Press Review The CNN TV News personalities are naturally excited when they have the
privilege to announce that a certain target, such as a bridge or a factory, in Yugoslavia
has been hit and destroyed. A friend wondered out loud how come the female TV
personalities were able to be so cheerfull when announcing something that is certainly
resulting in a loss of life. I am happy to announce that the sexist pig in question is not
my friend anymore. I am not on speaking terms with Arthur Miller for a similar reason.
When remembereing the McCartney's which hunt in America, he wrote: former senator Harry P.
Cain told me: "tell you the truth, though, Arhut, the really vindictive ones were the
wives. We'd be playing cards with some of these senatorial wives and their husbands, and
more likely than not the wives'd be the ones who'd say, 'When are you going to get this
one or that one? Why do you let him get away with saying this or that? Go get the son of a
bitch!' They were the real haters."
Shame on Arthur and my former friend N. Shame on Alexander
Dumas, father, who dared to say that women never yield to reason, only to emotion or to
force. And shame on those who dare to disagree with the humanitarian NATO help for the
Serbs. I suggest that, once it is done with Serbia, NATO turns its attention towards those
individuals bellow who apparetnly decided that CNN reporting is not on the same level as
holy scriptures and that it should be accepted without questioning. See for yourself...
GERMANY: "Responsibility Of The Military"
Paul Georg Hefty had this to say in an editorial in right-of-center Frankfurter Allgemeine
(4/9): "Why do we know so little about the situation in Kosovo? In the past, the
military argued that it helps the enemy to know what others know about military
operations. But this argumentation is out-of-date. Now that computer-based pictures made
by satellites and unmanned aircraft are common, every state realizes that its
sophisticated opponents know almost everything about it. In this situation, it would not
be detrimental for NATO to present pictures showing that a great mass of people has been
rounded up at Site A, or that women and children are being forced into camps near military
objects at Site B.... But NATO is not making a great effort to inform the people in the
member countries of what is going on or to present evidence of horror stories.... In a
democracy it is not the responsibility of the people to seek out information, it is the
responsibility of the military to provide it to them."
ITALY: "The Eternal Balkan Problem"
A front-page commentary by Sandro Viola in left-leaning, influential La Repubblica
stressed (4/9): "The only certain thing is that there will be another little
state--Kosovo.... It is very likely that, with Montenegro's separation from Serbia, there
will be nine states in the former Yugoslavia. In sum, pure Balkanization, the biggest mess
ever made by a single generation of government leaders and diplomats. A series of
horrors that would have terrified the leaders and diplomats at the beginning of this
century.... And the Serbian people will be the pariah of Europe in the year 2000. But the
day the war is over...the Serbs will become a huge, festering lump of resentment and
desperation.... Either the Serbs will realize that Milosevic is mainly responsible for
their dramatic situation and will manage to recover in 10 or 20 years; or, as has always
been the case in the Balkans before, they will feel they are victims of a plot against the
Serbian nation.... In the latter case, we will see additional turbulence and a new
instability emerge from that lump of resentment.... Considering possible post-war
scenarios does not mean to question the reasons that have led to the war.... What else
could we have done if not resort to the use of force with this kind of regime?... The fact
remains, however, that this story will not be over with the end of NATO air strikes in
Yugoslavia."
"Signals Of Truce And Otherwise"
Arturo Guatelli emphasized in Rome's centrist Il Messaggero (4/9): "They are very
small, perhaps insignificant, but the signals of a possible truce exist at least:
Germany's plan for stability in the Balkans; Dini's hope for a 'negotiated solution' of
the crisis; Russia's
extreme caution; the continuing initiatives of Vatican diplomacy; the ballet of hypotheses
about the release of the three U.S. soldiers; Belgrade's announcement that it will stop
chasing UCK terrorists." Guatelli, however, also lists the "negative signals:
U.S. intransigence; Albright's and Cohen's bellicose intentions; NATO's intention to drag
Milosevic before The Hague Court on War Crimes; the still dramatic situation of the
refugees; the West's belief that the Rambouillet accords are not obsolete. Enough to
realize that the truce is still far away, perhaps only a hope without the necessary
political support.... Albright and Cohen do not seem to think about the future. They are
determined to destroy Milosevic's regime.... Why are they so ferociously opposed to any
hypothesis for a compromise?... One thing to keep in mind is that they are American Jews,
and that, in their memories, the shame of Nazism has not yet been erased."
"Madeleine Defends Herself: 'This Is Not My Personal War'"
Andrea di Robilant commented in centrist, influential La Stampa (4/9) on Secretary
Albright's interview on the Larry King Show: "Albright's reaction reflects the
'passing the buck' atmosphere that has developed in Washington since the beginning of the
NATO air
strikes against Yugoslavia. President Clinton said yesterday that he believes the air
strikes will work and that there will be no need for ground troops. But American
newspapers are full of anonymous statements by military and strategic experts--at the
Pentagon, the CIA and other centers of power--expressing their dissatisfaction and
criticism of the political leaders."
RUSSIA: "Serbs, NATO To Blame For Catastrophe"
Teimuraz Mamaldze stated in reformist Noviye Izvestiya (4/9): "There isn't, and there
can't be, a simple answer to why Kosovars leave en masse, no matter how the antagonists
try to justify their actions. They flee destruction and death, whoever is responsible--the
Serbian police, 'their' KLA, or an American F-117A pilot. In that sense, NATO strategists
may well list themselves among 'the co-authors' of the humanitarian catastrophe that they
claim they sought to avert."
"West Lies About Cleansing"
Yuri Panov stated in centrist, army Krasnaya Zvezda (4/9): "Belgrade's proposals
attest to its good will and belie Western propaganda charges concerning ethnic cleansing
in Kosovo. Plans to expand military aggression against Yugoslavia in response to its peace
initiatives make the situation even more absurd. NATO finds it increasingly hard to
camouflage its aggressive plans."
KAZAKHSTAN: "The Face Of The New World Order"
Independent weekly Novoye Pokoleniye (4/9) concluded: "It is clear that we face the
creation of an absolutely new...world order that hides the dangerous seeds of new
conflicts that may arise in the next century....
"As a superstate and having considerable military power and an influential military
lobby, the United States needs an external enemy whose existence could not only realize
Washington's ambitions with regard to democratic leadership but also help Clinton, during
the final phase of his presidency, to cover the stain of 'Monicagate' and remain in recent
memory as the winner over the 'last communist dictators.'... Events in Yugoslavia reveal
that the UN, as one of the regulators of international relations and guarantors of
international rights protection, has practically ceased to exist."
NORWAY: "Russia's Big Chance"
Conservative Aftenposten emphasized (4/9): "Russia hasn't exactly taken on an easy
job in trying to act as a negotiator between Yugoslavia and NATO to put an end to the air
strikes and ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. Russia does not want a confrontation with NATO,
and regards the Kosovo situation as an opportunity to increase its influence in European
and international politics.... Unfortunately, the tendency has been to ignore Russia's
views and arguments ever since Russia fell into deep domestic political and financial
trouble.
ROMANIA: "Going Toward The West, On Our Knees"
Under the above headline, leading, independent Adevarul had this view by chief editor
Cristian Tudor Popescu (4/9): "Talbott said that 'Belgrade no longer has the
authority to rule in Kosovo after all the massacres and crimes they committed.'
Incredible. So, because at present Yugoslavia is run by a temporary national-communist
dictator who, without NATO's precious help would have been soon gotten rid of by history,
the White House wants to separate Kosovo from Serbia... It is obvious that the West no
longer cares about God, people, or the law, and wants to turn what is left of the East
into a ghetto. Hitler dreamed of transforming these territories into the Reich's 'bloody
border,' a
sort of wild reserve where young Aryans could pass the test of manhood by killing a flock
of subhumans. Today the West has more refined tastes: Before killing these subhumans, it
wants to bring them to their knees and humiliate them forever as a people and as a
state.... Romania's problem is not that it doesn't belong to NATO or the EU.... We don't
inspire anyone's respect.... The stupid hope of today's government is that if we were to
be accepted into NATO, all the vileness and nonsense we have done would be wiped away. The
Americans would help us restructure the country.... NATO is nothing but a desperate
excuse. Nobody is willing to solve what we ourselves cannot."
"Terrible Shock"
Ion Cristoiu editorialized in opposition Cotidianul (4/8): "For many Romanians, this
cruel image of the Westerners (NATO bombing campaign) was a terrible shock. Who would have
imagined several decades ago, when we were waiting for the Americans to come and free us,
that they would come to Europe not to help the Eastern European countries, but only to
bomb them the minute we dare say anything else than: Yes, sir!"
CHINA: "Kosovo Crisis A War Game?"
Xi Mi commented on the opinion page of the official English-language China Daily (4/9):
"Like the majority of Chinese, I feel a kind of anger and anguish about the naked
aggression by NATO and the pain it is inflicting upon people in Yugoslavia. What upsets me
most is that with NATO's superior military power, the Yugoslav people are so vulnerable.
It is so unfair. It is so one-sided, it can hardly be called a war.... With its long-time
arch-rival gone, the United States has become increasingly assertive in the international
arena.... Of course we should have no illusions about such countries. Read their lips
carefully when they preach such lofty ideals as human rights and be prepared when they
show their teeth."
URUGUAY: "NATO's Complex Dilemma"
Top-circulation, conservative El País told its readers (4/8): "The deportation, or
forced transfer, of populations is one of the crimes identified in the Treaty of Rome as
being subject to consideration by an international criminal court. The international
community has a clear human, legal and political interest in ensuring that these actions
are prevented and punished. The main difficulty in accomplishing this objective is to find
the appropriate way to do it. Everything seems to indicate that NATO's present strategy is
not the most appropriate method to avoid Serbian atrocities and protect Kosovar-Albanian
civilians." |