> Here is today's ZNet Commentary Delivery from Diana Johnstone.
>
> If you pass this comment along to others, please include an explanation
that
> Commentaries are a premium sent to Sustainer Donors of Z/ZNet and that to
> learn more about the project folks can consult ZNet (http://www.zmag.org)
> and specifically the Sustainer Pages
> (http://www.zmag.org/Commentaries/donorform.htm.
>
> Here then is today's ZNet Commentary...
>
> ------------------
>
>
> The OSCE Report: THINGS TOLD AND THINGS SEEN
> By Diana Johnstone
>
> The recent Report of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe
> (OSCE) on Kosovo is subtitled: "As Seen, as Told". The part of the report
> covering the mayhem that went on during the NATO bombing, between March 24
> and June 10, is "as told" -- to be specific, "as told" by ethnic Albanians
> refugees.
>
> The second part deals with events in Kosovo since NATO occupied the
> province. This part is not simply "as told" but "as seen" by the many
> Western observers who flooded back into Kosovo with the occupation armies
of
> KFOR.
>
> The difference between things "told" and things "seen" is highly
> significant.
> As the OSCE report confirms, the violence in Kosovo escalated dramatically
> when the NATO air strikes began on March 24. Information about the 78-day
> period of NATO bombing comes essentially from 2,764 interviews with
refugees
> in Albania and Macedonia. These "victim and witness statements" were made
> according to "refugee interview forms" prepared precisely with the aim of
> collecting evidence _against Serbian leaders_ for the International
Criminal
> Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). In short, the aim of the
> interviews was not to get a full understanding of a complex situation, or
to
> gather evidence on all the crimes that may have been committed by all
sides
> during a period when air raids and civil war broke down law and order, but
> solely to gather statements that could be used against Belgrade.
> As was to be expected, the ethnic Albanian refugees told their Western
> interviewers what they wanted to hear.
>
> Several of the most harrowing tales told by ethnic Albanians about their
> Serb adversaries have turned out to be totally false: notably the reports
of
> thousands of bodies thrown into the Trepca mines, among others. It is
> reasonable to suspect that other stories were also untrue.
> Raimonda, the young Albanian woman who claimed to be killing Serbs to
avenge
> the ghastly murder of her little sister, turned out to have made up the
> whole story for the benefit of the Western TV journalist looking for
> real-life drama. Later, her little sister was found to be alive, well and
> unharmed. The girl's relatives shrugged this off: "If her little lie
helped
> the Albanian cause, that's just fine", her father reportedly commented. It
> is unlikely that this attitude is unique or even rare.
>
> There were many reasons for ethnic Albanians to flee Kosovo during the air
> strikes: fear of violent reprisals by infuriated Serbs who blamed them for
> the NATO attack, expulsion by Serb security forces clearing the border
area
> in preparation for an expected invasion from Albania, fear of the air
raids,
> fear of the Kosovo Liberation Army, or even -- and this is the reason
given
> by Cedomir Prlincevic, head of the Pristina Jewish community -- orders
from
> KLA leaders to leave in order to advance the cause. All these reasons may
> have contributed to the mass exodus.
> However, the only explanation that Western interviewers wanted to hear was
> also the only explanation that could improve a refugee's standing with the
> ever more powerful KLA: Serbian atrocities.
>
> What really happened during the bombing remains uncertain. The powers in
> control of the terrain -- NATO and the KLA -- are strongly motivated to
> support the worst possible version of Serb behavior. Even so, no material
> evidence has been found yet for mass killings.
> On the other hand, the daily persecution of non-Albanians in Kosovo since
> the NATO-led KFOR took over the province is beyond doubt. The OSCE report
> makes this quite clear. The murders and ethnic cleansing of Serbs and Roma
> (gypsies) are going on day after day right under the eyes of the Western
> military forces.
>
> Kosovo is a place where the alienation and fear between two communities
was
> fed for years by lies, rumors and false accusations. Serbs genuinely
feared
> Albanians, and Albanians genuinely feared Serbs, often on the basis of
wild
> rumor. The first thing outside mediators should have done was to sponsor a
> patient, serious and fair effort to establish the truth. On the contrary,
by
> endorsing every accusation against Serbs, and ignoring crimes against
Serbs,
> the United States and its NATO allies have given carte blanche to violence
> against them. Ethnic Albanian children are growing up in the belief that
> nobody really blames them for hunting down elderly "Skrinje" (the ethnic
> slur for Serbs) and beating them to death.
>
> And who is most to blame? War is the worst evil. By bringing war to
Kosovo,
> NATO brought out the worst in a certain number of Serbs, and the worst in
a
> certain number of Albanians. The people of Kosovo have been guinea pigs in
a
> macabre experiment: how do people react when they are bombed? How do they
> react when they are told that the bombing is to detach part of their
> country? How do they react when they are told the bombing is on their
> behalf? The screeching noise, the terrifying explosions, the fires, the
> destruction are administered from a safe distance. Then the observers go
in
> and take notes.
>
> Most people in Kosovo -- including ethnic Albanians -- were safer under
> Serbian rule than they are now. Kosovo is more than ever a dangerous
place,
> a land of hatred.
> But there is one little oasis of safety: Camp Bondsteel. The biggest
> overseas United States base since Vietnam has been built in Kosovo. U.S.
> armed forces personnel are secure in Kosovo. The citizens are not.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________________________________
> 1stUp.com - Free the WebŪ
> Get your free Internet access at http://www.1stUp.com
|
