journalist, explained: "The experiences of the last 10
years, the wars and the poverty, have made Serbs a very fearful people.
They cling on to whatever seems a certainty - including Milosevic."
Serbs have become obsessed with even the most outlandish conspiracy
theories. A front-page story in one tabloid blamed Yugoslavia's
unusually
hot summer on NATO planes blowing away clouds with laser rays to torture
the population. The issue was sold out within hours. Even most Serbs in
Kosovo, who have felt the disastrous consequences of Mr Milosevic's
policies most painfully, still support him. Father Sava Janjic of the
Gracanica Monastery recalled: "He appeared like a savior to the Serbs in
Kosovo - and he still does, despite all."
-TELEGRAPH- Copyright © The Age Company Ltd 2000
******************************************************************
"The hardest problem to resolve may be Kosovo.
Mr. Kostunica will not find it easy to get his fellow Serbs to
accept independence for Kosovo -- yet the Albanians will settle
for nothing else. The key is to offer the Serbs territorial
compensation for the loss of Kosovo, and that means looking in a
wider Balkan context at the international borders that have not
won acceptance, and negotiating territorial adjustments to
achieve Balkan-wide stability."
September 26, 2000 - The Wall Street Journal
Yugoslavia After Milosevic
By David Owen.
The wisest course for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries
to
take in the immediate aftermath of the Yugoslav presidential elections
would be to refrain from pontificating and gesturing. If past form
serves
as a guide, such actions only make it more difficult for the Serbian
people
to bring about an end to the Milosevic regime. Instead, the West should
allow Vojislav Kostunica, the undoubted winner, to guide them on his
post-election strategy.
In Mr. Kostunica, at long last, we have a credible Serb leader. He is
too
nationalistic, inevitably, but was fortunately never a Communist. We
must
givehim the political leeway he needs to heal political wounds and bind
Serbia together.
Early today, the Milosevic government will go through the charade of
announcing the election
results, and the West will be certain to condemnthe inevitable rigging
of
the ballot. But the reactions of the Serbian people, and the strategies
they adoptin their struggle to oust Mr. Milosevic, are likely to be less
predictable.
The key, in the next few days and weeks, will be the loyaltiesof the
armed
forces, which could be broken by prolonged peaceful demonstrations. But
the
police force, which has been turned into a paramilitary body by Mr.
Milosevic, is unlikely to bend to demonstrators. They have been singled
out
by Mr. Milosevic for special treatment for more than a decade, and are
relatively well-paid and well-equipped. I would expect them to stay
loyal
to Mr. Milosevic. I fear they will, as usual, try to engender panic by
savagely attacking some demonstrators. A lot will depend on whether they
show more restraint than has hitherto been their wont.
Two months ago, Mr. Milosevic changed the constitution to have direct
elections for the Yugoslav presidency, scrapping the previous system of
indirect elections by the federal parliament.
He expected the opposition to remain divided. But he miscalculated, and
the
17 opposition parties came together to support Mr. Kostunica. The
Montenegrin government decided to boycott the election, leaving the
result
to be determined by Serbs, whether in Montenegro or in Serbia itself. In
United Nations-administered Kosovo, polling stations for the election
were
open, but there were few Serbs left to vote. The truth inYugoslavia for
many years has been that it doesn't matter who votes, but rather, who
counts the votes.
Why did the Milosevic regime highlight the constitutional provision that
a
new president would only take office next summer? It is almost certain
that
Mr. Milosevic considered the possibility that he might be defeated by
such
a large margin that even he would not be able to escape its message. In
such circumstances, it would be typical of him to aim to stay on for
another nine months in the belief that he could broker a graceful exit.
Mr. Milosevic is at his most inventive when cornered. He is, after all,
the
man who went to war with NATO well aware that all he could expect to do
was
to negotiate after a period of fighting. He knew the Yugoslav forces
could
not win, but he also knew that the Serb parliament would never have
accepted the terms of the Rambouillet accord.
The fact that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright advised President
Clinton that Mr. Milosevic would fold after a few days of bombing was a
testament to how little she understood Serbian intransigence. After 98
days
of bombing, Mr. Clinton negotiated a settlement with Russian involvement
under which -- in contrast to Rambouillet -- the U.N., not NATO,
administered Kosovo. Furthermore, NATO troops did not enter Kosovo
through
Serbia, and the provisions on returning indicted war criminals were
toned
down. Many of the Serb tank commanders rolled out of Kosovo still eager
to
have a go at NATO, but Mr. Milosevic judged it was better to keep his
armed
forces virtually intact. We in NATO were spared any casualties.
Apart from former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, I have probably spent
more hours negotiating with Mr. Milosevic than any other Western
politician. Everything is negotiable, but he will provoke a civil war
rather than end up facing trial for war crimes in The Hague.
I suspect that it will take all of Mr. Clinton's renowned political
instincts to script an exit for Mr. Milosevic, one in which a civil war
is
avoided in Montenegro, or in Serbia itself. The Serb president will
cling
to office like a limpet. Mr. Clinton would be well advised to consult
closely with Vladimir Putin. Moscow knows the Serb mindset far better
than
Washington.
The outlines of a settlement are not hard to discern. Mr. Milosevic has
to
accept that Mr. Kostunica has won the election, and that the latter must
become president soon. Mr. Kostunica has already said he will not send
Mr.
Milosevic to The Hague, and the West should have enough common sense not
to
push him on this point.
That does not require the Hague court to grant an amnesty, but it would
mean that NATO countries would refrain from applying sanctions against
the
Kostunica government if it were to allow Mr. Milosevic to stay on
Yugoslav
territory without being arrested. Perhaps the best solution would be for
Mr. Milosevic to be sent as Ambassador to the Yugoslav embassy in
Beijing.
China would not object.
In view of the massacre at Srebrenica, for which he bears personal
responsibility, I cannot see how the West can avoid demanding that Gen.
Ratko Mladic be sent to The Hague. Gen. Mladic, a hero of the Serbian
armed
forces, lives quite openly in Belgrade, and has been seen attending
soccer
matches in the city. His extradition would prove deeply unpopular with
the
army, so we may have to acquiesce in the existing head of the Yugoslav
armed forces, Gen. Nebojsa Pavkovic, being spared an international
trial.
Loud objections will be heard, of course, which assert that any
settlement
that does not involve Mr. Milosevic's head would be a sell-out. Yet the
price of peace in the Balkans may well be that high, though like most
people, it sticks in my gullet that Mr. Milosevic might escape trial.
Recovery could be quite quick in a new Yugoslavia, provided the West
really
does help in its reconstruction and that Mr. Milosevic does not
destabilize
the country. The hardest problem to resolve may be Kosovo. Mr. Kostunica
will not find it easy to get his fellow Serbs to accept independence for
Kosovo - yet the Albanians will settle for nothing else. The key is to
offer the Serbs territorial compensation for the loss of Kosovo, and
that
means looking in a wider Balkan context at the international borders
that
have not won acceptance, and negotiating territorial adjustments to
achieve
Balkan-wide stability.
(Lord Owen has served as Britain's foreign secretary and as the European
Union's peace envoy to Yugoslavia.)
---
"From the Clinton administration's point of view, the trouble
with Kostunica is precisely that he does appear to accurately
express the democratic aspirations of the Serbian people.
The only trouble is that they are not the aspirations that the
Clinton administration would like them to be."
Is that the reason Clinton Administration is doing everything to
save http://www.egroups.com/message/sorabia/8800 it's silent
partner who lost elections?
Or because Mr. Kostunica translated "The Federalist Papers"
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/federal/fed.htm into Serbian?
-----------------------------------------------------------
September 25, 2000
Analysis:
KOSTUNICA NOT CLINTON ADMINISTRATION MAN
By MARTIN SIEFF, UPI senior news analyst
UPI ANALYSIS Vojislav Kostunica's claimed success in the first
Round of the Yugoslav presidential election Sunday was an unpleasant
shock to both incumbent Slobodan Milosevic and the Clinton
administration, which is trying to topple him.
Kostunica's alliance of 18 opposition parties claimed Monday that he
was leading Milosevic - Serbia's ruler for the past 13 years - by a
landslide margin of 17 percent, 53 percent to 36 percent, across the
mountainous nation of 23 million people. Even his rivals, the
ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party, put him ahead by almost the
same margin, 53.5 percent to 37.9 percent.
Kostunica is the joker in the pack of Balkan politics. He is the far
from charismatic, unfashionable candidate whom neither Milosevic nor
the U.S. government took seriously at first and whose popularity
neither of them was prepared for.Milosevic was convinced that the
democratic opposition fostered by the U.S. government was so fractious,
disorganized and argumentative that no one in his country would take
them seriously. He was right.Milosevic also calculated that the
opposition activists favored by the Clinton administration would be
seen by most of the Serbian people as either traitors or nave puppets
of Washington who would sell their country into the hands of
the United States and its allies. These countries, in Serb eyes,
had showed their true colors by bombing Yugoslavia into submission last
year, Milosevic believed. He was right about that, too.
But what Milosevic never counted on was the challenge of an opponent
who would demand an end to confrontation with the West but also
condemn the NATO bombing of his country last year and the subsequent
occupation of Kosovo province by NATO forces to Milosevic's
ethnic-cleansing forces there.
Kostunica, a 56-year-old law professor at Belgrade University, did
All of that. And in so doing, he removed the only trump card Milosevic
had left to attract any genuine popular support -- the argument that he
and only he stood between the people of Serbia and the dissolution of
their state.
But Kostunica's rise has proven to be far from welcome to the Clinton
administration, especially to Secretary of State Madeleine K.
Albright.Albright has spearheaded the efforts to make an example of
Milosevic by having him handed over to the International Court of
Justice in The Hague, capital of the Netherlands, and tried there as a
war criminal. But Kostunica implacably opposes having Milosevic or any
other prominent Serb tried as a war criminal, no matter how terrible was
their conduct during the last nine years of conflict in the Fragmented
former communist federal state. He also regularly denounces the NATO
bombing of Yugoslavia last year as "criminal." And he flatly opposes
granting Kosovo province, with its more than 90 percent Albanian Muslim
majority, any independence from Orthodox Christian Serbia.
In many respects, if Kostunica does win, he will present the Clinton
administration - or its successor, whether Vice President Al Gore or
Texas Gov. George W Bush - with a far trickier problem than
Milosevic does.
U.S. leaders - Republican and Democrat alike - are now used to
attacking Milosevic as, if not a Hitler, then at least a Saddam
Hussein figure. They have made clear they hope that a pro-American
opposition candidate will eventually succeed him and agreed to
U.S.-mediated solutions to Bosnia and Kosovo.
But Kostunica is not pro-American.* He is as virulent a critic of
recent U.S. policies as Milosevic himself. And he has said he is
determined to not to give an inch on the Kosovo issue. Yet he had
nothing to do with Serbian ethnic-cleansing activities in Kosovo or
any previous acts of aggression, mass murder or ethnic-cleansing in
the 1991-95 Bosnia conflict.
He even opposes the operation of the ICJ in The Hague that U.S.
officials now believe is essential to serve as a deterrent to any
future European leaders who might contemplate such massive state
crimes.
>From Washington's point of view, a Kostunica victory would leave
Serbia under the control of a tough, implacable nationalist for
another political cycle and many more years to come.
It would derail U.S. hopes of negotiating a broad settlement to
Yugoslav issues on Washington's terms. And it would even remove
whatever optimism remained before that Milosevic was the only
obstacle to the desired U.S. outcome because he was standing in
the way of the democratic aspirations of his own people.
>From the Clinton administration's point of view, the trouble with
Kostunica is precisely that he does appear to accurately express the
democratic aspirations of the Serbian people.
The only trouble is that they are not the aspirations that the
Clinton administration would like them to be.
/fair use only/
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
* Impede the civil war which is being instigated by Kostunica and the
West (International Leninist Current)
* U.S./NATO STEAL YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS (International Action Center)
* Early Election Results: Big Defeat for U.S. Fifth Column Tactics
(Jared Israel)
* NATO Game-Plan: Destabilize Yugoslavia (George Szamuely)
* Pristina: Despite all, many stay true to Milosevic (L. Kleveman)
GRAVE IMBARAZZO NELLA NATO PER IL DOPO-ELEZIONI: KOSTUNICA E' PIU'
NAZIONALISTA DI MILOSEVIC, SE VINCE PER DAVVERO COME FACCIAMO A SPACCARE
LA FEDERAZIONE?
* Yugoslavia After Milosevic (LORD DAVID OWEN)
* KOSTUNICA NOT CLINTON ADMINISTRATION MAN (MARTIN SIEFF, UPI)
---
I BROGLI ELETTORALI VERI SONNO AVVENUTI NELLA
REPUBBLICA EX-JUGOSLAVIA DI MACEDONIA (FYROM),
ED INFATTI NESSUN GIORNALE NE PARLA.
La scorsa domenica 24/9, mentre nella vicina RF di Jugoslavia si
tenevano le elezioni, nella FYROM si sono nuovamente svolte le
consultazioni amministrative. Gia' contestate per la maniera in cui si
erano svolte due settimane prima, nella loro seconda tornata queste
consultazioni sono state nuovamente viziate da irregolarita' e brogli
evidenti, denunciati anche dagli osservatori dell'OSCE che pure hanno
dichiarato che l'atmosfera e' stata "un po' migliore" di quella
dell'occasione precedente, perche' stavolta non ci sarebbero stati
episodi di violenza...
Notoriamente pero' i mezzi di dis/informazione dei paesi occidentali
e la NATO in particolare non prestano attenzione ai brogli, alle
violenze, alle intimidazioni ed alle irregolarita' reali, preferendo
concentrarsi su quelle presunte che, a detta loro, avverrebbero in certi
paesi, ostili alle magnifiche sorti e progressive della globalizzazione
imperialista. Tra questi paesi c'e' anche la Repubblica Federale di
Jugoslavia, che UE e NATO non sono ancora riusciti a comprare, e cercano
allora di distruggere squartandola nelle sue residue componenti: Kosovo,
Montenegro, Vojvodina.
Pertanto, le nostre democraticissime anime belle non levano ne'
leveranno mai alcuna voce critica sul modo in cui le destre di governo
della FYROM - nazionalisti filobulgari, che controllano soprattutto la
parte orientale del paese, e mafiosi irredentisti pan-albanesi, che
controllano la parte occidentale -, ampiamente foraggiate proprio dalla
NATO, e gia' responsabili di brogli alle ultime elezioni politiche e
presidenziali, stanno devastando ogni prerogativa di democrazia nel
paese. D'altronde, l'attuale presidente Boris Trajkovski, anche in
qualita' di capo delle Forze armate, ha dichiarato il suo appoggio alla
entrata del paese nella NATO: il "Programma nazionale " del governo
macedone affermerebbe espicitamente le stesse intenzioni ("PROGRAM FOR
NATO MEMBERSHIP-CONFIRMATION OF MACEDONIA'S DETERMINATION", Fonte:
Macedonian Information Agency, 26.9.00).
Ecco perche' la NATO non solo non parla dei brogli nella FYROM, ma
viceversa li sollecita e li sostiene, cosi' come ha gia' fatto in
precedenza in Bosnia (nel 1996 i votanti hanno ampiamente superato il
100% degli aventi diritto), in Albania (per consentire l'ascesa di
Berisha al potere), in Montenegro (in occasione della elezione di
Djukanovic), In Ucraina (per le presidenziali all'inizio del 2000),
insomma in tutti i paesi dell'Europa centro-orientale che hanno bisogno
di una "spintarella" verso la svolta liberista ed atlantista. Non a caso
tali svolte sono sempre attuate dalle classi politiche piu'
nazionaliste, reazionarie, e sempre legate alla criminalita' mafiosa.
Italo Slavo
---
Subject: Impede the civil war which is being instigated by
Kostunica and the West
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 02:59:42 +0200
From: "ILC" <ilc@...>
The election campaign in Yugoslavia was accompanied by massive
interferences
of the West. They not only supported the opposition with a tremendous
amount
of money, promised the lifting of the vicious sanctions in case their
candidate will win, conducted a powerful media campaign around the globe
but
also exercised military threats against Yugoslavia by holding manoeuvres
in
Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria as well a deploying their navy to the
Adriatic
sea – let alone the political, economic and military aggression of the
past
ten years with the aim to destroy the resistance of the Yugoslavian and
Serbian people. In this sense and under these condition no free and fair
democratic election could be carried out.
We are not able to verify the correctness of the announced electoral
results, but what we indeed know is, that imperialism is manipulating
elections and organising frauds all around the world in order to keep
its
puppets in power. With its media machine they use to whitewash also the
most
notorious dictatorships like that of Fujimori in Peru. Therefore there
is no
reason to believe in the truth of their cries of fraud even more as
monitors
from all around the world (except the Nato aggressor counties) reported
the
elections to have been carried out without major irregularities.
The very fact that Kostunica and the bourgeois opposition is not willing
to
go to the second round of elections prove their fear of loosing them.
With
the support of their Western masters they have chosen to attack
boycotting
the elections, calling for a mass movement in the streets and for a
general
strike to bring down Milosevic. In this way they try to precipitate the
exhausted people into a bloody and fratricide civil war. Further
weakening
the country and its ability to resist to the New World Order a civil war
would be in the sole interest of imperialism and its local bourgeois
agents.
This shows the complicity of Kostunica with imperialism and Nato which
he
had been hiding behind a nationalist façade claiming to have been
against
the Nato war and in favour of the Serbian recuperation of Kosovo.
However,
his opposition block is composed of the most open and notorious Nato
puppets
like Djindjic. The real character of Kostunica has not only be
highlighted
by the paramount flow of finances for him but also by his advocacy and
support of the so-called G17 proposals that are nothing else than a
blueprint of the IMF, WTO and WB programme which will suck out the
country
in the same semi-colonial way as it is already taking place in Bulgaria
or
Russia. But even if Serbia will obey to the dictate of the New Order as
Kostunica is planning it this will not bring any help or relieve to the
Yugoslav masses shaken by the impact of the Western aggression. The goal
of
imperialism is to destroy Yugoslavia and Serbia as the main strategic
obstacle for their rule over and penetration into the Balkans.
It is true that Milosevic has led the country into a crisis. This is
expressed in the Dayton agreements (conceding big parts of Bosnia to
imperialism with the vane hope to therewith avoid a confrontation), in
the
corruption of the leading strata, in its enrichment by privatisations
and
last but not least in the dangerous confrontation of today: The
constitutional change in favour of a presidentialist system was a big
mistake and had to provoke the clash that could have been avoided by a
president elected by parliament. However, the social block in power
could
preserve Yugoslavia as an independent state opposed to the imperialist
New
World Order as well as some important social gains of the peasants,
workers
and the popular masses in general and the multinational character of the
society.
The clash between the bourgeois opposition and the governmental block of
SPS
is therefore at the same time both a confrontation between imperialism
and
an oppressed people as well as a class conflict. It is a continuation of
an
imperialist aggression already lasting for tens years but which could
not
reach its goal of the complete subjugation and destruction of Yugoslavia
and
Serbia – even not by the war of last year. The fact that Milosevic has
led
the struggle of the Yugoslav and Serbian masses into an impasse does not
change the progressive and anti-imperialist character of the popular
block
led by him.
The anti-imperialist, revolutionary and communist forces in Yugoslavia
and
around the world have to support those who:
· Impede the civil war being instigated by the Kostunica, the opposition
and
the West
· Defend the resistance and independence of Yugoslavia and Serbia
against
the Nato and its New World Order and strive for the full implementation
of
UN resolution 1244 and later the recuperation of Kosovo by Yugoslavia
· Stand for social justice and equality refusing the neo-liberal recipes
of
IMF, WTO and WB
· Secure the multinational character of Yugoslavia
while creating on this very base an independent popular movement.
Executive Committee of the ILC
Vienna, September 27, 2000
***************************************
International Leninist Current (ILC)
Corriente Leninista Internacional (CLI)
PF 23, A-1040 Wien, Austria
Tel & Fax +43 1 504 00 10
ilc@...
www.comports.com/ilc
www.antiimperialista.com
---
Subject: U.S./NATO STEAL YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 22:39:27 -0400
From: iacenter@...
U.S./NATO STEAL YUGOSLAV ELECTIONS--
Soft Money and Hard Threats
By Sara Flounders, Co-Director, International Action Center
September 27, 2000
On Sept. 26 the State Election Commission in Yugoslavia announced the
results of the Sept. 24 elections. The candidate backed by the U.S.
government and the European Union, Vojislav Kostunica, received 48
percent of the vote to President Slobodan Milosevic’s 40 percent.
Since neither candidate received more than 50 percent, a run-off
election has
been set for Oct. 8.
Kostunica’s immediate reaction was to reject participation in a run-off
election and demand that Milosevic concede defeat. Bill Clinton,
Britain’s
Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and other NATO leaders who bombed
Yugoslavia in 1999 also demanded Milosevic concede.
The first point for the whole international movement that opposed NATO
war against Yugoslavia to keep in mind is that the Yugoslav elections
were
not “free and fair.” Imperialism stole the election through its blatant
pressure,
bribery and interference.
The elections raise a vital question. Will Yugoslavia be turned over to
the
Western banks and corporations? Will the assets of industrial
enterprises be
broken up and sold off, as they have been in every other country in
Eastern
Europe, Russia and the former Soviet Republics? Will the majority of the
population be relegated to living below the poverty line?
The Sept. 24 elections involved three layers of voting. Besides the
presidential vote, there were also municipal elections, in which the
U.S.-
backed opposition won many cities and towns.
There was also an election for the Yugoslav Federal Parliament. The
coalition
of the United Left, the Socialist Party and the SP’s sister party in
Montenegro won a strong majority of both houses. In Montenegro it was
unopposed, as the pro-Western government abstained from the election.
Under Yugoslav law, Parliament has more rights than the president and
directs the government, electing the prime minister.
But a setback for Milosevic in the presidential election puts more at
risk than
the future of one individual. He was the main target of the war carried
out by
U.S. and NATO—the imperialist world powers—and because of that he has
come to symbolize Yugoslav resistance. In addition, he was at the center
of
the coalition of forces that led Yugoslavia during the 78 days of
bombing.
All the social gains of an independent country that had broken free of
imperialist enslavement and held out during years of encirclement and
war
are now endangered.
WESTERN INTERFERENCE DISTORTED ELECTION
In this election the U.S. and European Union governments used every
possible dirty trick, corrupt practice and payoff, and then bragged
about
them. Threats of bombing, promises to end nine years of sanctions,
intimidation and military maneuvers heightened the tension.
On election day the Pentagon and Croatia held their largest joint
military
exercises ever--a joint landing on an island in the Adriatic near
Montenegro,
part of Yugoslavia, to simulate an invasion. Fifteen British war ships
have
now moved into the Mediterranean. A U.S. aircraft carrier in the
Adriatic Sea
has moved closer to Montenegro.
The major media here—the New York Times on Sept. 20 and the Washington
Post on Sept. 19--have described in detail the exact amounts funneled
into
the opposition parties, radio and TV stations and newspapers. The U.S.
Congress publicly voted on $77 million in open interference. Then on
Sept.
25, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to send another $105
million to aid anti-Milosevic forces in Serbia and Montenegro.
These articles describe suitcases of cash handed over at the border,
endless
supplies of computers, fax machines, cell phones and the trainers to use
them. These goods have been passed to the opposition through front
organizations, NGOs and media outlets.
Weeks before the election, Western-funded polling organizations
announced
that Kostunica would win a sweeping victory. For the West’s media
monopoly beaming into Yugoslavia, there were only two options. Either
Milosevic would lose or there would be massive fraud.
The U.S. State Department announced that even if Milosevic won by
overwhelming odds, Washington would refuse to accept the results.
HOW SHOULD MOVEMENT EVALUATE THESE EVENTS?
Those who opposed NATO bombing in 1999 and all the militant activists
who have taken on the International Monetary Fund, World Bank,
globalization and sweatshops have a stake in what happens next in
Yugoslavia.
Are they ready to stand in solidarity with whatever steps are necessary
to
keep another country from being forced under the boot of the IMF and
World Bank?
Washington, London, Paris and Berlin have openly intervened and bragged
of it. In the face of these admissions, those in office in Yugoslavia
have
every right to void the elections and disqualify the opposition.
In the United States, France, Britain or Germany, would such an election
have
been allowed to continue? In the United States no political organization
is
permitted to accept funds from another government for political purposes
unless it publicly registers as an agent of a foreign power. The U.S.
ruling
class is determined that only it should control the electoral process.
Any U.S. politician found accepting contributions, bribes or payments of
any
kind from a foreign government is disgraced, attacked and could face
criminal
indictment.
Just the allegation that the Clinton administration accepted a
contribution
from an ethnically Chinese businessperson who might have had contact
with
China sent every politician running for cover.
CORRUPTION AND TREASON
It is important to recognize that the Yugoslav government has the moral
right
to nullify this election on the basis of outrageous outside
interference. It has
every right to refuse to proceed with further elections under conditions
of
war, sanctions and occupation.
The Parliament has every right to establish a criminal inquiry into the
funding
sources of the opposition. Government prosecutors have every right to
indict and jail the politicians and publications that have corrupted the
election process.
The masses have every right to go into the streets and denounce the
opposition parties and publications as agents of a foreign power.
Kostunica, until now a minor politician considered a Serb nationalist
with a
long history of anti-Communism, consistently maintains that he has not
accepted any money from the West. He has even criticized the NATO
bombing and sanctions. No Yugoslav politician could win significant
votes if
seen as a NATO stooge.
It may be true that he personally has not pocketed any money. But
Kostunica has surrounded himself with political parties and
organizations
that are toadies to the NATO countries. His whole campaign has been
publicized by radio and television stations and newspapers wholly and
openly financed by grants from Washington and Berlin.
He is supported by the U.S. and European imperialist powers because his
political program, even if it criticizes NATO, embraces the very
policies that
NATO is demanding. He is the easiest of the politicians to make into a
pawn
because he has no personal base. He is the candidate of a bloc of 18
small
feuding political parties that have no common interests or ideology.
They are
united only by opposition to the government and their willingness to
accept
foreign funds.
U.S. ENGINEERED COUPS AND COUNTERREVOLUTIONS
The big U.S. monopolies and banks and Washington itself have never
accepted an election as “free and fair” if it put their class interests
in danger
or brought the masses onto the scene. Since the end of World War II the
U.S. has organized the overthrow of more than 50 governments.
In Chile in 1973 the CIA organized a military coup to drown the
progressive
legally elected government in blood. It did the same in Iran in 1953 and
in
Guatemala in 1954.
In 1990 the U.S. orchestrated the overthrow of the Sandinistas in
Nicaragua.
Washington had cobbled together a 20-party coalition whose only aim was
to overthrow the government and restore the old propertied class. It
promised to end the “Contra” war and sanctions and provide massive aid
if
the popular Sandinistas were defeated.
In this situation, much like the one today in Yugoslavia, Washington
succeeded in manipulating the election to drive out the Sandinistas. But
the
U.S. never came through with the aid, and now some of the lowest-paid
sweatshops in the world operate in the “Free Trade Zones” of Nicaragua.
‘FREE ELECTIONS’ IN A COUNTRY UNDER SIEGE?
Yugoslavia, like Nicaragua, illustrates the dangers of holding an
election in
the midst of an unrelenting war, sanctions and occupation of part of the
country by foreign armies. With their dominance of the world media, the
lure
of material goods, the bribes and the threat of further punishment,
these
powers were able to reach right into the country.
President Milosevic was trying to get a mandate by calling a vote when
the
opposition seemed divided, weak, discredited. But the imperialists
quickly
strengthened them using tactics refined over decades of interventions.
Yugoslavia, a small, beleaguered country maneuvering to survive, has
allowed dozens of openly pro-imperialist parties to maintain offices,
staff,
publish newspapers, organize and to participate in elections. These
concessions have only further emboldened the enemies of the Yugoslav
workers.
Even though the imperialists complained that they were not allowed to
monitor the elections, hundreds of foreigners did come in as election
observers and certified that they were “free and fair”--that the
government
honestly and legally abided by all election procedures. But this shifted
attention from the actual fraud taking place: the massive intervention
and
intimidation by imperialism.
The political opposition was allowed to engage in practically
unrestrained
acceptance of foreign assistance, advice and media hype. The whole
process
was corrupted by an army of Western advisors and pollsters.
WILL U.S./NATO FORCES SUCCEED?
Reports from election observers and even the big-business media show
there
is a hard core of working-class support for Milosevic from those who see
him
as a defender of the country against NATO. Even among those who naively
voted for Kostunica out of anger against Milosevic, there are many who
want to resist Western imperialism.
The question facing the Yugoslav masses now is will the Western
multinationals, on the basis of this election distorted by intervention,
be able
to capture the state apparatus and open the door to super-exploitation?
Will the enemy that failed to break Yugoslavia’s resistance with 78 days
of
bombing be able to take over by manipulation of an election--or will the
government be able to resist?
If the left organizations and patriotic parties in Yugoslavia resist,
will the
progressive and working-class and anti-war movements in the West defend
them against an inevitable propaganda blitz from the West and a possible
new military campaign?
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
One contribution to this effort could be a Commission of Inquiry to
examine
the corrupting role that the U.S. government, the European Union, their
NATO military arm and their international financial organizations played
in
the Yugoslav election.
This Inquiry could gather and publicize information on these
institutions’
efforts to subvert and overthrow the Yugoslav government. It could also
gather information on the open and secret funding of political parties,
organizations and publications by U.S. government agencies.
The Inquiry could deepen international understanding of Yugoslavia’s
problem by incorporating testimony and reports on U.S. intervention in
the
internal affairs of other governments. This would include the overthrow
of
other popular governments in Guatemala, Panama, Chile, Iran and
Indonesia
and also intervention in elections in Italy, Haiti, Nicaragua, Guyana
and
others.
Activists in other NATO countries could organize their own Commissions
of
Inquiry and public hearings to examine how this latest intervention
violated
their laws. Similar information came to light earlier when hearings and
tribunals in many countries put U.S. and NATO leaders on trial for war
crimes
against Yugoslavia.
The importance of international solidarity should never be
underestimated.
Yugoslavia must not stand alone.
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: iacenter@...
web: www.iacenter.org
CHECK OUT THE NEW SITE www.mumia2000.org
phone: 212 633-6646
fax: 212 633-2889
---
Early Election Results: Big Defeat for U.S. Fifth Column Tactics
by Jared Israel (9-26-2000)
Below we have reprinted the preliminary Election Commission returns, as
posted by Tanjug, the Yugoslav news agency. The amazing thing is that
despite every sort of meddling, the U.S. has failed to bring down the
Yugoslav government. Indeed, the government coalition now has a majority
in
both houses of Parliament, which governYugoslavia.
This election has been quite something. Everyone admits that the
"democratic" opposition is massively funded by US government agencies.
The
only difference between this funding and what the CIA used to do in the
1950s, 1960s and 1970s is that in this case some of the funding is
open.
But some of it is not so open, with money smuggled into Yugoslavia in
suitcases full of cash.(1)
The U.S. has subjected the Yugoslav people to the most extreme kind of
intimidation. The 6th fleet is off the shore of Croatia conducting
"maneuvers". Remember, Yugoslavia has been subjected to attacks by the
U.S. and its allies and proxy forces for ten years, including 78 days of
bombing. So the people have reason to be concerned about the 6th fleet.
While holding this military stick over Yugoslav heads, the West has
promised to lift sanctions and embrace Yugoslavia, if only the Yugoslavs
get rid of Milosevich. This is a false promise. Several recent articles
on
Emperor's Clothes ( www.tenc.net ) deal with the punitive treatment
Yugoslavia could expect if the US government gets its local agents in
power.
Today, the US House of Representatives voted to give the "independent
democratic" opposition $105 MILLION to continue what the U.S. press is
now
calling its "populist" struggle. Not bad. They get to be populists plus
millions of dollars to line their pockets because note that this money
is
not going to solve the problems of ordinary Yugoslavs, it is going to
reward "democratic" opposition organizations and individuals. It is
bribe
money. The U.S. Establishment likes to get something for its bribes, in
this case political control.
$105 million is a lot of money in Yugoslavia. First of all, it's a
small
country with 1/25th of the U.S. population. And it is very poor,
compared
to the U.S. $150 (US) a month is an OK salary in Yugoslavia; you can
live
on $150 about as well as someone making about $2000 in the U.S.
So to get an idea of the effect of $105 million in U.S. terms, multiply
by
25 (for population) and 13.333 (for salary.) This means that in
equivalent
US dollars, Congress just voted to pay $35 BILLION to the "independent"
opposition.
So the U.S. government is holding out a big (though entirely deceptive)
carrot and a big stick. What a spirit of resistance, that under these
circumstances the Yugoslavs would give a majority of seats in both
houses
of Parliament to the parties the U.S .wants them to dump. This spirit of
resistance is what the U.S. and Germany have been trying to destroy for
ten
long years. Indeed, Germany has been trying to break the Serbian spirit
for
a hundred years, if not more.
Parliamentary Returns
The most important elections are those for the two houses of
Parliament.
There, the Government Coalition of the Socialist Party, the JUL and
Montenegrin SNP have gained an absolute majority in Parliament.
Presidential Returns Give Kostunica a Plurality, Requiring a Runoff
Election
In the Presidential race, the Election Commission returns give both
Milosevich and Kostunica under 40 and 48% respectively. Since both are
under 50%, a run-off is required.
But a run-off would be bad for the DOS. Milosevich will most likely
fare
better in a run-off than he did in round one. Why? For one thing, he
will
get most of the Radical Party vote. More important, many of the more
nationalist Serbs didn't vote in round one because they didn't want to
vote
for Milosevich, but they will vote for him in round two because they see
Kostunica's coalition as tied to the U.S. Kostunica's absolute numbers
may
go up, but his percentlocas of the total could well go down.
The U.S. has a problem. Even if Kostunica were to win the Presidential
vote, the government is controlled by Parliament, and Parliament is
solidly
in the hands of the Governing coalition. Therefore the US is using its
"democratic" opposition to try and destabilize the situation and bring
the
government down.
Djindjic Attacks Official Returns, Followed by Kostunica
At approximately 3:00 Eastern U.S. time Democratic Party leader Zoran
Djindjic publicly attacked the Election Commission returns, claiming
they
were false. He provided no evidence. This is consistent, of course.
Prior
to the elections, Djindjic and the State Department and Robin Cook and
every Western newsman assured us that Milosevich would "steal" the
elections, but never indicated how, so why provide evidence now that
"the
deed has been done"?
Djindjic said his coalition would demand to see the official returns
and
"compare them with ours, one by one if necessary" and that they would
reject a runoff because "we will respect the result that was registered
on
September 24." ('Reuters, 9-26-2000, 3.08 PM)
An hour later, the official candidate of the "democratic" coalition
spoke
up. Vojislav Kostunica followed Djindjic's lead, echoing the charges of
fraud and the refusal to participate in the runoff. ('Reuters,
9-26-2000,
4.10 PM)
Kostunica was picked to be the "democratic" coalition's candidate
because
he had not been discredited (like Mr. Djindjic) as an agent of the U.S.
government. But as we have pointed out, (2) Kostunica's character is not
the issue because Kostunica is not the master of his fate. He relies on
the
DOS coalition and various "democratic" organizations, like the Group of
17
economists. They in turn rely on the U.S. government. How can Kostunica
buck these forces? They have the U.S. money; they have the
organizations;
and they have the media. He has Kostunica and a tiny political party.
The Golden Rule: He Who Has the Gold Makes The Rules
The U.S. has given tens of millions of dollars to the "democratic"
opposition. Kostunica says he has taken none of this money. If this is
true, then Zoran Djindjic and the other "independent" democrats are
getting
it all. Djindjic has an organization able to smuggle cash across the
border
("in suitcases" according to the N.Y. Times) (1) And the G-17
economists, a
leading component of the US-funded opposition, has the ties to the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
So Zoran Djindjic speaks at 3pm and Vojislav Kostunica echoes him at 4.
There you have it: a small example but one that reflects the true
relation
of forces. Whatever Mr. Kostunica really is, whatever he really wants,
whatever he has convinced himself he is doing, he is only the tail. The
dog
is Zoran Djindjic, the G-17 economists, Vesna Pesic, Radio B292 and the
rest of the independent democratic civil society peace activist
opposition,
and they all work for the USA
(1) Here is the quote from the 'NY Times' on how "democratic"
opposition
money gets into Yugoslavia:
"The money from the West is going to most of the institutions
that the government attacks for receiving it - sometimes in
direct aid, sometimes in indirect aid like computers and
broadcasting equipment, and sometimes in suitcases of cash
carried across the border between Yugoslavia and Hungary
or Serbia and Montenegro. Most of those organizations and
news media could not exist without foreign aid."
('N.Y. Times', 9-20-2000.
For the complete 'N.Y. Times' story and a commentary from Emperor's
Clothes, see "'NY Times' Confirms Charge: U.S. Gov't Meddles in
Yugoslavia"
at http://emperors-clothes.com/news/erlang.htm
(2) See 'US ARROGANCE AND YUGSOLASV ELECTIONS' at
http://emperors-clothes.com/engl.htm
---
NATO Game-Plan: Destabilize Yugoslavia
by George Szamuely (9-27-2000)
It is entirely appropriate that US policymakers, their British parrots,
and
assorted NATO toadies are already debating the future course of
Yugoslavia.
Having first denounced last Sunday's elections as totally meaningless
since
they would inevitably be "stolen" by President Slobodan Milosevic, they
then turned around and decided, before any results had been announced,
that
Vojislav Kostunica had won outright on the first ballot. So much then
for
Milosevic's chicanery. NATO's high-fives at the election results are
reminiscent of the inane rejoicing that followed the end of the Kosovo
bombing last year. It had taken 11 weeks to defeat a tiny power like
Yugoslavia. And even then it was NATO that had to make the concessions,
not
Milosevic. Yet the Brits and the Americans celebrated, as if it were
VE-Day
all over again. The election results show a far from convincing win in
the
first round of voting for Kostunica, as well as a victory for the
Government coalition in the Yugoslav parliament. NATO claims
vindication.
But if it has indeed "won"-and this is by no means clear-then it is only
after a massive and unprecedented effort at
intimidation. The Serbs were first bribed to vote the "right" way-thus
the
proverbial "carrot". And if that failed to do the trick, there was the
threat of military action-the "stick".
It is hard to take any elections seriously under such circumstances.
How
can you cast a vote for the candidate of your choice if there is a
chance
of cruise missiles blowing up your home if you vote the "wrong" way? The
best NATO can boast is that it avoided total humiliation. Incidentally,
it
is meaningless to talk of NATO any longer-today it is nothing more than
an
echo chamber for yapping Pentagon and State Department officials, and
their
fierce little pups in London. Here is the glorious record of NATO
heroism:
$75 million from Washington to bankroll the Yugoslav opposition.
Millions
more to aid municipalities deemed not under Milosevic's control.
Millions
to line Montenegrin President Milo Djuakonovic's pockets. US and EU
promises to lift sanctions if Milosevic is voted out. Then there are the
threats: Any result other than a defeat for Milosevic will be considered
by
Washington to be the product of fraud. The US reserves the right to
intervene to prevent such a calamity.
Today, the United States is demanding that Milosevic steps down, even
though the Yugoslav Federal Electoral Commission is saying that
Kostunica
did not receive 50 percent of the vote. The US Government is accepting
without question the claims of the Democratic Opposition that Kostunica
won
55 percent to Milosevic's 35 percent. Yet these figures are not based on
any vote count, but on the reports of opposition poll watchers-hardly a
disinterested bunch of observers. There were no American observers at
the
polls. The Russians were there. They claim they witnessed no election
irregularities. Clearly, the orders emanating from Washington, and
relayed
through Budapest, is that the "opposition" take to the streets and
demand
Milosevic's resignation. Such protests could well elicit a violent
response. This, in turn, could be seized on by the United States as a
threat to the region, justifying military intervention. Alternatively,
the
"opposition" may be encouraged to boycott a run-off and establish a
Government in exile-perhaps in Podgorica. Such a Government would enjoy
diplomatic recognition and would in due course, act as a NATO stooge
urging
an invasion of Yugoslavia to remove the "illegitimate" Government in
Belgrade.
In the meantime, military threats are increasing. "We...need to make
sure
that Milosevic understands there is very substantial capacity in the
region"-thus British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook Britain has 15
warships
in the Mediterranean near Yugoslavia operating in two training groups.
They
are manned by 5,000 sailors, Royal Marines and aircrew. They include the
aircraft carrier Invincible, which carries Harrier jump-jet fighters,
the
destroyer HMS Liverpool, helicopter assault ship HMS Ocean, the
amphibious
assault ship HMS Fearless and 10 more ships including minesweepers, a
tanker, a store ship and Northumberland, a type-23 frigate. US and Croat
forces are holding joint naval exercises 150 miles northwest of
Montenegro.
They include a simulated Marine landing on an island in the Adriatic
Sea.
On September 28, Romania and Bulgaria are planning a joint exercise at
the
Romanian Danube port of Turnu Magurele. The plan includes the
construction
of a pontoon bridge across the Danube and the evacuation of the local
population.
On Monday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill authorizing
$500
million in financial aid for opposition groups in Yugoslavia. $500
million
is a huge amount of money in a country as small, impoverished and as
burdened by economic sanctions as Yugoslavia. Funds of this magnitude
cannot but corrupt the most virtuous of nations. Remember, this is a
Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which normally protests
foreign aid, debt relief, and handouts in general.
It is not hard to imagine what the future holds in store for
Yugoslavia.
Suppose the United States gets what it wants. Slobodan Milosevic steps
aside and Kostunica takes over. There is a peaceful transition, and both
the United States and the European Union lift sanctions as promised. In
no
time at all, the United States will demand the surrender of Milosevic to
The Hague. Indeed, it will be an election issue, with George W. Bush
baiting the Clinton Administration for being insufficiently zealous in
its
pursuit of Milosevic. Kostunica will probably refuse these demands. Soon
the media will fall into lockstep parroting the line that as long as
Milosevic is residing in Belgrade, he is the one who is really running
the
show. Every day journalists will be informing us that Kostunica is
nothing
more than Milosevic's puppet. Congress will then vote to cut off all
further funds to Yugoslavia. The EU will follow suit. At that point,
US-financed demonstrations will take place in Belgrade and other major
cities. The protesters will demand that Milosevic be handed over to the
Tribunal. If the US gets lucky, there will be some violence. At that
point,
Washington will summon Kostunica and tell him that he is jeopardizing
Balkan stability. If he wants to stay in power, he will have to play
ball
with the United States. Milosevic must be handed over. The Rambouillet
Accords will be put back on the table, along with Appendix B and the
referendum on Kosovo independence. And while we are at it, Vojvodina
will
have to be offered a "special" status.
One thing is for sure, the United States will not simply permit
Yugoslavia
to walk away and happily enjoy the prestige that comes from having
defied
the world's greatest powers for over 10 years. Yugoslavia will be made
to
pay.
www.tenc.net [Emperor's Clothes]
---
Despite all, many stay true to Milosevic
By LUTZ KLEVEMAN
PRISTINA, YUGOSLAVIA
Wednesday 27 September 2000
The many bars and cafes along the main road in Mitrovica, a drab
industrial
town in the north of Kosovo, were packed on Monday night with bearded
Serbs
watching the evening news from Belgrade. Many nodded in sombre
satisfaction
when the newsreader on RTS state television reported "a clear lead" for
President Slobodan Milosevic midway through the vote-counting. Mr
Milosevic may have sent their sons into four deadly wars, impoverished
them, beaten them and taken them hostage in an isolated pariah state,
but
that is not how millions of Serbs see his 13-year rule. Random exit
polls
in the "other" Serbia outside the opposition stronghold, Belgrade,
showed
widespread support for the Serb strongman, casting doubts on Western
beliefs that put Mr Milosevic's popularity down solely to propaganda and
fear.
"Of course I voted for Milosevic because he defends the freedom of our
country," said one voter leaving a polling station. The villain in the
people's mind is NATO, not Mr Milosevic. While the nationalist frenzy of
the early 1990s might be abating, Serbs are still deeply divided between
Western-oriented, mostly urban, democratic reformers and strong Slavic
do-it-alone patriots.
Members of the first camp feel that by bombing the country and imposing
economic sanctions, the West has not made life easier for them. "Nothing
has helped Milosevic and hurt the chances for democracy in Serbia more
than
the bombing," said Milan Samardzic, a student activist. Alexander Mitic,
a
Belgrade-based journalist, explained: "The experiences of the last 10
years, the wars and the poverty, have made Serbs a very fearful people.
They cling on to whatever seems a certainty - including Milosevic."
Serbs have become obsessed with even the most outlandish conspiracy
theories. A front-page story in one tabloid blamed Yugoslavia's
unusually
hot summer on NATO planes blowing away clouds with laser rays to torture
the population. The issue was sold out within hours. Even most Serbs in
Kosovo, who have felt the disastrous consequences of Mr Milosevic's
policies most painfully, still support him. Father Sava Janjic of the
Gracanica Monastery recalled: "He appeared like a savior to the Serbs in
Kosovo - and he still does, despite all."
-TELEGRAPH- Copyright © The Age Company Ltd 2000
******************************************************************
"The hardest problem to resolve may be Kosovo.
Mr. Kostunica will not find it easy to get his fellow Serbs to
accept independence for Kosovo -- yet the Albanians will settle
for nothing else. The key is to offer the Serbs territorial
compensation for the loss of Kosovo, and that means looking in a
wider Balkan context at the international borders that have not
won acceptance, and negotiating territorial adjustments to
achieve Balkan-wide stability."
September 26, 2000 - The Wall Street Journal
Yugoslavia After Milosevic
By David Owen.
The wisest course for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries
to
take in the immediate aftermath of the Yugoslav presidential elections
would be to refrain from pontificating and gesturing. If past form
serves
as a guide, such actions only make it more difficult for the Serbian
people
to bring about an end to the Milosevic regime. Instead, the West should
allow Vojislav Kostunica, the undoubted winner, to guide them on his
post-election strategy.
In Mr. Kostunica, at long last, we have a credible Serb leader. He is
too
nationalistic, inevitably, but was fortunately never a Communist. We
must
givehim the political leeway he needs to heal political wounds and bind
Serbia together.
Early today, the Milosevic government will go through the charade of
announcing the election
results, and the West will be certain to condemnthe inevitable rigging
of
the ballot. But the reactions of the Serbian people, and the strategies
they adoptin their struggle to oust Mr. Milosevic, are likely to be less
predictable.
The key, in the next few days and weeks, will be the loyaltiesof the
armed
forces, which could be broken by prolonged peaceful demonstrations. But
the
police force, which has been turned into a paramilitary body by Mr.
Milosevic, is unlikely to bend to demonstrators. They have been singled
out
by Mr. Milosevic for special treatment for more than a decade, and are
relatively well-paid and well-equipped. I would expect them to stay
loyal
to Mr. Milosevic. I fear they will, as usual, try to engender panic by
savagely attacking some demonstrators. A lot will depend on whether they
show more restraint than has hitherto been their wont.
Two months ago, Mr. Milosevic changed the constitution to have direct
elections for the Yugoslav presidency, scrapping the previous system of
indirect elections by the federal parliament.
He expected the opposition to remain divided. But he miscalculated, and
the
17 opposition parties came together to support Mr. Kostunica. The
Montenegrin government decided to boycott the election, leaving the
result
to be determined by Serbs, whether in Montenegro or in Serbia itself. In
United Nations-administered Kosovo, polling stations for the election
were
open, but there were few Serbs left to vote. The truth inYugoslavia for
many years has been that it doesn't matter who votes, but rather, who
counts the votes.
Why did the Milosevic regime highlight the constitutional provision that
a
new president would only take office next summer? It is almost certain
that
Mr. Milosevic considered the possibility that he might be defeated by
such
a large margin that even he would not be able to escape its message. In
such circumstances, it would be typical of him to aim to stay on for
another nine months in the belief that he could broker a graceful exit.
Mr. Milosevic is at his most inventive when cornered. He is, after all,
the
man who went to war with NATO well aware that all he could expect to do
was
to negotiate after a period of fighting. He knew the Yugoslav forces
could
not win, but he also knew that the Serb parliament would never have
accepted the terms of the Rambouillet accord.
The fact that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright advised President
Clinton that Mr. Milosevic would fold after a few days of bombing was a
testament to how little she understood Serbian intransigence. After 98
days
of bombing, Mr. Clinton negotiated a settlement with Russian involvement
under which -- in contrast to Rambouillet -- the U.N., not NATO,
administered Kosovo. Furthermore, NATO troops did not enter Kosovo
through
Serbia, and the provisions on returning indicted war criminals were
toned
down. Many of the Serb tank commanders rolled out of Kosovo still eager
to
have a go at NATO, but Mr. Milosevic judged it was better to keep his
armed
forces virtually intact. We in NATO were spared any casualties.
Apart from former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, I have probably spent
more hours negotiating with Mr. Milosevic than any other Western
politician. Everything is negotiable, but he will provoke a civil war
rather than end up facing trial for war crimes in The Hague.
I suspect that it will take all of Mr. Clinton's renowned political
instincts to script an exit for Mr. Milosevic, one in which a civil war
is
avoided in Montenegro, or in Serbia itself. The Serb president will
cling
to office like a limpet. Mr. Clinton would be well advised to consult
closely with Vladimir Putin. Moscow knows the Serb mindset far better
than
Washington.
The outlines of a settlement are not hard to discern. Mr. Milosevic has
to
accept that Mr. Kostunica has won the election, and that the latter must
become president soon. Mr. Kostunica has already said he will not send
Mr.
Milosevic to The Hague, and the West should have enough common sense not
to
push him on this point.
That does not require the Hague court to grant an amnesty, but it would
mean that NATO countries would refrain from applying sanctions against
the
Kostunica government if it were to allow Mr. Milosevic to stay on
Yugoslav
territory without being arrested. Perhaps the best solution would be for
Mr. Milosevic to be sent as Ambassador to the Yugoslav embassy in
Beijing.
China would not object.
In view of the massacre at Srebrenica, for which he bears personal
responsibility, I cannot see how the West can avoid demanding that Gen.
Ratko Mladic be sent to The Hague. Gen. Mladic, a hero of the Serbian
armed
forces, lives quite openly in Belgrade, and has been seen attending
soccer
matches in the city. His extradition would prove deeply unpopular with
the
army, so we may have to acquiesce in the existing head of the Yugoslav
armed forces, Gen. Nebojsa Pavkovic, being spared an international
trial.
Loud objections will be heard, of course, which assert that any
settlement
that does not involve Mr. Milosevic's head would be a sell-out. Yet the
price of peace in the Balkans may well be that high, though like most
people, it sticks in my gullet that Mr. Milosevic might escape trial.
Recovery could be quite quick in a new Yugoslavia, provided the West
really
does help in its reconstruction and that Mr. Milosevic does not
destabilize
the country. The hardest problem to resolve may be Kosovo. Mr. Kostunica
will not find it easy to get his fellow Serbs to accept independence for
Kosovo - yet the Albanians will settle for nothing else. The key is to
offer the Serbs territorial compensation for the loss of Kosovo, and
that
means looking in a wider Balkan context at the international borders
that
have not won acceptance, and negotiating territorial adjustments to
achieve
Balkan-wide stability.
(Lord Owen has served as Britain's foreign secretary and as the European
Union's peace envoy to Yugoslavia.)
---
"From the Clinton administration's point of view, the trouble
with Kostunica is precisely that he does appear to accurately
express the democratic aspirations of the Serbian people.
The only trouble is that they are not the aspirations that the
Clinton administration would like them to be."
Is that the reason Clinton Administration is doing everything to
save http://www.egroups.com/message/sorabia/8800 it's silent
partner who lost elections?
Or because Mr. Kostunica translated "The Federalist Papers"
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/federal/fed.htm into Serbian?
-----------------------------------------------------------
September 25, 2000
Analysis:
KOSTUNICA NOT CLINTON ADMINISTRATION MAN
By MARTIN SIEFF, UPI senior news analyst
UPI ANALYSIS Vojislav Kostunica's claimed success in the first
Round of the Yugoslav presidential election Sunday was an unpleasant
shock to both incumbent Slobodan Milosevic and the Clinton
administration, which is trying to topple him.
Kostunica's alliance of 18 opposition parties claimed Monday that he
was leading Milosevic - Serbia's ruler for the past 13 years - by a
landslide margin of 17 percent, 53 percent to 36 percent, across the
mountainous nation of 23 million people. Even his rivals, the
ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party, put him ahead by almost the
same margin, 53.5 percent to 37.9 percent.
Kostunica is the joker in the pack of Balkan politics. He is the far
from charismatic, unfashionable candidate whom neither Milosevic nor
the U.S. government took seriously at first and whose popularity
neither of them was prepared for.Milosevic was convinced that the
democratic opposition fostered by the U.S. government was so fractious,
disorganized and argumentative that no one in his country would take
them seriously. He was right.Milosevic also calculated that the
opposition activists favored by the Clinton administration would be
seen by most of the Serbian people as either traitors or nave puppets
of Washington who would sell their country into the hands of
the United States and its allies. These countries, in Serb eyes,
had showed their true colors by bombing Yugoslavia into submission last
year, Milosevic believed. He was right about that, too.
But what Milosevic never counted on was the challenge of an opponent
who would demand an end to confrontation with the West but also
condemn the NATO bombing of his country last year and the subsequent
occupation of Kosovo province by NATO forces to Milosevic's
ethnic-cleansing forces there.
Kostunica, a 56-year-old law professor at Belgrade University, did
All of that. And in so doing, he removed the only trump card Milosevic
had left to attract any genuine popular support -- the argument that he
and only he stood between the people of Serbia and the dissolution of
their state.
But Kostunica's rise has proven to be far from welcome to the Clinton
administration, especially to Secretary of State Madeleine K.
Albright.Albright has spearheaded the efforts to make an example of
Milosevic by having him handed over to the International Court of
Justice in The Hague, capital of the Netherlands, and tried there as a
war criminal. But Kostunica implacably opposes having Milosevic or any
other prominent Serb tried as a war criminal, no matter how terrible was
their conduct during the last nine years of conflict in the Fragmented
former communist federal state. He also regularly denounces the NATO
bombing of Yugoslavia last year as "criminal." And he flatly opposes
granting Kosovo province, with its more than 90 percent Albanian Muslim
majority, any independence from Orthodox Christian Serbia.
In many respects, if Kostunica does win, he will present the Clinton
administration - or its successor, whether Vice President Al Gore or
Texas Gov. George W Bush - with a far trickier problem than
Milosevic does.
U.S. leaders - Republican and Democrat alike - are now used to
attacking Milosevic as, if not a Hitler, then at least a Saddam
Hussein figure. They have made clear they hope that a pro-American
opposition candidate will eventually succeed him and agreed to
U.S.-mediated solutions to Bosnia and Kosovo.
But Kostunica is not pro-American.* He is as virulent a critic of
recent U.S. policies as Milosevic himself. And he has said he is
determined to not to give an inch on the Kosovo issue. Yet he had
nothing to do with Serbian ethnic-cleansing activities in Kosovo or
any previous acts of aggression, mass murder or ethnic-cleansing in
the 1991-95 Bosnia conflict.
He even opposes the operation of the ICJ in The Hague that U.S.
officials now believe is essential to serve as a deterrent to any
future European leaders who might contemplate such massive state
crimes.
>From Washington's point of view, a Kostunica victory would leave
Serbia under the control of a tough, implacable nationalist for
another political cycle and many more years to come.
It would derail U.S. hopes of negotiating a broad settlement to
Yugoslav issues on Washington's terms. And it would even remove
whatever optimism remained before that Milosevic was the only
obstacle to the desired U.S. outcome because he was standing in
the way of the democratic aspirations of his own people.
>From the Clinton administration's point of view, the trouble with
Kostunica is precisely that he does appear to accurately express the
democratic aspirations of the Serbian people.
The only trouble is that they are not the aspirations that the
Clinton administration would like them to be.
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