By Mary Mostert, Analyst, Original Sources, (http://www.originalsources.com)
April 20, 1999
On March 30th, six days after Clinton and Blair began bombing Yugoslavia I questioned whether or not the basis of the war, which seemed to be "humanitarianism" would be won by Bill Clinton or Slobodan Milosevic. Clinton positioned America as the only superpower, with unquestioned technological superiority fighting to "save" the Albanians in Kosovo from a pip-squeak dictator who was preparing to commit "genocide" against the Albanians. (See: http://originalsources.com/OS3-99MQC/3-30-1999.1.shtml-Can Clinton Win a Humanitarian War with Milosevic?) While the flare-up in Yugoslavia has been going on now for about six years, the Serbs never seemed to be heard from. Christiane Amanpour NEVER positioned herself among the Serbs, telling their side of the story. Presumably, from the American media point of view, they HAD no side.
It seemed after two weeks with Christiane Amanpour on the nightly news telling how bad off the Albanian refugees were and how awful Milosevic is there was no contest for Humanitarian of the Year award over in the Balkans. It was Bill Clinton - or so Christiane would have us believe. Then we began to see pictures on Yugoslav TV, broadcast strangely enough by CNN, showing premature babies being rushed to a basement shelter after the building next door was demolished by a missile. It was on Yugoslav TV, not the much vaunted Free Press of America, which first broadcast pictures of three US soldiers captured in Kosovo territory, while the Pentagon was scrambling for cover refusing to admit their capture.
We saw, on Yugoslav TV, the downed F 117 Stealth Bomber and banners held by Belgrade demonstrators saying, "We're Sorry, NATO. We Didn't Know it Was Invisible." We saw first a few people, then hundreds and finally thousands of Serbs standing on the last remaining bridge over the Danube at Novi Sad holding lighted candles, singing and praying nightly, risking their lives if NATO dropped a bomb on that bridge too. And, then, finally in the past week we saw pictures of a train going to Thessilonika with civilians bombed and a convoy of Albanian refugees bombed "by mistake" by pilots who mistook tractors for Army vehicles at a safe 15,000 feet.
We also were regaled with stories from the Albanian refugees who said it was not a NATO plane ("NATO has come to save us. It couldn't be NATO!") but was really a Yugoslavian Airforce plane killing the Albanians by dropping bombs. So, if the pilot with sophisticated equipment can't tell a farm tractor from an army tank or truck, how could an Albanian peasant farmer on the ground identify the markings of an airplane dropping bombs from 15,000 feet?
Those events, plus a British news team going into Northern Albania to film more tearjerking stories about the plight of the Albanian refugees only to find out the hard way the REAL story. The KLA "Freedom Fighters" are actually mere bandits operating out of a segment of Albania that the Albanian government cannot control. The journalists were held up at gun point and their equipment and vehicles stolen by the KLA "Freedom Fighters."
This is not the recommended approach for terrorists to get good press. The attitude change towards the KLA has been remarkable. All the sudden other news sources, besides my column, are beginning to mention some of the facts I have been reporting for more than a month. This, of course, is very upsetting to the propagandists and those who are determined to portray Bill Clinton as a "savior" of humankind - especially downtrodden minorities. What can they do to save their hides? Well, the next step for terrorist is to step up the terrorism - since that is really about all they know how to do.
Naturally, I'm getting some verbal terrorism e-mails from people who are really upset that I would write the facts - such as there being more Serb refugees than any other ethnic group, and that the states that have seceded from Yugoslavia and Albania, who are pictured as victims of Ethnic Cleansing in fact have ethnically cleansed the Serbs out of their new countries - seizing the homes and businesses of Serbs who were either killed or driven out of places like Krajina in Croatia. Some of these e-mails are very revealing, such as the one I received last week from Split, Croatia. I try to answer all my mail, a task that is getting harder as the quantity of e-mails rise.
Niksa Alfirevic, of Split, Croatia sent me the following "Complaint" and threat which is a perfect illustration of the problems we are having in the Balkans. There are too many people who are too quick to proclaim themselves a victim, and then pick someone to blame their problems on. Emotionalism combined with ignorance is a deadly mix, and that's what got us into a bombing war in Yugoslavia. There is no "honorable" way out, because our actions are contrary to both our own constitution and international law. But, we are told, those poor people need help. Here's Niksa's letter:
Dear Sir (Madam),Of course, I not only am not the owner of www.reformation.org, I had never even HEARD of it. However, as an increasing number of individuals and organizations are doing around the world, www.reformation.org had linked to one of my columns. This is typical. I am constantly getting attacked for things I had nothing to do with. It is so unnecessary. As much writing as I do, any reasonable person who has a brain in their head could find something I have actually said or done to attack me on. They don't need to make stuff up.I recently found your Websites at http://www.reformation.org and http://www.originalsources.com, which misinterpret both the war against the Republic of Croatia and Republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina, launched by Mr. Slobodan Milosevic - the last communist dictator in Europe. Your websites contain misinterpretations which do not differ much from the official propaganda of Milosevic's media, claiming that the Croatian and Bosnian, and now Albanian people, are endangering "poor Serbs", who always responds by launching ethnic cleansing against civilians and by committing war crimes, well documented by the independent world media you despise so much (CNN, BBC, etc.).
Therefore, I ask you kindly to let the voice of the other side be heard, especially at the site http://www.reformation.org, which contains superficial and totally unjustified claims about the role of the Catholic church and the Croatian people in the WWII. I also looked at the rest of this site, and believe that it can be classified as one spreading ethnic and religious hatred.
In that sense, I am going to formally object to the US federal government, and take all available legal actions, including the complaint to your ISP, to make sure that your malicious misinformation is not tolerated any more. Please let me know whether you intend to change your editorial policy before I proceed with any additional actions. Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Niksa Alfirevic,
Split, Croatia
Niksa's second accusation was to claim that my information on what transpired in Yugoslavia during World War II, was "misinterpretations which do not differ much from the official propaganda of Milosevic's media, claiming that the Croatian and Bosnian, and now Albanian people, are endangering "poor Serbs", who always responds by launching ethnic cleansing against civilians and by committing war crimes, well documented by the independent world media you despise so much (CNN, BBC, etc."
Of course CNN and BBC are not the "Independent Press." I'M the independent press. Or at least ONE of the Independent press. If it is true that Milosevic and I have said the same thing at some point, evidently he's got at least THAT story right. Since I don't have ready access to Milosevic's writings, and Niksa is wrong on everything else in the letter, I don't know if that statement was true. However, it simply is a documented fact - documented with dead bodies not rhetoric, that the Croatians especially were in charge of the part of the Holocaust which slaughtered 1.5 million Serbs. My information on the subject came from the World Book Encyclopedia, Britannica, the Holocaust Museum and news reports from World War II. It is simply a fact that the Croatians were part of the Axis pact of Adolf Hitler and the Serbs were fighting on the same side as America, Britain and other Allied powers.
It appeared to me that the issue that really angered Niksa were my figures on the number of Serb refugees which fled their homes in Krajina, Croatia when President Clinton allowed arms into Bosnia from Iran. I obtained the figures I used in that case from the U.S. State department and the United Nations office . Their figures show over 1,000,000 Serbs in Yugoslavia and the Serbia. The World Almanac shows the Serb population in Croatia dropped from 14% to 8% in a 2 year period. If the World Almanac is wrong, the Croatians need to send them correct information and let us ALL know when, if ever, the Serbs are going to get their property in Krajina returned.
Of course, as a journalist, the statement Niksa made about a web site I have nothing whatever to do with was very revealing. Apparently, Nazism is not dead in Croatia. Niksa wrote: "I am going to formally object to the US federal government, and take all available legal actions, including the complaint to your ISP, to make sure that your malicious misinformation is not tolerated any more. Please let me know whether you intend to change your editorial policy before I proceed with any additional actions." .
Niksa apparently has never heard of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Clearly he thinks the US Federal Government is now in the position to limit not only my ability to write, but limit freedom of religion as well. And, while there is no doubt we are headed that way with "hate crime" and "terrorist control" legislation,in the end they will be declared unconstitutional, unless, of course, Clinton figures out a way to get another judge or two who wants to rewrite the Bill of Rights.
On my own website, http://www.originalsources.com, I do have a "religion" section. In it readers may link to almost all the world's major religions' OFFICIAL websites, which includes both the Vatican's website and an Eastern Orthodox website. I know many people like to go to the enemies of a particular religion to get their information, but I believe the only way anyone can understand a religion is to ask the experts - the people who are leaders in that religion. So far as my website is concerned, at http://www.originalsources.com, you will find my contribution to the religion issue on my website under "Religion" - where I provide links to my readers to religious organizations, including the Vatican, the Muslims, the Jews, the Mormons, the evangelicals, Eastern Orthodox, etc. People on my website, Original Sources.com can go to the source - i.e. the religious leaders - in search of their doctrines and practices.
I can hardly wait until some idiot tries to challenge me for my religion section on my website. I would have just about every major religion on earth helping me to fight the hate mongers and the anti-religion nuts that seem to abound out there.
Isn't it interesting, though, that someone I never heard of and know nothing about who lives in a foreign country actually seems to believe that their threats would get me to change my "editorial policy?" That illustrates how pervasive terrorism, or threatened terrorism and verbal abuse has become.
To Comment: mmostert@originalsources.com
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