Dear RN readers, June 6 First, I think it is important to point out that the bombings have NOT stopped (and if the Yugoslav war is like the Iraq war, who knows how many years it will be before they really come to an end). Other items pursue the themes of de-legitmizing war and not seeing the proposed capitulation/agreement as a "victory" and one item helps set the record straight about atrocities and war crimes in Kosovo. all the best, Jan *********************************************************************** Date: Sun, 6 Jun 1999 07:31:54 -0400 From: Eric Fawcett <•••@••.•••> Subject: s4p-95: Russian view of continued NATO war !!!Day 75 of the Illegal and thus Criminal NATO War against Yugoslavia!!! The Washington Post, Thursday, May 27, 1999; Page A39 "Impossible to Talk Peace With Bombs Falling" By Viktor Chernomyrdin, a former prime minister of Russia, President Boris Yeltsin's special envoy for Kosovo. I deem it necessary to express my opinion on the Kosovo situation as the warfare escalates and the danger grows of a shift to ground operations, which would be even bloodier and more destructive. I also want to comment on certain ideas put forward by President Clinton in his contribution of May 16 to the New York Times. In particular, I am anxious to express my opinion of his premise that "Russia is now helping to work out a way for Belgrade to meet our conditions," and that NATO's strategy can "strengthen, not weaken, our fundamental interest in a long-term, positive relationship with Russia." In fact, Russia has taken upon itself to mediate between Belgrade and NATO not because it is eager to help NATO implement its strategies, which aim at Slobodan Milosevic's capitulation and the de facto establishment of a NATO protectorate over Kosovo. These NATO goals run counter to Russia's stance, which calls for the introduction of U.N. forces into Kosovo with Yugoslavia's sovereignty and territorial integrity intact. Moreover, the new NATO strategy, the first practical instance of which we are witnessing in Yugoslavia, has led to a serious deterioration in Russia-U.S. contacts. I will be so bold as to say it has set them back by several decades. Recent opinion polls back this up. Before the air raids, 57 percent of Russians were positively disposed toward the United States, with 28 percent hostile. The raids reversed those numbers to 14 percent positive and 72 percent negative. Sixty-three percent of Russians blame NATO for unleashing the conflict, while only 6 percent blame Yugoslavia. <snip> But just as Soviet tanks trampling on the Prague Spring of 1968 finally shattered the myth of the socialist regime's merits, so the United States lost its moral right to be regarded as a leader of the free democratic world when its bombs shattered the ideals of liberty and democracy in Yugoslavia. We can only regret that it is feeding the arguments of Communists and radical nationalists, who have always viewed NATO as aggressive, have demanded skyrocketing defense expenditures and have backed isolationist policies for Russia. Now that raids against military targets have evidently proven pointless, NATO's armed force has moved to massive destruction of civilian infrastructure -- in particular, electric transmission lines, water pipes and factories. Are thousands of innocent people to be killed because of one man's blunders? Is an entire country to be razed? Is one to assume that air raids can win a war? <snip> Further, it will no longer be possible to thwart the proliferation of missiles and nuclear arms -- another negative consequence of NATO's policy. Even the smallest of independent states will seek nuclear weapons and delivery vehicles to defend themselves after they see NATO's military machine in action. The danger of global instability looms, with more new wars and more victims. <snip> The world has never in this decade been so close as now to the brink of nuclear war. I appeal to NATO leaders to show the courage to suspend the air raids, which would be the only correct move. It is impossible to talk peace with bombs falling. This is clear now. So I deem it necessary to say that, unless the raids stop soon, I shall advise Russia's president to suspend Russian participation in the negotiating process, put an end to all military-technological cooperation with the United States and Western Europe, put off the ratification of START II and use Russia's veto as the United Nations debates a resolution on Yugoslavia. On this, we shall find understanding from great powers such as China and India. Of this, I am sure. ************************************************************** Date: Sat, 05 Jun 1999 21:26:12 +0000 From: frank scott <•••@••.•••> Organization: college of marin Subject: Re: rn: What will we learn from this war? I'd like to suggest, again, to all who really feel that war itself is the problem, and not the style or reason for the war, to consider the so-called rules of war. The geneva convention was and is all about making bloody murder a legalistic and moral enterprise, with correct and incorrect ways of slaughtering human beings. If we could focus on that intellectual and moral underpinning for war, while we,of course, address militarism in all its other forms, we could take a giant step in the direction of truly ending "war". Among other things, the war "good book" says its okay to bomb a place, so long as it is defended. That may be part of what keeps switzerland a war-free zone for dollars and dope and weapons, but it is a good place to begin looking into these murderous rules for legal war. fs ******************************************************************* From: "viviane lerner" <•••@••.•••> Subject: ZNet/News coverage of the war Date: Sat, 5 Jun 1999 09:20:16 -0700 To pass this comment along to friends, relatives, etc. please note that the Commentaries are a premium sent to monthly donors to Z/ZNet and that to learn more about the project folks can consult ZNet (http://www.zmag.org) and specifically the Commentary Page (http://www.zmag.org/Commentaries/donorform.htm). Here then is today's ZNet Commentary... ------------------------------------------ "BALANCE" SICKNESS AT THE NATION By Edward S. Herman The Nation has not distinguished itself in its coverage of the Kosovo crisis. It has had some good editorials and articles, but these are nicely balanced by pro-war pieces. It should embarrass the editors that its UN Correspondent Ian Williams is a fanatical hawk, who supports the NATO violations of the UN Charter and contemptuous treatment of the UN itself. Contributing Editor Kai Bird has been given space for a truly stupid hawkish entry that calls for a ground war in Kosovo, on political and moral grounds (June 14). Christopher Hitchens has had three pro-war articles that have taken the form of anti-anti-war diatribes (May 17, May 31, June 14). This all no doubt reflects the sad intellectual and moral state of the liberal-left, but one would have hoped for more from the Nation. <snip> --- FAIR Media Advisory THEY CALL THIS VICTORY? Bombing "Success" Must Be Weighed Against Human Cost, Missed Chances for Peace June 4, 1999 Media commentators have been asserting that the Kosovo peace plan adopted June 3 by the Serbian Assembly vindicates NATO's airstrikes on Yugoslavia. A New York Times editorial (6/4/99) claimed the plan, if genuine, shows that NATO's "sustained bombing has been more effective than many critics allowed" and represents a "victory for the principles of democracy and human rights." The Washington Post's Stephen Rosenfeld wrote (6/3/99): "They said Bill Clinton was wrong to rely on air power alone to win the war, and -- assuming the details are mastered -- they were wrong.... This time around, anyway, he showed he was right. His weighing of means and ends finally clicked." USA Today's Walter Shapiro stated (6/4/99): "The record must show that Bill Clinton did the morally right thing. And if his efforts are crowned with a lasting peace in the Balkans, the president deserves the gratitude of all of us who doubted his resolve and courage." CNN's Christiane Amanpour (6/3/99) said that the "plan amounts to [Milosevic] accepting less than he would have come away with had he agreed several months ago at the Rambouillet talks." These interpretations are seriously misleading. Seventy days of bombing in the Balkans have brought an agreement from Yugoslavia whose terms, in many important respects, diverge little from those Yugoslavia accepted before the first shot was fired. To a great extent, an end to the war seems possible now not because massive bombing forced Yugoslavia to capitulate, but because the U.S. seems to be willing to drop conditions that it had previously insisted Belgrade must meet before bombing could be halted. Indeed, the media notion of Serb capitulation seemed to rely on a cue from NATO powers, as evidenced by this CNN report from correspondent Walter Rodgers (6/3/99): "It's difficult to say whether it's a capitulation. It really isn't even up for me to say that, that is something that has to be decided by someone like the president of the United States, Britain's prime minister, Mr. Blair." MISSED OPPORTUNITIES At Rambouillet, before the bombing began, Yugoslavia had agreed to almost all the points that are contained in the June 3 Serbian Assembly resolution, including autonomy for Kosovo. (See "Forgotten Coverage of Rambouillet Negotiations: Was a Peaceful Kosovo Solution Rejected by the U.S.?," FAIR Media Advisory, 5/14/99.) A major point insisted on by the U.S. at Rambouillet -- a referendum on Kosovo's independence after three years -- is now absent from the Serb Assembly decision, without audible complaint from U.S. officials. What Yugoslavia rejected at Rambouillet was the idea of a NATO-led force in Kosovo, proposing instead a U.N. command. It also objected to a last-minute addition to the agreement known as Appendix B, which would have given NATO sweeping powers throughout all of Yugoslavia. There is strong evidence that the U.S. intentionally crafted this document to provoke a rejection from the Serbs. (See "What Reporters Knew About Kosovo Talks--But Didn't Tell," FAIR Media Advisory, 6/2/99.) A State Department official reportedly told journalists at Rambouillet (Cato Institute conference, 5/18/99; see also The Nation, 6/14/99): "We intentionally set the bar too high for the Serbs to comply. They need some bombing, and that's what they are going to get." After two and a half months of that bombing, the Serb parliament agreed to a peacekeeping force "under U.N. auspices" in which there would be "essential NATO participation." This language is only slightly different from the Yugoslavian position at Rambouillet, and there are suggestions that Belgrade was willing to accept such a compromise peacefully (Newsweek, 4/12/99). <snip> ************************************************************** From: •••@••.••• (James Crombie) Subject: Witness to Izbice killings speaks, Cluster Bombs, Arrests... Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 01:54:05 -0300 Find below: Human Rights Watch flashes on Izbice, on NATO cluster bombs, on arrests in Kosovo, etc. http://www.hrw.org/hrw/campaigns/kosovo98/flash6.htm#39 KOSOVO HUMAN RIGHTS FLASH #39 WITNESS TO IZBICE KILLINGS SPEAKS Possibly Largest Massacre of Kosovo War (New York, May 19, 1999) — This past weekend, video footage emerged of what may be the largest massacre in Kosovo since NATO bombing began: the killing of more than 120 ethnic Albanians in the village of Izbice in the Drenica region on March 28, 1999. Today Human Rights Watch released the direct testimony of an important witness to the crime. <snip> KOSOVO HUMAN RIGHTS FLASH #38 ARRESTS IN KOSOVO (New York, May 14, 1999) — Two prominent ethnic Albanians were arrested last month in Kosovo, Human Rights Watch has learned. Their current locations and conditions are unknown. Albin Kurti was co-president of the Independent Student Union of Kosovo, the largest student organization in the province. After organizing non-violent student demonstrations in support of education rights, in mid-1998 Kurti began work in the Pristina office of Adem Demaci, then-political representative of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Mr. Kurti was reportedly arrested on April 21, 1999, together with his father, Zaim, his two brothers, Arianit and Taulant, and the owner of the house in Pristina where the family was sheltering. Taulant and the owner of the house were reportedly beaten and released. Also arrested in Pristina around April 21 was Dr. Flora Brovina, a pediatrician and head of the League of Albanian Women. According to relatives, the police were waiting at Dr. Brovina's home, and arrested her when she arrived. Human Rights Watch expressed concern today for all those in Kosovo's prisons. There is no news about the condition of prisoners in any of the province's six detention facilities: Lipjan, Pristina, Gnjilane, Kosovska Mitrovica, Pec, and Prizren. [Image] KOSOVO HUMAN RIGHTS FLASH #37 GROWING CONCERN ABOUT NATO VIOLATING THE LAWS OF WAR (New York, May 12, 1999) -- Human Rights Watch today sent a letter to Secretary General Javier Solana expressing concern at the mounting civilian casualties in NATO's air war against Yugoslavia. [Click here for text of the letter] <snip> KOSOVO HUMAN RIGHTS FLASH #36 NATO USE OF CLUSTER BOMBS MUST STOP (New York, May 11, 1999) — Human Rights Watch today condemned NATO's use of cluster bombs in the air campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The submunitions inside cluster bombs have a high failure rate and can leave unexploded ordnance across wide areas, ready to detonate on contact. <snip> For more information on cluster bombs, consult Human Rights Watch's briefing paper on the subject, written by Human Rights Watch consultant William Arkin. For more information, please contact: Joost Hiltermann (316) 2293-6742 (in the Netherlands) Bill Arkin (201) 583-5151 (in New Jersey) or (802) 457-3426 (home) Carroll Bogert 212-216-1244 (in New York) To subscribe to Kosovo Human Rights Flashes by E-mail, contact •••@••.••• Previous Flashes || Focus on Human Rights Home || Back to Top ©Human Rights Watch 1999
