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Date: Fri, 29 May 1998
To: •••@••.•••
From: •••@••.••• (Jan Slakov)
Subject: Kosovo article
Snezana V. (on bruna's list) sent me this. She suggests noting especially
the last two paragraphs.
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To: •••@••.•••
From: Snezana Vitorovich <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Good article on Kosovo.Note the last paragrath..
CHRONICLES: A Magazine of American Culture
Vol. 22, No. 5, May 1998, pages 5-6
Op-Ed: Dr. Srdja Trifkovic on Kosovo
Section: Cultural Revolutions
dictator's arrangements -- never freely negotiated, or voted upon by the
people concerned -- should be accepted as inviolable principles a quarter
of a century later is left unexplained.
After Kosovo becomes a federal republic, the Croatian/Bosnian
scenario for secession would be duly applied: the assembly in Pristina will
call a referendum on independence, with the result a forgone conclusion.
The proceedings will be eagerly ratified by the assorted worthies from the
"international community" and presto! -- another slice will be cut from the
Serbian salami, with the facade of legality maintained by the
powers-that-be inside the Beltway. If the Serbs try to resist, they will be
branded, yet again as "aggressors" against a new U.N. member. A greater
Albania will come into being without a single editorial writer ever using
the term, let alone considering its implications.
The Kosovo conflict has been brewing for some time. Down to the end
of the 19th century, the region was overwhelmingly Serbian, although
Turkish authorities had encouraged Albanian immigration -- and violence --
as a threat against an independent Serbia. Even down to World War II, the
Serbs were in the plurality, but Tito encouraged Albanian nationalism as
part of his divide-and-rule strategy against the Serbs.
The Albanians' savage and unremitting abuse of the Serb minority
attracted the attention of Slobodan Milosevic, who went to Kosovo and
promised the Serbs , "No one will ever beat you again." It was this stance
that marked the beginning of Milosevic's reputation as a Serb nationalist.
In the current conflict, however, Milosevic appears to be on board
the American ship. Whatever he does, he cannot risk offending the "only
remaining superpower." Milosevic depends on U.S. backing to preserve his
power in the remnant of Serbia.
As events unfold, he will present defeat to his long-suffering people as
victory, because the leader of the Kosovo Albanians, Ibrahim Rugova, will
temporarily muzzle his compromising demand for full independence in favor
of the federal status within Yugoslavia. But a few months later, when
Rugova follows the example of Tudjman in 1991 and Izetbegovic in 1992,
Milosevic's acceptance of the fait accompli will be justified by foreign
pressure. He and Albright need each other.
This clever ploy made in Foggy Bottom may cause a destabilizing
chain reaction throughout the Balkans. Its main victim will be the former
Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, where the restive Albanian minority
comprises a third of the total population( as opposed to only one-fifth in
Serbia ). Oddly enough, the United States supports Skopje's policy of
centralization, and does not object to the refusal of the government of
Kiro Gligorov to grant autonomous status to its Albanians. But by
encouraging Albanians next door in Serbia to strive for full independence,
the United States will have leashed a revolution of rising expectations
among Macedonia's Albanians that will be impossible to contain.
Quite apart from practical policy considerations, American
encouragement of Albanian intransigence in Serbia is flawed in principle.
If the Albanians are allowed full autonomy leading to secession on grounds
of their numbers (85 percent in Kosovo), will the same apply when the
Latinos in New Mexico or Texas eventually outnumber their Anglo neighbors
and start demanding full autonomy, or even secession?
If the principle of full territorial autonomy for minorities is
imposed on Serbia, will it not be demanded by the Hungarians in Rumania
(more numerous than Serbia's Albanians), the Russians in the Ukraine, or
the Kurds in Turkey? And finally, if action by Serbian police against armed
terrorists is condemned by Washington in the name of human rights and
moral principles, what will Washington's response be when the next Kurdish
village is razed by the Turkish army or the next Palestinian terrorist's
home is blown up by the Israeli Defense Force?
Srdja Trifkovic
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Date: Mon, 1 Jun 1998
From: Snezana Vitorovich <•••@••.•••> (by way of •••@••.••• (Bruna
Nota))
Subject: Nato used depleted uranium in Bosnia...
Dated : May 30, 1998 at 13:34:54
Subject: RADIOACTIVE NATO AMMUNITION, Radio YU, 5/30/98
RADIOACTIVE NATO AMMUNITION
Radio YU, 5/30/98
When bombing civilian targets in Republika Srpska, in the operations in
August and September 1993, NATO planes used ammunition filled with
hazardous uranium whose use is banned by numerous international conventions
and declarations on military law and war conduct, says a commentary of the
Tanjug news agency.
With this, those who issued the orders, the indirect and direct
participants in the bombing of Republika Srpska, violated numerous
principles of international military law and should answer for this.
Speaking to Tanjug's reporter, Yugoslav legal experts explained that the
Hague Tribunal's Statute envisages that all persons who have committed
criminal acts on the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991 answer
for their acts, regardless of their nationality. According to them, this
means that apart from citizens of the then Yugoslavia, criminal
responsibility cannot be avoided by citizens of other countries either,
including members of NATO, IFOR, SFOR and other international forces and
organizations if they violated principles of international law. The
violation of international declarations, which have also been signed by
states belonging to NATO whose planes bombed Republika Srpska, represents a
sound legal basis for the Belgrade Association of Serb Refugees from Bosnia
to raised charges against persons from 16 NATO member countries before the
Hague Tribunal. Yugoslav legal experts have recalled that radioactivity
does not differentiate between civilians and soldiers, between friends and
enemies, this also violating the foundations of international law. These
facts represent sufficient legal grounds for raising charges before the
international court of justice in The Hague. Let us recall that this same
radioactive ammunition was also used in US air raids against Iraq in the
Gulf war. Despite the recent statement by SFOR spokesman Peter Clark, that
the ammunition made of this type of uranium is not atomic weaponry, but
rather, like any other ammunition, is of minimal risk for the health, facts
indicate differently. Actually, a large number of soldiers who took part in
the Gulf war have the so-called Gulf syndrome, and the consequences are
visible even on their offspring conceived after their return from the
battlefield. For this reason, President Clinton has formed a Department for
the Gulf War Syndrome within the Pentagon. In Republika Srpska also, in the
air raided regions, registered has been an increased number of people who
have come down with or have died of malignant diseases, says the commentary
of the Tanjug news agency.
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